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10,870,217 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for determination of network topology | A method and apparatus for determining network topology includes adapting a single sniffer to collect information from nodes associated with at least two selected areas of the network and determining a topology of at least a portion of the network using the collected information. | 1. A method for managing a communications network having a plurality of areas, each of said plurality of areas having associated with it a respective group of nodes, said method comprising: adapting a single sniffer to collect information from nodes associated with at least two selected areas of said network; and determining a topology of at least a portion of said network using said collected information. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of adapting said single sniffer further comprises connecting said sniffer to a central location of said network. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said sniffer is part of an existing network management system of said network. 4. The method of claim 2 wherein said sniffer is a stand-alone device connected independently to said central location of said network. 5. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of adapting the single sniffer further comprises configuring said centrally connected network sniffer as a partitioned designated node of a selected area. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said selected area further comprises an L1 area and an L2 area; and in the case of an L1 area being selected, said method further comprises configuring said sniffer as a partition designated L2 node of the selected L1 area. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said information from said nodes comprises link state messages. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said collected information is based upon an existing network protocol. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said existing network protocol is part of ISO-IEC 10589:2001. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the topology further comprises collecting information about a first selected area and calculating the topology according to said first selected area and then subsequently receiving information about a second or more selected areas and recalculating the topology based upon each new area. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the topology further comprises receiving information from all nodes of all areas in the network and performing a single topology calculation. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said areas are selected by sequentially configuring said sniffer as a partition designated L2 node of an L1 area to be selected. 13. A computer readable medium containing a program which, when executed, performs an operation for managing a communications network having a plurality of areas said operation comprising: adapting a single sniffer to collect information from nodes associated with at least two selected areas of said network; and determining a topology of at least a portion of said network using said collected information. 14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the step of adapting said single sniffer further comprises connecting said sniffer to a central location of said network. 15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein said sniffer is part of an existing network management system of said network. 16. The computer readable medium of claim 14 wherein said sniffer is a stand-alone device connected independently to said central location of said network. 17. The computer readable medium of claim 14 wherein the step of adapting the single sniffer further comprises configuring said centrally connected network sniffer as a partitioned designated node of a selected area. 18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein said selected area further comprises an L1 area and an L2 area; and in the case of an L1 area being selected, said method further comprises configuring said sniffer as a partition designated L2 node of the selected L1 area. 19. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein said information from said nodes comprises link state messages. 20. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein said collected information is based upon an existing network protocol. 21. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein said existing network protocol is part of ISO-IEC 10589:2001. 22. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the step of determining the topology further comprises collecting information about a first selected area and calculating the topology according to said first selected area and then subsequently receiving information about a second or more selected areas and recalculating the topology based upon each new area. 23. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the step of determining the topology further comprises receiving information from all nodes of all areas in the network and performing a single topology calculation. 24. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein said areas are selected by sequentially configuring said sniffer as a partition designated L2 node of an L1 area to be selected. 25. A communications network having improved topology determination means comprising: an inner nodal area; one or more outer nodal areas connected to the inner nodal area; and means for detecting topology forming information about all nodes in the inner and outer nodal areas from a central location in the communications network. 26. The communications network of claim 25 wherein said means for detecting the topology forming information is a single sniffer connected to the inner nodal area. 27. The communications network of claim 26 wherein the sniffer is part of an existing network management system of said network. 28. The communications network of claim 26 wherein the sniffer apparatus is a stand-alone device connected independently to the central location of the network. 29. The communications network of claim 26 wherein the sniffer is instructed to function as a partition designated node in an existing network protocol. 30. The communications network of claim 29 wherein the existing network protocol is ISO-IEC 10589:2001. | FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to the field of communications networks and, more specifically, to determining the configuration or topology of such networks. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Data Communications Networks (DCN's) are separated into different areas, each area containing a certain number of nodes. Each node in a particular area has knowledge of neighboring nodes. That is, information about each node is readily available to other nodes in the same area so that nodes in the same area can easily exchange information. As DCN's grow larger and more complex, the need for determining the configuration (or topology) of the DCN and verifying the connectivity of links between nodes also increases. This information is particularly important in “management” networks that overlay or manage lower level networks that are responsible for the actual transmission of data. Determining DCN configurations and identifying connectivity faults in the network are necessary maintenance tasks. Traditionally, this determination is performed by executing a “sniffing” operation at each area. The term sniffing pertains to monitoring and collecting information that the various nodes have about each other and is well known in the art. An example of the principles and procedures for sniffing may be found in “Sniffing (network wiretap, sniffer) FAQ” Version 0.3.3 available from Sep. 14, 2000 at www.robertgraham.com/pubs/sniffing-faq.html herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Sniffing can be done either directly (by physically going to each area location and performing the required operations) or indirectly (by activating a remote sniffer that is connected to and dedicated for each particular area). Once the sniffing operation is completed, an analysis is performed on all of the “sniffed” information to determine the topology. The complexity of topology determination is compounded as more areas are added to the network. Specifically, an increase in areas results in an increase in time consuming remote monitoring and collection procedures. Additionally, network equipment costs increase as a sniffer must be located at each new area to perform the required sniffing operation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The disadvantages heretofore associated with the prior art are overcome by a novel method and apparatus for determining a network topology with a single sniffer. The method includes the steps of adapting a single sniffer to collect information from nodes associated with at least two selected areas of the network and determining a topology of at least a portion of the network using the collected information. The step of adapting a single sniffer to collect information includes, in one embodiment, connecting the sniffer to a central location of the network. The sniffer may be part of an existing network management system of the network or be a stand-alone device connected independently to the central location of the network. The step of adapting the single sniffer additionally includes, in one embodiment, configuring the centrally connected network sniffer as a partitioned designated node of a selected area. Information is received by the sniffer in a manner that includes collecting information about nodes in a selected area based upon an existing network protocol. In one embodiment of the invention, the existing network protocol is part of ISO-IEC 10589:2001 and the information may include link state messages. The step of composing the topology may include collecting information about the first area and calculating the topology according to the first area and then subsequently receiving information about a second or more areas and recalculating the topology accordingly. Alternately, the step of composing the topology map may include receiving information from all nodes of all areas in the network and performing a single topology map calculation therefrom. The invention also includes an apparatus in the form of a computer readable medium containing instructions for operating a computer in accordance with the method steps presented. The invention also includes a communications network having improved topology determination means comprising an inner nodal area, one or more outer nodal areas connected to the inner nodal area and means for detecting topology forming information about all nodes in the inner and outer nodal areas from a central location in the communications network. The means for detecting the topology forming information is a sniffer connected to the inner nodal area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 depicts a schematic view of a network in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention; FIG. 1A depicts a detailed schematic view of a portion of the network seen in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 depicts a series of method steps for determining a network topology in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention; and FIG. 3 depicts an apparatus for determining network topology in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The subject invention presents the concept that determination of network topologies in data communication networks (DCN's) can be made by the unexpected use and exploitation of data that is available in such networks for reasons other than topology determination. Although the invention is discussed and presented within the context of an Intermediate System-Intermediate System (IS-IS) routing information exchange protocol network operating in accordance with said protocol for providing connection lists-mode network service, it is noted that the invention is also applicable to other types of data communication networks. An example of an IS-IS communication system and protocols for managing same may be found in ISO-IEC 10589:2001 herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIG. 1 depicts a network 100 (i.e., a DCN) operating in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. A DCN network 100 of FIG. 1 comprises a plurality (illustratively 5) of L1 areas and, illustratively, one L2 area. Each L1 area has a plurality of L1 nodes and one L2 node. All the L2 nodes are connected to each other and to an element management system (EMS). Individual nodes or network elements are managed via the EMS using connectivity in the L2 area and the respective L1 areas. All nodes in one level send link status information only to the nodes in that level and in that particular area. That is, all nodes and one L1 area send link status messages only to the other nodes in that area. The L2 node in an L1 area is also an L1 node for that L1 area. L2 nodes in turn exchange link state messages only for the L2 area. Thus, if one L1 node in an L1 area sends a message to another L1 node in another L1 area, the message is sent to the respective L2 node, which routes message to another L2 node associated with the target L1 area. The L2 node at the target L1 area then routes the message to the destination L1 node. The network 100 comprises an inner ring area 102 having a plurality of inner ring (L2) nodes 106. One or more outer ring areas 104 are connected to the inner ring area 102 via the inner ring nodes 106. Additionally, each of the outer ring areas 104 comprises one or more individual (L1) nodes 108 through which network users gain access to the network 100 and exchange information with other areas. Each of the nodes 106 and 108 (and the network 100 in general) is managed by an element management system (EMS) 110. The EMS 110 is connected to the network 100 via one of the inner ring nodes 106. Proper operation of network 100 requires that each of the nodes 106 and 108 have appropriate connectivity to the EMS 110. In the specific example of a data communications network, DCN connectivity is one such example of the required network environment. Determination of the configuration or topology of the network 100 is accomplished by analysis of link state messages (LSPs) that move back and forth between the nodes 106 and 108 respectively within their area. Once a topology is determined, the network can monitor such LSPs to determine if there are communication faults in the network 100. All nodes in one area send link status information only to the nodes in that area, i.e., all nodes in a first outer ring area 1041, send LSPs only to the other nodes in that area. A first inner ring node 1061 in the first outer ring area 1041 is also considered an outer ring node for that first outer ring area 1041. Additionally, inner ring nodes 106 in turn exchange LSPs only for the inner ring area 102. Therefore, if a first outer ring node (e.g., 1081) in a first outer ring area 1041 sends a message to a second outer ring node 1082 in a second outer ring area 1042, the message is first sent to the respective inner ring node (e.g., first inner ring node 1061). This inner ring node then routes the message to a second inner ring node 1062 at the target outer ring area 1042. The second inner ring node 1062 at the target outer ring area 1042 then routes the message to the second outer ring node 1082. Accordingly, routing of messages in the manner discussed provides a way of tracking the status of the network and monitoring for a fault at one or more locations therein. The network 100 further comprises a central sniffing device 112 that is connected centrally to the network 100 via to the inner ring 102. In one embodiment of the invention, the sniffer is a specific component of the EMS 110 (shown by a broken line connection between the EMS 110 and the sniffer 112). In a second embodiment, the sniffer 112 is a stand-alone device that is independently connected to the network 100. The central sniffer 112 is a single device that has the ability to be configured as a member of various different outer ring areas 104 so as to essentially become a part of these outer ring areas at the discretion of the EMS 110 or network operator desiring to perform the topology determination of the subject invention. Such configuration is possible by virtue of the protocols used to manage the network as described in greater detail below. The central sniffer 112 exploits the Repair of Partition Areas feature as explained in ISO/IEC 10589:2001. Partitioning occurs when some portion of the network 100 (or an area 104/102 of the network) suffers a fault. As a result of the fault, the area is divided or partitioned into two subareas. An example of this phenomenon is depicted in FIG. 1A. Specifically, (denoted by dotted vertical line 114) first outer ring area 1041 is partitioned into subareas 1041A and 1041B as a result of a DCN fault. The repair feature presented in ISO/IEC 10589:2001 provides the necessary information and instructions for repairing the fault so that the partitioned area is made whole again. However, it has been realized that the information provided to the network (e.g., the EMS 110 in the network) during the partition repair operation provides sufficient information for determining the topology of the network. The central sniffer 112 takes advantage of this new found information in the following manner. Assuming that a certain outer ring area has to be sniffed (e.g., first outer ring area 1041), the sniffer 112 is configured as a partition designated inner ring node 106p (e.g., another node comparable to first inner ring node 1061) of that particular outer ring area (e.g., 1041). This partition designated node 106p searches for a partition designated inner ring node in the original outer ring area. Then it creates a virtual outer ring adjacency with the partition designated inner ring node, thus it also receives all LSPs for the outer ring area to be sniffed. In one example of the invention, the searched-for partition designated inner ring is inner node 1061 of system 100. When all the LSPs have been received or after a time-out, the sniffer 112 is then configured to become a partition designated inner ring node of the next outer ring area to be sniffed (e.g., second outer ring area 1042) and the process is repeated. Hence, by reconfiguring one sniffer to act as a designated inner ring node for every outer ring area, the required information for determining topology can be obtained. By virtue of this improvement, it has been realized by the inventors that physical installation of sniffers in every outer ring area 104 may be avoided. Since only one sniffer 112 is needed to map the complete topology of a network, fewer resources are needed and the attendant network cost are reduced. FIG. 2 depicts a series of method steps 200 in accordance with a method of the subject invention for determining topology of communication networks. Specifically, the method starts at step 202 and proceeds to step 204 where a network (such as network 100) is centrally accessed for the purposes of obtaining topology information. In one embodiment of the invention, this central access is performed via a single sniffer (such as sniffer 112 as seen in network 100) that has the ability to function as an inner ring node 106 in at least two areas of the network 100. The functionality of the sniffer 112 as an inner ring node 106 is accomplished by configuring the sniffer as a partition designated inner ring node in accordance with the repair of partition feature of ISO/IEC 10589:2001. The method then proceeds to step 206 where a first area (e.g., area 1041) of a network (such as network 100) is selected for sniffing and information about nodes in the first area are centrally received by the network. That is, since the sniffer 112 functions as an inner ring node of the first area, it has access to all of the LSPs that are moving through first area 1041 during the partition repair operation. Accordingly, information about all the nodes in the first area is collected by the central sniffer 112. At step 208, and after having the first area appropriately sniffed and the information collected, step 206 is repeated for a second area (e.g., outer ring area 1042 of network 100) and the partition designation configuration of the sniffer is performed with respect to this second area 1042. Information is then appropriately sniffed and centrally received by the central sniffer 112 to obtain all necessary information about nodes in the second area. Accordingly, this process is repeated for any number of N areas in network 100 until all such outer ring areas are appropriately polled. That is, a sniffer 112 is appropriately configured as a partition designated inner ring node for such N areas, the partition repair feature executed and the information centrally received by sniffer 112. The method then proceeds to step 210 where upon collection of all the information from all of the N outer ring areas in the network, a topology map of the network is composed. In one example of the invention, the composition process is accomplished by known techniques by those skilled in the art for creating topology maps. Examples of these operations may be found in the Standard SmartDraw software package manufactured and sold by SmartDraw.com of San Diego, Calif. and as seen on their website at www.smartdraw.com and in “Otter: A general-purpose network visualization tool” by Huffaker, Nemeth and Claffy herein incorporated by reference. In a first embodiment of the invention, step 210 may be practiced in a “round robin” type of procedure. That is, as each new outer ring area is partition repaired and the information about each of the nodes in such area received, a new topology composition process is executed to essentially build the network on a per area basis. As such, the topology map is constructed in real time. In a second embodiment of the invention, all information about each of the nodes in all the areas is collected and stored in a local memory in the network (e.g., a memory found either at the central sniffer 112 or the element management system 110) and a single topology composition step calculation is performed to generate the entire map at one time. The method ends at step 212. An apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the subject invention is presented in FIG. 3. Specifically, FIG. 3 depicts a computer 300 (personal computer, networked workstation, network server or the like). The computer 300 includes at least one central processing unit (CPU) 302, support circuits 304, and memory 306. The CPU 302 may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The support circuits 304 are well known circuits that comprise power supplies, clocks, input/output interface circuitry and the like. Memory 306 comprises various types of computer readable medium including, but not limited to random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory and various combinations of these types of memory. The memory 306 is sometimes referred to as main memory and may in part be used as cache memory or buffer memory. The memory 306 stores various software packages 308-310 that perform operations essential to the computer 300 and/or interconnected workstations, servers and the like if operating in a network environment. When running a particular software package or program 308-310, the computer 300 becomes a special purpose machine for determining network topology in accordance with information received from a centrally disposed sniffing device in accordance with the subject invention. More specifically, the computer 300 becomes a special purpose machine for determining network topologies in accordance with method steps 200 of FIG. 2 and as described above. The computer may contain one or more interfaces 312 selected from the group consisting of a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, keypad, voice-activated interface for entering data and/or executing management command functions in the network including but not limited to the configuration of the sniffer as a partition designated node as described above. Such information can be displayed in a network status display 316 on display device 314. The above-described invention has been primarily discussed within the context of determining the topology of an entire network. However, in various embodiments of the invention only portions of a network necessary to achieve some purpose (e.g., fault isolation and the like) may be determined. For example, if a particular area is experiencing fault conditions, that area and other areas proximate to particular area may be sniffed to determine thereby the topology of the “region” in which full conditions exist. In one embodiment of the invention, a sniffer device is centrally located in the network. In other embodiments, the sniffer device may be located in a non-central location. For example, where an existing network includes a sniffing device and that network is connected to other networks, the sniffing device associated with the existing network may be used to retrieve information from the newly connected networks to help establish thereby the topology of the resulting network. Although various embodiments that incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF INVENTION <EOH>Data Communications Networks (DCN's) are separated into different areas, each area containing a certain number of nodes. Each node in a particular area has knowledge of neighboring nodes. That is, information about each node is readily available to other nodes in the same area so that nodes in the same area can easily exchange information. As DCN's grow larger and more complex, the need for determining the configuration (or topology) of the DCN and verifying the connectivity of links between nodes also increases. This information is particularly important in “management” networks that overlay or manage lower level networks that are responsible for the actual transmission of data. Determining DCN configurations and identifying connectivity faults in the network are necessary maintenance tasks. Traditionally, this determination is performed by executing a “sniffing” operation at each area. The term sniffing pertains to monitoring and collecting information that the various nodes have about each other and is well known in the art. An example of the principles and procedures for sniffing may be found in “Sniffing (network wiretap, sniffer) FAQ” Version 0.3.3 available from Sep. 14, 2000 at www.robertgraham.com/pubs/sniffing-faq.html herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Sniffing can be done either directly (by physically going to each area location and performing the required operations) or indirectly (by activating a remote sniffer that is connected to and dedicated for each particular area). Once the sniffing operation is completed, an analysis is performed on all of the “sniffed” information to determine the topology. The complexity of topology determination is compounded as more areas are added to the network. Specifically, an increase in areas results in an increase in time consuming remote monitoring and collection procedures. Additionally, network equipment costs increase as a sniffer must be located at each new area to perform the required sniffing operation. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The disadvantages heretofore associated with the prior art are overcome by a novel method and apparatus for determining a network topology with a single sniffer. The method includes the steps of adapting a single sniffer to collect information from nodes associated with at least two selected areas of the network and determining a topology of at least a portion of the network using the collected information. The step of adapting a single sniffer to collect information includes, in one embodiment, connecting the sniffer to a central location of the network. The sniffer may be part of an existing network management system of the network or be a stand-alone device connected independently to the central location of the network. The step of adapting the single sniffer additionally includes, in one embodiment, configuring the centrally connected network sniffer as a partitioned designated node of a selected area. Information is received by the sniffer in a manner that includes collecting information about nodes in a selected area based upon an existing network protocol. In one embodiment of the invention, the existing network protocol is part of ISO-IEC 10589:2001 and the information may include link state messages. The step of composing the topology may include collecting information about the first area and calculating the topology according to the first area and then subsequently receiving information about a second or more areas and recalculating the topology accordingly. Alternately, the step of composing the topology map may include receiving information from all nodes of all areas in the network and performing a single topology map calculation therefrom. The invention also includes an apparatus in the form of a computer readable medium containing instructions for operating a computer in accordance with the method steps presented. The invention also includes a communications network having improved topology determination means comprising an inner nodal area, one or more outer nodal areas connected to the inner nodal area and means for detecting topology forming information about all nodes in the inner and outer nodal areas from a central location in the communications network. The means for detecting the topology forming information is a sniffer connected to the inner nodal area. | 20040617 | 20100112 | 20060209 | 87455.0 | G06F15173 | 1 | JAGANNATHAN, MELANIE | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINATION OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,870,262 | ACCEPTED | Cable and method of making the same | Cable and method for cable. Embodiments of the cable are useful, for example, as an overhead power transmission line. | 1. A cable, comprising: a longitudinal core having a thermal expansion coefficient and comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy; and a plurality of wires collectively having a thermal expansion coefficient greater than the thermal expansion coefficient of the core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, and wherein the plurality of wires are stranded around the core, wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 20 MPa, with the proviso that if the longitudinal core comprises metal matrix composite wire, the core separately comprises at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy. 2. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 15 MPa. 3. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 10 MPa. 4. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 5 MPa. 5. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the cable has a stress parameter in a range from 0 MPa to 15 MPa. 6. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the cable has a stress parameter in a range from 0 MPa to 10 MPa. 7. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the core comprises composite comprising continuous fibers of at least one of the aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy in a polymeric matrix. 8 The cable according to claim 1, wherein the core comprises composite comprising continuous ceramic in a polymeric matrix. 9. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the wires and core are continuous and at least 150 meters long. 10. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the wherein the core comprises wires having a diameter of from 1 mm to 12 mm 11. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the wherein the core comprises wires having a diameter of from 1 mm to 4 mm. 12. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the wires of the core are helically stranded to have a lay factor of from 10 to 150. 13. The cable according to claim 1, wherein the wires are trapezoidal in shape. 14. A method of making a cable, the method comprising: stranding a plurality of wires around a longitudinal core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, the core comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy to provide a preliminary stranded cable; and subjecting the preliminary stranded cable to a closing die to provide a cable according to claim 1, wherein the closing die has an internal diameter, wherein the cable has an exterior diameter, wherein the interior die diameters are is in a range of 1.00 to 1.02 times the exterior cable diameter. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, composites (including metal matrix composites (MMCs)) are known. Composites typically include a matrix reinforced with fibers, particulates, whiskers, or fibers (e.g., short or long fibers). Examples of metal matrix composites include aluminum matrix composite wires (e.g., silicon carbide, carbon, boron, or polycrystalline alpha alumina fibers embedded in an aluminum matrix), titanium matrix composite tapes (e.g., silicon carbide fibers embedded in a titanium matrix), and copper matrix composite tapes (e.g., silicon carbide or boron fibers embedded in a copper matrix). Examples of polymer matrix composites include carbon or graphite fibers in an epoxy resin matrix, glass or aramid fibers in a polyester resin, and carbon and glass fibers in an epoxy resin. One use of composite wire (e.g., metal matrix composite wire) is as a reinforcing member in bare overhead electrical power transmission cables. One typical need for cables is driven by the need to increase the power transfer capacity of existing transmission infrastructure. Desirable performance requirements for cables for overhead power transmission applications include corrosion resistance, environmental endurance (e.g., UV and moisture), resistance to loss of strength at elevated temperatures, creep resistance, as well as relatively high elastic modulus, low density, low coefficient of thermal expansion, high electrical conductivity, and high strength. Although overhead power transmission cables including aluminum matrix composite wires are known, for some applications there is a continuing desire, for example, for more desirable sag properties. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, the present invention provides a cable, comprising: a longitudinal core having a thermal expansion coefficient and comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy; and a plurality of wires collectively having a thermal expansion coefficient greater than the thermal expansion coefficient of the core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, and wherein the plurality of wires are stranded around the core, and wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 20 MPa (in some embodiments, not greater than 19 MPa, 18 MPa, 17 MPa, 16 MPA, 15 Pa, 14 MPa, 13 MPa, 12 MPa, 11 MPa, 10 MPa, 9 MPa, 8 MPa, 7 MPa, 6 MPa, 5 MPa, 4 MPa, 3 MPa, 2 MPa, 1 MPa, or even not greater than 0 MPa; in some embodiments, in a range from 0 MPa to 20 MPa, 0 MPa to 15 MPa, 0 MPa to 10 MPa, or 0 MPa to 5 MPa), with the proviso that if the longitudinal core comprises metal matrix composite wire, the core separately comprises (i.e., not being part of the metal matrix composite wire) at least one of the aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy. In some embodiments, the plurality of wires have a tensile breaking strength of at least 90 MPa, or even at least 100 MPa (calculated according to ASTM B557/B557M (1999), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference). In some embodiments, the core comprises fibers (typically continuous fibers) of at least one of the aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy. In some embodiments, the core comprises a composite comprising fibers and a matrix material (e.g., metal and/or polymeric material). In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a cable according to the present invention, the method comprising: stranding a plurality of wires around a longitudinal core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, the core comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy to provide a preliminary stranded cable; and subjecting the preliminary stranded cable to a closing die to provide the cable, wherein the closing die has an internal diameter, wherein the cable has an exterior diameter, and wherein the interior die diameter is in a range of 1.00 to 1.02 times the exterior cable diameter. As used herein, the following terms are defined as indicated, unless otherwise specified herein: “ceramic” means glass, crystalline ceramic, glass-ceramic, and combinations thereof. “continuous fiber” means a fiber having a length that is relatively infinite when compared to the average fiber diameter. Typically, this means that the fiber has an aspect ratio (i.e., ratio of the length of the fiber to the average diameter of the fiber) of at least 1×105 (in some embodiments, at least 1×106, or even at least 1×107). Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. “shape memory alloy” refers to a metal alloy that undergoes a Martensitic transformation such that the metal alloy is deformable by a twinning mechanism below the transformation temperature, wherein such deformation is reversable when the twin structure reverts to the original phase upon heating above the transformation temperature. Cables according to the present invention are useful, for example, as electric power transmission cables. Typically, cables according to the present invention exhibit improved sag properties (i.e., reduced sag). DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1-5 are schematic, cross-sectional views of exemplary embodiments of cables in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary ultrasonic infiltration apparatus used to infiltrate fibers with molten metals in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 7, 7A, and 7B are schematic views of an exemplary stranding apparatus used to make cable in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 8 is a plot of cable sag data for the Illustrative Example. FIG. 9 is a plot of cable sag data for the Illustrative Example and Prophetic Example 1. FIG. 10 is schematic, cross-sectional view of exemplary embodiment of a cable in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to cables and methods of making cables. A cross-sectional view of an exemplary cable according to the present invention 10 is shown in FIG. 1. Cable 10 includes core 12 and two layers of stranded round wires 14, wherein the core 12 includes wires 16 (as shown, composite wires). A cross-sectional view of another exemplary cable according to the present invention 20 is shown in FIG. 2. Cable 20 includes core 22 and three layers of stranded wires 24, wherein core 22 includes wires 26 (as shown, composite wires). A cross-sectional view of another exemplary cable according to the present invention 30 is shown in FIG. 3. Cable 30 includes core 32 and stranded trapezoidal wires 34, wherein the core 32 includes wires 36 (as shown, composite wires). A cross-sectional view of another exemplary cable according to the present invention 40 is shown in FIG. 4. Cable 40 includes core 42 and stranded wires 44. In some embodiments, the core has a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 5.5 ppm/° C. to about 7.5 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about −75° C. to about 450° C. Examples of materials comprising the core include aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, and/or shape memory alloy. In some embodiments, the materials are in the form of fibers (typically continuous fibers). In some embodiments, cores comprising aramid have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about −6 ppm/° C. to about 0 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 200° C. In some embodiments, the cores comprising ceramic have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 3 ppm/° C. to about 12 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising boron have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 4 ppm/° C. to about 6 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about −6 ppm/° C. to about 0 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising graphite have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about −2 ppm/° C. to about 2 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising carbon have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about −2 ppm/° C. to about 2 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising titanium have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 10 ppm/° C. to about 20 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 800° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising tungsten have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 8 ppm/° C. to about 18 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 1000° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising shape memory alloy have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 8 ppm/° C. to about 25 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 1000° C. In some embodiments, cores comprising glass have a longitudinal thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 4 ppm/° C. to about 10 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 600° C. Examples of fibers for the core include aramid fibers, ceramic fibers, boron fibers, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers, graphite fibers, carbon fibers, titanium fibers, tungsten fibers, and/or shape memory alloy fibers. Exemplary boron fibers are commercially available, for example, from Textron Specialty Fibers, Inc. of Lowell, Mass. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous boron fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 80 micrometers to about 200 micrometers. More typically, the average fiber diameter is no greater than 150 micrometers, most typically in a range from 95 micrometers to 145 micrometers. In some embodiments, the boron fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 3 GPa, and or even at least 3.5 GPa. In some embodiments, the boron fibers have a modulus in a range from about 350 GPa to about 450 GPa, or even in a range from about 350 GPa to about 400 GPa. In some embodiments, the ceramic fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 1.5 GPa, 2 GPa, 3 GPa, 4 GPa, 5 GPa, 6 GPa, and or even at least 6.5 GPa. In some embodiments, the ceramic fibers have a modulus in a range from 140 GPa to about 500 GPa, or even in a range from 140 GPa to about 450 GPa. Exemplary carbon fibers are marketed, for example, by Amoco Chemicals of Alpharetta, Ga. under the trade designation “THORNEL CARBON” in tows of 2000, 4000, 5,000, and 12,000 fibers, Hexcel Corporation of Stamford, Conn., from Grafil, Inc. of Sacramento, Calif. (subsidiary of Mitsubishi Rayon Co.) under the trade designation “PYROFIL”, Toray of Tokyo, Japan, under the trade designation “TORAYCA”, Toho Rayon of Japan, Ltd. under the trade designation “BESFIGHT”, Zoltek Corporation of St. Louis, Mo. under the trade designations “PANEX” and “PYRON”, and Inco Special Products of Wyckoff, N.J. (nickel coated carbon fibers), under the trade designations “12K20” and “12K50”. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous carbon fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 4 micrometers to about 12 micrometers, about 4.5 micrometers to about 12 micrometers, or even about 5 micrometers to about 10 micrometers. In some embodiments, the carbon fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 1.4 GPa, at least 2.1 GPa, at least 3.5 GPa, or even at least 5.5 GPa. In some embodiments, the carbon fibers have a modulus greater than 150 GPa to no greater than 450 GPa, or even no greater than 400 GPa. Exemplary graphite fibers are marketed, for example, by BP Amoco of Alpharetta, Ga., under the trade designation “T-300”, in tows of 1000, 3000, and 6000 fibers. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous graphite fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 4 micrometers to about 12 micrometers, about 4.5 micrometers to about 12 micrometers, or even about 5 micrometers to about 10 micrometers. In some embodiments, the graphite fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 1.5 GPa, 2 GPa, 3 GPa, or even at least 4 GPa. In some embodiments, the graphite fibers have a modulus in a range from about 200 GPa to about 1200 GPa, or even about 200 GPa to about 1000 GPa. Exemplary titanium fibers are available, for example, from TIMET, Henderson, Nev. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous titanium fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from 50 micrometers to about 250 micrometers. In some embodiments, the titanium fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 0.7 GPa, 1 GPa, 1.5 GPa, 2 GPa, or even at least 2.1 GPa. In some embodiments, the ceramic fibers have a modulus in a range from about 85 GPa to about 100 GPa, or even from about 85 to about 95 GPa. Exemplary tungsten fibers are available, for example, from California Fine Wire Company, Grover Beach, Calif. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous tungsten fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 100 micrometers to about 500 micrometers about 150 micrometers to about 500 micrometers, or even from about 200 micrometers to about 400 micrometers. In some embodiments, the tungsten fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 0.7 GPa, 1 GPa, 1.5 GPa, 2 GPa, or even at least 2.3 GPa. In some embodiments, the tungsten fibers have a modulus greater than 400 GPa to approximately no greater than 420 GPa, or even no greater than 415 GPa. Exemplary shape memory alloy fibers are available, for example, from Johnson Matthey, West Whiteland, Pa. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous shape memory alloy fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 50 micrometers to about 400 micrometers, about 50 to about 350 micrometers, or even about 100 micrometers to 300 micrometers. In some embodiments, the shape memory alloy fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 0.5 GPa, and or even at least 1 GPa. In some embodiments, the shape memory alloy fibers have a modulus in a range from about 20 GPa to about 100 GPa, or even from about 20 GPA to about 90 GPa. Exemplary aramid fibers are available, for example, from DuPont, Wilmington, Del. under the trade designation “KEVLAR”. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous aramid fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 10 micrometers to about 15 micrometers. In some embodiments, the aramid fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 2.5 GPa, 3 GPa, 3.5 GPa, 4 GPa, or even at least 4.5 GPa. In some embodiments, the aramid fibers have a modulus in a range from about 80 GPa to about 200 GPa, or even about 80 GPa to about 180 GPa. Exemplary poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers are available, for example, from Toyobo Co., Osaka, Japan under the trade designation “ZYLON”. Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 8 micrometers to about 15 micrometers. In some embodiments, the poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 3 GPa, 4 GPa, 5 GPa, 6 GPa, or even at least 7 GPa. In some embodiments, the poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) fibers have a modulus in a range from about 150 GPa to about 300 GPa, or even about 150 GPa to about 275 GPa. Examples of ceramic fiber include metal oxide (e.g., alumina) fibers, boron nitride fibers, silicon carbide fibers, and combination of any of these fibers. Typically, the ceramic oxide fibers are crystalline ceramics and/or a mixture of crystalline ceramic and glass (i.e., a fiber may contain both crystalline ceramic and glass phases). Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous ceramic fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 5 micrometers to about 50 micrometers, about 5 micrometers to about 25 micrometers about 8 micrometers to about 25 micrometers, or even about 8 micrometers to about 20 micrometers. In some embodiments, the crystalline ceramic fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 1.4 GPa, at least 1.7 GPa, at least 2.1 GPa, and or even at least 2.8 GPa. In some embodiments, the crystalline ceramic fibers have a modulus greater than 70 GPa to approximately no greater than 1000 GPa, or even no greater than 420 GPa. Examples of monofilament ceramic fibers include silicon carbide fibers. Typically, the silicon carbide monofilament fibers are crystalline and/or a mixture of crystalline ceramic and glass (i.e., a fiber may contain both crystalline ceramic and glass phases). Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. Typically, the continuous silicon carbide monofilament fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 100 micrometers to about 250 micrometers. In some embodiments, the crystalline ceramic fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 2.8 GPa, at least 3.5 GPa, at least 4.2 GPa and or even at least 6 GPa. In some embodiments, the crystalline ceramic fibers have a modulus greater than 250 GPa to approximately no greater than 500 GPa, or even no greater than 430 GPa. Further, exemplary glass fibers are available, for example, from Corning Glass, Coming, N.Y. Typically, the continuous glass fibers have an average fiber diameter in a range from about 3 micrometers to about 19 micrometers. In some embodiments, the glass fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 3 GPa, 4 GPa, and or even at least 5 GPa. In some embodiments, the glass fibers have a modulus in a range from about 60 GPa to 95 GPa, or about 60 GPa to about 90 GPa. In some embodiments of ceramic and carbon fibers are in tows. Tows are known in the fiber art and refer to a plurality of (individual) fibers (typically at least 100 fibers, more typically at least 400 fibers) collected in a roving-like form. In some embodiments, tows comprise at least 780 individual fibers per tow, and in some cases, at least 2600 individual fibers per tow. Tows of ceramic fibers are available in a variety of lengths, including 300 meters, 500 meters, 750 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 1750 meters, and longer. The fibers may have a cross-sectional shape that is circular or elliptical. In some embodiments of carbon fibers, tows comprise at least 2,000 5,000 12,000, or even at least 50,000 individual fibers per tow. Alumina fibers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,462 (Wood et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,29 (Wood et al.). In some embodiments, the alumina fibers are polycrystalline alpha alumina fibers and comprise, on a theoretical oxide basis, greater than 99 percent by weight Al2O3 and 0.2-0.5 percent by weight SiO2, based on the total weight of the alumina fibers. In another aspect, some desirable polycrystalline, alpha alumina fibers comprise alpha alumina having an average grain size of less than 1 micrometer (or even, in some embodiments, less than 0.5 micrometer). In another aspect, in some embodiments, polycrystalline, alpha alumina fibers have an average tensile strength of at least 1.6 GPa (in some embodiments, at least 2.1 GPa, or even, at least 2.8 GPa). Exemplary alpha alumina fibers are marketed under the trade designation “NEXTEL 610” by 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn. Aluminosilicate fibers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,965 (Karst et al). Exemplary aluminosilicate fibers are marketed under the trade designations “NEXTEL 440”, “NEXTEL 550”, and “NEXTEL 720” by 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. Aluminoborosilicate fibers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,524 (Sowman). Exemplary aluminoborosilicate fibers are marketed under the trade designation “NEXTEL 312” by 3M Company. Boron nitride fibers can be made, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,722 (Economy) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,154 (Okano et al.). Exemplary silicon carbide fibers are marketed, for example, by COI Ceramics of San Diego, Calif. under the trade designation “NICALON” in tows of 500 fibers, from Ube Industries of Japan, under the trade designation “TYRANNO”, and from Dow Corning of Midland, Mich. under the trade designation “SYLRAMIC”. Exemplary silicon carbide monofilament fibers are marketed, for example, by Textron Specialty Materials of Lowell, Mass. under the trade designation “SCS-9”, “SCS-6” and “Ulra-SCS”, and from Atlantic Research Corporation, of Gainesville, Va. under the trade designation “Trimarc”. Commercially available fibers typically include an organic sizing material added to the fiber during manufacture to provide lubricity and to protect the fiber strands during handling. Also the sizing may aid in handling during pultrusion with polymers to make polymer composite core wires. The sizing may be removed, for example, by dissolving or burning the sizing away from the fibers. Typically, it is desirable to remove the sizing before forming metal matrix composite wire. The fibers may have coatings used, for example, to enhance the wettability of the fibers, to reduce or prevent reaction between the fibers and molten metal matrix material. Such coatings and techniques for providing such coatings are known in the fiber and composite art. In some embodiments, at least 85% (in some embodiments, at least 90%, or even at least 95%) by number of the fibers in the core are continuous. Exemplary matrix materials for composite cores and wires include polymers (e.g., epoxies, esters, vinyl esters, polyimides, polyesters, cyanate esters, phenolic resins, bismaleimide resins and thermoplastics) and metal(s) (e.g., highly pure, (e.g., greater than 99.95%) elemental aluminum or alloys of pure aluminum with other elements, such as copper). Typically, the metal matrix material is selected such that the matrix material does not significantly chemically react with the fiber (i.e., is relatively chemically inert with respect to fiber material), for example, to eliminate the need to provide a protective coating on the fiber exterior. Exemplary metal matrix materials include aluminum, zinc, tin, magnesium, and alloys thereof (e.g., an alloy of aluminum and copper). In some embodiments, the matrix material desirably includes aluminum and alloys thereof. In some embodiments, the metal matrix comprises at least 98 percent by weight aluminum, at least 99 percent by weight aluminum, greater than 99.9 percent by weight aluminum, or even greater than 99.95 percent by weight aluminum. Exemplary aluminum alloys of aluminum and copper comprise at least 98 percent by weight Al and up to 2 percent by weight Cu. In some embodiments, useful alloys are 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000 and/or 8000 series aluminum alloys (Aluminum Association designations). Although higher purity metals tend to be desirable for making higher tensile strength wires, less pure forms of metals are also useful. Suitable metals are commercially available. For example, aluminum is available under the trade designation “SUPER PURE ALUMINUM; 99.99% Al” from Alcoa of Pittsburgh, Pa. Aluminum alloys (e.g., Al-2% by weight Cu (0.03% by weight impurities)) can be obtained, for example, from Belmont Metals, New York, N.Y. Zinc and tin are available, for example, from Metal Services, St. Paul, Minn. (“pure zinc”; 99.999% purity and “pure tin”; 99.95% purity). For example, magnesium is available under the trade designation “PURE” from Magnesium Elektron, Manchester, England. Magnesium alloys (e.g., WE43A, EZ33A, AZ81A, and ZE41A) can be obtained, for example, from TIMET, Denver, Colo. The composite cores and wires typically comprise at least 15 percent by volume (in some embodiments, at least 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or even 50 percent by volume) of the fibers, based on the total combined volume of the fibers and matrix material. More typically the composite cores and wires comprise in the range from 40 to 75 (in some embodiments, 45 to 70) percent by volume of the fibers, based on the total combined volume of the fibers and matrix material. Typically the average diameter of the core is in a range from about 1 mm to about 15 mm. In some embodiments, the average diameter of core desirable is at least 1 mm, at least 2 mm, or even up to about 3 mm. Typically the average diameter of the composite wire is in a range from about 1 mm to 12 mm, 1 mm to 10 mm, 1 to 8 mm, or even 1 mm to 4 mm. In some embodiments, the average diameter of composite wire desirable is at least 1 mm, at least 1.5 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, 7 mm, 8 mm, 9 mm, 10 mm, 11 mm, or even at least 12 mm. Composite cores and wires can be made using techniques known in the art. Continuous metal matrix composite wire can be made, for example, by continuous metal matrix infiltration processes. One suitable process is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,796 (Carpenter et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Wires comprising polymers and fiber may be made by pultrusion processes which are known in the art. A schematic of an exemplary apparatus 60 for making continuous metal matrix wire is shown in FIG. 6. Tows of continuous fibers 61 are supplied from supply spools 62, and are collimated into a circular bundle and for fibers, heat-cleaned while passing through tube furnace 63. Tows of fibers 61 are then evacuated in vacuum chamber 64 before entering crucible 67 containing melt 65 of metallic matrix material (also referred to herein as “molten metal”). Tows of fibers 61 are pulled from supply spools 62 by caterpuller 70. Ultrasonic probe 66 is positioned in melt 65 in the vicinity of the fiber to aid in infiltrating melt 65 into tows of fibers 61. The molten metal of the wire 71 cools and solidifies after exiting crucible 67 through exit die 68, although some cooling may occur before wire 71 fully exits crucible 67. Cooling of wire 71 is enhanced by streams of gas or liquid delivered through cooling device 69, that impinge on wire 71. Wire 71 is collected onto spool 72. As discussed above, heat-cleaning the fiber helps remove or reduce the amount of sizing, adsorbed water, and other fugitive or volatile materials that may be present on the surface of the fibers. Typically, it is desirable to heat-clean the fibers until the carbon content on the surface of the fiber is less than 22% area fraction. Typically, the temperature of tube furnace 63 is at least 300° C., more typically, at least 1000° C., and the fiber resides in the tube furnace 63 for at least several seconds at temperature, although the particular temperature(s) and time(s) may depend, for example, on the cleaning needs of the particular fiber being used. In some embodiments, tows of fibers 61 are evacuated before entering melt 67, as it has been observed that use of such evacuation tends to reduce or eliminate the formation of defects, such as localized regions with dry fibers (i.e., fiber regions without infiltration of the matrix). Typically, tows of fibers 61 are evacuated in a vacuum of in some embodiments not greater than 20 torr, not greater than 10 torr, not greater than 1 torr, or even not greater than 0.7 torr. An exemplary suitable vacuum system 64 has an entrance tube sized to match the diameter of the bundle of tows of fiber 61. The entrance tube can be, for example, a stainless steel or alumina tube, and is typically at least about 20-30 cm long. A suitable vacuum chamber 64 typically has a diameter in the range from about 2-20 cm, and a length in the range from about 5-100 cm. The capacity of the vacuum pump is, in some embodiments, at least about 0.2-1 cubic meters/minute. The evacuated tows of fibers 61 are inserted into melt 65 through a tube on vacuum system 64 that penetrates the metal bath (i.e., the evacuated bundle of tows of fibers 61 are under vacuum when introduced into melt 65), although melt 65 is typically at atmospheric pressure. The inside diameter of the exit tube essentially matches the diameter of the bundle of tows of fibers 61. A portion of the exit tube is immersed in the molten metal. In some embodiments, about 0.5-5 cm of the tube is immersed in the molten metal. The tube is selected to be stable in the molten metal material. Examples of tubes which are typically suitable include silicon nitride and alumina tubes. Infiltration of molten metal 65 into bundle of tows of fibers 61 is typically enhanced by the use of ultrasonics. For example, vibrating horn 66 is positioned in molten metal 65 such that it is in close proximity to bundle of tows of fibers 61. In some embodiments, horn 66 is driven to vibrate in the range of about 19.5-20.5 kHz and an amplitude in air of about 0.13-0.38 mm (0.005-0.015 in). Further, in some embodiments, the horn is connected to a titanium waveguide which, in turn, is connected to the ultrasonic transducer (available, for example, from Sonics & Materials, Danbury Conn.). In some embodiments, bundle of tows of fibers 61 are within about 2.5 mm (in some embodiments within about 1.5 mm) of the horn tip. The horn tip is, in some embodiments, made of niobium, or alloys of niobium, such as 95 wt. % Nb-5 wt. % Mo and 91 wt. % Nb-9 wt. % Mo, and can be obtained, for example, from PMTI, Pittsburgh, Pa. The alloy can be fashioned, for example, into a cylinder 12.7 cm in length (5 in.) and 2.5 cm in diameter (1 in.). The cylinder can be tuned to a desired vibration frequency (e.g., about 19.5-20.5 kHz) by altering its length. For additional details regarding the use of ultrasonics for making metal matrix composite articles, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,060 (Ishikawa et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,563 (Ishikawa et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,643 (Ishikawa et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,232 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,425 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,495 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,056 (Deve et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,270 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,927 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,597 (McCullough et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,796 (Carpenter et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,645 (McCullough et al.); U.S. application having Ser. No. 09/616,741, filed Jul. 14, 2000; and PCT application having Publication No. WO02/06550, published Jan. 24, 2002. Typically, molten metal 65 is degassed (e.g., reducing the amount of gas (e.g., hydrogen in aluminum) dissolved in molten metal 65 during and/or prior to infiltration. Techniques for degassing molten metal 65 are well known in the metal processing art. Degassing melt 65 tends to reduce gas porosity in the wire. For molten aluminum, the hydrogen concentration of melt 65 is in some embodiments, less than about 0.2, 0.15, or even less than about 0.1 cm3/100 gram of aluminum. Exit die 68 is configured to provide the desired wire diameter. Typically, it is desired to have a uniformly round wire along its length. For example, the diameter of a silicon nitride exit die for an aluminum composite wire containing 58 volume percent alumina fibers is the same as the diameter of wire 71. In some embodiments, exit die 68 is desirably made of silicon nitride, although other materials may also be useful. Other materials that have been used as exit dies in the art include conventional alumina. It has been found by Applicants, however, that silicon nitride exit dies wear significantly less than conventional alumina dies, and hence are more useful for providing the desired diameter and shape of the wire, particularly over long lengths of wire. Typically, wire 71 is cooled after exiting exit die 68 by contacting wire 71 with liquid (e.g., water) or gas (e.g., nitrogen, argon, or air) delivered through a cooling device 69. Such cooling aids in providing the desirable roundness and uniformity characteristics, and freedom from voids. Wire 71 is collected on spool 72. It is known that the presence of imperfections in the metal matrix composite wire, such as intermetallic phases; dry fiber; porosity as a result, for example, of shrinkage or internal gas (e.g., hydrogen or water vapor) voids; etc. may lead to diminished properties, such as wire strength. Hence, it is desirable to reduce or minimize the presence of such characteristics. For cores comprised of wires, it is desirable in some embodiments, hold the wires together, for example, a tape overwrap, with or without adhesive, or a binder (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,385 B1 (Johnson et al.)). For example, a cross-sectional view of another exemplary cable according to the present invention 50 having a tape-wrapped core is shown in FIG. 5. Cable 50 includes core 52 and two layers of stranded wires 54, wherein core 52 includes wires 56 (as shown, composite wires) wrapped with tape 55. For example, the core can be made by stranding (e.g., helically winding) a first layer of wires around a central wire using techniques known in the art. Typically, helically stranded cores tend to comprise as few as 7 individual wires to 50 or more wires. Stranding equipment is known in the art (e.g., planetary cable stranders such as those available from Cortinovis, Spa, of Bergamo, Italy, and from Watson Machinery International, Patterson, N.J.). Prior to being helically wound together, the individual wires are provided on separate bobbins which are then placed in a number of motor driven carriages of the stranding equipment. Typically, there is one carriage for each layer of the finished stranded cable. The wires of each layer are brought together at the exit of each carriage and arranged over the first central wire or over the preceding layer. During the cable stranding process, the central wire, or the intermediate unfinished stranded cable which will have one or more additional layers wound about it, is pulled through the center of the various carriages, with each carriage adding one layer to the stranded cable. The individual wires to be added as one layer are simultaneously pulled from their respective bobbins while being rotated about the central axis of the cable by the motor driven carriage. This is done in sequence for each desired layer. Tape, for example, can be applied to the resulting stranded core aid in holding the stranded wires together. One exemplary machine for applying tape is commercially available from Watson Machine International (e.g., model 300 Concentric Taping Head). Exemplary tapes include metal foil tape (e.g., aluminum foil tape (available, for example, from the 3M Company, St Paul, Minn. under the trade designation “Foil/Glass Cloth Tape 363”)), polyester backed tape; and tape having a glass reinforced backing. In some embodiments, the tape has a thickness in a range from 0.05 mm to 0.13 mm (0.002 to 0.005 inch). In some embodiments, the tape is wrapped such that each successive wrap abuts the previous wrap without a gap and without overlap. In some embodiments, for example, the tape can be wrapped so that successive wraps are spaced to leave a gap between each wrap. Cores, composite wires, cables, etc. have a length, of at least 100 meters, of at least 200 meters, of at least 300 meters, at least 400 meters, at least 500 meters, at least 600 meters, at least 700 meters, at least 800 meters, or even at least 900 meters. Wires for stranding around a core to provide a cable according to the present invention are known in the art. Aluminum wires are commercially available, for example from Nexans, Weyburn, Canada or Southwire Company, Carrolton, Ga. under the trade designations “1350-H19 ALUMINUM” and “1350-HO ALUMINUM”. Typically, aluminum wire have a thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 20 ppm/° C. to about 25 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 500° C. In some embodiments, aluminum wires (e.g., “1350-H19 ALUMINUM”) have a tensile breaking strength, at least 138 MPa (20 ksi), at least 158 MPa (23 ksi), at least 172 MPa (25 ksi) or at least 186 MPa (27 ksi) or at least 200 MPa (29 ksi.). In some embodiments, aluminum wires (e.g., “1350-HO ALUMINUM”) have a tensile breaking strength greater than 41 MPa (6 ksi) to no greater than 97 MPa (14 ksi), or even no greater than 83 MPa (12 ksi). Aluminum alloy wires are commercially available, for example from Sumitomo Electric Industries, Osaka, Japan under the trade designation “ZTAL”, or Southwire Company, Carrolton, Ga., under the designation “6201”. In some embodiments, aluminum alloy wires have a thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 20 ppm/° C. to about 25 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 500° C. Copper wires are commercially available, for example from Southwire Company, Carrolton, Ga. Typically, copper wires have a thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 12 ppm/° C. to about 18 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 800° C. Copper alloy (e.g., copper bronzes such as Cu—Si—X, Cu—Al—X, Cu—Sn—X, Cu—Cd; where X═Fe, Mn, Zn, Sn and or Si; commercially available, for example from Southwire Company, Carrolton, Ga.; oxide dispersion strengthened copper available, for example, from OMG Americas Corporation, Reasearch Triangle Park, N.C., under the designation “GLIDCOP”) wires. In some embodiments, copper alloy wires have a thermal expansion coefficient in a range from about 10 ppm/° C. to about 25 ppm/° C. over at least a temperature range from about 20° C. to about 800° C. The wires may be in any of a variety shapes (e.g., circular, elliptical, and trapezoidal). In general, cable according to the present invention can be made by stranding wires over a core. The core may include, for example, a single wire, or stranded (e.g., helically wound wires. In some embodiments, for example, 7, 19 or 37 wires. Exemplary apparatus 80 for making cable according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 7, 7A, and 7B. Spool of core material 81 is provided at the head of conventional planetary stranding machine 80, wherein spool 81 is free to rotate, with tension capable of being applied via a braking system where tension can be applied to the core during payoff (in some embodiments, in the range of 0-91 kg (0-200 lbs.)). Core 90 is threaded through bobbin carriages 82, 83, through the closing dies 84, 85, around capstan wheels 86 and attached to take-up spool 87. Prior to the application of the outer stranding layers, individual wires are provided on separate bobbins 88 which are placed in a number of motor driven carriages 82, 83 of the stranding equipment. In some embodiments, the range of tension required to pull wire 89A, 89B from the bobbins 88 is typically 4.5-22.7 kg (10-50 lbs.). Typically, there is one carriage for each layer of the finished stranded cable. Wires 89A, 89B of each layer are brought together at the exit of each carriage at a closing die 84, 85 and arranged over the central wire or over the preceding layer. Layers are helically stranded in opposite directions such that the outer layer results in a right hand lay. During the cable stranding process, the central wire, or the intermediate unfinished stranded cable which will have one or more additional layers wound about it, is pulled through the center of the various carriages, with each carriage adding one layer to the stranded cable. The individual wires to be added as one layer are simultaneously pulled from their respective bobbins while being rotated about the central axis of the cable by the motor driven carriage. This is done in sequence for each desired layer. The result is a helically stranded cable 91 that can be cut and handled conveniently without loss of shape or unraveling. This ability to handle the stranded cable is a desirable feature. Although not wanting to be bound by theory, the cable maintains its helically stranded arrangement because during manufacture, the metallic wires are subjected to stresses, including bending stresses, beyond the yield stress of the wire material but below the ultimate or failure stress. This stress is imparted as the wire is helically wound about the relatively small radius of the preceding layer or central wire. Additional stresses are imparted at closing dies 84, 85 which apply radial and shear forces to the cable during manufacture. The wires therefore plastically deform and maintain their helically stranded shape. The core material and wires for a given layer are brought into intimate contact via closing dies. Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, closing dies 84A, 85A are typically sized to minimize the deformation stresses on the wires of the layer being wound. The internal diameter of the closing die is tailored to the size of the external layer diameter. To minimize stresses on the wires of the layer, the closing die is sized such that it is in the range from 0-2.0% larger, relative to the external diameter of the cable. (i.e., the interior die diameters are in a range of 1.00 to 1.02 times the exterior cable diameter). Exemplary closing dies shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B are cylinders, and are held in position, for example, using bolts or other suitable attachments. The dies can be made, for example, of hardened tool steel. The resulting finished cable may pass through other stranding stations, if desired, and ultimately wound onto a take-up spool 87 of sufficient diameter to avoid cable damage. In some embodiments, techniques known in the art for straightening the cable may be desirable. For example, the finished cable can be passed through a straightener device comprised of rollers (each roller being for example, 10-15 cm (4-6 inches), linearly arranged in two banks, with, for example, 5-9 rollers in each bank. The distance between the two banks of rollers may be varied so that the rollers just impinge on the cable or cause severe flexing of the cable. The two banks of rollers are positioned on opposing sides of the cable, with the rollers in one bank matching up with the spaces created by the opposing rollers in the other bank. Thus, the two banks can be offset from each other. As the cable passes through the straightening device, the cable flexes back and forth over the rollers, allowing the strands in the conductor to stretch to the same length, thereby reducing or eliminating slack strands. In some embodiments, to facilitate providing the cable with a stress parameter less than zero, it is desirable to provide the core at an elevated temperature (e.g., at least 25° C., 50° C., 75° C., 100° C., 125° C., 150° C., 200° C., 250° C., 300° C., 400° C., or even, in some embodiments, at least 500° C.) above ambient temperature (e.g., 22° C.). The core can be brought to the desired temperature, for example, by heating spooled core (e.g., core on a metal (e.g., steel) in an oven for several hours. The heated spooled core is placed on the pay-off spool (see, e.g., pay-off spool 71 in FIG. 7) of a stranding machine. Desirably, the spool at elevated temperature is in the stranding process while the core is still at or near the desired temperature (typically within about 2 hours). Further it may be desirable, for the wires on the payoff spools that form the outer layers of the cable, to be at the ambient temperature. That is, it is desirable to have a temperature differential between the core and wires that nform the outer layer during the stranding process. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to conduct the stranding with a core tension of at least 100 kg, 200 kg, 500 kg, 1000 kg., or even at least 5000 kg. In some embodiments of cables according to the present invention (e.g., cables having a stress parameter less than zero), it is desirable to hold the wires that are stranded around the core together, for example, a tape overwrap, with or without adhesive, or a binder. For example, a cross-sectional view of another exemplary cable according to the present invention 110 is shown in FIG. 10. Cable 110 includes core 112 with wires core 116 and two layers of stranded wires 114, wherein cable 110 is wrapped with tape 118. Tape, for example, can be applied to the resulting stranded cable to aid in holding the stranded wires together. In some embodiments the cable is be wrapped with adhesive tape using conventional taping equipment. One exemplary machine for applying tape is commercially available from Watson Machine International (e.g., model 300 Concentric Taping Head). Exemplary tapes include metal foil tape (e.g., aluminum foil tape (available, for example, from the 3M Company, St Paul, Minn. under the trade designation “Foil/Glass Cloth Tape 363”)), polyester backed tape; and tape having a glass reinforced backing. In some embodiments, the tape has a thickness in a range from 0.05 mm to 0.13 mm (0.002 to 0.005 inch). In some embodiments, the tape is wrapped such that each successive wrap overlaps the previous. In some embodiments, the tape is wrapped such that each successive wrap abuts the previous wrap without a gap and without overlap. In some embodiments, for example, the tape can be wrapped so that successive wraps are spaced to leave a gap between each wrap. In some embodiments the cable is wrapped while the cable is under tension during the stranding process. Referring to FIG. 7, for example, taping equipment would be located between the final closing die 85 and final capstan 86. Method for Measuring Sag A length of conductor is selected 30-300 meters in length and is terminated with conventional epoxy fittings, ensuring the layers substantially retain the same relative positions as in the as manufactured state. The outer wires are extended through the epoxy fittings and out the other side, and then reconstituted to allow for connection to electrical AC power using conventional terminal connectors. The epoxy fittings are poured in aluminum spelter sockets that are connected to tumbuckles for holding tension. On one side, a load cell is connected to a turnbuckle and then at both ends the turnbuckles are attached to pulling eyes. The eyes were connected to large concrete pillars, large enough to minimize end deflections of the system when under tension. For the test, the tension is pulled to a value in a range from 10 to 30 percent of the conductor rated breaking strength. The temperature is measured at three locations along the length of the conductor (at ¼, ½ and ¾ of the distance of the total (pulling-eye to pulling-eye) span) using nine thermocouples. At each location, the three thermocouples are positioned in three different radial positions within the conductor; between the outer wire strands, between the inner wire strands, and adjacent to (i.e., contacting) the outer core wires. The sag values are measured at three locations along the length of the conductor (at ¼, ½ and ¾ of the distance of the span) using pull wire potentiometers (available from SpaceAge Control, Inc, Palmdale, Calif.). These are positioned to measure the vertical movement of the three locations. AC current is applied to the conductor to increase the temperature to the desired value. The temperature of the conductor is raised from room temperature (about 20° C. (68° F.)) to about 240° C. (464° F.) at a rate in the range of 60-120° C./minute (140-248° F./minute). The highest temperature of all of the thermocouples is used as the control. The sag value of the conductor (Sagtotal) is calculated at various temperatures in one degree intervals from room temperature (about 20° C. (68° F.)) to about 240° C. (464° F.) using the following equation: Sag total = Sag 1 / 2 - ( Sag 1 / 4 + Sag 3 / 4 2 ) ( 1 ) Where: Sag1/2=sag measured at ½ the distance of the span of the conductor Sag1/4=sag measured at ¼ the distance of the span of the conductor Sag3/4=sag measured at ¾ the distance of the span of the conductor The effective “inner span” length is the horizontal distance between the ¼ and ¾ positions. This is the span length used to compute the sag. Derivation of Stress Parameter The measured sag and temperature data is plotted as a graph of sag versus temperature. A calculated curve is fit to the measured data using the Alcoa Sag10 graphic method available in a software program from Alcoa Fujikura Ltd., Greenville, S.C. under the trade designation “SAG10” (version 3.0 update 3.9.7). The stress parameter is a fitting parameter in “SAG10” labeled as the “built-in aluminum stress” which can be altered to fit other parameters if material other than aluminum is used (e.g., aluminum alloy), and which adjusts the position of the knee-point on the predicted graph and also the amount of sag in the high temperature, post-knee-point regime. A description of the stress parameter theory is provided in the Alcoa Sag10 Users Manual (Version 2.0): Theory of Compressive Stress in Aluminum of ACSR, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The following conductor parameters are required for entry into the Sag10 Software; area, diameter, weight per unit length, and rated breaking strength. The following line loading conditions are required for entry into the Sag10 Software; span length, initial tension at room temperature (20-25° C.). The following parameters are required for entry into the Sag10 Software to run the compressive stress calculation: built in Wire Stress, Wire Area (as fraction of total area), number of wire layers in the conductor, number of wire strands in the conductor, number of core strands, the stranding lay ratios of each wire layer. Stress-strain coefficients are required for input into the “SAG10” software as a Table (see Table 1, below). TABLE 1 Initial Wire A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 AF Final Wire (10 year creep) B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 α (A1) Initial Core C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 CF Final Core (10 year creep) α D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 (core) Also a parameter TREF is specified which is the temperature at which the coefficients are referenced. Definition of Stress Strain Curve Polynomials First five numbers A0-A4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the initial wire curve times the area ratio: A Wire A total · σ InitialWire = A 0 + A 1 ɛ + A 2 ɛ 2 + A 3 ɛ 3 + A 4 ɛ 4 ( 2 ) AF is the final modulus of the wire A Wire A total · σ FinalWire = AF ɛ ( 3 ) Wherein ε is the conductor elongation in % and σ is the stress in psi B0-B4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the final 10 year creep curve of the wire times the area ratio: A Wire A total · σ FinalWire = B 0 + B 1 ɛ + B 2 ɛ 2 + B 3 ɛ 3 + B 4 ɛ 4 ( 4 ) C α (Al) is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the wire. C0-C4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the initial curve times the area ratio for composite core only. CF is the final modulus of the composite core D0-D4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the final 10 year creep curve of the composite core times the area ratio α (core) is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite core. In fitting the calculated and measured data, the best fit matches (i) the calculated curve to the measured data by varying the value of the stress parameter, such that the curves match at high temperatures (140-240° C.), and (ii) the inflection point (knee-point) of the measured curve closely matches the calculated curve, and (iii) the initial calculated sag is required to match the initial measured sag (i.e., initial tension at 24° C. (75° F.) is 1432 kg, producing 12.5 cm (5 inches) of sag.). The value of the stress parameter to gain the best fit to the measured data is thus derived. This result is the “Stress Parameter” for the cable. Cable according to the present invention can be used in a variety of applications including in overhead electrical power transmission cables. Advantages and embodiments of this invention are further illustrated by the following examples, but the particular materials and amounts thereof recited in these examples, as well as other conditions and details, should not be construed to unduly limit this invention. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated. EXAMPLES Illustrative Example The wire for the Illustrative Example cable was prepared as follows. The wire was made using apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 6. Eleven (11) tows of 10,000 denier alpha alumina fiber (marketed by the 3M Company, St. Paul under the trade designation “NEXTEL 610”) were supplied from supply spools 62, collimated into a circular bundle, and heat-cleaned by passing through 1.5 m (5 ft.) long alumina tube 63 heated to 1100° C. at 305 cm/min (120 in./min). Heat-cleaned fibers 61 were then evacuated in vacuum chamber 64 before entering crucible 67 containing melt (molten metal) 65 of metallic aluminum (99.99% Al) matrix material (obtained from Beck Aluminum Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.). The fibers were pulled from supply spools 62 by caterpuller 70. Ultrasonic probe 66 was positioned in melt 65 in the vicinity of the fiber to aid in infiltrating melt 65 into tows of fibers 61. The molten metal of wire 71 cooled and solidified after exiting crucible 67 through exit die 68, although some cooling likely occurred before the wire 71 fully exited crucible 67. Further, cooling of wire 71 was enhanced by streams of nitrogen gas delivered through cooling device 69 that impinged on wire 71. Wire 71 was collected onto spool 72. Fibers 61 were evacuated before entering the melt 67. The pressure in the vacuum chamber was about 20 torr. Vacuum system 64 had a 25 cm long alumina entrance tube sized to match the diameter of the bundle of fiber 61. Vacuum chamber 64 was 21 cm long, and 10 cm in diameter. The capacity of the vacuum pump was 0.37 m3/minute. The evacuated fibers 61 were inserted into the melt 65 through a tube on the vacuum system 64 that penetrated the metal bath (i.e., the evacuated fibers 61 were under vacuum when introduced into the melt 54. The inside diameter of the exit tube matched the diameter of the fiber bundle 61. A portion of the exit tube was immersed in the molten metal to a depth of 5 cm. Infiltration of the molten metal 65 into the fibers 61 was enhanced by the use of a vibrating horn 66 positioned in the molten metal 65 so that it was in close proximity to the fibers 61. Horn 66 was driven to vibrate at 19.7 kHz and an amplitude in air of 0.18 mm (0.007 in.). The horn was connected to a titanium waveguide which, in turn, was connected to the ultrasonic transducer (obtained from Sonics & Materials, Danbury, Conn.). The fibers 61 were within 2.5 mm of the horn tip. The horn tip was, made of a niobium alloy of composition 91 wt. % Nb-9 wt. % Mo (obtained from PMTI, Pittsburgh, Pa.). The alloy was fashioned into a cylinder 12.7 cm in length (5 in.) and 2.5 cm (1 in.) in diameter. The cylinder was tuned to the desired vibration frequency of 19.7 kHz by altering its length. The molten metal 65 was degassed (e.g., reducing the amount of gas (e.g., hydrogen) dissolved in the molten metal) prior to infiltration. A portable rotary degassing unit available from Brummund Foundry Inc, Chicago, Ill., was used. The gas used was Argon, the Argon flow rate was 1050 liters per minute, the speed was provided by the air flow rate to the motor set at 50 liters per minute, and duration was 60 minutes. The silicon nitride exit die 68 was configured to provide the desired wire diameter. The internal diameter of the exit die was 2.67 mm (0.105 in.). The stranded core was stranded on stranding equipment at Wire Rope Company in Montreal, Canada. The cable had one wire in the center, and six wires in the first layer with a right hand lay. Prior to being helically wound together, the individual wires were provided on separate bobbins which were then placed in a motor driven carriage of the stranding equipment. The carriage held the six bobbins for the layer of the finished stranded cable. The wires of the layer were brought together at the exit of the carriage and arranged over the central wire. During the cable stranding process, the central wire, was pulled through the center of the carriage, with the carriage adding one layer to the stranded cable. The individual wires added as one layer were simultaneously pulled from their respective bobbins while being rotated about the central axis of the cable by the motor driven carriage. The result was a helically stranded core. The stranded core was wrapped with adhesive tape using conventional taping equipment (model 300 Concentric Taping Head from Watson Machine International, Paterson, N.J.). The tape backing was aluminum foil tape with fiber glass, and had a pressure sensitive silicone adhesive (obtained under the trade designation “Foil/Glass Cloth Tape 363” from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.). The total thickness of tape 18 was 0.0072 inch (0.18 mm). The tape was 0.75 inch (1.90 cm) wide. The average diameter of the finished core was 0.324 inch (8.23 mm) and the lay length of the stranded layer was 21.3 inches (54.1 cm). The first trapezoidal aluminum alloy wires were prepared from aluminum/zirconium rod (9.53 mm (0.375 inch) diameter; obtained from Lamifil Nev., (Hemiksem, Belguim under the trade designation “ZTAL”) with a tensile strength of 153.95 MPa (22,183 psi), an elongation of 13.3%, and an electrical conductivity of 60.4% IACS. The second trapezoidal wires were prepared from aluminum/zirconium rod of 9.53 mm (0.375 inch) diameter (“ZTAL”) with a tensile strength of 132.32 MPa (19,191 psi), an elongation of 10.4%, and an electrical conductivity of 60.5% IACS. The rods were drawn down at room temperature using five intermediate dies as is known in the art, and finally a trapezoidal shaped forming die. The drawing dies were made of tungsten carbide. The geometry of the tungsten carbide die had a 60° entrance angle, a 16-180 reduction angle, a bearing length 30% of the die diameter, and a 60° back relief angle. The die surface was highly polished. The die was lubricated and cooled using a drawing oil. The drawing system delivered the oil at a rate set in the range of 60-100 liters per minute per die, with the temperature set in the range of 40-50° C. The last forming die comprised two horizontal hardened steel (60 RC hardness) forming rolls, with highly polished working surfaces. The design of the roll grooves was based on the required trapezoidal profile. The rolls were installed on a rolling stand that was located between the drawbox and the outside drawblock. The final forming roll reduction, reduced the area of the wire about 23.5%. The amount of area reduction was sufficient to move the metal into the corners of the roll grooves and adequately fill the space between the forming rolls. The forming rolls were aligned and installed so that the cap of the trapezoidal wires faced the surfaces of the drawblock and the bobbin drum. After forming, the wire profile was checked and verified using a template. This wire was then wound onto bobbins. Various properties of the resulting wire are listed in Table 2, below. The “effective diameter” of the trapezoidal shape refers to the diameter of a circle that has the same area as the cross-sectional area of the trapezoidal shape. There were 20 bobbins loaded into the stranding equipment (8 of the first wires for stranding the first inner layer), 12 of the second wires for stranding the second outer layer) and wire was taken from a subset of these for testing, which were the “sampled bobbins”. TABLE 2 Con- Effective Tensile Elon- duc- Diameter, mm strength, MPa gation, tivity, (inch) (psi) % IACS % Inner Layer Wire 1st Bobbin 4.54 (0.1788) 168.92 (24,499) 5.1 59.92 Wire 4th Bobbin 4.54 (0.1788) 159.23 (23,095) 4.3 60.09 Wire 8th Bobbin 4.54 (0.1788) 163.39 (23,697) 4.7 60.18 Outer Layer Wire 1st Bobbin 4.70 (0.1851) 188.32 (27,314) 4.7 60.02 Wire 4th Bobbin 4.70 (0.1851) 186.27 (27,016) 4.3 60.09 Wire 8th Bobbin 4.70 (0.1851) 184.73 (26,793) 4.3 60.31 Wire 12th Bobbin 4.70 (0.1851) 185.50 (26,905) 4.7 59.96 A cable was made by Nexans, Weyburn, SK using a conventional planetary stranding machine and the core and (inner and outer) wires described above for Comparative Example. A schematic of the apparatus 80 for making cable is shown in FIGS. 7, 7A, and 7B. Spool of core 81 was provided at the head of a conventional planetary stranding machine 80, wherein spool 81 was free to rotate, with tension capable of being applied via a braking system. The tension applied to the core during payoff was 45 kg (100 lbs.). The core was input at room temperature (about 23° C. (73° F.)). The core was threaded through the center of the bobbin carriages 82, 83, through closing dies 84, 85, around capstan wheels 86 and attached to conventional take-up (152 cm (60 in.) diameter) spool 87. Prior to application of outer stranding layers 89, individual wires were provided on separate bobbins 88 which were placed in a number of motor driven carriages 82, 83 of the stranding equipment. The range of tension required to pull the wire 89 from the bobbins 88 was set to be in the range 11-14 kg (25-30 lbs.). Stranding stations consist of a carriage and a closing die. At each stranding station, wires 89 of each layer were brought together at the exit of each carriage at closing die 84, 85, respectively and arranged over the central wire or over the preceding layer, respectively. Thus, the core passed through two stranding stations. At the first station 8 wires were stranded over the core with a left lay. At the second station 12 wires were stranded over the previous layer with a right lay. The core material and wires for a given layer were brought into contact via a closing die 84, 85, as applicable. The closing dies were cylinders (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) and were held in position using bolts. The dies were made of hardened tool steel, and were capable of being fully closed. The finished cable was passed through capstan wheels 86, and ultimately wound onto (91 cm diameter (36 inch)) take-up spool 87. The finished cable was passed through a straightener device comprised of rollers (each roller being 12.5 cm (5 inches)), linearly arranged in two banks, with 7 rollers in each bank. The distance between the two banks of rollers was set so that the rollers just impinged on the cable. The two banks of rollers were positioned on opposing sides of the cable, with the rollers in one bank matching up with the spaces created by the opposing rollers in the other bank. Thus, the two banks were offset from each other. As the cable passed through the straightening device, the cable flexed back and forth over the rollers, allowing the strands in the conductor to stretch to the same length, thereby eliminating slack strands. The inner layer consisted of 8 trapezoidal wires with an outside layer diameter of 15.4 mm (0.608 in.), a mass per unit length of 353 kg/km (237 lbs./kft.) with the left hand lay of 20.3 cm (8 in.). The closing blocks (made from hardened tool steel; 60 Rc hardness) for the inner layer were set at an internal diameter of 15.4 mm (0.608 in.). Thus the closing blocks were set at exactly the same diameter as the cable diameter. The outer layer consisted of 12 trapezoidal wires with an outside layer diameter of 22.9 mm (0.9015 in.), a mass per unit length of 507.6 kg/km (341.2 lbs./kft) with the right hand lay of 25.9 cm (10.2 in.). The total mass per unit length of aluminum alloy wires was 928.8 kg/km (624.3 lbs./kft.), total mass per unit length of the core was 136.4 kg/km (91.7 lbs./kft.) and the total conductor mass per unit length was 1065 kg/km (716.0 lbs./kft.). The closing blocks (made from hardened tool steel; 60 Rc hardness) for the outer layer were set at an internal diameter of 0.9015 in. (22.9 mm). Thus the closing blocks were set at exactly the same diameter as the final cable diameter. The inner wire and outer wire tension (as pay-off bobbins) was measured using a hand held force gauge (available McMaster-Card, Chicago, Ill.) and set to be in the range of 13.5-15 kg (29-33 lbs.) and the core pay-off tension was set by brake using the same measurement method as the bobbins at about 90 kg (198 lbs.). Further, no straightener was used, and the cable was not spooled but left to run straight and to lay out on the floor. The core was input at room temperature (about 23° C. (73° F.)). The stranding machine was run at 15 m/min. (49 ft/min.), driven using conventional capstan wheels, a standard straightening device, and a conventional 152 cm (60 in.) diameter take-up spool. The resulting conductor was tested using the following “Cut-end Test Method”. A section of conductor to be tested was laid out straight on the floor, and a sub-section 3.1-4.6 m (10-15 ft.) long was clamped at both ends. The conductor was then cut to isolate the section, still clamped at both ends. One clamp was then released and no layer movement was observed. The section of conductor was then inspected for movement of layers relative to each other. The movement of each layer was measured using a ruler to determine the amount of movement relative to the core. The outer aluminum layers retracted relative to the composite core; taking the core as the zero reference position, the inner aluminum layer retracted 0.16 in. (4 mm) and the outer layer retracted 0.31 in. (8 mm). The Illustrative Example cable was also evaluated by Kinectrics, Inc. Toronto, Ontario, Canada using the following “Sag Test Method I”. A length of conductor was terminated with conventional epoxy fittings, ensuring the layers substantially retain the same relative positions as in the as manufactured state, except the aluminum/zirconium wires were extended through the epoxy fittings and out the other side, and then reconstituted to allow for connection to electrical AC power using conventional terminal connectors. The epoxy fittings were poured in aluminum spelter sockets that were connected to tumbuckles for holding tension. On one side, a load cell was connected (5000 kilograms (kg) capacity) to a turnbuckle and then at both ends the turnbuckles were attached to pulling eyes. The eyes were connected to large concrete pillars, large enough to minimize end deflections of the system when under tension. For the test, the tension was pulled to 20% of the conductor rated breaking strength. Thus 2082 kg (4590 lb) was applied to the cable. The temperature was measured at three locations along the length of the conductor (at ¼, ½ and ¾ of the distance of the total (pulling-eye to pulling-eye) span) using nine thermocouples (three at each location; J-type available from Omega Corporation, Stamford, Conn.). At each location, the three thermocouples were positioned in three different radial positions within the conductor; between the outer aluminum strands, between the inner aluminum strands, and adjacent to (i.e., contacting) the outer core wires. The sag values were measured at three locations along the length of the conductor (at ¼, ½ and ¾ of the distance of the span) using pull wire potentiometers (available from SpaceAge Control, Inc, Palmdale, Calif.). These were positioned to measure the vertical movement of the three locations. AC current was applied to the conductor to increase the temperature to the desired value. The temperature of the conductor was raised from room temperature (about 20° C. (68° F.)) to about 240° C. (464° F.) at a rate in the range of 60-120° C./minute (140-248 ° F./minute). The highest temperature of all of the thermocouples was used as the control. About 1200 amps was required to achieve 240° C. (464° F.). The sag value of the conductor (Sagtotal) was calculated at various temperatures using the following equation: Sag total = Sag 1 / 2 - ( Sag 1 / 4 + Sag 3 / 4 2 ) Where: Sag1/2=sag measured at ½ the distance of the span of the conductor Sag1/4=sag measured at ¼ the distance of the span of the conductor Sag3/4=sag measured at ¾ the distance of the span of the conductor Table 3 (below) summarizes the fixed input test parameters. TABLE 3 Parameter Value Total span length 68.6 m (225 ft.) Effective span length* - m (ft.) 65.5 m (215 ft.) Height of North fixed point 2.36 m (93.06 in.) Height of South fixed point 2.47 m (97.25 in.) Conductor weight 1.083 kg/m (0.726 lbs./ft.) Initial Tension (@ 20% RTS*) 2082 kg (4590 lb) Load cell capacity 5000 kg (1100 lbs) load cell *rated tensile strength The resulting sag and temperature data (“Resulting Data” for Illustrative Example) was plotted and then a calculated curve was fit using the Alcoa Sag10 graphic method available in a software program from Alcoa Fujikura Ltd., Greenville, S.C. under the trade designation “SAG10” (version 3.0 update 3.9.7). The stress parameter was a fitting parameter in “SAG10” labeled as the “built-in aluminum stress” which adjusted the position of the knee-point on the predicted graph and also the amount of sag in the high temperature, post-knee-point regime. A description of the stress parameter theory was provided in the Alcoa Sag10 Users Manual (Version 2.0): Theory of Compressive Stress in Aluminum of ACSR, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The conductor parameters for the 675 kcmil cable as shown Tables 4-7 (below) were entered into the Sag10 Software. The best fit matched (i) the calculated curve to the “resulting data” by varying the value of the stress parameter, such that the curves matched at high temperatures (140-240° C.), and (ii) the inflection point (knee-point) of the “resulting data” curve closely matched the calculated curve, and (iii) the initial calculated sag was required to match the initial “resulting data” sag (i.e. initial tension at 22° C. (72° F.) is 2082 kg, producing 27.7 cm (10.9 inches) of sag.). For this example, the value of 3.5 MPa (500 psi) for the stress parameter provided the best fit to the “resulting data”. FIG. 8 shows the sag calculated by Sag10 (line 82) and the measured Sag (plotted data 83). The following the conductor data were input into the “SAG10” software: TABLE 4 CONDUCTOR PARAMETERS IN SAG10 Area 381.6 mm2 (0.5915 in2) Diameter 2.3 cm (0.902 in) Weight 1.083 kg/m (0.726 lb./ft.) RTS: 10,160 kg (22,400 lbs.) TABLE 5 LINE LOADING CONDITIONS Span Length 65.5 m (215 ft.) Initial Tension (at 22° C. (72° F.)) 2082 kg (4,590 lbs.) TABLE 6 OPTIONS FOR COMPRESSIVE STRESS CALCULATION Built in Aluminum Stress (3.5 MPa (500 psi) Aluminum Area (as fraction of total area) 0.8975 Number of Aluminum Layers: 2 Number of Aluminum Strands 20 Number of Core Strands 7 Stranding Lay Ratios Outer Layer 11 Inner Layer 13 Stress Strain Parameters for Sag10; TREF=22 C° (71° F.) Input Parameters of the software run (see Table 7, below) TABLE 7 Initial Aluminum A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 AF 17.7 56350.5 −10910.9 −155423 173179.9 79173.1 Final Aluminum (10 year creep) B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 α (A1) 0 27095.1 −3521.1 141800.8 −304875.5 0.00128 Initial Core C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 CF −95.9 38999.8 −40433.3 87924.5 −62612.9 33746.7 Final Core (10 year creep) D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 α (core) −95.9 38999.8 −40433.3 87924.5 −62612.9 0.000353 Definition of Stress Strain Curve Polynomials First five numbers A0-A4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the initial aluminum curve times the area ratio: A Wire A total · σ InitialWire = A 0 + A 1 ɛ + A 2 ɛ 2 + A 3 ɛ 3 + A 4 ɛ 4 AF is the final modulus of aluminum A Wire A total · σ FinalWire = AF ɛ Wherein ε is the conductor elongation in % and σ is the stress in psi B0-B4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the final 10 year creep curve of the aluminum times the area ratio: A Wire A total · σ FinalWire = B 0 + B 1 ɛ + B 2 ɛ 2 + B 3 ɛ 3 + B 4 ɛ 4 C α (Al) is the coefficient of thermal expansion of aluminum. C0-C4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the initial curve times the area ratio for composite core only. CF is the final modulus of the composite core D0-D4 are coefficients of 4th order polynomial that represents the final 10 year creep curve of the composite core times the area ratio α (core) is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite core. Prophetic Example 1 A cable would be made as described in Illustrative Example except as follows: the composite wires stranded to form the core would consist of carbon fiber composite (carbon fibers in a bismaleic amid resin matrix) wires. These wires are available from Tokyo Rope Manufacturing Company, Ltd. Tokyo, Japan under the trade designation “CFCC”. The composite wires would have the same diameter as the composite wires of the Illustrative Example. Example The Alcoa Sag10 Graphic Method model described in the Illustrative Example was used to predict the sag vs temperature behavior of cables described in Prophetic Example 1. Sag vs temperature curves were generated using the Sag10 model and method of the Illustrative Example. The conductor parameters shown in Tables 8-11 (below) were entered into the Sag10 Software. The value for the compressive stress parameter for Prophetic Example 1 was 3.5 MPa (500 psi). Additionally a sag vs temperature curve was generated for a compressive stress value of 55 MPa (8000 psi). FIG. 9 shows the sag vs temperature curves of the Illustrative Example and Prophetic Example 1. The measured data of the Illustrative Example is shown as plotted data 93 and the calculated curve of the Illustrative Example is shown as line 92. The calculated curve for Prophetic Example 1 which used a stress parameter of 3.5 MPa (500 psi) is shown as line 94. The additional calculated curve with a stress parameter of 55 MPa (8000 psi) is shown as line 96. The following the conductor data were input into the “SAG10” software: TABLE 8 CONDUCTOR PARAMETERS IN SAG10 Area 381.6 mm2 (0.677 in2) Diameter 2.3 cm (0.902 in.) Weight 1.007 kg/m (0.677 lb/ft.) RTS: 11,045 kg (24,350 lbs.) TABLE 9 LINE LOADING CONDITIONS Span Length 65.5 m (215 ft.) Initial Tension (at 72° F.) 2082 kg (4,590 lbs.) TABLE 10 OPTIONS FOR COMPRESSIVE STRESS CALCULATION Built in Aluminum Stress Values 500 (Prophetic Example 1) 8000 (additional curve) Aluminum Area (as fraction of total area) 0.8975 Number of Aluminum Layers: 2 Number of Aluminum Strands 20 Number of Core Strands 7 Stranding Lay Ratios Outer Layer 11 Inner Layer 13 Stress Strain Parameters for Sag10; TREF=22° C. (71° F.) TABLE 11 Initial Aluminum A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 AF 17.7 56350.5 −10910.9 −155423 173179.9 79173.1 Final Aluminum (10 year creep) B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 α (A1) 0 27095.1 −3521.1 141800.8 −304875.5 0.00128 Initial Core C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 CF 0 23575 0 0 0 23575 Final Core (10 year creep) D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 α (core) 0 23575 0 0 0 0.000033 Various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In general, composites (including metal matrix composites (MMCs)) are known. Composites typically include a matrix reinforced with fibers, particulates, whiskers, or fibers (e.g., short or long fibers). Examples of metal matrix composites include aluminum matrix composite wires (e.g., silicon carbide, carbon, boron, or polycrystalline alpha alumina fibers embedded in an aluminum matrix), titanium matrix composite tapes (e.g., silicon carbide fibers embedded in a titanium matrix), and copper matrix composite tapes (e.g., silicon carbide or boron fibers embedded in a copper matrix). Examples of polymer matrix composites include carbon or graphite fibers in an epoxy resin matrix, glass or aramid fibers in a polyester resin, and carbon and glass fibers in an epoxy resin. One use of composite wire (e.g., metal matrix composite wire) is as a reinforcing member in bare overhead electrical power transmission cables. One typical need for cables is driven by the need to increase the power transfer capacity of existing transmission infrastructure. Desirable performance requirements for cables for overhead power transmission applications include corrosion resistance, environmental endurance (e.g., UV and moisture), resistance to loss of strength at elevated temperatures, creep resistance, as well as relatively high elastic modulus, low density, low coefficient of thermal expansion, high electrical conductivity, and high strength. Although overhead power transmission cables including aluminum matrix composite wires are known, for some applications there is a continuing desire, for example, for more desirable sag properties. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In one aspect, the present invention provides a cable, comprising: a longitudinal core having a thermal expansion coefficient and comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy; and a plurality of wires collectively having a thermal expansion coefficient greater than the thermal expansion coefficient of the core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, and wherein the plurality of wires are stranded around the core, and wherein the cable has a stress parameter not greater than 20 MPa (in some embodiments, not greater than 19 MPa, 18 MPa, 17 MPa, 16 MPA, 15 Pa, 14 MPa, 13 MPa, 12 MPa, 11 MPa, 10 MPa, 9 MPa, 8 MPa, 7 MPa, 6 MPa, 5 MPa, 4 MPa, 3 MPa, 2 MPa, 1 MPa, or even not greater than 0 MPa; in some embodiments, in a range from 0 MPa to 20 MPa, 0 MPa to 15 MPa, 0 MPa to 10 MPa, or 0 MPa to 5 MPa), with the proviso that if the longitudinal core comprises metal matrix composite wire, the core separately comprises (i.e., not being part of the metal matrix composite wire) at least one of the aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy. In some embodiments, the plurality of wires have a tensile breaking strength of at least 90 MPa, or even at least 100 MPa (calculated according to ASTM B557/B557M (1999), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference). In some embodiments, the core comprises fibers (typically continuous fibers) of at least one of the aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy. In some embodiments, the core comprises a composite comprising fibers and a matrix material (e.g., metal and/or polymeric material). In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a cable according to the present invention, the method comprising: stranding a plurality of wires around a longitudinal core, wherein the plurality of wires comprise at least one of aluminum wires, copper wires, aluminum alloy wires, or copper alloy wires, the core comprising at least one of aramid, ceramic, boron, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole), graphite, carbon, titanium, tungsten, or shape memory alloy to provide a preliminary stranded cable; and subjecting the preliminary stranded cable to a closing die to provide the cable, wherein the closing die has an internal diameter, wherein the cable has an exterior diameter, and wherein the interior die diameter is in a range of 1.00 to 1.02 times the exterior cable diameter. As used herein, the following terms are defined as indicated, unless otherwise specified herein: “ceramic” means glass, crystalline ceramic, glass-ceramic, and combinations thereof. “continuous fiber” means a fiber having a length that is relatively infinite when compared to the average fiber diameter. Typically, this means that the fiber has an aspect ratio (i.e., ratio of the length of the fiber to the average diameter of the fiber) of at least 1×10 5 (in some embodiments, at least 1×10 6 , or even at least 1×10 7 ). Typically, such fibers have a length on the order of at least 50 meters, and may even have lengths on the order of kilometers or more. “shape memory alloy” refers to a metal alloy that undergoes a Martensitic transformation such that the metal alloy is deformable by a twinning mechanism below the transformation temperature, wherein such deformation is reversable when the twin structure reverts to the original phase upon heating above the transformation temperature. Cables according to the present invention are useful, for example, as electric power transmission cables. Typically, cables according to the present invention exhibit improved sag properties (i.e., reduced sag). | 20040617 | 20060822 | 20051222 | 63208.0 | 0 | HURLEY, SHAUN R | CABLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,568 | ACCEPTED | Method of power generation for airborne vehicles | A closed cycle turbine system is provided for the generation of power in a light, high altitude airborne vehicle. The closed cycle turbine system may operate according to either the Brayton or the Rankine cycles. The working fluid for the closed cycle may be alternately heated by the combination of an external burner and heat exchanger and cooled by expansion and radiation. The use of the external burner operating at near the atmospheric pressure may eliminate the requirement for a compressor to compress large amounts of low density, ambient air for use in the turbine. Additional ambient air may be provided to the burner by either using a fan to concentrate the ambient air or pressurizing the fuel stream so as to entrain the ambient air therein. The external burner may use a gaseous fuel such as hydrogen or liquid fuel such as jet fuel to provide heat for the closed cycle. | 1. A system for providing electrical power for an airborne vehicle operating at an altitude of at least 50,000 feet, the system comprising an engine operating in a closed cycle, the closed cycle with a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a burner providing combustion of a fuel with ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. 2. The system described in claim 1, wherein the airborne vehicle is a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. 3. The system described in claim 1, wherein the burner is a low pressure burner providing combustion in ambient air. 4. The system described in claim 3, wherein the low pressure burner is a catalytic burner. 5. The system described in claim 1, wherein the fuel is hydrogen gas. 6. The system described in claim 1, wherein the closed cycle is a Brayton cycle. 7. The system described in claim 1, wherein the closed cycle is a Rankine cycle, the heat exchanger is a boiler, and the working fluid is water that changes phases during the cycle. 8. The system described in claim 1, wherein the fuel is provided in a fuel stream having a pressure higher than that of the ambient air, wherein ambient air is entrained into the fuel stream 9. The system described in claim 1, wherein the ambient air is provided by means of a fan. 10. A power generation system supplying electrical power in a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle operating at an altitude greater than 50,000 feet, the system comprising a turbine engine operating in a closed Brayton cycle, the closed cycle with a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. 11. The system described in claim 10, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 12. A power generation system supplying electrical power in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the system comprising a turbine engine operating in a closed cycle, the closed cycle with a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. 13. The system described in claim 12, wherein the airborne vehicle is operated at an altitude of at least 50,000 feet. 14. The system described in claim 12, wherein the closed cycle is a closed Brayton cycle. 15. The system described in claim 12, wherein the airborne vehicle is a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. 16. The system described in claim 12, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 17. A method for heating a working fluid in a closed cycle turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of maintaining combustion of a fuel in ambient air at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet to provide heated combustion by-products; transferring heat from the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products; and venting the cooled combustion by-products to the ambient air. 18. The method described in claim 17, wherein transferring heat from the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid is accomplished by a heat exchanger. 19. The method described in claim 17, wherein maintaining combustion of the fuel in ambient air is accomplished by a low pressure burner. 20. The method described in claim 19, wherein maintaining combustion of the fuel in ambient air is accomplished by a catalytic burner. 21. The method described in claim 17, wherein the closed cycle turbine engine operates according to a Brayton cycle. 22. The method described in claim 17, wherein the closed cycle turbine engine operates according to a Rankine cycle. 23. A method for providing power using a closed Brayton cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet, the method comprising directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, wherein heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator, whereby residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator, wherein the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. 24. A method described in claim 23, wherein the heat source is the combustion by-products of a low pressure burner burning a fuel in ambient air. 25. A method described in claim 23, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 26. A method for providing power using a closed Rankine cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet, the method comprising directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, wherein heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser, whereby residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator, wherein the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. 27. The method described in claim 26, wherein the heat source is the combustion by-products of an atmospheric burner burning a fuel in ambient air. 28. The method described in claim 26, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 29. A method for providing power using a closed Brayton cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, wherein heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator, whereby residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator, wherein the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. 30. The method described in claim 29, wherein the heat source is the combustion by-products of a low pressure burner burning a fuel in ambient air. 31. The method described in claim 29, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 32. The method described in claim 29, wherein the airborne vehicle is a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. 33. The method described in claim 29, wherein the airborne vehicle is operated at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet. 34. A method for providing power using a closed Rankine cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, wherein heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser, whereby residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator, wherein the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. 35. The method described in claim 34, wherein the heat source is the combustion by-products of an atmospheric burner burning a fuel in ambient air. 36. The method described in claim 34, wherein the fuel is hydrogen. 37. The method described in claim 34, wherein the airborne vehicle is operated at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to methods and devices for power generation in airborne vehicles, and more specifically for airborne vehicles operating at high altitudes and/or low speeds, where the ambient air pressure is low and the work required to compress ambient air for a gas turbine or reciprocating engine is excessive. Conventional airborne vehicles achieve flight by using a fuel, such as jet fuel, combusted with air in a gas turbine engine to generate sufficient thrust to enable the wings to develop lift in order to keep the vehicle aloft. The gas turbine engine may also be used for generating power for onboard needs, such as, for example, hydraulic power for control surface actuation and electrical power for avionics equipment. Such gas turbine engines used to generate power for thrust, lift, and onboard power requirements typically operate in an open loop Brayton cycle. It has been found that this approach provides an acceptable means for powering an airborne vehicle in terms of fuel consumption, weight, and cost, and this approach is thus a standard method of powering air vehicles. In a conventional, recuperated gas turbine engine 100 operated in an open-cycle, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the compressor 110, turbine 120, and generator 130 are coaxially mounted on a common central shaft 140, or the generator is driven by the common shaft turbine-compressor via a gearbox. The compressor 110 compresses air for the combustor 160 after it has been heated in the recuperator 180. The heated compressed air is mixed with fuel in the combustor 160 where it is then ignited and burned. The combustion products are then expanded in the turbine 120 which drives the compressor 110 and generator 130. This cycle is opened between the recuperator outlet 150 from the low-pressure side of the recuperator 180 and the compressor inlet 170. Thus ambient air that may have been filtered, cooled, or otherwise treated enters the compressor 110, and the products of combustion are discharged out the recuperator outlet 150 on the low-pressure side of the recuperator 180. However, a new class of airborne vehicles is currently being studied for surveillance and communications relay applications. Such applications require long flight durations, in terms of days and months instead of hours, at high altitudes. Airborne vehicles of this class are generally slow-moving, lighter-than-air vehicles, which require little or no thrust for lift and minimal thrust for station keeping. Weight must be kept at a minimum in order for these vehicles to stay aloft for these extended periods of time. Because the vehicles are slow-moving, they do not require large engines for thrust and consequently feature much smaller engines with correspondingly low onboard fuel storage capacities. These features also serve to minimize the weight of such airborne vehicles. However, engines having low or no thrust requirement generally are not able to provide electrical power to operate onboard avionics equipment at high efficiency or low specific fuel consumption. Selection of a system for generating onboard electrical power for lighter-than-air airborne vehicles can be difficult. Conventional open-loop Brayton cycle systems do not offer particularly high thermal efficiency when the available thrust provided by the engine exhaust is discounted. Furthermore, at the low ambient pressures found at altitudes above 50,000 feet, both the power and the efficiency of these conventional open-loop Brayton cycle systems are greatly diminished. Even at high speeds in excess of 550 knots with effective (90%) ram recovery efficiency, a typical gas turbine engine provides at 50,000 feet only 14% of the thrust available at sea level, as discussed of the reference work entitled “Aircraft Turbine Engine Technology” by Irwin Treager, page 101, FIG. 3-16, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. At lower airspeeds, or without ram recovery, there is essentially no output shaft power available from gas turbine engines operating in an open-loop Brayton cycle at altitudes exceeding 50,000 feet. The problems attendant with high altitude operation of Brayton cycle gas turbine engines have been addressed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,178 describes an auxiliary power unit comprising a gas expansion motor and a Brayton cycle gas turbine engine which jointly power a common load. The gas expansion motor is used initially to start the gas turbine, which is powered by standard JP-type fuel. This system employs two separate motors and therefore would present a weight penalty to a light, high altitude airborne vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,189 employs another such engine combination, where a closed loop Rankine cycle and an open-loop Brayton cycle are used in conjunction with one another. Again, because two engines are used, there would necessarily be a weight penalty for light, high altitude airborne vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,646 relates to an engine having a means for pre-cooling the air between the compressor and the combustor of the turbine. This system requires a significant expenditure of power to compress ambient air, especially at high altitudes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,029 provides a turbine engine having a clutch enabling the compressor section to be decoupled from the turbine section, so that the engine can be more efficiently operated using stored oxidizer at a higher altitude but coupled so that the compressor can enable the engine to provide greater power at lower altitude. Again, the presence of a clutch and an additional oxidizer source creates a weight penalty for light, high-altitude airborne vehicles. An Otto cycle piston engine is a more attractive alternative than an open Brayton cycle engine at low power levels and low airspeeds. The overall thermal efficiency of an Otto cycle piston engine is 20-30%. However, the power output of a piston engine is approximately proportional to the engine intake pressure. At high altitudes above 50,000 feet, even a modestly powerful piston engine would be quite large and heavy. The engine size can be reduced with a turbocharger or a supercharger, but these devices adversely affect the overall engine efficiency. Furthermore, the storage weight of the onboard fuel required for long duration flights would exceed the practical weight requirements for a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. Another alternative would be the use of nuclear power with a gas turbine engine operating with a closed loop Brayton or Rankine cycle. This combination would provide substantially longer operating duration, but is considered unattractive from an environmental standpoint. Solar power may also be used for electrical power generation for lighter-than-air airborne vehicles. Such solar systems might involve the use of photovoltaic cells or a solar-heated Brayton or Rankine cycle system, coupled with batteries for power at night. Although an onboard fuel supply is not required by such a system, the solar collector required to provide electrical power even at modest power levels would be quite large, and the batteries would be unacceptably heavy. As can be seen, there is a need for a lightweight system for generating power for a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. The generating system should operate without compression of ambient air that normally results in high specific fuel consumption, and without the use of an on-board oxidizer, the weight of either of which would prevent the airborne vehicle from staying aloft for several days or even months. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A system for supplying electrical power for an airborne vehicle operating at an altitude of at least 50,000 feet is provided, which comprises an engine operating in a closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a burner for the combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A power generation system for supplying electrical power in a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle operating at an altitude greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the system comprises a gas turbine engine operating in a closed Brayton cycle with the closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, the components configured so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A power generation system supplying electrical power in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days is also provided, in which the system comprises a gas turbine engine operating in a closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A method is also provided for heating a working fluid in a closed cycle turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of maintaining combustion of a fuel in ambient air at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet to provide heated combustion by-products; transferring heat from the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products; and venting the cooled combustion by-products to the ambient air. A method for supplying power using a closed Brayton cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the method comprises directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator to that the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. A method for supplying power using a closed Rankine cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the method comprises directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. Still another method for supplying power is provided, which uses a closed Brayton cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising the steps of directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger so that the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. Still another method for supplying power is provided, which uses a closed Rankine cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising the steps of directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler so that the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a prior art recuperated gas turbine engine operating under an open loop Brayton cycle; FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a closed loop Brayton cycle gas turbine engine, according to an embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a closed loop Rankine cycle turbine engine, according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. Broadly, the current invention includes systems, devices, and methods for improving gas turbine power generation systems in airborne vehicles operating at high altitudes, where more work is required to compress the ambient air than at lower altitudes. Although burners and heat exchangers with closed loop systems have been used in large, ground-based turbine systems in the past, they have not been applied to airborne platforms where weight is a major factor. More specifically, the current invention uses a low pressure, atmospheric burner and heat exchanger to heat a working fluid of a closed loop Rankine or Brayton power cycle for a power turbine, to provide both thrust for the airborne vehicle and electrical power for on-board power requirements. The use of the atmospheric burner may eliminate the need to compress the ambient air and thus may improve overall system efficiency. Additional means may be used to induce the ambient air to flow through or across the burner and heat exchanger. The estimated overall thermal efficiency of the system is about 40%. By using the closed-loop Brayton or Rankine cycle along with an atmospheric burner, the present invention avoids the high-altitude restrictions of open-loop Brayton cycle systems. It offers a higher operating efficiency than Otto cycle piston engines, without the environmental issues associated with nuclear power or the surface area or energy storage requirements of solar power systems. Prior art power turbine systems that are used with airborne platforms generally operate using an open cycle in ambient air and require a compressor to compress large amounts of ambient air for combustion in the turbine. At altitudes in excess of 50,000 feet where the ambient air is less dense, the use of such a compressor results in a less efficient turbine engine, since a higher percentage of the turbine's power output is required to operate the compressor so that sufficient quantities of ambient air may be compressed for the turbine. While closed cycle engines have been used for ground based power generation systems, they have not been extensively heretofore used in airborne platforms because of weight restrictions. The present invention uses a closed cycle in which the compressor operates on an internal working fluid and not ambient air. The working fluid may be heated by an atmospheric burner that is designed to operate efficiently in the lower air pressures found at altitudes over 50,000 feet. The atmospheric burner may be optimized for use with fuels that burn efficiently at lower air pressures. Additional means may be used to improve combustion of the fuel, such as injecting the fuel at a high velocity so as to entrain ambient air therein or adding a fan or blower to increase flow of ambient air through the burner and heat exchanger. In a closed loop gas turbine engine configured according to the present invention, a working fluid may be continuously recirculated within the components of the gas turbine engine, so that the working fluid continuously absorbs and releases heat and thus performs work. The working fluid may be heated from the external heat source, i.e. the atmospheric burner. The heated working fluid in the closed-loop cycle may be used to drive the turbine engine to generate power. A system configured in this manner may allow the airborne vehicle to remain aloft for extended periods of time, for example, from two or more days to months. Referring now to FIG. 2, a closed loop, gas turbine engine 200 is shown configured in a closed-loop Brayton cycle, according to one embodiment of the invention. A closed loop 205 may be a path or conduit in which a working fluid 206 may be recirculated, alternately losing heat to become a cool working fluid 208 and gaining heat to become a hot working fluid 207, without increasing or decreasing the mass of the working fluid 206. This closed loop 205 may be the path taken by the working fluid 206 as it flows from a turbine outlet 222 and thence through recuperator 280 in a first direction; conduit 281, radiator 270, compressor inlet 211, compressor 210, compressor outlet 212, recuperator 280 in a second direction; and conduit 282, heat exchanger 264, and turbine inlet 221. As such, the working fluid 206 may be circulated within the closed loop among the turbine 220, the recuperator 280, and the compressor 210. A heat source component 260 further described below may be provided between the recuperator 280 and the turbine inlet 221 to heat the working fluid 206 to provide hot working fluid 207 at a temperature high enough to drive the turbine 220 by expansion. Hot working fluid 207 may be provided to the turbine inlet 221, where it drives the turbine 220 in a standard Brayton cycle to rotate a shaft 240 and thereby actuate the compressor 210 and a generator 230. From the turbine outlet 222, the hot working fluid 207 may flow to the recuperator 280, which transfers heat from the hot working fluid 207 to the working fluid 206 flowing in the opposing direction from the compressor 210, thus transforming the hot working fluid 207 into a cool working fluid 208; heat transfer may generally be accomplished by means of conduction and radiation. The cool working fluid 208 from the recuperator 280 may be directed through conduit 281 to a radiator 270, which may further cool the cool working fluid 208 by radiant action to the ambient air. The cool working fluid 208 may then be directed through the compressor 210 to compress the cool working fluid 208, thus providing pressure to maintain flow of the cool working fluid 208 back through the recuperator 280 (where it gains heat to become hot working fluid 207 again) and heat source component 260, where it is again heated for reintroduction back into the turbine inlet 221. The working fluid 206 may be composed of any suitable heat transfer liquid having high caloric capacity. One possible working fluid, by way of example, may be xeon, but other such working fluids may be used without departing from the scope of the invention. The heat source component 260 may comprise a heat exchanger 264 and a burner 262. The burner 262 may be of a high efficiency design to burn a fuel provided by a fuel source 266 at low air pressures typically found at altitudes over 50,000 feet. Since there is little air available to enhance fuel atomization at these altitudes, it is likely that a highly volatile liquid or a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, would be desirable. A fan (not shown) may be used to assist the burner 262 in combustion by promoting and assisting the convective movement of the ambient air through the mechanism of the burner 262. Also, the fuel may be injected under a pressure that is higher than ambient air pressure so as to entrain ambient air within the injected fuel stream and thus improve combustion characteristics. A low pressure burner 262 of any suitable design may be used in this application without departing from the scope of the invention. One such design may feature a standard burner with a plurality of fuel ports, such as one might find in a conventional home heating furnace. Air flow through the low pressure burner 262 may be induced between the fuel ports either by free convection, with a fan or blower, or by the force provided by fuel injection. Combinations of these methods may also be used without departing from the scope of the invention. A catalytic burner may also be used for the low pressure burner 262. Use of a catalytic burner may entail the use of a fan to blow air through a granular catalyst bed of the burner or across a catalyst-coated monolithic structure. The fuel may be injected upstream of the catalyst and fully mixed with the air prior to contacting the catalyst; the low ambient pressure would inhibit upstream flame propagation. The heat exchanger 264 may be located in close proximity to the burner so that it may be in direct contact with the combustion gases provided by the burner. The high-temperature heat transfer may thus be achieved by either free or forced convection. The low ambient pressure may require a relatively large high-temperature heat transfer surface area. Auxiliary fins may be provided along the high temperature heat transfer surface to enhance heat transfer. The heat exchanger 264 may be used to receive the heated combustion by-products from the burner 262 and the heated working fluid from the recuperator 280 and to transfer the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the heated working fluid, thereby cooling the heated combustion by-products. The combustion by-products thus cooled by the heat exchanger 264 may then be vented to the ambient air. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, a second heat exchanger may optionally be installed in conduit 281, conduit 211, or conduit 212 to recover waste heat from other devices that may be on the airborne vehicle, such as, for example, the exhaust from a separate engine or ventilation air exhausted from avionics equipment, to further improve fuel efficiency. This waste heat may be transferred from a conduit containing the hot exhaust or ventilation air to the conduit containing the cool working fluid 208 by the second heat exchanger using conduction and radiation, where both conduits separately enter and exit the second heat exchanger in opposite flow directions. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3, which depicts a Rankine cycle configuration. According to FIG. 3, an engine 300 may include a turbine 320, a pump 310, and a generator 330, each coaxially mounted on a common shaft 340. A working fluid 306 may be an incompressible liquid, such as water, which, as it changes phase, may alternately be characterized as steam 307 or cooled water 308. A heat exchange component 360 may include a boiler 364 in which steam 307 may be generated for introduction into the turbine 320, causing it to rotate shaft 340. Pump 310 and generator 330 may also be powered by shaft 340. The steam 307 coming from the turbine 320 may be passed through a recuperator 380 where its caloric content may be reduced, and thence through a condenser 370 where the steam 307 is condensed back into cooled water 308. The cooled water 308 may be pumped by pump 310 back through the recuperator 380, where it may again be heated, and to the boiler 364 where the cycle may be repeated. In another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3, a second heat exchanger may be put within conduit 381, conduit 311, or conduit 312 to recover waste heat from other devices that may be on the airborne vehicle, such as, for example, the exhaust from a separate engine or ventilation air exhausted from avionics equipment, to further improve fuel efficiency. This waste heat may be transferred from a conduit containing the hot exhaust or ventilation air to the conduit containing the cool working fluid 308 by the second heat exchanger using conduction and radiation, where both conduits separately enter and exit the second heat exchanger in opposite flow directions. As can be seen, the invention provides a lightweight power generation system and method for efficient power generation on a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle operating at altitudes in excess of 50,000 feet for periods of time that may be measured in days or weeks. The innovative system may burn a fuel without requiring a significant power expenditure required for compressing the low density ambient air by employing a low-pressure burner. It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention generally relates to methods and devices for power generation in airborne vehicles, and more specifically for airborne vehicles operating at high altitudes and/or low speeds, where the ambient air pressure is low and the work required to compress ambient air for a gas turbine or reciprocating engine is excessive. Conventional airborne vehicles achieve flight by using a fuel, such as jet fuel, combusted with air in a gas turbine engine to generate sufficient thrust to enable the wings to develop lift in order to keep the vehicle aloft. The gas turbine engine may also be used for generating power for onboard needs, such as, for example, hydraulic power for control surface actuation and electrical power for avionics equipment. Such gas turbine engines used to generate power for thrust, lift, and onboard power requirements typically operate in an open loop Brayton cycle. It has been found that this approach provides an acceptable means for powering an airborne vehicle in terms of fuel consumption, weight, and cost, and this approach is thus a standard method of powering air vehicles. In a conventional, recuperated gas turbine engine 100 operated in an open-cycle, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , the compressor 110 , turbine 120 , and generator 130 are coaxially mounted on a common central shaft 140 , or the generator is driven by the common shaft turbine-compressor via a gearbox. The compressor 110 compresses air for the combustor 160 after it has been heated in the recuperator 180 . The heated compressed air is mixed with fuel in the combustor 160 where it is then ignited and burned. The combustion products are then expanded in the turbine 120 which drives the compressor 110 and generator 130 . This cycle is opened between the recuperator outlet 150 from the low-pressure side of the recuperator 180 and the compressor inlet 170 . Thus ambient air that may have been filtered, cooled, or otherwise treated enters the compressor 110 , and the products of combustion are discharged out the recuperator outlet 150 on the low-pressure side of the recuperator 180 . However, a new class of airborne vehicles is currently being studied for surveillance and communications relay applications. Such applications require long flight durations, in terms of days and months instead of hours, at high altitudes. Airborne vehicles of this class are generally slow-moving, lighter-than-air vehicles, which require little or no thrust for lift and minimal thrust for station keeping. Weight must be kept at a minimum in order for these vehicles to stay aloft for these extended periods of time. Because the vehicles are slow-moving, they do not require large engines for thrust and consequently feature much smaller engines with correspondingly low onboard fuel storage capacities. These features also serve to minimize the weight of such airborne vehicles. However, engines having low or no thrust requirement generally are not able to provide electrical power to operate onboard avionics equipment at high efficiency or low specific fuel consumption. Selection of a system for generating onboard electrical power for lighter-than-air airborne vehicles can be difficult. Conventional open-loop Brayton cycle systems do not offer particularly high thermal efficiency when the available thrust provided by the engine exhaust is discounted. Furthermore, at the low ambient pressures found at altitudes above 50,000 feet, both the power and the efficiency of these conventional open-loop Brayton cycle systems are greatly diminished. Even at high speeds in excess of 550 knots with effective (90%) ram recovery efficiency, a typical gas turbine engine provides at 50,000 feet only 14% of the thrust available at sea level, as discussed of the reference work entitled “Aircraft Turbine Engine Technology” by Irwin Treager, page 101, FIG. 3-16 , which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. At lower airspeeds, or without ram recovery, there is essentially no output shaft power available from gas turbine engines operating in an open-loop Brayton cycle at altitudes exceeding 50,000 feet. The problems attendant with high altitude operation of Brayton cycle gas turbine engines have been addressed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,178 describes an auxiliary power unit comprising a gas expansion motor and a Brayton cycle gas turbine engine which jointly power a common load. The gas expansion motor is used initially to start the gas turbine, which is powered by standard JP-type fuel. This system employs two separate motors and therefore would present a weight penalty to a light, high altitude airborne vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,189 employs another such engine combination, where a closed loop Rankine cycle and an open-loop Brayton cycle are used in conjunction with one another. Again, because two engines are used, there would necessarily be a weight penalty for light, high altitude airborne vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,646 relates to an engine having a means for pre-cooling the air between the compressor and the combustor of the turbine. This system requires a significant expenditure of power to compress ambient air, especially at high altitudes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,029 provides a turbine engine having a clutch enabling the compressor section to be decoupled from the turbine section, so that the engine can be more efficiently operated using stored oxidizer at a higher altitude but coupled so that the compressor can enable the engine to provide greater power at lower altitude. Again, the presence of a clutch and an additional oxidizer source creates a weight penalty for light, high-altitude airborne vehicles. An Otto cycle piston engine is a more attractive alternative than an open Brayton cycle engine at low power levels and low airspeeds. The overall thermal efficiency of an Otto cycle piston engine is 20-30%. However, the power output of a piston engine is approximately proportional to the engine intake pressure. At high altitudes above 50,000 feet, even a modestly powerful piston engine would be quite large and heavy. The engine size can be reduced with a turbocharger or a supercharger, but these devices adversely affect the overall engine efficiency. Furthermore, the storage weight of the onboard fuel required for long duration flights would exceed the practical weight requirements for a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. Another alternative would be the use of nuclear power with a gas turbine engine operating with a closed loop Brayton or Rankine cycle. This combination would provide substantially longer operating duration, but is considered unattractive from an environmental standpoint. Solar power may also be used for electrical power generation for lighter-than-air airborne vehicles. Such solar systems might involve the use of photovoltaic cells or a solar-heated Brayton or Rankine cycle system, coupled with batteries for power at night. Although an onboard fuel supply is not required by such a system, the solar collector required to provide electrical power even at modest power levels would be quite large, and the batteries would be unacceptably heavy. As can be seen, there is a need for a lightweight system for generating power for a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle. The generating system should operate without compression of ambient air that normally results in high specific fuel consumption, and without the use of an on-board oxidizer, the weight of either of which would prevent the airborne vehicle from staying aloft for several days or even months. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A system for supplying electrical power for an airborne vehicle operating at an altitude of at least 50,000 feet is provided, which comprises an engine operating in a closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a burner for the combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, thereby converting the heated combustion by-products into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A power generation system for supplying electrical power in a lighter-than-air airborne vehicle operating at an altitude greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the system comprises a gas turbine engine operating in a closed Brayton cycle with the closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, the components configured so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A power generation system supplying electrical power in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days is also provided, in which the system comprises a gas turbine engine operating in a closed cycle having a working fluid for alternately receiving heat and releasing heat; a low pressure burner providing combustion of a fuel in the presence of ambient air to produce heated combustion by-products; and a heat exchanger transferring the heat contained in the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid, so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products that are vented to the ambient air. A method is also provided for heating a working fluid in a closed cycle turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of maintaining combustion of a fuel in ambient air at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet to provide heated combustion by-products; transferring heat from the heated combustion by-products to the working fluid so that the heated combustion by-products are converted into cooled combustion by-products; and venting the cooled combustion by-products to the ambient air. A method for supplying power using a closed Brayton cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the method comprises directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator to that the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. A method for supplying power using a closed Rankine cycle engine at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet is also provided, where the method comprises directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler, wherein the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. Still another method for supplying power is provided, which uses a closed Brayton cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising the steps of directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator, so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a radiator so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to the ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the radiator to a compressor; directing the cooled working fluid from the compressor to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives the heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a heat exchanger; and providing a heat source to the heat exchanger so that the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. Still another method for supplying power is provided, which uses a closed Rankine cycle engine in an airborne vehicle operating in-flight for a period of at least two continuous days, the method comprising the steps of directing a heated working fluid to a turbine to cause the turbine to rotate a shaft; directing the heated working fluid released by the turbine to a recuperator so that heat from the heated working fluid is removed to provide a cooled working fluid; directing the cooled working fluid to a condenser so that residual heat contained in the cooled working fluid is vented to ambient air; directing the cooled working fluid from the condenser to a pump; directing the cooled working fluid from the pump to the recuperator so that the cooled working fluid receives heat removed from the heated working fluid from the turbine to provide heated working fluid to a boiler; and providing a heat source to the boiler so that the heated working fluid receives additional heat from the heat source. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description, and claims. | 20040616 | 20071023 | 20051222 | 67953.0 | 0 | NGUYEN, HOANG M | METHOD OF POWER GENERATION FOR AIRBORNE VEHICLES | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,575 | ACCEPTED | Cooled photosensitive cell | The cooled photosensitive cell (1) according to the invention comprises a table (2), a sensor (3) which is fitted on the table (2) and is connected to electrical connection tracks (30), a screen (10) to prevent parasitic radiation on the sensor (3), and a Joule-Thomson cooler (4) in order to cool the table (2) and the screen (10). The table (2) and the screen (10) are cooled by convection by being subjected directly to the volume of expansion of the cooler (4), the table (2) being provided with apertures (6) for passage of the cooling flow communicating with a cavity (14) for cooling of the screen (10). | 1. Cooled photosensitive cell (1) comprising a table (2), at least one sensor (3) which is fitted on the table (2) and is connected to electrical connection tracks (30), a screen (10) which is fitted on the table (2) in order to prevent parasitic radiation on the sensor (3), at least one Joule-Thomson cooler (4) in order to cool the table (2) and the screen (10), wherein the table (2) and the screen (10) are cooled by convection by being subjected directly to the volume of expansion of the cooler (4), the table (2) being provided with apertures (6, 7) for passage of the cooling flow communicating with a cavity (14) for cooling of the screen (10), characterised in that the table (2) comprises on its periphery a shoulder (24) on which the screen (10) is fitted, a passage (22, 23) for the electrical connection circuits (30) being provided between the table (2) and the screen (10). 2. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the passage (22, 23) also permits passage of the sensor (3). 3. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the passage (22, 23) consists of two openings (22, 23) provided in the thickness of the shoulder (24). 4. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the screen (10) comprises two envelopes (11, 12) with a substantially frusto-conical shape which are secured to the shoulder (24) of the table (2), defining between one another the cavity (14) for cooling of the screen (10). 5. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the screen (10) is machined integrally with the table (2). 6. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the apertures (6, 7) for passage of the cooling flow are diametrically opposed. 7. Photosensitive cell according to claim 3, wherein the apertures in the passage (22, 23) are diametrically opposed and offset by 90° relative to the apertures (6, 7) for passage of the cooling flow. 8. Photosensitive cell according to claim 1, wherein the apertures in the passage (22, 23) are chamfered (25). | The present invention relates to cooled photosensitive cells, thermal photosensitive cells or quantal photosensitive cells. The term photosensitive cell will be used hereinafter. A photosensitive cell generally consists of one or a plurality of sensor(s) fitted on a cold table which is cooled by a cooler. In the case of applications which require very rapid cooling, for example in the use of photosensitive cells in self-propelled and remote controlled devices, use is made of a cooler of the Joule-Thomson expansion type, in which a gas expands at the output from a jet and reaches its minimal temperature at the point of equilibrium between the solid and liquid phases. This cooler makes it possible to cool the table, and for this purpose must overcome the thermal inertia of the latter. In addition, the sensors of the photosensitive cell must be protected against parasitic radiation by means of a screen which is integral with the cold table, which must also be cooled and also has thermal inertia to be overcome. Mechanical devices have been proposed in order to permit cooling of the cold table and of the screen, whilst assuring the thermal homogeneousness of the assembly. Certain devices carry out this cooling by conduction, but this type of cooling is too slow because of the thermal inertia. The French patent application filed by the applicant under number FR 01 16 863 proposes cooling of both the table and the screen by convection, by subjecting them to the expansion volume of the cooler. FIG. 1 represents an embodiment of a photosensitive cell of this type. In this device 1′, a table 2′, on which a sensor 3′ is placed, is provided with apertures 4′, 5′ for passage of the cooling flow, which communicate with an annular cavity 6′ for cooling of a screen 7′, the cavity 6′ extending between two cylindrical envelopes 8′, 8″ which are secured to the table 2′. An annular flange 9′ partially closes the space 10′ inside the inner envelope 8″ of the screen, thus acting as a diaphragm for the sensor 3′. In addition, electrical connection tracks are disposed in an inner layer beneath the screen, in the thickness of the table 2′. The solution proposed permits efficient cooling. The applicant has pursued developments in order to eliminate certain disadvantages. In fact, placing the electrical connection tracks in the inner layers of the table 2′ gives rise to electrical interference which leads to noise on the signal. In addition, this placing in an inner layer is difficult and costly to implement. The annular flange 9′ which is placed at the top of the annular cavity 6′ is cooled by conduction, and therefore more slowly than the remainder of the device 1′. Fitting of the photosensitive cell is not very simple. It is necessary to weld the cylindrical envelopes 8′, 8″ onto the table 2′, then secure the sensor(s) 3′ on the table 2′, before securing the annular flange 9′ at the top of the envelopes 8′, 8″, this operation necessarily being carried out after the securing of the sensor 3′, since the inner diameter of the flange 9′ is smaller than that of the sensor 3′. Thus, it is not possible, for example, to carry out sealing tests on the photosensitive cell 1′ without a sensor 3′, in order to avoid damaging the sensor, since the latter cannot be put into place last in the device 1′. The present invention aims to eliminate these disadvantages. For this purpose, the present invention relates to a cooled photosensitive cell comprising a table, at least one sensor which is fitted on the table and is connected to electrical connection tracks, a screen which is fitted on the table in order to prevent parasitic radiation on the sensor, at least one Joule-Thomson cooler in order to cool the table and the screen, wherein the table and the screen are cooled by convection by being subjected directly to the volume of expansion of the cooler, the table being provided with apertures for passage of the cooling flow communicating with a cavity for cooling of the screen, characterised in that that table comprises on its periphery a shoulder on which the screen is fitted, a passage for the sensor and the electrical connection circuits being provided between the table and the screen. “Shoulder” means any means which is raised relative to the plane on which the sensor rests. Preferably, the screen comprises two envelopes with a substantially frusto-conical shape which are secured to the shoulder of the table, defining between one another the cavity for cooling of the screen. The present invention will be better understood by means of the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, provided with reference to the attached drawing, in which: FIG. 1 represents a schematic view in cross-section of a photosensitive cell according to the prior art; FIG. 2 represents a schematic view in cross-section of the photosensitive cell according to the invention; FIG. 3 represents a schematic plan view of the photosensitive cell according to the invention; FIG. 4 represents a perspective view of the photosensitive cell according to the invention; and FIG. 5 represents a partially cut-out perspective view of the photosensitive cell according to the invention. With reference to FIG. 2, a photosensitive cell 1 generally comprises one or a plurality of sensor(s) 3 which are fitted on a circular table 2, which is cooled by a Joule-Thomson cooler 4 fitted in a cryostat well (cold finger) which is connected to the table by a frusto-conical portion 5 which widens in the direction of the table 2. A description will be provided hereinafter of a photosensitive cell 1 which is provided with a single sensor 3, the possibility of general applicationS to a plurality of sensors being apparent. The Joule-Thomson cooler comprises a pipe coil which is supplied with high-pressure gas and ends in ajet from which the gas is ejected; the minimal temperature is reached at the point of equilibrium between the gaseous phase and the liquid phase, the temperature to be reached determining the choice of the gas. This device is not represented, since it is well known according to the prior art. The photosensitive cell assembly 1 is isolated by vacuum or by a neutral gas in a cryostat, not represented. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the circular table 2 comprises a circular shoulder 24 which is placed around its contour. This shoulder 24 is raised relative to the table by a height which is greater than that of the tracks of electrical connections 30; the thickness of the shoulder 24 means its width measured parallel to the table. In two diametrically opposed regions 8, 9, the shoulder 24 is provided in the direction of the height with two vents 6, 7 for passage of the cooling flow. Two other vents 22, 23 are provided, this time in the direction of the thickness of the shoulder 24, in two diametrically opposed regions 20, 21, and offset by 90° relative to the two regions 8, 9 in which the first aforementioned vents 6, 7 are provided. These vents 22, 23 permit passage of the sensor 3 and of the electrical connection tracks 30 of the photosensitive cell 1. The electrical connection tracks 30 are contained in a substrate, forming a sheet, to which the sensor 3 is glued. According to another embodiment, the tracks are created by means of a flexible line which is connected directly to the sensor 3, thus dispensing with the presence of the substrate. The vents 22, 23 for passage of the electrical connection tracks 30 comprise bevels 25 which permit introduction of the sensor 3 and electrical connection tracks 30. If the opening of the vents 22, 23 were too large, consequently permitting passage of parasitic rays which could impede the satisfactory operation of the photosensitive cell 1, it would be possible, once the photosensitive cell 1 and the sensor 3 had been fitted, to place a protective ring around the outer wall of the table 2. It would also be possible to close these vents 22, 23 with glue or another material. By means of the vents 22, 23 for passage of the electrical connection tracks 30, the sensor 3 and the electrical connection tracks 30 can be put into place last; once the remainder of the photosensitive cell 1 has been fitted integrally. In particular it is possible to carry out tests, for sealing for example, on the photosensitive cell 1 without the sensor 3, without thus risking damaging the latter. The sheet of electrical connection circuits 30 on which the sensor 3 is also glued can then be introduced into the space 17 inside the inner envelope 12 of the screen 10, via the vents 22, 23. The sensor 3 is placed in the centre of the table 2. It is also possible to change the sensor 3 without changing the photosensitive cell 1. According to the other embodiment previously referred to, the sensor 3 is placed directly on the table 2 from above, before the screen 10 is fitted, and the sensor 3 is then wired to the electrical tracks 30 (which are flexible lines), introduced via the vents 22, 23. This solution does not make it possible to test the sealing of the photosensitive cell without the sensor 3. On the other hand, it facilitates considerably the fitting of the assembly, and makes it possible to reduce the size of the vents 22, 23, thus limiting the parasitic rays. With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, on the shoulder 24 of the table 2 there is fitted a screen 10 for protection against the parasitic rays; it can be glued or welded onto the table 2, or it can be machined integrally with the table 2. This screen 10 comprises two envelopes 11, 12 in order to provide a cavity 14 for circulation of the cooling flow, which cavity communicates with the vents 6, 7 for passage of the cooling flow. The form of the envelopes 11, 12 of the screen 10 is such that the opening 13 in the top 16 of the screen 10 has dimensions smaller than those of the base 15 of the screen 10, and in particular smaller than the dimensions of the sensor 3. The screen 10 thus acts as an optical diaphragm for the sensor 3, owing to the dimensions of its opening 13. The configuration adopted allows the screen 10 not only to act thus as an optical diaphragm, but also to be cooled by convection, by means of the cooling flow in the cavity 14 between the two envelopes 11, 12, from the base 15 of the cavity to its top 16. In the preferred embodiment of the photosensitive cell 1 according to the invention, the envelopes 11, 12 have a frusto-conical shape. This shape is the most compact one possible for transition from a base circle 15 to a smaller top circle 16. This compactness improves the cooling since the thermal mass is lower. This configuration also improves the rapid rising of the gases towards the screen 10. In addition, the rigidity of this embodiment allows it to meet the vibratory requirements which are inherent in the usage made of the sensors. In operation, the cooling gas is supplied via the cryostat finger. It is then diffused in the frusto-conical portion 5 for connection to the table 2, thus cooling the table 2, as well as in the cavity 14 of the screen 10, via the vents 6, 7, by this means assuring the cooling of the screen 10. The frusto-conical configuration of the screen 10 makes it possible to obtain a diaphragm 13 spaced from the sensor 3, which is advantageous from an optical point of view, efficient cooling of the screen 10 nevertheless also being assured. | 20040617 | 20061031 | 20050127 | 59658.0 | 0 | ALI, MOHAMMAD M | COOLED PHOTOSENSITIVE CELL | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,656 | ACCEPTED | Wipes dispensing system | Provided is a wipes dispensing system including a dispenser having a dispensing aperture, a pouch containing an interleaved stack of wipes or a rolled perforated web of wipes contained within the dispenser and accessed through the dispensing aperture, and a mounting element for mounting the dispenser to a mounting surface. The wipes dispensing system may further include a pivotable dispensing lid that closes against the dispensing aperture and seals the wipes from the outside environment when the wipes dispensing system is not in use. | 1. A wipes dispensing system comprising: a dispenser comprising: a base, said base having a base inside surface, and a base outside surface opposite said base inside surface; a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door having a refill door inside surface, a refill door outside surface opposite said refill door inside surface, and a refill door aperture through said refill door; a dispensing lid coupled to said refill door, said dispensing-lid having a dispensing lid inside surface and a dispensing lid outside surface opposite said dispensing lid inside surface; and wherein said base and said refill door define a pouch space when said refill door is placed in a closed relationship with said base; a pouch within said pouch space; and a mounting element coupled to a said base outside surface for attaching said dispenser to a mounting surface. 2. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said refill door is pivotably coupled to said base. 3. The wipes dispensing system of claim 2 further comprising a living hinge pivotably coupling said refill door to said base. 4. The wipes dispensing system of claim 3 wherein said refill door, said base, and said living hinge are integrally formed. 5. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said dispensing lid is pivotably coupled to said refill door. 6. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said dispenser comprises plastic selected from the group consisting of PP, HDPE, PET, PS, ABS, and other engineered plastics. 7. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said mounting element comprises stretch release adhesive tape. 8. The wipes dispensing system of claim 7 further comprising a cut-out in said base for accessing a stretch release tab of said stretch release adhesive tape. 9. The wipes dispensing system of claim 7 further comprising one or more pads coupled to said base outside surface, said pads having a length about equal to the thickness of said stretch release adhesive tape. 10. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said mounting element is selected from the group consisting of velcro tapes, suction cups, micro suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam tapes, static cling films and removable mounting brackets. 11. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said pouch comprises one or more wipes. 12. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein one or more lateral edges of said pouch is gusseted. 13. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said one or more wipes comprise a stack of interleaved wipes. 14. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said one or more wipes comprises a rolled web of perforated wipes. 15. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said pouch further comprises a pouch aperture for accessing said one or more wipes, said pouch aperture being covered by a removable adhesive label for protecting said wipes from the outside environment. 16. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said wipes are selected from the group consisting of dry wipes, wet wipes, and partially wetted wipes. 17. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 further comprising: a refill door latch hook coupled to said base; a refill door latch contact coupled to said refill door 102; and wherein said refill door latch hook is adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with said refill door latch contact to releasably lock said refill door with said base whenever said refill door is positioned in a closed relationship with said base. 18. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 further comprising: a dispensing lid latch hook coupled to said refill door; a dispensing lid latch contact coupled to said dispensing lid; and wherein said dispensing lid latch hook is adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with said dispensing lid latch contact to releasably-lock said-dispensing lid with said refill door whenever said dispensing lid door is positioned to established a closed relationship with said refill door. 19. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 further comprising: one or more grooves formed as indentations into said refill door inside surface; one or more-corresponding rings formed as ridges projecting from said dispensing lid outside surface; wherein each of said one or more grooves abuttingly contacts, mates and cooperates with a corresponding one of said one or more rings to form one or more interfaces; and wherein said interfaces seal said refill door aperture from the outside environment when said dispensing lid is in a closed relationship with said refill door. 20. The wipes dispensing system of claim 1 further comprising an refill door holder comprising: a guide having a slot, said guide being coupled to said base inside surface; and a pin coupled to said refill door inside surface wherein said pin passes through and beyond said slot of said guide, and; wherein said refill door holder limits the extent to which said refill door pivots open relative said base. 21. A wipes dispensing system comprising: a dispenser comprising: a base; a refill door coupled to said base; a dispensing lid coupled to said refill door; and a pouch space defined by said base and said refill door; a pouch of wipes disposed within said pouch space; and a mounting element for attaching said dispenser to a mounting surface. 22. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said refill door further comprises a refill door aperture through said refill door; wherein said pouch further comprises a pouch aperture; and wherein said refill door aperture and said pouch aperture are aligned within said pouch space such that wipes are dispensed through said refill door aperture and said pouch aperture. 23. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said refill door is pivotably coupled to said base. 24. The wipes dispensing system of claim 23 further comprising a living hinge pivotably coupling said refill door to said base. 25. The wipes dispensing system of claim 24 wherein said refill door, said base, and said living hinge are integrally formed. 26. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said dispensing lid is pivotably coupled to said refill door. 27. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said dispenser comprises plastic selected from the group consisting of PP, HDPE, PET, PS, ABS, and other engineered plastics. 28. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said mounting element comprises stretch release adhesive tape. 29. The wipes dispensing system of claim 28 further comprising a cut-out in said base for accessing a stretch release tab of said stretch release adhesive tape. 30. The wipes dispensing system of claim 28 further comprising one or more pads coupled to said base, said pads having a length about equal to the thickness of said stretch release adhesive tape. 31. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said mounting element is selected from the group consisting of velcro tapes, suction cups, micro suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam tapes, static cling films and removable mounting brackets. 32. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said pouch comprises one or more wipes. 33. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein one or more lateral edges of said pouch is gusseted. 34. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said one or more wipes comprise a stack of interleaved wipes. 35. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said one or more wipes comprises a rolled web of perforated wipes. 36. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said pouch further comprises a pouch aperture for accessing said one or more wipes, said pouch aperture being covered by a removable adhesive label for protecting said wipes from the outside environment. 37. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 wherein said wipes are selected from the group consisting of dry wipes, wet wipes, and partially wetted wipes. 38. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 further comprising: a refill door latch hook coupled to said base; a refill door latch contact coupled to said refill door; and wherein said refill door latch hook is adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with said refill door latch contact to releasably lock said refill door with said base whenever said refill door is positioned in a closed relationship with said base. 39. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 further comprising: a dispensing lid latch hook coupled to said refill door; a dispensing lid latch contact coupled to said dispensing lid; and wherein said dispensing lid latch hook is adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with said dispensing lid latch contact to releasably lock said dispensing lid with said refill door whenever said dispensing lid door is positioned to established a closed relationship with said refill door. 40. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 further comprising: one or more grooves formed as indentations into said refill door inside surface; one or more corresponding rings formed as ridges projecting from said dispensing lid outside surface; wherein each of said one or more grooves abuttingly contacts, mates and cooperates with a corresponding one of said one or more rings to form one or more interfaces; and wherein said interfaces seal said refill door aperture from the outside environment when said dispensing lid is in a closed relationship with said refill door. 41. The wipes dispensing system of claim 21 further comprising an refill door holder comprising: a guide having a slot, said guide being coupled to said base inside surface; and a pin coupled to said refill door inside surface wherein said pin passes through and beyond said slot of said guide, and; wherein said refill door holder limits the extent to which said refill door pivots open relative said base. 42. A wipes dispensing system comprising: a dispenser; a pouch disposed within said dispenser, said pouch comprising one or more wipes; and a mounting element coupled to a said dispenser for attaching said dispenser to a mounting surface. 43. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said dispenser comprises plastic selected from the group consisting of PP, HDPE, PET, PS, ABS, and other engineered plastics. 44. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said mounting element comprises stretch release adhesive tape. 45. The wipes dispensing system of claim 44 further comprising a cut-out in said dispenser for accessing a stretch release tab of said stretch release adhesive tape. 46. The wipes dispensing system of claim 44 further comprising one or more pads coupled to said dispenser, said pads having a length about equal to the thickness of said stretch release adhesive tape. 47. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said mounting element is selected from the group consisting of velcro tapes, suction cups, micro suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam tapes, static cling films and removable mounting brackets. 48. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said pouch comprises one or more wipes. 49. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein one or more lateral edges of said pouch is gusseted. 50. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said one or more wipes comprise a stack of interleaved wipes. 51. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said one or more wipes comprises a rolled web of perforated wipes. 52. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said pouch further comprises a pouch aperture for accessing said one or more wipes, said pouch aperture being covered by a removable adhesive label for protecting said wipes from the outside environment. 53. The wipes dispensing system of claim 42 wherein said wipes are selected from the group consisting of dry wipes, wet wipes, and partially wetted wipes. 54. A wipes dispensing system comprising: a dispenser; one or more wipes disposed within said dispenser; and a mounting element coupled to a said dispenser for attaching said dispenser to a mounting surface. 55. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 wherein said dispenser comprises plastic selected from the group consisting of PP, HDPE, PET, PS, ABS, and other engineered plastics. 56. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 wherein said mounting element comprises stretch release adhesive tape. 57. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 further comprising a cut-out in said dispenser for accessing a stretch release tab of said stretch release adhesive tape. 58. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 further comprising one or more pads coupled to said dispenser, said pads having a length about equal to the thickness of said stretch release adhesive tape. 59. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 wherein said mounting element is selected from the group consisting of velcro tapes, suction cups, micro suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam tapes, static cling films and removable mounting brackets. 60. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 wherein said one or more wipes comprise a stack of interleaved wipes. 61. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54 wherein said one or more wipes comprises a rolled web of perforated wipes. 62. The wipes dispensing system of claim 54, wherein said one or more wipes are selected from the group consisting of dry wipes, wet wipes, and partially wetted wipes. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to wipes dispensers, and, more specifically, to a wipes dispensing system including a mounting element releasably mountable to fixed surface. The wipes dispensing system provides for easy dispensing of wipes in a variety of environments and in various orientations of the dispenser. 2. Description of the Related Art Dry, wet or partially wetted cleaning wipes are known in the art. Other similar sheet-like substrates such as towels, sponges, pads, napkins, diapers etc are also known in the art. Such items have been packaged in a number of different ways. For example cleaning wipes, tissues, napkins, etc. are often packaged in a standard dispenser box, sometimes with a removable or hinged lid. Such packaging, however, raises the problem of locating, grasping and removing the first substrate at the front of the dispenser package from an aperture in the package. This problem has been addressed in the prior art by stacking the individual wipes or other substrates horizontally, interweaving each of the substrates with the preceding and subsequent substrate, sometimes referred to as interleaving the wipes. For example, containers or dispensers for wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes stacked in the container has been arranged in a folded configuration such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration well known to those skilled in the art. A web of perforated wipes, formed as a roll and separated at the dispenser when needed, has also been used to address this problem. By stacking the substrates or by using a perforated roll of wipes, when the user removes a substrate, the next substrate may be made to “pop-up” to be easily grasped the next time a wipe is needed. However, these “pop-up” dispensing systems can only be successfully used when the substrate is sufficiently flexible and where the aperture through which the wipes are dispensed offers sufficient resistance to avoid “roping” of the interleaved wipes or perforated wipes. If the dispensing aperture does not sufficiently resist the removal of a wipe, the interleaving of the wipes causes multiple wipes to be dispensed, i.e. the wipes “rope”. Roping in a rolled web of perforated wipes is also possible when insufficient force at the dispenser aperture allows multiple wipes to dispense without singulation of the wipes at the wipes separation perforations. In the prior art, dispensing aperture resistance was accomplished by providing the dispensing aperture as a narrow slit. The narrow slit contacted the wipes during dispensing, thus providing a resistance while dispensing a wipe. However, with a narrow slit, a user could not easily grasp the front wipe to thread the wipe through the aperture for dispensing. Accordingly, there is a need for improved structures and processes for the dispensing of wipes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a releasably mountable wipes dispensing system is provided. The wipes dispensing system includes a dispenser which defines an interior space configured to receive a pouch containing a stack or web of wipes. In one embodiment, the stack or web of wipes is disposed within the interior space directly and the pouch containing the wipes is eliminated. The wipes dispenser has a back attachment surface for attaching the dispenser to a mounting element. The mounting element, and thus the wipes dispenser, is attachable in a variety of orientations and to a variety of fixed mounting surfaces, such as, for example, a wall, the door or bottom surface of a cabinet, a mirror surface, the under-counter surface of a counter top, etc. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to a surface by means of stretch release adhesive tape. The stretch release tape may have a range of dimensions as well as a range of adhesive formulations. The dispenser includes a dispensing aperture that is oriented substantially parallel to the attachment surface of the dispenser, and which is configured to provide easy and reliable dispensing of single wipes from a stack of wipes contained in the dispenser. The dispensing aperture is covered by a dispensing lid that pivots opens for easy access to the interior of the dispenser. In one embodiment, a pop-up stack of wipes, which is typically packaged in a flexible pouch, is placed in a pouch space in the interior of the dispenser. Wipes may also be disposed directly in the interior of the dispenser without the use of a pouch. In one embodiment having a pouch, the pouch includes a pouch aperture cut out through the front of the pouch to the stack of wipes. A removable adhesive label covers the aperture to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to use and to prevent dryout of wet wipes. In other embodiments, the wipes stack can be non-pop-up, or can be provided on a roll, where the wipes are connected consecutively in a perforated web. In use, the in one embodiment is inserted into the interior pouch space of the dispenser via a refill door that pivots opens from a base of the dispenser. In one embodiment, this refill door is configured with a refill door holder that limits the extent to which the refill door can open to about 35 degrees. The refill door holder allows a user to place the pouch into the container using only one hand (i.e., there is no need to hold the front face of the door open while placing the pouch into the container). A variety of wipe substrates and wet formulations can be used with the dispenser. Wipes may be of a variety of dimensions, substrate densities, folded stack dimensions, wipe-stack counts or stack weights. The dispenser may be used with dry, wet or partially wetted wipes. A variety of attachment means is possible. The wipes dispenser of the present invention may be releasably mounted to a fixed surface by mounting elements, such as, for example, velcro tapes, suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam or other tapes, micro suction, static cling films or by means of a removable mounting bracket. Further, a variety of dispenser attachment orientations is possible, such as, for example, on a wall, with the longer dispenser dimension oriented either parallel, vertical or slated to the ground. The dispenser may also be mounted with the dispensing aperture oriented perpendicular to the mounting surface, such that the wipes are dispensing in a parallel orientation to the mounting surface. The dispenser could also be mounted “upside down”, i.e., under an overhead kitchen cabinet. The dispenser may,be attached to a variety surfaces, such as, for example, painted surfaces, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc. The present invention is sufficiently flexible to fit in a variety of environments, including high humidity environments, such as bathrooms or near kitchen sinks, or environments subject to low temperatures, such as garages and outdoor work/tool sheds. Thus, by the present invention, a user may conveniently place, load, and extract wipes wherever and whenever generally needed or useful. Further, the wipes dispensing system may be releasably mounted such that wipes may be dispensed from any direction and from a variety of orientations chosen by the user. Finally, the wipes dispenser system may be easily removed or relocated when desired. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and others will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan from the following description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a wipes dispensing system having a base and a dispensing lid in a closed position; FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispensing system shown in FIG. 1A, but with the dispensing lid pivoted in an open position; FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispensing system shown in FIG. 1A, with a refill door in an open position; FIG. 1D is a cut-away side view of wipes dispensing system 10 showing a refill door holder; FIG. 1E shows the wipes dispensing system shown in FIG. 1C, with the refill door and dispensing lid removed for a more complete view of a pouch; FIG. 1F shows a perspective view of the refill door shown in FIG. 1B, taken toward the refill door inside, surface; FIG. 1G shows a back plan view of the wipes dispensing system shown in FIG. 1A, taken toward a base outside surface from the back of the a base; and FIG. 2 is a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dotted line, showing a corresponding upper gripper and lower gripper set. Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with the principles of the present invention, provided is a wipes dispensing system that releasably mounts to a mounting element, where the mounting element releasably attaches to a mounting surface. The wipes dispensing system provides for convenient and easy dispensing of wipes in a variety of environments and in various orientations of the wipes dispensing system. The wipes dispensing system of the present invention includes a dispenser comprising a base and a refill door pivotably coupled to the base. When the refill door is pivoted to a closed position relative to the base, a pouch space is defined by the base and the refill door. The wipes dispensing system of the present invention further includes a replaceable pouch, which contains a stack of singulated folded wipes or a web of perforated wipes. In use, the refill door of the dispenser is pivoted to an open position relative to the base. A pouch is placed between the base and the refill door. When the refill door is next pivoted to a closed position relative to the base, the pouch, and web or stack of webs contained therein, is enclosed within the pouch space. When the pouch is properly aligned within the dispenser, a pouch aperture in the pouch is aligned with a refill door aperture in the refill door. Thus, wipes are grasped by a user and are simultaneously withdrawn through the pouch aperture and through the refill door aperture. The refill door aperture on the refill door is large enough to allow threading of the first wipe by grasping the first wipe through the refill door aperture and pouch aperture. In one embodiment, a dispensing lid coupled to the refill door is pivoted to a closed position relative to the refill door to seal the refill door aperture when the wipes dispensing system is not in use. When it is desired to access wipes in the pouch or the stack or web of wipes disposed directly within the interior of the dispenser, the dispensing lid is pivoted to an open position relative to the refill door, thereby making wipes in the pouch accessible through the refill door and pouch apertures. When all the wipes in the pouch are removed and used, the refill door is pivoted open and the empty pouch removed from the dispenser. A new pouch is placed between the base and the refill door and the refill door is pivoted closed, thereby enclosing the new refill pouch within the pouch space. The wipes dispensing system of the present invention may be released from the mounting element when it is no longer desired or when it is to be moved. The mounting element is removed from the mounting surface. The dispensing system may be remounted and reattached to a new mounting surface if desired. In one embodiment, the dispenser includes hooks on each of its lateral ends that hang onto the sides of a paper towel dispenser. The hooks are of sufficient length that the wipes dispenser fits under a full roll of paper towels. In this embodiment, the dispenser may be easily removed when no longer desired. In an alternate embodiment, the wipes dispensing system may be permanetly mounted to a mounting surface with, for example, permanent high tack adhesives, screws, permanently attached brackets, and the like. More particularly, FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a wipes dispensing system 10, with a dispensing lid 108 in a closed position. Wipes dispensing system 10 includes a dispenser 60, a pouch 130 (FIG. 1C), and a mounting element such as stretch release tape 144. Dispenser 60 includes a base 100. As described more fully below with reference to FIG. 1C, a refill door 102 is, in one embodiment, pivotably coupled to base 100 such that refill door 102 may be placed in a closed position relative to base 100 (FIG. 1A), or refill door 102 may be placed in an open position relative to base 100 (FIG. 1C). Coupled to base 100 is a refill door latch hook 104 adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with a refill door latch contact 106 coupled to refill door 102, to releasably lock refill door 102 with base 100 whenever refill door 102 is pivoted to establish a closed relationship with base 100. In other embodiments, methods other than the abutting contact between refill door latch contact 106 and refill door latch hook 104 established by pivoting refill door 102 to base 100, may be adapted to releasably lock refill door 102 in a closed relationship with base 100. For example, base 100 and refill door 102 may be separate and uncoupled and may be releasably locked in a closed relationship merely by snapping together base 100 and refill door 102. Any manner of releasable fitment or fastening elements well known to those of skill in the art may be used to releasably lock refill door 102 with base 100. As shown in FIG. 1A, dispenser 60 further includes a dispensing lid 108 having a dispensing lid outside surface 110. Dispensing lid 108 is pivotably coupled to a refill door outside surface 112 of refill door 102, such that, dispensing lid 108 may be placed in a closed position relative to refill door 102, or, alternatively, that dispensing lid 108 may be placed in an open position relative to refill door 102. In one embodiment, dispensing lid 108 is pivotably coupled to refill door 102 by means of a pin and hole configuration well known to those of skill in the art. However; it is envisioned that any means of pivotally coupling the dispensing lid 108 to the refill door 102 may be used in the present invention. FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispensing system 10 shown in FIG. 1A, but with dispensing lid 108 pivoted in an open position. Refill door 102 defines a refill door aperture 114. Refill door aperture 114 includes a center lobe 116C and two or more side lobes. In communication with 116C at one side of 116C is a left side lobe 116L. In communication with 116C, at an opposite side of 116C from 116L, is a right side lobe 116R. In this embodiment, refill door aperture 114 is advantageously configured such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe closest refill door aperture 114 from a stack or web of wipes (not individually shown) contained in a pouch 130 (FIG. 1C) or directly disposed within the interior of dispenser 60 without the need to thread wipes through refill door aperture 114. In other embodiments, refill door aperture 114 may have shapes other than the three-lobe configuration shown in FIG. 1B. For example, refill door 102 may define a single-lobed refill door aperture 114 with an oval, round, rectangular or square shape. The shape of the refill door aperture 114 is configured such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe, of a stack or web of wipes, which is closest to the refill door aperture 114, without the need to thread wipes through refill door aperture 114. Other configurations of refill door aperture 114 will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art, and so are not discussed further to avoid detracting from the presentation of the present invention. In one embodiment, refill door 102 further defines a pair of appendages, sometimes called upper, (e.g. first), grippers 118U, projecting inward from the upper outside edges of refill door aperture 114 toward its center. Refill door 102 further defines another-pair of appendages, sometimes called lower, (e.g. second), grippers 118L. Each gripper 118L projects inward from the lower outside edge of refill door aperture 114 toward its center. Each lower gripper 118L is opposite a corresponding one of the pair of upper grippers 118U. As described more fully below with reference to FIG. 2, each corresponding pair of upper grippers 118U and lower grippers 118L defines a gap 270 through which wipes pass when extracted from wipes dispensing system 10. As shown in FIG. 1B, circumscribing refill door aperture 114 is a series of one or more grooves. An inner groove 120 is formed as a depression indented into refill door outside surface 112. Also, circumscribing refill door aperture 114, at a distance from refill door aperture 114 greater than the distance where inner groove 120 is formed, is an outer groove 121. Outer groove 121 is likewise formed as a depression indented into refill door outside surface 112. In other embodiments, more or fewer than two depressions or grooves may be formed in refill door outside surface 112. One or more interfaces are formed by contacting rings, which are configured as ridges along the dispensing lid inside surface 122, with corresponding grooves. These interfaces, formed from rings and corresponding grooves, seal the refill door aperture 114 and prevent moisture loss from wet or partially wetted wipes whenever dispensing lid 108 is closed on refill door 102. An inner ring 124, is coupled to a dispensing lid inside surface 122 of dispensing lid 108 opposite dispensing lid outside surface 110 (FIG. 1A) of dispensing lid 108. Inner ring 124 is configured as a ridge projecting away from dispensing lid inside surface 122. Inner ring 124 is adapted to abuttingly contact, mate, and cooperate with inner groove 120 to form an inner interface (not shown) whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102 (as shown in FIG. 1A). This inner interface seals refill door aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112. An outer ring 125 is coupled to dispensing lid inside surface 122. Outer ring 125 is likewise configured as a ridge projecting from dispensing lid inside surface 122. Outer ring 125 is adapted to abuttingly contact, mate and cooperate with outer groove 121 to form an outer interface (not shown) further sealing refill door aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102. In other embodiments, more or fewer than two rings may be coupled to dispensing lid inside surface 122 to abuttingly contact, mate and cooperate with corresponding grooves to form more or fewer than two interfaces sealing refill door aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102. Moreover, it is envisioned in further embodiments that the one or more grooves, e.g. grooves 120, 121, may be formed on the dispensing lid inside surface 122, while the one or more rings, e.g. rings 124, 125, may be formed on the refill door outside surface 112 to create the interfaces sealing refill door aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102. Similarly, as described above with reference to refill door latch hook 104 and refill door 102 (and as shown in FIG. 1B.), coupled to dispensing lid 108 is a dispensing lid latch hook 126 adapted to abuttingly contact and cooperate with a dispensing lid latch contact 128 coupled to refill door outside surface 112 of refill door 102, to releasably lock dispensing lid 108 closed with refill door 102 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in closed relationship with refill door 102. FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of wipes dispensing system 10 shown in FIG. 1A, with refill door 102 in an open position. In one embodiment, refill door 102 is pivotable relative to base 100 by means of a living hinge (not shown), well known in the art, thus allowing base 100 and refill door 102 to be integrally formed in one piece. In another embodiment, refill door 102 is pivotable relative to base 100 by any hinged means, such that refill door 102 and base 100 are formed in two or more pieces and joined along the hinge means. Refill door 102 and base 100 may be formed, integrally or separately, from a variety of materials, such as, for example, polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile—butadiene—styrene (ABS), and other engineered plastics, and may be formed with a variety of fabrication technologies, such as, for example, thermoforming. The other components of dispenser 60 may be similarly formed. A pouch 130, containing a web or stack of wipes (not individually shown), is positioned between refill door 102 and base 100. When refill door 102 is next placed in a closed relationship with base 100, pouch 130 is enclosed with the pouch space defined by base 10.0 and refill door 102. In another embodiment, wipes may be disposed directly within the interior of dispenser 60 without a pouch 130. In one pouch embodiment, pouch 130 includes a slider 132 on each of the left and right lateral sides of pouch 130. A pair of tracks (not shown) on a base inside surface 133 of base 100 is adapted to slidably receive pouch 130 at each slider 132. When fully engaged in the tracks, pouch 130 is secured within the pouch space defined by base 100 and refill door 102 when refill door 102 is closed. In this manner, pouch 130 is secured to base 100 and advantageously remains in place, within the pouch space defined by refill door 102 closed to base 100, whenever a user extracts a wipe contained in pouch 130. Other means of securing pouch 130 to base 100 will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art. For example, pouch 130 may be secured to base 100 by means of mating fitment elements, velcro tapes, suction cups, magnets, removable double-sided foam or other tapes. Such means of securing pouch 130 may be placed at the left and right lateral edges, top or bottom edges or back surface of pouch 130. In another embodiment, the left and right lateral sides of pouch 130 are formed as gusseted edges, i.e., folded inward upon themselves, to allow a tighter fit of pouch 130 into the pouch space defined when refill door 102 is closed with base 100. The top and bottom edges of pouch 130 may be similarly formed. FIG. 1D is a cut-away side view of wipes dispensing system 10 showing a refill door holder 148 within the pouch space defined by base 100 and refill door 102. In one embodiment, refill door holder 148 limits the extent to which refill door 102 can pivot open relative to base 100 to about 35 degrees. Refill door holder 148 includes a guide 150 coupled to base inside surface 133 of base 100. Guide 150 is configured generally as a plate-like projection, longitudinally directed away from base inside surface 133 toward refill door 104. Guide 150 includes a slot 152 adapted to cooperated with a pin 154 coupled to a refill door inside surface 156 opposite refill door outside surface 112 (FIG. 1A). Slot 152 is configured as an arced, slit-like aperture through guide 150 from one plate surface of guide 150 to the opposite plate surface of guide 150 and having an arc angle of about 35 degrees. Pin 154 is configured as a shaft-like projection longitudinally directed away from refill door inside surface 156 toward guide 150. Pin 154 is positioned on refill door inside surface 156, and the size of pin 154 is selected, such that, pin 154 passes through and beyond slot 152 of guide 150 when refill door 102 is closed against base 100. When refill door 102 is pivoted by a user of dispenser system 10, to open refill door 102 and insert pouch 130 (FIG. 1C), pin 154 moves within slot 152 following the arced path of slot 152. As refill door 102 pivots, pin 154 rotates until a slot lower extent 158 of slot 152 is reached. At this point, slot lower extent 158 constrains pin from further rotational motion within slot 152 relative to base 100. Thus, refill door 102, to which pin 154 is coupled, is likewise constrained from further opening by pivotal rotation relative to base 100. In horizontal and vertical mounting configurations, pin 154 rests at slot lower extent 158 of slot 152 when the user releases refill door 102 after opening. Thus, refill door holder 154 allows a user to place the pouch into the container using only one hand (i.e., there is no need to hold the refill door 102 open while placing pouch 130 (FIG. 1C) within the pouch space defined by base 100 and refill door 102. In one embodiment two guides 150, one at each side of dispenser system 10, are used to limit the opening of refill door 102. Further, other means of limiting the opening or refill door 102 are possible. For example, the extent of pivotal rotation of refill door 102 may be limited with suitable length straps, elastomeric cords, or coil springs attached at one end to refill door 102 and at the other end to base 102. FIG. 1E shows wipes dispensing system 10 shown in FIG. 1C with refill door 102 and dispensing lid 108 removed for a more complete view of pouch 130. FIG. 1F shows a perspective view of refill door 102 taken toward a refill door inside surface 140 of refill door 102 opposite refill door outside surface 112 shown in FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 1E, pouch 130 includes a pouch aperture 134 at the front of pouch 130, through which wipes are removed. In one embodiment, pouch aperture 134 is advantageously configured such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe from the web or stack of wipes (not shown) contained in pouch 130 without the need to thread wipes through pouch aperture 134. A removable adhesive label (not shown) may cover pouch aperture 134 to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to use and to prevent dryout of wet or partially wetted wipes. In this embodiment, the adhesive label is removed before placement of pouch 130 between refill door 102 and base 100. In one embodiment, pouch 130 includes a pouch fitment element 136 circumscribing pouch aperture 134. In this embodiment, pouch fitment element 136 is adapted to mate and cooperate with a refill door fitment element 138 (FIG. 1F) coupled to a refill door inside surface 140 opposite refill door outside surface 112 of refill door 102. When loading pouch 130 in this embodiment, a user aligns and abuttingly contacts pouch fitment element 136 on pouch 130 with refill door fitment element 138 on refill door 102 to secure pouch 130 to refill door 102. In this manner pouch 130 advantageously remains in place and substantially unmoved within the pouch space whenever a user extracts a wipe contained in pouch 130. FIG. 1G shows a perspective-view of dispenser 60 taken toward a base outside surface 142 opposite base inside surface 133 (FIG. 1C) of base 100. Referring to FIG. 1G together with FIG. 1A, in one embodiment, wipes dispensing system 10 further includes one or more stretch release adhesive tapes 144, well known to those of skill in the art (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,521 B1 by Sheridan et al.) Dispenser 60 is attached to a mounting surface S (FIG. 1A) by means of stretch release adhesive tape 144. When mounting dispenser 60 to mounting surface S, a first protective layer (not shown) is removed from stretch release adhesive tape 144 to expose a first adhesive layer (not shown) on one tape face. The first adhesive layer is placed in abutting contact with base outside surface 142 (see FIG. 1G) of base 100 to adhesively secure dispenser 60 to stretch release adhesive tape 144. A second protective layer (not shown) is removed from stretch release adhesive tape 144 to expose a second adhesive layer (not shown) on a second tape face opposite the first tape face of stretch release adhesive tape 144. The second adhesive layer is then placed in abutting contact with mounting surface S to adhesively attach stretch release tape-144 and dispenser 60 to mounting surface S. Stretch release adhesive tape 144 may be selected to provide secure attachment of dispenser 60 to mounting surface S under a variety of conditions, such as, in cold, hot or humid environments. Stretch release adhesive tape 144 may also be selected to provide secure attachment of dispenser 60 to a variety of fixed surfaces, such as, painted surfaces, tile, glass, finished wood, drywall, etc. Further, dispenser 60 may be mounted on the top of horizontal surfaces, on vertical or slanted surfaces, or may be mounted to hang from the bottom of horizontal surfaces, such as for example, the under cabinet surfaces of kitchen or bathroom cabinets. In one embodiment, a stretch release tab 146 of stretch release adhesive tape 144 extends beyond dispenser 60. Thus, when it is desired that dispenser 60 be removed from attachment to mounting surface S, stretch release tab 146 is pulled to release the second adhesive layer attaching dispenser 60 to mounting surface S. In another embodiment, stretch release tab is placed between base 100 and mounting surface S to hide stretch release tab 146 from view. In this embodiment, cut-outs are supplied in base 100, through which stretch release tabs 146 may be accessed and pulled to release stretch release adhesive tape 144 whenever it is desired to remove dispenser 60 from mounting surface S. Typically, dispenser 60, mounted using stretch release adhesive tape 144, may be removed from mounting surface S without damage to mounting surface S or dispenser 60. A new stretch release adhesive tape 144 may then be used to mount dispenser 60 to another surface. In another embodiment dispenser 60 is releasably mounted to mounting surface S by other means, such as, for example, velcro tapes, suction cups, magnets, screws and removable double-sided foam tapes and the like. In one embodiment, base 100 includes one or more pads 160 coupled to the back of base outside surface 142 where stretch release tape 144 is attached the base 100. As shown in FIG. 1G pads 160 are configured as cylindrical projections coupled at one end to base outside surface 142 and axially directed on a course away from base outside surface 142. The length of pads 160 is selected about equal to the thickness of stretch release tape 144. Without pads 160, dispenser 60 may rock about stretch release tape 144 as a pivot point. Pads 160 act as additional points defining back outside surface 142, thereby precluding rocking pivotal motion of dispenser 60 as wipes are dispensed. Other shapes for pads 160 are possible. FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dotted line as 2′, showing a corresponding upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L set. Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2 together, opposing upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L define a gap 270. After pouch 130 is placed in the pouch space, the front wipe of pouch 130 is grasped through center lobe 116C of refill door aperture 114. As the wipe is extracted, the wipe threads through gap 270 and contacts one or both of upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L. Thus, a frictional force resisting the extraction of the wipe is generated as the wipe is further extracted in contact with upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L. As described above, stacked wipes may be made to “pop-up” when the resisting frictional force generated by upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L is sufficient to avoid “roping” of the interleaved wipes. Further, for a roll of perforated wipes, by threading the web of perforated wipes through gap 270, singulation of wipes at the wipes separation perforations may be accomplished. In one embodiment, the resisting force generated by upper gripper 118U and lower gripper 118L at gap 270 is about 2 pounds force. However, it is envisioned that more or less resisting force may be attained using the present invention and the desired dispensing properties of the wipes, dispenser 60 and the wipes dispensing system 10. The embodiments of the wipes dispensing system of the present invention are illustrated in detail in the context of a mountable wipes dispenser and a flexible wipes pouch. The skilled artisan will readily appreciate, however, that the invention can be carried out by different equipment, materials and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself. The materials, structures, and methods disclosed herein will have application in a number of other contexts where convenient and easy dispensing of single sheets of substrate material is desirable. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to wipes dispensers, and, more specifically, to a wipes dispensing system including a mounting element releasably mountable to fixed surface. The wipes dispensing system provides for easy dispensing of wipes in a variety of environments and in various orientations of the dispenser. 2. Description of the Related Art Dry, wet or partially wetted cleaning wipes are known in the art. Other similar sheet-like substrates such as towels, sponges, pads, napkins, diapers etc are also known in the art. Such items have been packaged in a number of different ways. For example cleaning wipes, tissues, napkins, etc. are often packaged in a standard dispenser box, sometimes with a removable or hinged lid. Such packaging, however, raises the problem of locating, grasping and removing the first substrate at the front of the dispenser package from an aperture in the package. This problem has been addressed in the prior art by stacking the individual wipes or other substrates horizontally, interweaving each of the substrates with the preceding and subsequent substrate, sometimes referred to as interleaving the wipes. For example, containers or dispensers for wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes stacked in the container has been arranged in a folded configuration such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration well known to those skilled in the art. A web of perforated wipes, formed as a roll and separated at the dispenser when needed, has also been used to address this problem. By stacking the substrates or by using a perforated roll of wipes, when the user removes a substrate, the next substrate may be made to “pop-up” to be easily grasped the next time a wipe is needed. However, these “pop-up” dispensing systems can only be successfully used when the substrate is sufficiently flexible and where the aperture through which the wipes are dispensed offers sufficient resistance to avoid “roping” of the interleaved wipes or perforated wipes. If the dispensing aperture does not sufficiently resist the removal of a wipe, the interleaving of the wipes causes multiple wipes to be dispensed, i.e. the wipes “rope”. Roping in a rolled web of perforated wipes is also possible when insufficient force at the dispenser aperture allows multiple wipes to dispense without singulation of the wipes at the wipes separation perforations. In the prior art, dispensing aperture resistance was accomplished by providing the dispensing aperture as a narrow slit. The narrow slit contacted the wipes during dispensing, thus providing a resistance while dispensing a wipe. However, with a narrow slit, a user could not easily grasp the front wipe to thread the wipe through the aperture for dispensing. Accordingly, there is a need for improved structures and processes for the dispensing of wipes. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a releasably mountable wipes dispensing system is provided. The wipes dispensing system includes a dispenser which defines an interior space configured to receive a pouch containing a stack or web of wipes. In one embodiment, the stack or web of wipes is disposed within the interior space directly and the pouch containing the wipes is eliminated. The wipes dispenser has a back attachment surface for attaching the dispenser to a mounting element. The mounting element, and thus the wipes dispenser, is attachable in a variety of orientations and to a variety of fixed mounting surfaces, such as, for example, a wall, the door or bottom surface of a cabinet, a mirror surface, the under-counter surface of a counter top, etc. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to a surface by means of stretch release adhesive tape. The stretch release tape may have a range of dimensions as well as a range of adhesive formulations. The dispenser includes a dispensing aperture that is oriented substantially parallel to the attachment surface of the dispenser, and which is configured to provide easy and reliable dispensing of single wipes from a stack of wipes contained in the dispenser. The dispensing aperture is covered by a dispensing lid that pivots opens for easy access to the interior of the dispenser. In one embodiment, a pop-up stack of wipes, which is typically packaged in a flexible pouch, is placed in a pouch space in the interior of the dispenser. Wipes may also be disposed directly in the interior of the dispenser without the use of a pouch. In one embodiment having a pouch, the pouch includes a pouch aperture cut out through the front of the pouch to the stack of wipes. A removable adhesive label covers the aperture to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to use and to prevent dryout of wet wipes. In other embodiments, the wipes stack can be non-pop-up, or can be provided on a roll, where the wipes are connected consecutively in a perforated web. In use, the in one embodiment is inserted into the interior pouch space of the dispenser via a refill door that pivots opens from a base of the dispenser. In one embodiment, this refill door is configured with a refill door holder that limits the extent to which the refill door can open to about 35 degrees. The refill door holder allows a user to place the pouch into the container using only one hand (i.e., there is no need to hold the front face of the door open while placing the pouch into the container). A variety of wipe substrates and wet formulations can be used with the dispenser. Wipes may be of a variety of dimensions, substrate densities, folded stack dimensions, wipe-stack counts or stack weights. The dispenser may be used with dry, wet or partially wetted wipes. A variety of attachment means is possible. The wipes dispenser of the present invention may be releasably mounted to a fixed surface by mounting elements, such as, for example, velcro tapes, suction cups, magnets, screws, removable double-sided foam or other tapes, micro suction, static cling films or by means of a removable mounting bracket. Further, a variety of dispenser attachment orientations is possible, such as, for example, on a wall, with the longer dispenser dimension oriented either parallel, vertical or slated to the ground. The dispenser may also be mounted with the dispensing aperture oriented perpendicular to the mounting surface, such that the wipes are dispensing in a parallel orientation to the mounting surface. The dispenser could also be mounted “upside down”, i.e., under an overhead kitchen cabinet. The dispenser may,be attached to a variety surfaces, such as, for example, painted surfaces, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc. The present invention is sufficiently flexible to fit in a variety of environments, including high humidity environments, such as bathrooms or near kitchen sinks, or environments subject to low temperatures, such as garages and outdoor work/tool sheds. Thus, by the present invention, a user may conveniently place, load, and extract wipes wherever and whenever generally needed or useful. Further, the wipes dispensing system may be releasably mounted such that wipes may be dispensed from any direction and from a variety of orientations chosen by the user. Finally, the wipes dispenser system may be easily removed or relocated when desired. | 20040616 | 20090512 | 20051222 | 94624.0 | 0 | BUTLER, MICHAEL E | WIPES DISPENSING SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,671 | ACCEPTED | Process for forming metal layers | A process in which a base metal film is formed on the surface of a plastic film using a dry plating process, and a liquid containing an organic monomer is then brought in contact with the base metal film, thereby selectively forming a conductive organic polymer coating within any pinhole defects, and effectively filling the defects. A metal film is then formed on top of the base metal film using an electroplating process, thus forming a metal wet plating layer. | 1. A metal layer formation process for forming a metal layer on a surface of an insulator, comprising the steps of: forming a base metal film on a surface of said insulator using a dry plating process, and coating pinhole defects within said base metal film by bringing a liquid containing an organic monomer into contact with a surface of said insulator on which said base metal film has been formed, thus selectively forming a conductive organic polymer coating on said insulator surface inside said pinhole defects. 2. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein following coating of said pinhole defects with said conductive organic polymer coating, a metal film is formed on top of said base metal film using an electroplating process, thus forming a metal wet plating layer. 3. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein following coating of said pinhole defects with said conductive organic polymer coating, a metal film is formed on top of said base metal film using an electroless plating process, thus forming a metal wet plating layer. 4. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein said dry plating process is any one of sputtering, vacuum deposition, and ion plating. 5. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein said insulator is a plastic film. 6. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to said step for forming said base metal film, a step for forming a layer of one or more materials selected from a group consisting of Mo, Cr, Ni, Si, Fe, Al, and actual alloys formed from two or more of said elements, with a thickness within a range from 0.2 mg/m2 to 90 mg/m2. 7. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein said conductive organic polymer has a polyacetylene structure. 8. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein said conductive organic polymer coating is formed by an oxidation polymerization of an organic monomer. 9. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein said organic monomer is an aniline, a pyrrole, or a thiophene based compound. 10. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein a surface resistance of said conductive organic polymer coating is within a range from 10 Ω/cm to 1 MΩ/cm. 11. A metal layer formation process according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of said conductive organic polymer coating is no more than 0.2 μm. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a metal layer formation process, for forming a metal layer with minimal defects on the surface of an insulator. Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-173705, filed Jun. 18, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 2. Description of Related Art In recent years, circuit boards that use TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) or FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) have been identified as ideal for achieving further miniaturization and weight reductions of electronic equipment, and consequently, demand for these circuit boards continues to rise. Conventionally, these types of circuit boards have used a flexible plastic substrate, with a layer of copper foil bonded to this substrate with an adhesive such as an epoxy based adhesive. However, in order to achieve higher density packaging within electronic equipment, further reductions in the thickness of these circuit boards is now required, and the above construction, comprising a bonded layer of copper foil, is unable to adequately satisfy this requirement for further thickness reductions. Accordingly, techniques are being investigated for forming metallized films without the use of an adhesive. For example, in one known method, a thin film formation process such as vacuum deposition, sputtering or ion plating is used to form a base metal film directly onto a plastic substrate, and a plating process or the like is then used to deposit a metal plating layer on top of the base metal film. However, in the production method described above, the generation of a plurality of pinhole defects, with sizes ranging from several μm to several hundred μm, within the base metal film formed by the dry plating is unavoidable. If a metal plating layer is then formed on top of this type of base metal film containing pinhole defects, then even if the metal plating layer is able to seal these pinholes defects, problems can still arise, including the possibility of plating solution remaining within the pinhole defects and causing peeling of the metal film, and the chance that if a fine wiring pattern is formed on top of a pinhole defect, the wiring pattern may break. Accordingly, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-256700 proposes a method in which a base metal layer is formed on an insulator film using a dry plating process, a primary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the base metal layer, the structure is then treated in an alkali solution, an electroless copper plating layer is subsequently formed on top of the primary electroplated copper layer as an intermediate layer, and finally, a secondary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the intermediate layer. However in this method, the base metal layer, the primary electroplated copper layer, the intermediate layer, and the secondary electroplated copper layer must be formed in sequence on the surface of the insulator film, and consequently the method is complex and the associated costs are high. Furthermore, when forming an electroless plating layer, catalytic nuclei must be first adhered to the plating surface, and because these catalytic nuclei tend to adhere preferentially to the metal rather than the exposed insulator surface, the thickness of the electroless plating layer tends to be thinner within the pinhole defects than on the metal surface, meaning the pinhole defects cannot be completely filled. Accordingly, the occurrence of indentations in the metal layer surface at positions corresponding with the pinhole defects is unavoidable, making it difficult to form a metal layer of uniform thickness. In addition, electroless plating processes are unable to form films as dense as those produced by electroplating processes. As a result, the surface of the electroless plating layer tends to be a rough structure with a multitude of surface irregularities, and consequently the secondary electroplated copper layer formed on top of this electroless plating layer, which reflects the surface state of the underlying electroless plating layer, is also rough, meaning the surface of the final metal layer is neither smooth nor dense. The present invention takes the above circumstances into consideration, with an object of providing a process in which only the pinhole defects within a base metal film formed using a dry plating process can be coated selectively with a semiconductor, enabling the formation of a metal layer with excellent surface properties. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A process for forming a metal layer according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a base metal film on the surface of an insulator using a dry plating process, and coating the pinhole defects within the base metal film by bringing a liquid containing an organic monomer into contact with the base metal film, thus selectively forming a conductive organic polymer coating on the sections of the insulator surface inside the pinhole defects. Following coating of the pinhole defects with the conductive organic polymer coating described above, an electroplating process may be used for forming a metal film on top of the base metal film, thus forming a metal wet plating layer. This metal plating layer forms a portion of the metal layer. According to the process for forming a metal layer described above, the plurality of pinhole defects formed in the base metal film as a result of the dry plating process can be selectively filled with a conductive organic polymer, and a conductive layer can be produced that displays a high level of smoothness and uniform electrical conductivity across the entire surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing a pinhole defect in a base metal film in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing a conductive organic polymer coating formed inside the pinhole defect in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing a metal wet plating layer formed on top of the metal base layer and covered pinhole defect in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a photograph from a microscope showing a conductive organic polymer coating formed within a pinhole. FIG. 5 is a photograph from a microscope showing a copper plating layer formed on top of the conductive organic polymer coating within the pinhole. FIG. 6 is a graph of peel strength values for copper plating layers, comparing specimens comprising a conductive organic polymer coating, and samples without such a coating. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As follows is a description of an embodiment of a metal layer formation process according to the present invention, with reference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3. In the figures, numeral 1 represents an insulator, and in this embodiment, a plastic film 1 is used as one example of a suitable insulator. However, the present invention is not restricted to plastic films 1, and can also be applied to non-film type plastics such as hard plastic substrates, as well as non-plastic insulators such as ceramics, glass and rubber. The material used for the plastic film 1 may be the type of polyimide resin that is widely used in TAB tape applications and the like. Polyimide films display good dimensional stability under conditions of heat and moisture absorption, and also provide favorable rigidity, although they display poor bonding strength to thin metal films. The polyimide film 1 may comprise a single layer, or may be a laminated film comprising a plurality of layers of different polyimide resins. In this embodiment, a metal nucleus adhesion section 2 is formed on top of the plastic film 1, followed by a base metal film 4. The metal nucleus adhesion section 2 has the effect of improving the bonding strength between the base metal film 4 and the plastic film 1. If the base metal film 4 is able to be formed directly on top of the plastic film 1 with good bonding strength, then the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 can be omitted. In the example shown in the drawings, the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 and the base metal film 4 are formed on only one surface of the plastic film 1, but they may also be formed on both surfaces, and may also be formed so that the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 and the base metal film 4 generate a desired pattern shape. The material for the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 is ideally one or more materials selected from a group consisting of Mo, Cr, Ni, Si, Fe, Al, and actual alloys formed from two or more of these elements. By bonding these elements to the plastic film 1 as metal nuclei, the bonding strength of the base metal film 4 can be increased. This bonding strength improvement effect is particularly marked when the base metal film 4 is formed from copper or a copper alloy. The metal nucleus adhesion section 2 can be formed by using a dry film formation technique such as vacuum deposition, sputtering or ion plating to bond the above nucleus forming metal to the plastic film 1. Sputtering and ion plating are particularly preferred film formation techniques for bonding the nucleus forming metal. There are no particular restrictions on the film formation conditions, although the partial pressures of oxygen and water within the film formation chamber are preferably suppressed as low as possible in order to prevent oxidation of the nucleus forming metal. The thickness of the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 is preferably within a range from 0.2 mg/m2 to 90 mg/m2, and need not necessarily be a continuous, dense film. If the quantity of metal adhesion in the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 is less than 0.2 mg/m2, then particularly in those cases where a polyimide film is used as the plastic film 1, increasing the bonding strength of the base metal film 4 becomes difficult. In contrast, if the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 exceeds 90 mg/m2, then there is a danger that oxidation of the nucleus forming metal can actually cause a decrease in the bonding strength of the base metal film 4. The material for the base metal film 4 is preferably one or more metals selected from a group consisting of copper, copper alloys, aluminum, aluminum alloys, silver, gold and platinum, and of these, pure copper or a copper alloy comprising nickel, zinc or iron or the like is preferred. The thickness of the base metal film 4 is preferably at least 10 nm, and even more preferably 200 nm or greater. If the base metal film 4 is overly thin, then forming a metal wet plating layer 10 of uniform thickness on top of the base metal film 4 becomes difficult. However, if the base metal film 4 is too thick, then the associated costs can become excessive. The base metal film 4 can be formed by using a dry plating process such as vacuum deposition, sputtering or ion plating to form a film of the metal on top of the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 formed on the polyimide film 1. Of the above processes, sputtering and ion plating are particularly preferred, as they enable the bonding strength to be increased with ease. There are no particular restrictions on the film formation conditions, and the types of conditions typically used for the selected film material are suitable. In those cases where, as described above, the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 and the base metal film 4 are formed using a dry plating process, pinhole defects 6 occur within the metal nucleus adhesion section 2 and the base metal film 4. These pinhole defects 6 extend down as far as the surface of the plastic film 1, so that the plastic film 1 is exposed within these pinhole defects 6. Most of these pinhole defects 6 have a size within a range from several μm to several hundred μm, although larger pinhole defects also exist. The pinhole defects 6 are not necessarily round, and a variety of other shapes such as slits are also possible. In order to fill these pinhole defects 6, a liquid containing an organic monomer is brought in contact with the base metal film 4, thus forming a conductive organic polymer coating selectively on those sections of the insulator surface inside the pinhole defects within the base metal film. The liquid containing the organic monomer may be either an organic monomer solution or an emulsion. In the present invention, the organic monomer can use an aniline, a pyrrole or a thiophene based compound, which on polymerization is capable of forming a polyacetylene based conductive polymer with consecutive conjugated double bonds. The organic monomer polymerizes through a reaction with an oxidizing agent and an acid, thus forming a conductive organic polymer. Accordingly, by depositing an oxidizing agent on the sections of the insulator surface inside the pinhole defects 6 within the base metal, the conductive organic polymer can be formed selectively on the insulator surface. Because the conductive organic polymer does not form on the metal surface, the smoothness and mirror finish of the base metal film 4 can be retained. Furthermore, because the thickness of the conductive organic polymer coating is minimal, the surface roughness is also minimal, meaning the smoothness of the surface above the pinhole defects 6 can also be ensured. The procedure employed for using an organic monomer to form a conductive organic polymer selectively on the insulator surface is as follows. Specifically, an ENVISION DMS-E System (a direct metallization system trademark, previously known as a Monopole DMS-E System) marketed by Enthone Inc. can be used. First, the plastic film 1 with the base metal film 4 formed thereon is subjected to degreasing treatment, where required, to remove any mainly organic contamination from the surface, and the film is then immersed in an acidic oxidizing agent (etching) solution, thus removing the metal oxide film from the surface of the base metal film 4. The degreasing can use any of a variety of different surfactant solutions, whereas the etching can use a mixed solution of sulfuric acid and persulfate, or a mixed solution of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide or the like. Subsequently, a conditioning process is used to adsorb a surfactant to the sections of the insulator surface within the base metal film pinhole defects 6, thus imparting polarity to these surfaces. In those cases where the substrate is an inorganic material such as ceramic or glass, the surface of the substrate can be covered with an organic material to organize the surface. This conditioning enables the entire insulator surface to be more uniformly, and more effectively oxidized in the following oxidation treatment. Depending on the nature of the plastic material, if required the substrate may be subjected to alkali treatment and/or swelling treatment using a surfactant or a solvent, either prior to, or following, the conditioning process. Next, an oxidation treatment is performed. In the oxidation treatment, the plastic film 1 is immersed in a solution containing, for example, 40 to 100 g/L of a dissolved permanganate. By conducting this oxidation treatment, the portions of the organic insulator exposed within the pinhole defects 6 formed in the base metal film 4 distributed across the plastic film 1, and the organic material adsorbed in the above conditioning process can be selectively oxidized, while the permanganate is simultaneously reduced, thus depositing manganese dioxide on the insulator surface. This manganese dioxide acts as an oxidizing agent during the organic monomer oxidation polymerization described in the following step. Subsequently, the plastic film 1 is immersed in a liquid containing an organic monomer, thus forming a conductive organic polymer coating 8 within the pinhole defects 6. The conductive organic polymer coating 8 can be formed either by immersing the plastic film 1 in a mixed solution comprising the organic monomer and an acid, or by immersing the plastic film 1 first in a liquid containing the organic monomer, and then in an acid. For example, in the ENVISION DMS-E System (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) marketed by Enthone Inc., the conductive organic polymer coating can be formed either by immersing the plastic film 1 in a mixed solution comprising ENVISION DMS-E Catalyst 7050A (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) and ENVISION DMS-E Catalyst 7050B (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) in concentrations of 10 to 20 mL/L and 40 to 60 mL/L respectively, or by first immersing the plastic film 1 in a solution containing ENVISION DMS-E catalyst 7030 (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) at a concentration of 100 to 140 mL/L, and then immersing the plastic film 1 in an acid. By subsequently washing the film with water and then drying, a metallized plastic film is obtained in which the insides of the pinhole defects 6 are coated with a conductive organic polymer coating 8. Because the conductive organic polymer coating 8 is not formed at all on the surface of the base metal film 4, the mirror finish of the base metal film 4 formed by the above dry plating process is retained. Next, a metal wet plating layer 10 is formed on top of the conductive layer (2+4+8) using a wet plating process. This wet plating process can use either an electroplating process or an electroless plating process, although an electroplating process is preferred as the film formation rate is faster, the film formation cost is cheaper, and the surface smoothness produced is superior. If an electroplating process is used, the plastic film 1 is immersed in a wet plating solution, the conductive layer (2+4+8) is connected to the cathode of a power source, and current is allowed to flow between the cathode and an anode that is immersed in the wet plating solution, thus depositing a metal wet plating layer 10 on top of the conductive layer (2+4+8). If an electroless plating process is used, then first, deposition nuclei are bonded to the surface of the conductive layer (2+4+8) using a palladium salt solution or the like, and the plastic film 1 is then immersed in the electroless plating solution. From the viewpoint of electrical conductivity, copper or copper alloys are preferred as the material for the metal wet plating layer 10, although other metals can also be used. According to a metal layer formation process comprising the steps described above, a conductive organic polymer coating 8 is formed selectively within the plurality of pinhole defects 6 generated in the base metal film 4, with good retention of the surface roughness of the plastic film substrate 1, and the plating process of the subsequent steps enables the formation of a metal layer (2+4+8+10) with absolutely no defects. Furthermore, the conductive organic polymer coating is not formed on the surface of the base metal film 4 formed by a dry plating process, enabling the mirror surface of the base metal film 4 to be retained, and consequently the metal wet plating layer 10 formed on top of the base metal film 4 reflects the state of the mirror surface, forming a dense layer with excellent smoothness. In addition, compared with conventional processes, the process of the present invention also offers the advantages of fewer steps and lower costs. EXAMPLES As follows, a series of examples are presented and used to validate the effects of the present invention. Vapor deposition was used to deposit 30 mg/m2 of molybdenum on a polyimide film, and a film of copper with a thickness of 300 nm was then deposited by sputtering. An etching treatment was used to form through holes of diameter 200 μm in the copper film, which were treated as pinholes. The polyimide film was then subjected to alkali treatment and a polymer formation treatment, thus forming a conductive organic polymer coating inside the pinholes. Copper sulfate plating was then used to deposit a copper layer on top of the conductive organic polymer coating. The polymer formation treatment was conducted using the procedure and conditions described below. (1) Degreasing The alkali treated film was degreased with an acidic degreasing solution. The acidic degreasing solution was an aqueous solution comprising 50 mL/L of Aktipur AS (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) and 50 mL/L of sulfuric acid, and the film was immersed in this acidic degreasing solution for 60 seconds at room temperature, and was then washed with water. (2) Conditioning The degreased film was immersed in an aqueous solution comprising 20 mL/L of ENVISION DMS-E Conditioner 7015 (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) for 120 seconds at 40° C., and was then washed with water. (3) Oxidation Treatment The conditioned film was immersed in an aqueous solution comprising 65 g/L of potassium permanganate and 10 g/L of boric acid for 180 seconds at 70° C., and was then washed with water. (4) Catalyst Treatment The oxidation treated film was immersed in an aqueous solution comprising 20 mL/L of ENVISION DMS-E Catalyst 7050A (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) and 45 mL/L of ENVISION DMS-E Catalyst 7050B (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) from the ENVISION DMS-E (a trademark of Enthone Inc.) system, for a period of 240 seconds at room temperature, and was then washed with water. A photograph taken through a microscope at this point is shown in FIG. 4. The dark colored section corresponds with a pinhole, and it is evident that a conductive organic polymer coating has been formed within this pinhole. (5) Copper Sulfate Plating The film with the polymer formed thereon was immersed in an aqueous solution comprising 100 g/L of copper sulfate and 200 g/L of sulfuric acid, and with the plating solution undergoing air agitation, electroplating was conducted at a solution temperature of 25° C. with a current density of 2 A/dm2, thus forming a copper plating layer on top of the conductive polymer coating. A photograph taken through a microscope at this point is shown in FIG. 5. It is evident that the copper plating formed above the pinhole displays a similar surface state to the copper plating formed in the region outside the pinhole. The peel strength of the copper plating layer of the copper plated polyimide film produced using the production process described above was measured. Three strip specimens of width 10 mm and length 150 mm were cut from the polyimide film. Of these specimens, the first was not subjected to any heat treatment, the second was subjected to heat treatment at 150° C. for 168 hours, and the third was subjected to heat treatment under conditions of high humidity (PCT treatment) (relative humidity 98%, 121° C. for 24 hours). In separate preparations, other copper plated polyimide film specimens were prepared in the same manner as described above, but with the exception of not performing the conductive polymer formation treatment. The peel strength between the film substrate and the metal film for each of these six copper plated polyimide film specimens was measured in accordance with the method disclosed in IPC-TM-650 (the test method prescribed by IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries). In this test method, the polyimide film side of each of the above strip specimens was bonded around the circumferential direction of the exterior of a 6 inch diameter drum, and one end of the metal film was then pulled away from the polyimide film at a rate of 5 cm/minute using a jig, while the load required to achieve the peeling was measured. The test results are shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the peel strength (peak intensity) values for the copper plating layers from the copper plated polyimide films in which a conductive organic polymer coating had been formed compared favorably with the copper plated polyimide films with no conductive organic polymer coating. While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a metal layer formation process, for forming a metal layer with minimal defects on the surface of an insulator. Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-173705, filed Jun. 18, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 2. Description of Related Art In recent years, circuit boards that use TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) or FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) have been identified as ideal for achieving further miniaturization and weight reductions of electronic equipment, and consequently, demand for these circuit boards continues to rise. Conventionally, these types of circuit boards have used a flexible plastic substrate, with a layer of copper foil bonded to this substrate with an adhesive such as an epoxy based adhesive. However, in order to achieve higher density packaging within electronic equipment, further reductions in the thickness of these circuit boards is now required, and the above construction, comprising a bonded layer of copper foil, is unable to adequately satisfy this requirement for further thickness reductions. Accordingly, techniques are being investigated for forming metallized films without the use of an adhesive. For example, in one known method, a thin film formation process such as vacuum deposition, sputtering or ion plating is used to form a base metal film directly onto a plastic substrate, and a plating process or the like is then used to deposit a metal plating layer on top of the base metal film. However, in the production method described above, the generation of a plurality of pinhole defects, with sizes ranging from several μm to several hundred μm, within the base metal film formed by the dry plating is unavoidable. If a metal plating layer is then formed on top of this type of base metal film containing pinhole defects, then even if the metal plating layer is able to seal these pinholes defects, problems can still arise, including the possibility of plating solution remaining within the pinhole defects and causing peeling of the metal film, and the chance that if a fine wiring pattern is formed on top of a pinhole defect, the wiring pattern may break. Accordingly, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-256700 proposes a method in which a base metal layer is formed on an insulator film using a dry plating process, a primary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the base metal layer, the structure is then treated in an alkali solution, an electroless copper plating layer is subsequently formed on top of the primary electroplated copper layer as an intermediate layer, and finally, a secondary electroplated copper layer is formed on top of the intermediate layer. However in this method, the base metal layer, the primary electroplated copper layer, the intermediate layer, and the secondary electroplated copper layer must be formed in sequence on the surface of the insulator film, and consequently the method is complex and the associated costs are high. Furthermore, when forming an electroless plating layer, catalytic nuclei must be first adhered to the plating surface, and because these catalytic nuclei tend to adhere preferentially to the metal rather than the exposed insulator surface, the thickness of the electroless plating layer tends to be thinner within the pinhole defects than on the metal surface, meaning the pinhole defects cannot be completely filled. Accordingly, the occurrence of indentations in the metal layer surface at positions corresponding with the pinhole defects is unavoidable, making it difficult to form a metal layer of uniform thickness. In addition, electroless plating processes are unable to form films as dense as those produced by electroplating processes. As a result, the surface of the electroless plating layer tends to be a rough structure with a multitude of surface irregularities, and consequently the secondary electroplated copper layer formed on top of this electroless plating layer, which reflects the surface state of the underlying electroless plating layer, is also rough, meaning the surface of the final metal layer is neither smooth nor dense. The present invention takes the above circumstances into consideration, with an object of providing a process in which only the pinhole defects within a base metal film formed using a dry plating process can be coated selectively with a semiconductor, enabling the formation of a metal layer with excellent surface properties. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A process for forming a metal layer according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a base metal film on the surface of an insulator using a dry plating process, and coating the pinhole defects within the base metal film by bringing a liquid containing an organic monomer into contact with the base metal film, thus selectively forming a conductive organic polymer coating on the sections of the insulator surface inside the pinhole defects. Following coating of the pinhole defects with the conductive organic polymer coating described above, an electroplating process may be used for forming a metal film on top of the base metal film, thus forming a metal wet plating layer. This metal plating layer forms a portion of the metal layer. According to the process for forming a metal layer described above, the plurality of pinhole defects formed in the base metal film as a result of the dry plating process can be selectively filled with a conductive organic polymer, and a conductive layer can be produced that displays a high level of smoothness and uniform electrical conductivity across the entire surface. | 20040616 | 20080826 | 20050512 | 58931.0 | 0 | LIGHTFOOT, ELENA TSOY | PROCESS FOR FORMING METAL LAYERS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,685 | ACCEPTED | Data hiding via phase manipulation of audio signals | Data are embedded in an audio signal for watermarking, steganography, or other purposes. The audio signal is divided into time frames. In each time frame, the relative phases of one or more frequency bands are shifted to represent the data to be embedded. In one embodiment, two frequency bands are selected according to a pseudo-random sequence, and their relative phase is shifted. In another embodiment, the phases of one or more overtones relative to the fundamental tone are quantized. | 1. A method for embedding data in an audio signal, the method comprising: (a) dividing the audio signal into a plurality of time frames and, in each time frame, a plurality of frequency components; (b) in each of at least some of the plurality of time frames, selecting at least two of the plurality of frequency components; and (c) altering a phase of at least one of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with the data to be embedded. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: step (b) comprises selecting two of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with a pseudo-random sequence; and step (c) comprises altering a relative phase of the two frequency components in accordance with the data to be embedded. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: step (b) comprises selecting a fundamental tone and at least one overtone; and step (c) comprises quantizing a phase difference of the at least one overtone relative to the fundamental tone to embed at least one bit of the data to be embedded. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein: step (b) comprises selecting a plurality of said overtones; and step (c) comprises quantizing the phase differences of the plurality of overtones selected in step (b) to embed a plurality of bits of the data to be embedded. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (c) further comprises inverse transforming the plurality of frequency components with the quantized phase differences. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising (d) reducing a phase discontinuity at boundaries of the time frames caused by step (c). 7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (d) comprises controlling phase shifts introduced in step (c) to go to zero at the boundaries of the time frames. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio signal undergoes lossy compression before steps (a)-(c). 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio signal undergoes lossy compression after steps (a)-(c). 10. A method for extracting embedded data from an audio signal, the method comprising: (a) dividing the audio signal into a plurality of time frames and, in each time frame, a plurality of frequency components; (b) in each of at least some of the plurality of time frames, selecting at least two of the plurality of frequency components; (c) determining a phase shift which has been applied to at least one of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with the embedded data; and (d) from the phase shift determined in step (c), extracting the embedded data. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (c) comprises determining which of the plurality of frequency components has the phase shift in accordance with a pseudo-random sequence. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein step (b) comprises selecting a fundamental tone and at least one overtone. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (b) comprises selecting the fundamental tone and a plurality of overtones, and wherein step (c) comprises determining the phase shift in each of the plurality of overtones. 14. A device for embedding data in an audio signal, the device comprising: an input for receiving the audio signal and the data to be embedded; a processor, in communication with the input, for: (a) dividing the audio signal into a plurality of time frames and, in each time frame, a plurality of frequency components; (b) in each of at least some of the plurality of time frames, selecting at least two of the plurality of frequency components; and (c) altering a phase of at least one of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with the data to be embedded; and an output, in communication with the processor, for outputting a result of step (c) as the audio signal with the embedded data. 15. The device of claim 14, wherein: the processor performs step (b) by selecting two of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with a pseudo-random sequence; and the processor performs step (c) by altering a relative phase of the two frequency components in accordance with the data to be embedded. 16. The device of claim 14, wherein: the processor performs step (b) by selecting a fundamental tone and at least one overtone; and the processor performs step (c) by quantizing a phase difference of the at least one overtone relative to the fundamental tone to embed at least one bit of the data to be embedded. 17. The device of claim 16, wherein: the processor performs step (b) by selecting a plurality of said overtones; and the processor performs step (c) by quantizing the phase differences of the plurality of overtones selected in step (b) to embed a plurality of bits of the data to be embedded. 18. The device of claim 17, wherein the processor performs step (c) further by inverse transforming the plurality of frequency components with the quantized phase differences. 19. The device of claim 14, wherein the processor further performs (d) reducing a phase discontinuity at boundaries of the time frames caused by step (c). 20. The device of claim 19, wherein the processor performs step (d) by controlling phase shifts introduced in step (c) to go to zero at the boundaries of the time frames. 21. The device of claim 14, wherein the processor performs lossy compression on the audio signal before the processor performs steps (a)-(c). 22. The device of claim 14, wherein the processor performs lossy compression on the audio signal after the processor performs steps (a)-(c). 23. A device for extracting embedded data from an audio signal, the device comprising: an input for receiving the audio signal; a processor, in communication with the input, for: (a) dividing the audio signal into a plurality of time frames and, in each time frame, a plurality of frequency components; (b) in each of at least some of the plurality of time frames, selecting at least two of the plurality of frequency components; (c) determining a phase shift which has been applied to at least one of the plurality of frequency components in accordance with the embedded data; and (d) from the phase shift determined in step (c), extracting the embedded data; and an output for outputting the embedded data. 24. The device of claim 23, wherein the processor performs step (c) by determining which of the plurality of frequency components has the phase shift in accordance with a pseudo-random sequence. 25. The device of claim 23, wherein the processor performs step (b) by selecting a fundamental tone and at least one overtone. 26. The device of claim 25, wherein the processor performs step (b) by selecting the fundamental tone and a plurality of overtones, and wherein step (c) comprises determining the phase shift in each of the plurality of overtones. 27. An article of manufacture comprising: a machine-readable storage medium; and an audio signal recorded on the machine-readable storage medium, wherein the audio signal comprises a plurality of time frames in which frequency components have been phase-shifted to embed data in the audio signal. 28. A signal structure embodied in a carrier wave, the signal structure comprising an audio signal, wherein the audio signal comprises a plurality of time frames in which frequency components have been phase-shifted to embed data in the audio signal. | REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/479,438, filed Jun. 19, 2003, whose disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present disclosure. STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The work leading to the present invention was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory/IFEC under grant number F30602-02-1-0129. The government has certain rights in the invention. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a system and method for insertion of hidden data into audio signals and retrieval of such data from audio signals and is more particularly directed to such a system and method using a phase encoding scheme. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Digital watermarking currently is receiving a great amount of attention due to commercial interests that seek to control the distribution of digital media as well as other types of digital data. A watermark is data that is embedded in a media or document file that serves to identify the integrity, the origin or the intended recipient of the host data file. One attribute of watermarks is that they may be visible or invisible. A watermark also may be robust, fragile or semi-fragile. The data capacity of a watermark is a further attribute. Trade-offs among these three properties are possible and each type of watermark has its specific use. For example, robust watermarks are useful for establishing ownership of data, whereas fragile watermarks are useful for verifying the authenticity of data. Steganography literally means “covered writing” and is closely related to watermarking, sharing many of the attributes and techniques of watermarking. Steganography works by embedding messages within other, seemingly harmless messages, so that seemingly harmless messages will not arouse the suspicion of those wishing to intercept the embedded messages. As a basic example, a message can be embedded in a bitmap image in the following manner. In each byte of the bitmap image, the least significant bit is discarded and replaced by a bit of the message to be hidden. While the colors of the bitmap image will be altered, the alteration of colors will typically be subtle enough that most observers will not notice. An intended recipient can reconstruct the hidden message by extracting the least significant bit of each byte in the transmitted image. If the bitmap image has eight-bit color depth (256 colors), and the message to be hidden is a text message with eight-bit text encoding, then each letter of the text message can be encoded in and extracted from eight pixels of the bitmap image. While more sophisticated examples exist, the above example will serve to illustrate the basic concept. The field of steganography is receiving a good deal of attention due to interest in covert communication via the Internet, as well as via other channels, and data hiding in information systems security applications. The single most important requirement of a steganographic method is that it be invisible to all but the intended recipient of the message. FIG. 1 illustrates the attributes and uses of various categories of watermarking and steganographic techniques. Two dimensions that characterize watermarking and steganographic techniques are visibility and robustness. In FIG. 1, the “visibility” axis extends from visible to undetectable, and the “robustness” axis extends from fragile to robust. In this “attribute” space we show the regions occupied by various watermarking and steganographic techniques. Ideally, steganography should always be undetectable. A third dimension, data capacity, also may be included. In general, enhancement of any of the three attributes—visibility, robustness, and capacity—compromises the other two attributes. Steganography in digital audio signals is especially challenging due to the acuity and complexity of the human auditory system (HAS). Besides having a wide dynamic range and a fairly small differential range, the HAS is unable to perceive absolute monaural phase, except in certain contrived situations. FIG. 2 shows the magnitude and phase spectrogram of a few seconds of speech, specifically, a male voice saying, “This is a sample of speech.” The upper plot shows the magnitude of the spectrum as a function of time. The bands of horizontal lines represent the overtone spectrum of the pitched portions of the signal. In addition to the usual display of the magnitude of the spectral density (in the upper plot), the phase of the spectrum is also displayed (in the lower plot). The phase of the spectrum is apparently random. This was verified by computing the autocorrelation in frequency of each spectral “slice”; it was found to be highly peaked at zero delay, indicating no correlation. Two companies, Verance and Digimarc, have introduced schemes for watermarking of audio signals. Those two schemes will be described. Verance was formed in 1999 from the merger of ARIS Technologies Inc. and Solana Technology Development Corporation. Verance provides software packages to companies interested in controlling the use of their copyrighted digital audio content, but the major application seems to be in broadcast monitoring and verification. For that application, hidden tags are inserted into digital files for TV and radio commercials, programs and music, and a service is provided which monitors all airplay in all major US media markets so that reports can be provided to the advertisers and copyright owners. In 1999, Verance was selected to provide a worldwide industry standard for copy protected DVD audio and in the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) and was adopted by the 4C Entity, a consortium of technology companies committed to “protecting entertainment content when recorded to physical media.” Verance's audio watermarking technology was intended to embed inaudible yet identifiable digital codes into an audio waveform. The audio watermarks are expected to carry detailed information associated with the audio and audio-visual content for such purposes as monitoring and tracking its distribution and use as well as controlling access to and usage of the content. Embedded watermarks travel with the audio and audiovisual content wherever it goes and are highly resistant to even the most sophisticated attempts to remove them. The problem with Verance's technology for copyright protection, however, is that it can be hacked. It has been demonstrated that the watermark data can be detected and removed by hackers who were able to discover the key by applying general signal process analysis. This weakness was uncovered in a “hackers challenge” test, set up by the SDMI. The technology has not been accepted by the industry since its announcement in 1999. Digimarc was founded in 1995 with a focus on deterring counterfeiting and piracy of media content through “digital watermarking,” primarily for images and video. It had revenue in 2002 of $80M. Its earliest success came from working with a consortium of leading central banks on the development of a system to deter PC counterfeiting of banknotes. The company provides products and services that enable production of millions of personal identification products such as driver's licenses in more than 33 US states and 20 countries. Digimarc does not have a significant business in audio watermarking, but about six years ago, Digimarc competed in an open, competitive bid process by the DVD-CCA (DVD Copy Control Association), to protect movies from piracy. The DVD-CCA includes the leading companies from the motion picture, computer and consumer electronics industries. The DVD-CCA decided on Aug. 1, 2002, that the offered technologies from Digimarc and its competitors were inadequate. An interim solution was announced by the DVD-CCA on Sep. 15, 2003. It appears that that the interim DVD-CCA solution is no longer supported. Other technologies will now be described. An alternative data protection technique from NEC, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,475 (Method for protecting digital data through unauthorized copying), has a trigger signal embedded in the data. If the embedded trigger mark is present, the data is considered to be a scrambled copy. The device then descrambles the input data if it detects a trigger signal. In the case of an unauthorized copy that contains a trigger signal with unscrambled data, the descrambler would render the data useless. The principal weakness of this technology lies in the requirement to remove the protection before the data can be used. If an authorized person is able to insert the recording device after the descrambling, an unprotected and descrambled copy of the data can be made. In another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,199, assigned to the Recording Industry Association of America, the system authenticates data by introducing an authentication key in the form of a predetermined error. The purpose is to prevent piracy through unauthorized access and unauthorized copying of the data stored on the media disc. It is one of the few techniques that can survive analog conversion, but it is open to signal processing analysis by hackers. Examination of various music and speech spectrograms indicates an apparent randomness of phase, which is not surprising since the analysis frequencies of the spectral analysis are not phase coherent with the frequencies present in the signal. So far, however, that apparent randomness of phase has not been exploited for data-hiding purposes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above-noted deficiencies of the prior art. It is another object of the invention to realize a technique which resists blind signal-processing attacks. It is still another object of the invention to realize a technique which can survive digital-to-analog conversion. It is yet another object of the invention to realize a technique which can survive lossy audio compression, such as MPEG I layer III (MP3) compression, and which can even be applied directly to compressed audio files such as MP3 files. To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention is directed to a technique in which the phase of chosen components of the host audio signal is manipulated. In a preferred embodiment, the phase manipulation, and thus the hidden message, may be detected by a receiver with the proper “key.” Without the key, the hidden data is undetectable, both aurally and via blind digital signal processing attacks. The method described is both aurally transparent and robust and can be applied to both analog and digital audio signals, the latter including uncompressed as well as compressed audio file formats such as MP3. The present invention allows up to 20 kbits of data to be embedded in compressed or uncompressed audio files. Naturally occurring audio signals such as music or voice contain a fundamental frequency and a spectrum of overtones with well-defined relative phases. When the phases of the overtones are modulated to create a composite waveform different from the original, the difference will not be easily detected. Thus, the manipulation of the phases of the harmonics in an overtone spectrum of voice or music may be exploited as a channel for the transmission of hidden data. The fact that the phases are random presents an opportunity to replace the random phase in the original sound file with any pseudo-random sequence in which one may embed hidden data. In such an approach, the embedded data is encoded in the larger features of the cover file, which enhances the robustness of the method. To extract the embedded data, one uses the “key” to distinguish the phase modulation encoding from the inherent phase randomness of the audio signal. The present invention has the advantage over existing Verance algorithms of being undetectable and robust to blind signal processing attacks and of being uniquely robust to digital to analog conversion processing. The present invention can be used to watermark movies by applying the watermark to the audio channel in such a way as to resist detection or tampering. The present invention would allow copies of the data to be distributed as unscrambled information, but would contain the capability to identify the source of any copy. For example, a digital rights management system implementing the present invention would inform users as they download music that unauthorized copies are traceable to them and they are responsible for preventing further illegal distribution of the downloaded file. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the present invention and variations thereon will be set forth in detail with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the attributes of various data embedding techniques; FIG. 2 is a spectrogram showing characteristics of human speech; FIG. 3 is a phase diagram illustrating a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a phase diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a spectrogram of a musical excerpt used to test the present invention; FIG. 6 is a spectrogram of the same musical excerpt with data embedded therein; FIG. 7 is a graph of the decoding error rate as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for three levels of quantization; FIG. 8 is a graph of the decoding error rate as a function of MP3 encoder bit rate for three levels of quantization; FIG. 9 is a graph of bit error rate as a function of sample density for different frame lengths; FIG. 10 is a graph of decoding error rate as a function of a rate of usage of synchronization frames; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a sigma-delta modulator for reducing phase discontinuities; and FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a system on which either of the preferred embodiments can be implemented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Two preferred embodiments and variations thereon will be set forth in detail with reference to the drawings. A first method of phase encoding is indicated in FIG. 3. In the illustrated method, during each time frame one selects a pair (or more) of frequency components of the spectrum and re-assigns their relative phases. The choice of spectral components and the selected phase shift can be chosen according to a pseudo-random sequence known only to the sender and receiver. To decode, one must compute the phase of the spectrum and correlate it with the known pseudo-random carrier sequence. More specifically, a phase encoding scheme is indicated in which information is inserted as the relative phase of a pair of partials φ0, φ1 in the sound spectrum. In each time frame a new pair of partials may be chosen according to a pseudo-random sequence known only to the sender and receiver. The relative phase between the two chosen spectral components is then modified according to a pseudo-random sequence onto which the hidden message is encoded. A second preferred embodiment, called the Relative Phase Quantization Encoding Scheme or the Quantization Index Modulation (QIM) scheme, will now be disclosed with reference to FIG. 4. In that phase encoding method the following steps are employed. One first computes the spectrum of a frame of audio data, then selects an apparent fundamental tone and its series of overtones as shown in the left plot of FIG. 4; it is convenient to select the strongest frequency component in the spectrum. Then, two of the overtones in the selected series are “relative phase quantized” according to one of two quantization scales, as shown on the right. The choice of quantization levels indicates a “1” or “0” datum. The relative phase-quantized spectrum is then inversely transformed to convert back to the time domain. The second preferred embodiment uses a variable set of phase quantization steps as explained below. Step 1: Segment the time representation of the audio signal S[i], (0≦i≦I−1) into series of frames of L points Sn[i] where (0≦i≦L−1). At this stage, a threshold check may be applied and the frame skipped if insufficient audio power was present in the frame. Step 2: Compute the spectrum of each frame of audio data and calculate the phase of each frequency component within the frame, Φn(ωi) (0≦i≦L−1). An idealization of a typical spectrum with a fundamental and accompanying overtone series is shown. Step 3: Quantize the relative phases of two of the overtones in the selected frame according to one of two quantization scales, as shown on the right of FIG. 4. ΔΦ=π/2n If ‘1’ is to be embedded, Φn(ωi)=ΔΦ×round(Φn(ωi)/ΔΦ) If ‘0’ is to be embedded, Φn(ωi)=ΔΦ×round(Φn(ωi)/ΔΦ−0.5)+ΔΦ/2 The number of quantization levels ‘n’ is variable. The greater the number of levels, the less audible the effect of phase quantization. However, when a greater number of quantization levels is employed, the probability of data recovery error increases. Step 4: Inverse transform the phase-quantized spectrum to convert back to the time representation of the signal by applying an L-point IFFT (inverse fast Fourier transform). Recovery of the embedded data requires the receiver to compute the spectrum of the signal and to know which two spectral components were phase quantized. In the tests described later, the relative phase between the fundamental and the second harmonic was employed as the communication channel. FIG. 5 shows the spectrum (magnitude is in the upper plot and the phase in the lower plot) of a musical excerpt (“Nite-Flite” by the Sammy Nestico Big Band). FIG. 6 shows the spectrum, (magnitude and phase) of the same music file with 1 kbit of hidden data. The data is encoded in the phase quantization of the second harmonic of the strongest spectral component of each frame; four quantization levels are used. There is no apparent spectral evidence of the embedded data. In this method any one or several of the spectral components may be so manipulated. The method described above was also applied to a 23-second-long classical guitar solo. Gaussian noise was introduced prior to decoding. The relative phase between the 2 strongest harmonics of the music file was quantized and embedded with 1 kbit of binary data then followed with the decoding process in the presence of Gaussian noise. The above was done for 3 different quantization scales (2n equally spaced quantization levels), with n=1, 2 and 3 respectively. The decoding error rate at 3 different quantization levels with increasing signal to noise ratio (SNR) is shown in FIG. 7. Applying the method described here to 512 points frames of 44,100 samples/sec audio one may encode 86 bits per second per chosen spectral line. This is slightly over 5 kbits/minute. We have also employed the method on up to 4 harmonics of the overtone spectrum with satisfactory results, raising the data capacity to approximately 20 kbits/minute. The robustness of data against lossy compression will now be described. MP3 is a common form of lossy audio compression that employs human auditory system features, specifically frequency and temporal masking, to compress audio by a factor of approximately 1:10. The robustness of the steganographic technique described above was evaluated by hiding data in an uncompressed (.wav) audio file followed by conversion to MP3 format and then back to .wav format. The spectrograms of the final wav files were indistinguishable from the originals, and the audio quality was typical of MP3 compressed audio. In the example presented here, we embedded 1 kbit of data in the phase of the 2nd harmonic of the strongest spectral feature in each frame. The file was then converted to MP3 using the Lame MP3 encoder, converted back to .wav format and then examined for the presence of the hidden data. In FIG. 8, the decoding error rate is illustrated as a function of the MP3 encoder output bitrate—ranging from 32 kbit/sec to 224 kbit/sec. We explored data survivability as a function of the number of quantization steps, 2n, for n=1, 2, 3. The frame length employed was 576 points and the sampling frequency was 44,100 Hz. It was found that the data recovery error rate could be reduced to near zero by employing an amplitude threshold in the selection of the segments of audio data that were encoded. A weak form of error correction could be employed to guard against such infrequent errors. One also may implement the techniques described above directly in compressed audio files, which would eliminate recovery errors. To test the robustness of the stego message under D-A-D conversion, the audio file with the embedded binary stego message was recorded to cassette tape employing a common tape deck and then re-digitized using the same deck for play-back. The tape deck introduced amplitude modulation, nonlinear time shifts (wow and flutter) and broad-band noise. The encoding method performs best when the decoder and the encoder are synchronized. As shown in FIG. 9, de-synchronization leads to an increased bit-recovery error rate. Therefore, a synchronization method is needed to compensate for the time shifts introduced by the D-A-D conversion process. One such method that we found to be effective is as follows. First, at the encoder we chose frames distributed periodically throughout the file to encode a stego message that is known to the decoder. At the decoder these frames serve as “synchronization frames”. For example, if we encode every fourth frame in the audio file with the binary stego message ‘1’, during decoding we may check every fourth frame to assess the instantaneous time-shift and then resynchronize the remaining data frames before decoding. Another factor is the ratio of power between the selected harmonics. In some frames, the power ratio is too low to allow robust encoding and those frames will be skipped. We found that for a power ratio of 1:5, the robustness of the method was maintained. FIG. 10 shows the decoding error rate as a function of the percentage of frames employed for synchronization. As we can see from the figure the decoding error rate decreases as the number of synchronization frames increases. For example, when 45% of the frames are employed as synchronization frames, the decoding error rate approaches 10%. An artifact of the phase manipulation method described above is a small discontinuity at the frame boundaries caused by reassignment of the phase of one of the spectral components. Depending upon the magnitude of the discontinuity, there may be a broad spectral component, appearing as white noise, in the background of the host file spectrum. In order to reduce the magnitude of the discontinuity, three techniques have been employed. In the first, rather than reassigning the phase of a single spectral component we do so for a band of frequencies in the neighborhood of the spectral component of interest. We typically use a band of frequencies of width equal to a few percent of the signal bandwidth. A second method is to employ an error diffusion technique using a sigma delta modulator. Background information on sigma-delta modulation is found in our U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,409, issued Mar. 16, 2004. FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a device for error diffusion employed in conjunction with the phase-manipulation data-hiding method. FIG. 11 represents the most general case for N-th order sigma-delta modulation as used to diffuse an error resulting from embedding data into the host signal. In the device 1100 of FIG. 11, a host signal supplied to an input 1102 is integrated through a series of integrators 1104-1, 1104-2, . . . 1104-N. The integrated signal is received in an embedding module, where a watermark or other signal received at a watermark input 1106 is embedded. The resulting signal is output through an output 1110 and is also fed back to the integrators 1104-1, 1104-2, . . . 1104-N through subtracting circuits 1112. Although the device of FIG. 11 has been applied to frame sizes of 1,024 samples, the frame size is variable, and the resulting audio quality is clearly affected by the choice of the frame size. Although both of these methods proved to be acceptable, a third method proved to be the simplest and most effective. The third method for reducing the phase discontinuities at the frame boundaries is simply to force the phase shifts to go to zero at the frame boundaries. In our implementation we employed a raised cosine function (1+cos)n with n=10. At the frame boundaries the phase of the chosen harmonic is not shifted and in the central region of the frame the phase is shifted by an amount equal to the difference of the original phase of the chosen harmonic and the nearest phase quantization step. The audible artifacts are eliminated in this method. FIG. 12 shows a system on which the present invention, including either of the two preferred embodiments disclosed above, can be implemented. The system 1200 is shown as including an encoder 1202 and a decoder 1214, although, of course, either of the devices 1202, 1214 could have both encoding and decoding capabilities. In the encoder 1202, the audio signal and the data to be embedded are received in an input 1204. A processor 1206 embeds the data in the audio signal and outputs the encoded file through an output 1208. From the output 1208, the encoded file can be transmitted in any suitable fashion, e.g., by being placed on a persistent storage medium 1210 (DVD, CD, tape, or the like) or by being transmitted over a live transmission system 1212. In the decoder 1214, the encoded file is received at an input 1216. A processor 1218 extracts the embedded data from the signal and outputs the data through an output 1220. If required, the audio signal can also be output through the output 1220. For example, if the embedded data are used for watermarking purposes, the data and the audio signal can be supplied to a player which will not play the audio signal unless the required watermarking data are present. While two preferred embodiments and variations thereon have been set forth above in detail, those skilled in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure will readily appreciate that other embodiments can be realized within the scope of the invention. For example, numerical values are illustrative rather than limiting, as are recitations of specific file formats. Moreover, in addition to steganography and watermarking, any suitable use for hidden data falls within the present invention. Furthermore, the present invention can be implemented on any suitable hardware through any suitable software, firmware, or the like. Also, audio signals or files are not limited to portions of data recognized as discrete files by an operating system, but instead may be continuously recorded signals or portions thereof. Therefore, the present invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims. | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to a system and method for insertion of hidden data into audio signals and retrieval of such data from audio signals and is more particularly directed to such a system and method using a phase encoding scheme. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above-noted deficiencies of the prior art. It is another object of the invention to realize a technique which resists blind signal-processing attacks. It is still another object of the invention to realize a technique which can survive digital-to-analog conversion. It is yet another object of the invention to realize a technique which can survive lossy audio compression, such as MPEG I layer III (MP3) compression, and which can even be applied directly to compressed audio files such as MP3 files. To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention is directed to a technique in which the phase of chosen components of the host audio signal is manipulated. In a preferred embodiment, the phase manipulation, and thus the hidden message, may be detected by a receiver with the proper “key.” Without the key, the hidden data is undetectable, both aurally and via blind digital signal processing attacks. The method described is both aurally transparent and robust and can be applied to both analog and digital audio signals, the latter including uncompressed as well as compressed audio file formats such as MP3. The present invention allows up to 20 kbits of data to be embedded in compressed or uncompressed audio files. Naturally occurring audio signals such as music or voice contain a fundamental frequency and a spectrum of overtones with well-defined relative phases. When the phases of the overtones are modulated to create a composite waveform different from the original, the difference will not be easily detected. Thus, the manipulation of the phases of the harmonics in an overtone spectrum of voice or music may be exploited as a channel for the transmission of hidden data. The fact that the phases are random presents an opportunity to replace the random phase in the original sound file with any pseudo-random sequence in which one may embed hidden data. In such an approach, the embedded data is encoded in the larger features of the cover file, which enhances the robustness of the method. To extract the embedded data, one uses the “key” to distinguish the phase modulation encoding from the inherent phase randomness of the audio signal. The present invention has the advantage over existing Verance algorithms of being undetectable and robust to blind signal processing attacks and of being uniquely robust to digital to analog conversion processing. The present invention can be used to watermark movies by applying the watermark to the audio channel in such a way as to resist detection or tampering. The present invention would allow copies of the data to be distributed as unscrambled information, but would contain the capability to identify the source of any copy. For example, a digital rights management system implementing the present invention would inform users as they download music that unauthorized copies are traceable to them and they are responsible for preventing further illegal distribution of the downloaded file. | 20040618 | 20071030 | 20050210 | 95801.0 | 2 | HAN, QI | DATA HIDING VIA PHASE MANIPULATION OF AUDIO SIGNALS | MICRO | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,717 | ACCEPTED | Microfluidic devices for fluid manipulation and analysis | The present invention relates to microfluidic devices and methods for manipulating and analyzing fluid samples. The disclosed microfluidic devices utilize a plurality of microfluidic channels, inlets, valves, filter, pumps, liquid barriers and other elements arranged in various configurations to manipulate the flow of a fluid sample in order to prepare such sample for analysis. | 1. A microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample, comprising: a microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end; a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample; a filter interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the filter removes selected particles from the liquid sample; a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the microfluidic channel; and a liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 2. The microfluidic device of claim 1 wherein the bellows pump comprises a vent hole. 3. The microfluidic device of claim 1, further comprising: a first check valve interposed between the bellows pump and the liquid barrier, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the bellows pump; and a second check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. 4. The microfluidic device of claim 1 wherein the filter comprises a membrane. 5. The microfluidic device of claim 1 wherein the microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 6. The microfluidic device of claim 1 wherein the selected particles removed from the liquid sample by the filter comprise white blood cells, red blood cells, polymeric beads or bacteria cells. 7. A microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample, comprising: a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end; a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample; an active valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel; a means for actuating the active valve; a first bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel; a liquid barrier interposed between the first bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable; a second microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is fluidly connected to the first microfluidic channel at a location adjacent to the active valve; a passive valve interposed between the first end of the second microfluidic channel and the first microfluidic channel, wherein the passive valve is open when the fluid pressure in the first microfluidic channel is greater than the fluid pressure in the second microfluidic channel; and a sample reservoir fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel. 8. The microfluidic device of claim 7 wherein the first bellows pump comprises a vent hole. 9. The microfluidic device of claim 7 wherein the means for actuating the active valve comprise a second bellows pump. 10. The microfluidic device of claim 7 wherein the sample reservoir comprises a vent hole. 11. A microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample, comprising: first and second microfluidic channels, each having a first end and a second end; a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample; a first bellows pump fluidly connected to, and interposed between, the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first end of the second microfluidic channel; a second bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second bellows pump has a fluid outlet; a first check valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the first microfluidic channel; a second check valve interposed between the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow towards the first bellows pump; a third check valve interposed between the first bellows pump and the first end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the third check valve permits fluid flow towards the second microfluidic channel; and a fourth check valve interposed between the second end of the second microfluidic channel and the second bellows pump, wherein the fourth check valve permits fluid flow towards the second bellows pump. 12. A microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample, comprising: a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end; a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample; a first reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving a first reagent; a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel; and a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 13. The microfluidic device of claim 12 wherein the bellows pump comprises a vent hole. 14. The microfluidic device of claim 12, further comprising a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. 15. The microfluidic device of claim 12 wherein the first microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 16. The microfluidic device of claim 12, further comprising: a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump; a second reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel for receiving a second reagent; and a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 17. The microfluidic device of claim 16 wherein the second microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 18. The microfluidic device of claim 16, further comprising: a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump; a third reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel for receiving a third reagent; and a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 19. The microfluidic device of claim 18 wherein the liquid sample comprises a blood sample, the first reagent comprises antibody-A, the second reagent comprises antibody-B, and the third reagent comprises antibody-D. 20. The microfluidic device of claim 18 wherein the third microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 21. The microfluidic device of claim 18 wherein the first reagent inlet comprises a first blister pouch containing the first reagent, the second reagent inlet comprises a second blister pouch containing the second reagent, and the third reagent inlet comprises a third blister pouch containing the third reagent. 22. A microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample, comprising: a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end; a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample; a first dried reagent zone, comprising a first reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel; a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel; and a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 23. The microfluidic device of claim 22 wherein the bellows pump comprises a vent hole. 24. The microfluidic device of claim 22, further comprising a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. 25. The microfluidic device of claim 22 wherein the first microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 26. The microfluidic device of claim 22, further comprising: a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump; a second dried reagent zone, comprising a second reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel; and a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 27. The microfluidic device of claim 26 wherein the second microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 28. The microfluidic device of claim 26, further comprising: a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump; a third dried reagent zone, comprising a third reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel; and a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. 29. The microfluidic device of claim 28 wherein the liquid sample comprises a blood sample, the first reagent comprises antibody-A, the second reagent comprises antibody-B, and the third reagent comprises antibody-D. 30. The microfluidic device of claim 28 wherein the third microfluidic channel further comprises one or more optical viewing areas. 31. The microfluidic device of claim 28, further comprising a hydrating buffer inlet, fluidly connected to the first, second and third dried reagent zones and to the first ends of the first, second and third microfluidic channels, for receiving a hydrating buffer. 32. The microfluidic device of claim 31 wherein the hydrating buffer inlet comprises a hydrating buffer blister pouch containing the hydrating buffer. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/757,767, filed Jan. 14, 2004, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/439,825, filed Jan. 14, 2003, and 60/441,873, filed Jan. 21, 2003, all of which applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to microfluidic devices and analysis methods, and, more particularly, to microfluidic devices and methods for the manipulation and analysis of fluid samples. 2. Description of the Related Art Microfluidic devices have become popular in recent years for performing analytical testing. Using tools developed by the semiconductor industry to miniaturize electronics, it has become possible to fabricate intricate fluid systems which can be inexpensively mass produced. Systems have been developed to perform a variety of analytical techniques for the acquisition and processing of information. The ability to perform analyses microfluidically provides substantial advantages of throughput, reagent consumption, and automatability. Another advantage of microfluidic systems is the ability to integrate a plurality of different operations in a single “lap-on-a-chip” device for performing processing of reactants for analysis and/or synthesis. Microfluidic devices may be constructed in a multi-layer laminated structure wherein each layer has channels and structures fabricated from a laminate material to form microscale voids or channels where fluids flow. A microscale or microfluidic channel is generally defined as a fluid passage which has at least one internal cross-sectional dimension that is less than 500 μm and typically between about 0.1 μm and about 500 μm. U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,852, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, is an example of a microfluidic device. The '852 patent teaches a microfluidic system for detecting the presence of analyte particles in a sample stream using a laminar flow channel having at least two input channels which provide an indicator stream and a sample stream, where the laminar flow channel has a depth sufficiently small to allow laminar flow of the streams and length sufficient to allow diffusion of particles of the analyte into the indicator stream to form a detection area, and having an outlet out of the channel to form a single mixed stream. This device, which is known as a T-Sensor, allows the movement of different fluidic layers next to each other within a channel without mixing other than by diffusion. A sample stream, such as whole blood, a receptor stream, such as an indicator solution, and a reference stream, which may be a known analyte standard, are introduced into a common microfluidic channel within the T-Sensor, and the streams flow next to each other until they exit the channel. Smaller particles, such as ions or small proteins, diffuse rapidly across the fluid boundaries, whereas larger molecules diffuse more slowly. Large particles, such as blood cells, show no significant diffusion within the time the two flow streams are in contact. Typically, microfluidic systems require some type of external fluidic driver to function, such as piezoelectric pumps, micro-syringe pumps, electroosmotic pumps, and the like. However, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/684,094, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, microfluidic systems are described which are completely driven by inherently available internal forces such as gravity, hydrostatic pressure, capillary force, absorption by porous material or chemically induced pressures or vacuums. In addition, many different types of valves for use in controlling fluids in microscale devices have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,212 describes one-way valves for use in laminated microfluidic structures, U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,899 describes ball bearing valves for use in laminated microfluidic structures, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/114,890, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a pneumatic valve interface, also known as a zero dead volume valve, for use in laminated microfluidic structures. The foregoing patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Although there have been many advances in the field, there remains a need for new and improved microfluidic devices for manipulating and analyzing fluid samples. The present invention addresses these needs and provides further related advantages. cl BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In brief, the present invention relates to microfluidic devices and methods for manipulating and analyzing fluid samples. The disclosed microfluidic devices utilize a plurality of microfluidic channels, inlets, valves, filters, pumps, liquid barriers and other elements arranged in various configurations to manipulate the flow of a fluid sample in order to prepare such sample for analysis. Analysis of the sample may then be performed by any means known in the art. For example, as disclosed herein, microfluidic devices of the present invention may be used to facilitate the reaction of a blood sample with one or more reagents as part of a blood typing assay. In one embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a filter interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the filter removes selected particles from the liquid sample, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the microfluidic channel, and (e) a liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows may comprise a vent hole, the filter may comprise a membrane, or the microfluidic device may further comprise (a) a first check valve interposed between the bellows pump and the liquid barrier, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the bellows pump, and (b) a second check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) an active valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel, (d) a means for actuating the active valve, (e) a first bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, (f) a liquid barrier interposed between the first bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable, (g) a second microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is fluidly connected to the first microfluidic channel at a location adjacent to the active valve, (h) a passive valve interposed between the first end of the second microfluidic channel and the first microfluidic channel, wherein the passive valve is open when the fluid pressure in the first microfluidic channel is greater than the fluid pressure in the second microfluidic channel, and (i) a sample reservoir fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel. In further embodiments, the first bellows pump may comprise a vent hole, the means for actuating the active valve may comprise a second bellows pump and/or the sample reservoir may comprise a vent hole. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) first and second microfluidic channels, each having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first bellows pump fluidly connected to, and interposed between, the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first end of the second microfluidic channel, (d) a second bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second bellows pump has a fluid outlet, (e) a first check valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the first microfluidic channel, (f) a second check valve interposed between the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow towards the first bellows pump, (g) a third check valve interposed between the first bellows pump and the first end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the third check valve permits fluid flow towards the second microfluidic channel, and (h) a fourth check valve interposed between the second end of the second microfluidic channel and the second bellows pump, wherein the fourth check valve permits fluid flow towards the second bellows pump. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving a first reagent, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, and (e) a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole or the microfluidic device may further comprise a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a second reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel for receiving a second reagent, and (c) a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In yet another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a third reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel for receiving a third reagent, and (c) a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In one alternate embodiment of the foregoing, the first reagent inlet comprises a first blister pouch containing the first reagent, the second reagent inlet comprises a second blister pouch containing the second reagent, and the third reagent inlet comprises a third blister pouch containing the third reagent. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first dried reagent zone, comprising a first reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, and (e) a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole or the microfluidic device may further comprise a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a second dried reagent zone, comprising a second reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel, and (c) a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In yet another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a third dried reagent zone, comprising a third reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel, and (c) a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In a more specific embodiment, the liquid sample comprises a blood sample, the first reagent comprises antibody-A, the second reagent comprises antibody-B, and the third reagent comprises antibody-D. In yet a further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises a hydrating buffer inlet, fluidly connected to the first, second and third dried reagent zones and to the first ends of the first, second and third microfluidic channels, for receiving a hydrating buffer. In an alternate embodiment, the hydrating buffer inlet comprises a hydrating buffer blister pouch containing the hydrating buffer. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent upon reference to the attached figures and following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A-1C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a first embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 2A-2C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a second embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 3A-3F are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a third embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 4A-4E are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a fourth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 5A-5C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a fifth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 6A-6F are schematic illustrations of blood typing cards in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 7A-7C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a sixth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 8A-8C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a seventh embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As noted previously, the present invention relates to microfluidic devices and methods utilizing a plurality of microfluidic channels, inlets, valves, membranes, pumps, liquid barriers and other elements arranged in various configurations to manipulate the flow of a fluid sample in order to prepare such sample for analysis and to analyze the fluid sample. In the following description, certain specific embodiments of the present devices and methods are set forth, however, persons skilled in the art will understand that the various embodiments and elements described below may be combined or modified without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. FIGS. 1A-1C are a series of cross-sectional views of the device 110 illustrating the operation of a first embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1A, microfluidic device 110 comprises a microfluidic channel 120 having a first end 122 and a second end 124. As illustrated, device 110 is in the form of a cartridge, however, the form of device 110 is not essential to the present invention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art can readily select a suitable form for a given application. The microfluidic devices of the present invention, such as device 110, may be constructed from a material, such as transparent plastic, mylar or latex, using a method such as injection molding or lamination. As further shown in FIG. 1A, device 110 comprises a sample inlet 130 fluidly connected to first end 122 of microfluidic channel 120 for receiving a liquid sample and a filter 140 interposed between sample inlet 130 and first end 122 of microfluidic channel 120. Filter 140 is capable of removing selected particles, such as white blood cells, red blood cells, polymeric beads, such as polystyrene or latex with sizes from 1-100 microns, and bacteria cells, such as E. coli, from the liquid sample, and may comprise a membrane (as illustrated). A bellows pump 150 having a vent hole 152 is fluidly connected to second end 124 of microfluidic channel 120 and a liquid barrier 160 is interposed between bellows pump 150 and second end 124 of microfluidic channel 120. Liquid barrier 160 is a gas permeable and fluid impermeable membrane. During operation, a liquid sample in placed into sample inlet 130 (as shown in FIG. 1B), bellows pump 150 is depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, vent hole 152 is substantially sealed, such as by covering vent hole 152, and bellows pump 150 is then released. During depression of bellows pump 150, vent hole 152 remains uncovered so that fluid in bellows pump 150 may be expelled through vent hold 152. Upon release of bellows pump 150, a negative fluid pressure is created in microfluidic channel 120 and the liquid sample is drawn through filter 140 into, and through, microfluidic channel 120 to the liquid barrier 160 (as shown in FIG. 1C). As further shown in FIG. 1A, microfluidic channel 120 may comprise one or more optical viewing area(s) 170. Optical viewing area(s) 170 enable visual verification by a user that the liquid sample is flowing through microfluidic channel 120. FIGS. 2A-2C are a series of cross-sectional views of the device 210 illustrating the operation of a second embodiment of the invention. Microfluidic device 210 illustrated in FIG. 2A is similar to device 110 of FIG. 1A and comprises a microfluidic channel 220 having a first end 222 and a second end 224, a sample inlet 230 fluidly connected to first end 222 of microfluidic channel 220 for receiving a liquid sample, a filter 240 interposed between sample inlet 230 and first end 222 of microfluidic channel 220, a bellows pump 250 fluidly connected to second end 224 of microfluidic channel 220 and a liquid barrier 260 interposed between bellows pump 250 and second end 224 of microfluidic channel 220. Rather than providing a vent hole in bellows pump 250 as in FIG. 1A, device 210 utilizes first and a second check valves, 254 and 256, respectively, to prevent the fluid in bellows pump 250 from being expelled into microfluidic channel 220 during depression of bellows pump 250. Check valves, also known as one-way valves, permit fluid flow in one direction only. Exemplary check valves for use in microfluidic structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,212, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. First check valve 254 is interposed between bellows pump 250 and liquid barrier 224 and permits fluid flow towards bellows pump 250. Second check valve 256 is fluidly connected to bellows pump 250 and permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump (for example, by venting to the atmosphere). During operation, a liquid sample is placed into sample inlet 230 (as shown in FIG. 2B), bellows pump 250 is depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, and, then, bellows pump 250 is released. During depression of bellows pump 250, first check valve 254 remains closed and prevents fluid flow from bellows chamber 250 into microfluidic channel 220; second check valve 256 opens and expels the fluid displaced from bellows pump 250. Upon release of bellows pump 250, a negative fluid pressure is created, first check valve 254 opens and permits fluid flow from microfluidic channel 220 into bellows pump 250, second check valve 256 closes and prevents fluid flow into bellows pump 250 from, for example, the atmosphere, and the liquid sample is drawn through filter 240 into, and through, microfluidic channel 220 to liquid barrier 260 (as shown in FIG. 2C). In addition, similar to FIG. 1A, microfluidic channel 220 may optionally comprise one or more optical viewing area(s) 270 to enable visual verification by a user that the liquid sample is flowing through microfluidic channel 220. FIGS. 3A-3F are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, microfluidic device 310 comprises a first microfluidic channel 320 having a first end 322 and a second end 324. A sample inlet 330 is fluidly connected to first end 322 of first microfluidic channel 320 for receiving a liquid sample. A first bellows pump 350, having a vent hole 352, is fluidly connected to second end 324 of first microfluidic channel 320. Liquid barrier 360 is interposed between first bellows pump 350 and second end 324 of microfluidic channel 320. As in FIGS. 1A and 2A, the liquid barrier 360 is a gas permeable and liquid impermeable membrane. Furthermore, device 310 comprises an on/off active valve 370 interposed between sample inlet 330 and first end 322 of first microfluidic channel 320 and a means 372 for actuating active valve 370. As illustrated, means 372 comprise a second bellows pump 372, however, persons of ordinary skill in the art can readily select an alternative and suitable means for applying manual or fluidic pressure to actuate active valve 370. Device 310 also comprises a second microfluidic channel 380 having a first end 382 and a second end 384. As shown, first end 382 of second microfluidic channel 380 is fluidly connected to first microfluidic channel 320 at a location adjacent to active valve 370 and second end 384 of second microfluidic channel 380 is fluidly connected to a sample reservoir 390 having a vent hole 392. A passive valve 375 is interposed between first end 382 of second microfluidic channel 380 and first microfluidic channel 320. Passive valve 375 is designed to be open when the fluid pressure in first microfluidic channel 320 is greater than the fluid pressure in second microfluidic channel 380. Exemplary passive valves, also known as zero dead volume valves, for use in microfluidic structures are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/114,890, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. During initial operation, a liquid sample is placed into sample inlet 330 (as shown in FIG. 3B), first bellows pump 350 is depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, vent hole 352 is covered and, then, first bellows pump 350 is released. During depression of first bellows pump 350, vent hole 352 remains uncovered so that fluid in first bellows pump 350 may be expelled through vent hold 352. Upon release of first bellows pump 350, a negative fluid pressure is created in microfluidic channel 320 and the liquid sample is drawn through active valve 370 and into, and through, microfluidic channel 320 to liquid barrier 360 (as shown in FIG. 3C). During this initial depression and release of first bellows pump 350, the fluid pressure in first microfluidic channel 320 is less than the fluid pressure in second microfluidic channel 380, thus passive valve 375 is closed and the liquid sample is prevented from flowing into second microfluidic channel 380. During the next stage of operation, shown in FIG. 3D, vent hole 352 is covered, second bellows pump 372 is depressed, thereby actuating (i.e., closing) active valve 370, and, then, first bellows pump 350 is depressed, thereby creating a positive fluid pressure in first microfluidic channel 320. As a result, the fluid pressure in first microfluidic channel 320 rises above (i.e., is greater than) the fluid pressure in second microfluidic channel 380, passive valve 375 opens, and the liquid sample is pushed from first microfluidic channel 320 into second microfluidic channel 380. During an additional stage of operation, the foregoing two steps are repeated to draw an additional portion of the liquid sample into first microfluidic channel 320, and, then, push the additional portion of the liquid sample into second microfluidic channel 380, thereby pushing the first portion of the liquid sample already in second microfluidic channel 380 into sample reservoir 390. Depending on the amount of liquid sample and the size of sample reservoir 390, the foregoing additional stage of operation may be repeated a number of times. As further shown in FIGS. 3A-3F, more than one of the microfluidic channel, pump and valve assemblies of the present invention may be disposed in a single microfluidic device. In this way, a number of fluid manipulations and analysis may be performed contemporaneously. FIGS. 4A-4E are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a fourth embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4A, microfluidic device 410 comprises a first microfluidic channel 420 having a first end 422 and a second end 424, a second microfluidic channel 430 having a first end 432 and a second end 434, and a third microfluidic channel 440 having a first end 442 and a second end 444. A sample inlet 415, for receiving a liquid sample, is fluidly connected to, both, first end 422 of first microfluidic channel 420 and second end 444 of third microfluidic channel 440. A first bellows pump 450 is fluidly connected to, and interposed between, second end 424 of first microfluidic channel 420 and first end 432 of second microfluidic channel 430 and a second bellows pump 460 is fluidly connected to, and interposed between, second end 434 of second microfluidic channel 430 and first end 442 of third microfluidic channel 440. As shown, device 410 also comprises a plurality of check valves. A first check valve 470 is interposed between sample inlet 415 and first end 422 of first microfluidic channel 420, and permits fluid flow towards first microfluidic channel 420. A second check valve 472 is interposed between second end 424 of first microfluidic channel 420 and first bellows pump 450, and permits fluid flow towards first bellows pump 450. A third check valve 474 is interposed between first bellows pump 450 and first end 432 of second microfluidic channel 430, and permits fluid flow towards second microfluidic channel 430. A fourth check valve 476 is interposed between second end 434 of second microfluidic channel 430 and second bellows pump 460, and permits fluid flow towards second bellows pump 460. A fifth check valve 478 is interposed between second bellows pump 460 and first end 442 of third microfluidic channel 440, and permits fluid flow towards third microfluidic channel 440. A sixth check valve 480 is interposed between second end 444 of third microfluidic channel 440 and sample inlet 415, and permits fluid flow towards sample inlet 415. As in FIG. 2A, first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth check valves, 470, 472, 474, 476, 478 and 480, permit fluid flow in one direction only (as noted by the arrows in FIG. 4A). As noted before, exemplary check valves for use in microfluidic structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,212. During operation, a liquid sample in placed into sample inlet 415 (as shown in FIG. 4B) and first and second bellows pumps 450 and 460 are alternately, sequentially and/or repeatedly depressed and released, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, to draw and push the liquid sample through first, second and third microfluidic channels 420, 430 and 440 (as shown in FIGS. 4C through 4E). During these series of depressions and releases, first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth check valves, 470, 472, 474, 476, 478 and 480, ensure that the liquid sample flows in one continuous direction through microfluidic device 410. In variations of this fourth embodiment, rather than being fluidly connected to a third microfluidic channel 440, which is fluidly connected to sample inlet 415 to form a fluidic loop, one or more fluid outlet(s) of second bellows pump 460 may be fluidly connected to one or more microfluidic channel(s), which are, in turn, fluidly connected to one or more additional microfluidic channel(s), bellows pumps and check valves. In this way, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a series of check valves and bellows pumps may be assembled and utilized in a multitude of different configurations to move a liquid sample through a network of microfluidic channels. FIGS. 5A-5C are a series of cross-sectional views of a microfluidic device 510 illustrating the operation of a fifth embodiment of the invention. Microfluidic device 510 illustrated in FIG. 5A comprises a first microfluidic channel 520 having a first end 522 and a second end 524, a second microfluidic channel 530 having a first end 532 and a second end 534, and a third microfluidic channel 540 having a first end 542 and a second end 544. Sample inlet 518 is fluidly connected to first ends 522, 532 and 542 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. Device 510 further comprises a first reagent inlet 512 for receiving a first reagent, a second reagent inlet 514 for receiving a second reagent and a third reagent inlet 516 for receiving a third reagent. In alternate embodiments, the first, second and third reagents may be loaded during the manufacture of device 510 and first, second and third reagent inlets 512, 514 and 516 may comprise, for example, first, second and third blister pouches (not shown) containing the first, second and third reagents. Such blister pouches are adapted to burst, or otherwise release the first, second and third reagents into device 510, upon actuation, such as, for example, depression of the blister pouches either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device. As illustrated, each of the first, second and third reagent inlets 512, 514 and 516 are fluidly connected to first ends 522, 532 and 542 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. Bellows pump 550 is fluidly connected to second ends 524, 534 and 544 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540, and first, second and third liquid barriers 526, 536 and 546 are interposed between bellows pump 550 and second ends 524, 534 and 544 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. As in FIGS. 1A, 2A and 3A, first, second and third liquid barriers 526, 536 and 546 are gas permeable and liquid impermeable membranes. As shown, bellows pump 550 is fluidly connected to a check valve 552, which permits fluid flow away from bellows pump 550. Alternatively, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole as in the embodiments of FIG. 1A and 3A. During operation, a liquid sample in placed into sample inlet 518, a first reagent in placed into first reagent inlet 512, a second reagent is placed into second reagent inlet 514 and a third reagent is placed third reagent inlet 516 as shown in FIG. 5B. (In the alternate embodiment, wherein first, second and third reagent inlets 512, 514 and 516 comprise blister pouches containing the first, second and third reagents, operation is commenced by placing a liquid sample into sample inlet 518 and manually actuating the blister pouches to release the first, second and third reagents). Bellows pump 550 is then depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, and, then, bellows pump 550 is released. During depression of bellows pump 550, check valve 552, or a vent hole (not shown), prevents fluid flow from bellows pump 550 into first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. Upon release of bellows pump 550, a negative fluid pressure is created in first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540 and the liquid sample, the first reagent, the second reagent and the third reagent are drawn into, and through, first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540 to first, second and third liquid barriers 526, 536 and 546 (as shown in FIG. 5C). During this process, mixing of the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents occurs within first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. In addition, similar to FIGS. 1A and 2A, first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540 may comprise one or more optical viewing areas 560, 562 and 564 to enable visual verification that the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents are flowing through first, second and third microfluidic channels 520, 530 and 540. In addition, optical viewing areas 560, 562 and 564 enable a user to visually observe reactions occurring between the liquid same and the first, second and third reagents. Microfluidic device 510 may be used as a rapid, disposable, blood typing assay. Such an assay may be utilized, for example, to provide bedside confirmation of a patient's ABO group prior to a blood transfusion. FIGS. 6A-6F are schematic illustrations of blood typing cards in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 6A illustrates a microfluidic device, or a card, 600. In this embodiment reagent inlets for antibody-A 602, antibody-B 604, and antibody-D 606 are illustrated. Alternatively, as noted above with respect to FIGS. 5A-5C, such reagents may be loaded during the manufacture of device 600 and inlets 602, 604 and 606 may be eliminated by replacing such inlets with first, second and third blister pouches containing the reagents. For ease of use, inlets 602, 604 and 606, which provide access to filling the corresponding reservoirs 608, 610, and 612, respectively, are optionally marked with decorative indicators 614, 616, and 618. FIG. 6A further shows a sample inlet 620 for accepting a blood sample or other fluid sample for testing. In the present embodiment sample 620 is labeled with a decorative indicator 622. The decorative indicator 622 encircles a transparent window 624 that provides a visual indicator of the reservoir for the fluid accepted through sample inlet 620. In alternative embodiments, window 624 may be omitted. FIG. 6A further illustrates verification windows for the three reagents 626, 628 and 630. These verification windows are aligned over the corresponding microfluidic channels in order to provide visual verification that the reagents are in fact traveling through the microfluidic channels as designed. As with the reagent inlets, the reagent verification windows are appropriately marked. FIG. 6A further illustrates appropriately marked optical viewing areas 632, 634 and 636 for viewing the blood typing results. In the current embodiment a legend 638 is provided to interpret the visual results and aid the user in determining the blood type. A further legend 640 is provided to aid the user in determining whether the blood is Rh positive or Rh negative. FIG. 6A further shows a bellows pump 642 for actuating fluid flow through the device. The bellows pump is fluidly connected with an outlet port 644. The embodiment in FIG. 6A further comprises an aperture 646 designed to accept an affixing device such that the microfluidic device may be attached directly to the container of fluid or bag of blood to be blood typed. In alternate embodiments, the affixing mechanism may include adhesive tape, a tie mechanism, a clamp, or may simply be inserted in a pocket on the fluid container, or any other standard means of affixing the device in position. FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of microfluidic device 600 including a faceplate 650 attached to the device. FIG. 6B shows the inlets, verification windows, legends, and markings as shown in FIG. 6A, however, FIG. 6B further shows an open faceplate or cover plate 650 attached to device 600. In the illustrated embodiment, faceplate 650 is hingedly connected to the device 600. In alternate embodiments, the faceplate may be detached. When faceplate 650 is in an open position, the exposed side may further include operational instructions 652 for the convenience of the user. The faceplate additionally protects the viewing windows and inlets of the device when device 600 is not in use. FIG. 6C illustrates yet another embodiment and shows microfluidic device 600 with a closed faceplate 650, covering the inlets, viewing windows, and legends shown in FIG. 6A, and a sheath 690. The sheath in the present embodiment is slideable and when slid in a downward direction, a lower lip 692 of the sheath provides a locking mechanism holding the faceplate in place. The faceplate 650, as noted previously, provides protection to the underlying inlets, viewing windows, legends, and legend drawings contained on the device. The faceplate 650 may additionally be used as a containment mechanism after the blood typing is complete, thus preventing contact with the blood or fluid being tested. FIG. 6D further illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 6C and shows the device when sheath 690 is slid into the locking position, thus holding faceplate 650 in the closed position. FIG. 6E illustrates another embodiment of the attached faceplate 650. In this embodiment the faceplate 650 includes operational instructions 652 for completing the blood typing test. The faceplate cover in this embodiment further includes an adhesive strip 654 that may be used to seal the sample inlet, or alternatively may be used to hold the faceplate closed. FIG. 6E further illustrates that the sheath 690 in this embodiment is covering the antigen reservoirs. In a further embodiment, downward movement of the sheath 690 may be utilized to actuate release of the antigens from the reservoirs. FIG. 6F shows an alternative configuration of device 600 and layout for user ease. In FIG. 6F, the reagent verification windows 626, 628 and 630 are grouped together for easier verification. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a header 670 is included identifying the blood type windows. Further use of the legends on alternative embodiments may include use of specific colors to delineate various functions on the substrate. For example, a red circle may encircle the blood port. FIGS. 7A-7C are a series of cross-sectional views of a microfluidic device 710 illustrating the operation of a sixth embodiment of the invention. Microfluidic device 710 illustrated in FIG. 7A comprises a first microfluidic channel 720 having a first end 722 and a second end 724, a second microfluidic channel 730 having a first end 732 and a second end 734, and a third microfluidic channel 740 having a first end 742 and a second end 744. Sample inlet 718 is fluidly connected to first ends 722, 732 and 742 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 720,730 and 740. Rather than comprising first, second and third reagent inlets for receiving first, second and third reagents, similar to device 510 of FIGS. 5A-5C, first microfluidic channel 720 of device 710 comprises a first dried reagent zone 712 wherein a first reagent in printed, second microfluidic channel 730 of device 710 comprises a second dried reagent zone 714 wherein a second reagent is printed, and third microfluidic channel 740 comprises a third dried reagent zone 716 wherein a third reagent is printed. The first, second and third reagents may be printed onto first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740, respectively, during the manufacture of device 710 by methods such as ink jet printing, micro drop printing and transfer printing. As illustrated, bellows pump 750 is fluidly connected to second ends 724, 734 and 744 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740, and first, second and third liquid barriers 726, 736 and 746 are interposed between bellows pump 750 and second ends 724, 734 and 744 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740. As in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A and 5A, first, second and third liquid barriers 726, 736 and 746 are gas permeable and liquid impermeable membranes. As shown, bellows pump 750 is fluidly connected to a check valve 752, which permits fluid flow away from bellows pump 750. Alternatively, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole as in the embodiments of FIGS. 1A, 3A and 5A. During operation, a liquid sample in placed into sample inlet 718, bellows pump 750 is depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, and, then, bellows pump 750 is released. During depression of bellows pump 750, check valve 752, or a vent hole (not shown), prevents fluid flow from bellows pump 750 into first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740. Upon release of bellows pump 750, a negative fluid pressure is created in first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740 and the liquid sample is drawn into, and through, first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740 to first, second and third liquid barriers 726, 736 and 746 (as shown in FIG. 7C). As the liquid sample passes through first, second and third dried reagent zones 712, 714 and 716, the liquid sample hydrates the first, second and third reagents and mixing of the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents occurs within first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740. In addition, similar to FIGS. 1A, 2A and 5A, first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740 may comprise one or more optical viewing areas 760, 762 and 764 to enable visual verification that the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents are flowing through first, second and third microfluidic channels 720, 730 and 740. In addition, optical viewing areas 760, 762 and 764 enable a user to visually observe reactions occurring between the liquid same and the first, second and third reagents. FIGS. 8A-8C are a series of cross-sectional views of a microfluidic device 810 illustrating the operation of a seventh embodiment of the invention. Microfluidic device 810 illustrated in FIG. 8A comprises a first microfluidic channel 820 having a first end 822 and a second end 824, a second microfluidic channel 830 having a first end 832 and a second end 834, and a third microfluidic channel 840 having a first end 842 and a second end 844. Sample inlet 818 is fluidly connected to first ends 822, 832 and 842 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. Device 810 further comprises a first dried reagent zone 812 wherein a first reagent in printed, a second dried reagent zone 814 wherein a second reagent is printed, and a third dried reagent zone 816 wherein a third reagent is printed. The first, second and third reagents may be printed during the manufacture of device 810 by methods such as ink jet printing, micro drop printing and transfer printing. As illustrated, device 810 also comprises a hydrating buffer inlet 870 for receiving a hydrating buffer. In alternate embodiments, the hydrating buffer may be loaded during the manufacture of device 810 and hydrating buffer inlet 870 may comprise, for example, a hydrating buffer blister pouch (not shown) containing the hydrating buffer. Such a blister pouch is adapted to burst, or otherwise release the hydrating buffer into device 810, upon actuation, such as, for example, depression of the blister pouch either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device. As illustrated, hydrating buffer inlet 870, and each of first dried reagent zone 812, second dried reagent zone 814, and third dried reagent zone 816 are fluidly connected to first ends 822, 832 and 842 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. Bellows pump 850 is fluidly connected to second ends 824, 834 and 844 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840, and first, second and third liquid barriers 826, 836 and 846 are interposed between bellows pump 850 and second ends 824, 834 and 844 of first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. First, second and third liquid barriers 826, 836 and 846 are gas permeable and liquid impermeable membranes. As shown, bellows pump 850 is fluidly connected to a check valve 852, which permits fluid flow away from bellows pump 780. Alternatively, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole. During operation, a liquid sample in placed into sample inlet 818 and a hydrating buffer is placed into hydrating buffer inlet 870. (In the alternate embodiment, wherein hydrating buffer inlet 870 comprises a hydrating buffer blister pouch containing the hydrating buffer, operating is commenced by placing a liquid sample into sample inlet 818 and manually actuating the blister pouch to release the hydrating buffer.) Bellows pump 850 is then depressed, either manually by a user or mechanically by an external device, and, then, bellows pump 850 is released. During depression of bellows pump 850, check valve 852, or a vent hole (not shown), prevents fluid flow from bellows pump 850 into first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. Upon release of bellows pump 850, a negative fluid pressure is created in first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840 and the liquid sample and the hydrating buffer are drawn into, and through, first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840 to first, second and third liquid barriers 826, 836 and 846 (as shown in FIG. 8C). As the hydrating buffer passes through first, second and third dried reagent zones 812, 814 and 816, the hydrating buffer hydrates the first, second and third reagents and, subsequently, mixing of the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents occurs within first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. In addition, similar to FIGS. 1A, 2A, 5A and 7A, first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840 may comprise one or more optical viewing areas 860, 862 and 864 to enable visual verification that the liquid sample and the first, second and third reagents are flowing through first, second and third microfluidic channels 820, 830 and 840. In addition, optical viewing areas 860, 862 and 864 enable a user to visually observe reactions occurring between the liquid same and the first, second and third reagents. From the foregoing, and as set forth previously, it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a plurality of microfluidic channels, inlets, valves, membranes, pumps, liquid barriers and other elements may be arranged in various configurations in accordance with the present invention to manipulate the flow of a fluid sample in order to prepare such sample for analysis. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to microfluidic devices and analysis methods, and, more particularly, to microfluidic devices and methods for the manipulation and analysis of fluid samples. 2. Description of the Related Art Microfluidic devices have become popular in recent years for performing analytical testing. Using tools developed by the semiconductor industry to miniaturize electronics, it has become possible to fabricate intricate fluid systems which can be inexpensively mass produced. Systems have been developed to perform a variety of analytical techniques for the acquisition and processing of information. The ability to perform analyses microfluidically provides substantial advantages of throughput, reagent consumption, and automatability. Another advantage of microfluidic systems is the ability to integrate a plurality of different operations in a single “lap-on-a-chip” device for performing processing of reactants for analysis and/or synthesis. Microfluidic devices may be constructed in a multi-layer laminated structure wherein each layer has channels and structures fabricated from a laminate material to form microscale voids or channels where fluids flow. A microscale or microfluidic channel is generally defined as a fluid passage which has at least one internal cross-sectional dimension that is less than 500 μm and typically between about 0.1 μm and about 500 μm. U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,852, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, is an example of a microfluidic device. The '852 patent teaches a microfluidic system for detecting the presence of analyte particles in a sample stream using a laminar flow channel having at least two input channels which provide an indicator stream and a sample stream, where the laminar flow channel has a depth sufficiently small to allow laminar flow of the streams and length sufficient to allow diffusion of particles of the analyte into the indicator stream to form a detection area, and having an outlet out of the channel to form a single mixed stream. This device, which is known as a T-Sensor, allows the movement of different fluidic layers next to each other within a channel without mixing other than by diffusion. A sample stream, such as whole blood, a receptor stream, such as an indicator solution, and a reference stream, which may be a known analyte standard, are introduced into a common microfluidic channel within the T-Sensor, and the streams flow next to each other until they exit the channel. Smaller particles, such as ions or small proteins, diffuse rapidly across the fluid boundaries, whereas larger molecules diffuse more slowly. Large particles, such as blood cells, show no significant diffusion within the time the two flow streams are in contact. Typically, microfluidic systems require some type of external fluidic driver to function, such as piezoelectric pumps, micro-syringe pumps, electroosmotic pumps, and the like. However, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/684,094, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, microfluidic systems are described which are completely driven by inherently available internal forces such as gravity, hydrostatic pressure, capillary force, absorption by porous material or chemically induced pressures or vacuums. In addition, many different types of valves for use in controlling fluids in microscale devices have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,212 describes one-way valves for use in laminated microfluidic structures, U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,899 describes ball bearing valves for use in laminated microfluidic structures, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/114,890, which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a pneumatic valve interface, also known as a zero dead volume valve, for use in laminated microfluidic structures. The foregoing patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Although there have been many advances in the field, there remains a need for new and improved microfluidic devices for manipulating and analyzing fluid samples. The present invention addresses these needs and provides further related advantages. cl BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In brief, the present invention relates to microfluidic devices and methods for manipulating and analyzing fluid samples. The disclosed microfluidic devices utilize a plurality of microfluidic channels, inlets, valves, filters, pumps, liquid barriers and other elements arranged in various configurations to manipulate the flow of a fluid sample in order to prepare such sample for analysis. Analysis of the sample may then be performed by any means known in the art. For example, as disclosed herein, microfluidic devices of the present invention may be used to facilitate the reaction of a blood sample with one or more reagents as part of a blood typing assay. In one embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a filter interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the filter removes selected particles from the liquid sample, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the microfluidic channel, and (e) a liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows may comprise a vent hole, the filter may comprise a membrane, or the microfluidic device may further comprise (a) a first check valve interposed between the bellows pump and the liquid barrier, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the bellows pump, and (b) a second check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) an active valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel, (d) a means for actuating the active valve, (e) a first bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, (f) a liquid barrier interposed between the first bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable, (g) a second microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is fluidly connected to the first microfluidic channel at a location adjacent to the active valve, (h) a passive valve interposed between the first end of the second microfluidic channel and the first microfluidic channel, wherein the passive valve is open when the fluid pressure in the first microfluidic channel is greater than the fluid pressure in the second microfluidic channel, and (i) a sample reservoir fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel. In further embodiments, the first bellows pump may comprise a vent hole, the means for actuating the active valve may comprise a second bellows pump and/or the sample reservoir may comprise a vent hole. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) first and second microfluidic channels, each having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first bellows pump fluidly connected to, and interposed between, the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first end of the second microfluidic channel, (d) a second bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second bellows pump has a fluid outlet, (e) a first check valve interposed between the sample inlet and the first end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the first check valve permits fluid flow towards the first microfluidic channel, (f) a second check valve interposed between the second end of the first microfluidic channel and the first bellows pump, wherein the second check valve permits fluid flow towards the first bellows pump, (g) a third check valve interposed between the first bellows pump and the first end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the third check valve permits fluid flow towards the second microfluidic channel, and (h) a fourth check valve interposed between the second end of the second microfluidic channel and the second bellows pump, wherein the fourth check valve permits fluid flow towards the second bellows pump. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving a first reagent, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, and (e) a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole or the microfluidic device may further comprise a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a second reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel for receiving a second reagent, and (c) a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In yet another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a third reagent inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel for receiving a third reagent, and (c) a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In one alternate embodiment of the foregoing, the first reagent inlet comprises a first blister pouch containing the first reagent, the second reagent inlet comprises a second blister pouch containing the second reagent, and the third reagent inlet comprises a third blister pouch containing the third reagent. In another embodiment, a microfluidic device for analyzing a liquid sample is provided that comprises (a) a first microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, (b) a sample inlet fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel for receiving the liquid sample, (c) a first dried reagent zone, comprising a first reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the first microfluidic channel, (d) a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the first microfluidic channel, and (e) a first liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the first microfluidic channel, wherein the liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In further embodiments, the bellows pump may comprise a vent hole or the microfluidic device may further comprise a check valve fluidly connected to the bellows pump, wherein the check valve permits fluid flow away from the bellows pump. In another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a second microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a second dried reagent zone, comprising a second reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the second microfluidic channel, and (c) a second liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the second microfluidic channel, wherein the second liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In yet another further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises (a) a third microfluidic channel having a first end, fluidly connected to the sample inlet, and a second end, fluidly connected to the bellows pump, (b) a third dried reagent zone, comprising a third reagent printed thereon, fluidly connected to the first end of the third microfluidic channel, and (c) a third liquid barrier interposed between the bellows pump and the second end of the third microfluidic channel, wherein the third liquid barrier is gas permeable and liquid impermeable. In a more specific embodiment, the liquid sample comprises a blood sample, the first reagent comprises antibody-A, the second reagent comprises antibody-B, and the third reagent comprises antibody-D. In yet a further embodiment, the microfluidic device further comprises a hydrating buffer inlet, fluidly connected to the first, second and third dried reagent zones and to the first ends of the first, second and third microfluidic channels, for receiving a hydrating buffer. In an alternate embodiment, the hydrating buffer inlet comprises a hydrating buffer blister pouch containing the hydrating buffer. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent upon reference to the attached figures and following detailed description. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIGS. 1A-1C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a first embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 2A-2C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a second embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 3A-3F are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a third embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 4A-4E are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a fourth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 5A-5C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a fifth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 6A-6F are schematic illustrations of blood typing cards in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 7A-7C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a sixth embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 8A-8C are a series of cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a seventh embodiment of a microfluidic device in accordance with aspects of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040617 | 20080902 | 20050519 | 58318.0 | 0 | GORDON, BRIAN R | MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES FOR FLUID MANIPULATION AND ANALYSIS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,732 | ACCEPTED | Private entity profile network | In private equity and debt funding operations, resource providers define electronic data collection templates to be filled in by prospective resource consumers to form semi-homogeneous profiles. Providers and/or consumers can assign themselves and/or selected third parties various individualized levels of permissions to access and to perform activities on the profiles. Providers can organize profiles into portfolios to further manage the data. All accesses and activities, such as changes to the data, are tracked and recorded in logs useful for audit purposes. | 1. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template for resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing at least one user to input information into the template; storing the information input into the template as a profile in an electronic database system; assigning UserNames to users; establishing access permissions that determine which profiles a specific UserName is permitted to access; and establishing activity permissions which determine what a specific UserName is permitted to do with an accessed profile. 2. A method of working with portfolios, comprising the steps of: organizing fiduciary oversight and related information into a portfolio record, storing the portfolio records into an electronic database system; defining portfolio categories; defining, for each portfolio category, a template of items of information that will be contained in a portfolio record; allowing a party to input information into the portfolio templates to form portfolio records, and storing the records in the electronic database system; associating profiles to appropriate portfolio records; and allowing the party to access portfolio records stored in the system. 3. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template of fields for a semi-homogenous profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing the resource provider to, in real time, customize the template by inserting, deleting, or modifying sections and/or fields; allowing at least one user to input information into the fields; storing the information as a semi-homogenous profile in an electronic database system; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system. 4. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template of fields for a semi-homogenous profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; assigning UserNames to users; allowing at least one UserName to input information into the fields; storing the information as a profile in an electronic database system; allowing at least one UserName to access and perform certain activities, including appending files of any type and comments, on profiles stored in the system; recording a Change History log that indicates all accesses, activities and changes and the date and time that they are made, and what UserName made them, to a particular profile; and recording a Site Audit log that indicates which UserName has accessed a profile, the network address of the site from which the UserName accessed the profile, the date and time, and what major activities the UserName performed on the profile. 5. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template of fields for a profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing a resource consumer to input primary data information directly into the fields; storing the information as a profile in an electronic database system; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system. 6. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template of fields for a semi-homogenous profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing at least one user to input information into the fields; storing the input information as a profile in an electronic database system; assigning UserNames to users; establishing access permissions that determine which profiles a specific UserName is permitted to access; establishing activity permissions which determine what a specific UserName is permitted to do with an accessed profile; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system; wherein the electronic database system is administered by a trusted third party, who is neutral to resource providers and to resource consumers, who implements desired semi-homogenous profile data collection templates and independently manages UserName access and activity permissions specified by a resource provider or a resource consumer. 7. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: storing the information as one or more profiles in an electronic database system; assigning UserNames to users; allowing at least one UserName to access and perform certain activities on profiles stored in the system; recording a Change History log that indicates all accesses, activities and changes and the date and time that they are made, and what UserName made them, to a particular profile; and recording a Site Audit log that indicates which UserName has accessed a profile, the network address of the site from which the UserName accessed the profile, the date and time, and what major activities the UserName has performed on the profile. 8. A method of managing resource consumer information, comprising the steps of: defining a data collection template of fields for a semi-homogenous profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing at least one user to input information into the fields; storing the information input into the template as a profile in an electronic database system; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein files of any type can be attached to each profile. 10. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of defining the template is done by the resource provider. 11. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of allowing a user to append comments to the profile. 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising enabling resource providers and resource consumers to see a list of UserNames who have been granted access to a specific profile along with the authorized activity entitlements for that profile. 13. The method of claim 8 further comprising indexing, sorting, tracking, calculating aggregate metrics from, or reporting, the information. 14. The method of claim 8 wherein the resource provider can classify profiles as Pending for newly registered or edited profiles that can be either accepted and moved to active status or declined and moved to watch list status; Watch List for newly registered profiles and/or active profiles that a resource provider believes may need additional time to mature; and Active for profiles that have been reviewed and accepted by a resource provider and typically represent active commercial relationships. 15. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of assigning UserNames to resource consumers and to resource providers; establishing access permissions which determine a set of profiles that a specific UserName is permitted to access; and establishing activity permissions which determine what a specific UserName is permitted to do with an accessed profile. 16. The method of claim 15 wherein a third party partner can be assigned a UserName and receive access and activity permissions. 17. The method of claim 15 wherein the system authorizes certain UserNames to tune access permissions by changing the profile-specific disclosure levels including None, to remove access to a profile for all UserNames except those of the resource provider designated as a profile “owner” and those of the resource consumer who supplied the information; General Information without Financials, to prohibit any UserName other than those of the resource provider designated as a profile “owner” and the resource consumer who supplied the information from accessing any financial information in a profile or any financially designated file attachments; and General Information with Financials, to allow all authorized UserNames to see all information and file attachments in a profile. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein authorized UserNames can input information into the fields and tune access permissions independently, autonomously, and in real-time, via the Internet and/or private network. 19. The method of claim 15 wherein a provider can define a portfolio group of profiles to include an industry, a sub-sector, a single company, selected groups of companies, a geographical area, or be based on other criteria contained in the profile. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the activity permissions include view only, global edit, single section edit, single line item in a single section edit, file download, file delete, file add, access to the comments, access to reports, access to portfolio records, ability to save or send HTML copies of profiles, ability to save XML copies, the ability to import XML data, create new profiles, change the status of a profile, and change sharing levels. 21. The method of claim 15 wherein the electronic database system is maintained by a trusted third party, who is neutral to resource providers and to resource consumers, who implements a desired profile data collection template and independently manages the UserName access and activity permissions specified by the resource provider and a consumer. 22. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of: recording a Change History log that indicates all accesses, activities and changes and the date and time that they are made, and what UserName made them, to a particular profile; and recording a Site Audit log that indicates which UserName has accessed a profile, the Internet address of the site from which the UserName accessed the profile, the date and time, and what major activities the UserName has performed; and wherein access permissions include access to the change history log and to the site audit log. 23. The method of claim 15 wherein: the Change History log identifies and records the former and new values of any information that was changed; the Site Audit log identifies and records the date and time of logins, new profile creations, profile accesses, profile deletions, and logouts; a Profile Metrics log identifies and records the date and time that a profile is viewed by any authorized UserName; a File Metrics log identifies and records the date and time when a file attachment is accessed by an authorized UserName; and a Permitted Users log identifies which UserName may access any given profile and/or portfolio records. 24. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing a summary list detailing, for a particular profile, the UserNames that have accessed the profile, the number of times the UserName accessed the profile and the date and times the UserName spent accessing the profile. 25. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing a summary list, for a particular UserName, of the files that the UserName has accessed and the date and time of each access. 26. The method of claim 15 further comprising enabling the sending of UserName specific alerts based upon resource consumer or provider criteria including new profile registrations, profile changes, profile deletions, specifically defined metrics including cash burn, cash remaining, or quick ratios. 27. The method of claim 8 further comprising enabling the definition and deployment of real-time, customizable, management audit, tracking and compliance data collection template portfolios by the steps of: defining portfolio categories; enabling, for each defined portfolio category, the creation of portfolio records and the association of profiles to them; defining, for each portfolio category, items that will be contained in a portfolio record; allowing a party to input information into the records, and storing the information in the electronic database system; associating and appending Watch List, Pending, or Active profiles to appropriate portfolio records; and allowing the party to access, via the Internet or a private network, information stored in the system. 28. The method of claim 27 wherein authorized UserNames can create new portfolio records within portfolio categories. 29. The method of claim 27 wherein files of any type can be attached to each portfolio record. 30. The method of claim 27 wherein comments can be appended to each portfolio record. 31. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of indexing, sorting, tracking, calculating aggregate metrics, and reporting. 32. The method of claim 27 further comprising providing a summary list of the UserNames that have accessed a portfolio record, detailing the number of times a UserName has accessed a portfolio record and the date and time and elapsed time spent accessing a particular portfolio record. 33. The method of claim 27 further comprising providing a summary list of the profiles associated with a portfolio record that have been accessed by a particular UserName and each date and time that a particular profile was accessed. 34. The method of claim 27 further comprising enabling the sending of UserName specific alerts based upon resource provider's or regulator's defined criteria including the addition of new portfolio records, changes to existing portfolio records, new profile registrations, profile changes, profile deletions, or specifically defined metrics including less than timely updates of profiles, cash burn, cash remaining, or quick ratios. 35. The method of claim 27 further comprising enabling resource providers and other authorized third parties to see a list of UserNames who have been granted access to a portfolio records and their authorized activity permissions for each portfolio record. 36. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of: recording a Change History log that indicates all accesses, activities and changes and the date and time that they are made to a particular portfolio record by any UserName; and recording a Site Audit log that indicates which UserName has accessed a portfolio record, the Internet address of the site from which the UserName accessed the portfolio record, the date and time, and what activities they have performed during the access. 37. The method of claim 36 wherein: the Change History log identifies and records the former and new values of any information that was changed on a portfolio record; and the Site Audit log identifies and records the date and time of new portfolio record creations, portfolio record deletions, logins, portfolio records accessed, and logoffs. 38. The method of claim 27 further comprising enabling a deploying firm to manage their fiduciary responsibilities across their resource provider relationships by: allowing the deploying firm to construct portfolio categories and to append portfolio records for each unique relationship along with that relationship's related profiles; and providing a mechanism enabling the association of consumer profiles to specific portfolio records. 39. The method of claim 27 further comprising enabling profile data to be updated and appended to portfolio records in real-time. 40. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of establishing access permissions which determine the specific portfolio categories, portfolio records, or specific section of items within sections on a portfolio record that a specific UserName is permitted to access; and establishing activity permissions which determine what a specific UserName is permitted to do with an accessed portfolio category or portfolio record. 41. The method of claim 27 wherein the electronic database system is maintained by a trusted third party, who is neutral to resource providers and to resource consumers, who implements the desired portfolio categories and portfolio records/data collection template and independently manages the UserName access and activity permissions specified by various resource providers, resource consumers, and any other deploying organization. | This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/528,749, filed Dec. 10, 2003. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field This invention relates generally to private equity and debt markets, and more particularly to managing, tracking and distributing resource consumers' account, company, and relationship information in such markets. 2. Discussion of Prior Art In the equity and debt funding business a “resource provider” (provider) is a party, who may be a venture capitalist, a bank, an accounting firm, a law firm or other business partner, that provides capital, assets or services. A “resource consumer” (consumer) is a party, typically an emerging growth company, that is seeking these resources. Resource providers and consumers agree what information the consumers are to deliver in exchange for being considered to receive resources from the providers. However, the formatting of information and the delivery mechanisms are not standardized. Currently, consumers may deliver information via ground mail, e-mail, online forms, FAX, teletext, etc. The current methods and processes typically require duplicative and costly data entry by both providers and consumer. In order to create more semi-homogenized data, providers currently must collect, re-enter, and format data submitted by consumers. The problem is illustrated in FIG. 1. Consumers often receive resources from multiple providers. Consumers receiving duplicative information requests from different resource providers must duplicate the efforts of producing and delivering the same information to the different resource providers. Current methods do not allow a single consumer to efficiently distribute the same digital information and updates to multiple providers using a single platform and/or user interface. Despite the growing demand for more digital information, attempts to automate the digital distribution of consumer information have failed. This is largely due to the fact that individual software or system deployments by providers currently require consumers to reenter and/or resubmit their same data into multiple stand-alone systems that do not share information. This creates additional time-consuming and expensive work for the consumers who do not have the resources needed to enter and re-enter the same data multiple times in order to satisfy their providers. It is currently difficult to share and distribute consumer information among providers because 1) the data is not semi-homogeneous, 2) providers often have additional and special information requests, and 3) no platform or neutral third party administrator exists to regulate and control the sharing of data submitted by consumers among and between interested parties. Thus, there is a growing need and strong desire among providers to obtain more semi-homogeneous and digital data directly from consumers. There is also a growing demand for more strict controls over the tracking of submitted data and changes made to data. Companies, investment mangers, plan sponsors, and fiduciaries of all types are increasingly being required to demonstrate higher levels of fiduciary oversight and control of such information, or else risk liability to criminal and civil penalties. Previous methods of obtaining and managing consumer information have included: external research; proprietary information databases or exchanges (e.g., M&A transactions, IPO data, deal listings, etc.); portals (e.g., MSN, Yahoo); collaboration tools (e.g., chat boards); secure file transfer and management services; virtual data rooms; work flow products; contact management platforms (e.g., Outlook, Onyx); customer and sales force relationship management tools; and back-end systems (e.g., SAP, Peoplesoft). These previous methods do not provide sufficient controls to adequately track and manage the submissions and changes made by either or both providers and consumers. Existing methods and solutions do not allow providers and other interested parties to efficiently organize and track specific categories or collections of profiles in real-time. Providers and others typically need to track groups of profiles by category. In addition, providers must maintain accurate records tracking how they have supervised these various categories of profiles. To address these challenges, many providers and others must first dedicate resources to collect, update, organize the underlying consumer profile data and then must spend additional dollars to manually organize and update the summary files and documents that they use to track and demonstrate oversight of the various categories or groups of consumer profiles. Public equity and debt market needs are addressed by services such as Edgar, Hoovers, Bloomberg, and Yahoo, whose on-line sites post information for retrieval, sometimes for a fee, through web browsers. However, these public market solutions do not address business processes by which private equity firms and debt providers manage and control consumer information on a relationship-by-relationship basis. For example, these solutions do not align data collection and management responsibilities in an efficient and auditable manner. In short, there is not a comparable “private equity” or debt marketplace solution to capture, collect, organize, maintain, monitor, and control access to information flowing into a provider organization. Instead, previous solutions often contain secondary data resulting from efforts of individuals who research and collect information on a company (aka consumer), e.g., Venture Source. Secondary data is not reliable for evaluating or managing the performance of prospect and/or portfolio of relationships. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other acts require greater levels of fiduciary oversight for alternative asset classes, e.g., venture capital, hedge funds, private equity, etc. ERISA standards require managers to demonstrate adequate fiduciary oversight of capital deployed in private equity investment vehicles. Failure to exercise such oversight could incur criminal and civil penalties. Finally, providers must meet the above requirements with reduced budgets and available resources. A recent study by the Private Equity Industry Guidelines Group (PEIGG) noted that the available investment management staffs at general partner firms, i.e. providers, are often small. These factors point to a growing need for automation to help providers collect, input, track, manage and distribute consumer data. The PEIGG report further highlighted the fact that the investors to whom providers must report to are demanding access to greater amounts of digital information rather physical hard copies. There remains therefore a need for a system which will enable senior providers to free up more time to search for, identify, and qualify potential prospects, to exercise greater levels of due diligence on prospective and existing portfolio companies, and to do so with fewer management dollars. SUMMARY A method of using an electronic database system for collecting resource consumer information, organizing the information into standardized profiles, and managing the profiles to enable accessing the information as desired comprises the steps of defining a data collection template of fields for a standardized profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing at least one user to input information into the fields; storing the information as a profile in an electronic database system; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system. The method(s) reduce cost or enable real-time tracking and distribution of information preferably by: 1) aligning the responsibilities of consumers and providers; 2) enabling the semi-homogenous capture of information; 3) reducing the need for duplicative data entry; 4) streamlining data management, tracking, and distribution; and 5) utilizing a neutral third party platform administrator to oversee the business rules, intra- and inter-firm data sharing permissions, and compliance requirements. In one approach incorporating the alignment of data entry and management duties, consumers accept lead responsibility for the entry and update of their digital “primary data” into semi-homogenous data collection templates or profiles specified and created by providers. This can reduce the need for duplicative data entry by recipients, i.e. providers and investors. It also may help providers to more rapidly compare consumer profiles within and among various industries or other groupings. Providers use and/or edit the data submitted by consumers to conduct their analyses, track progress, and report results as appropriate. This allows providers to spend more of their time on tracking down new investment ideas, raising additional capital, and reporting out to investors. Finally, providers, investors, regulators, etc. can use the data that has been submitted to exercise fiduciary oversight and track and document the progress of portfolio companies. The platform can enable exchange of digital data with users or directly with other applications, via XML, SQL, etc. All changes are preferably reflected in real-time, which permits interested parties to instantly access updated and timely information, which enables more timely oversight of consumers. Efficient management, tracking, and distribution of common consumer information can arise through the use of semi-homogenous profiles. A profile is created for each consumer who enters their data on the platform. Profiles contain the semi-homogenous information outlined above along with optionally associated files (e.g., models, presentations), comments, and an auditable change history for each consumer relationship. The profiles consolidate the critically important information that providers need in order to exercise appropriate diligence, track investments, and demonstrate appropriate fiduciary oversight of investments. This aspect allows providers to expand their oversight capabilities while reducing the expense and time requirements of doing so. The system's software allows consumers to attach multiple, custom provider information request sections to their semi-homogenous profile data. In one aspect a designated administrator can act as a neutral third party that manages the business rules and data sharing, distribution permissions among and between consumers and providers. Thus, consumers can submit their baseline and additional information requested by their providers on a single platform that intelligently parses and controls the distribution of their digital information in real-time. Access to their data and any other data on the platform is controlled at the individual UserName level. In one embodiment, only authorized UserNames are allowed to access specific pieces of data. UserNames are controlled by the administrator for a managed service offering embodiment of the invention. Enterprise license deployments may require the licensee to coordinate with the third party administrator. To enable creating named categories or collections (e.g., fund name, investment manager, geography, industry, office, investment class) of profiles, tracking and managing groups of profiles within categories, and recording evidence of how providers have supervised groups of profiles, one aspect of the method provides a capability called “portfolios,” by enabling the definition and deployment of real-time, customizable, management audit, tracking and compliance data collection template portfolios by the steps of: defining portfolio categories; enabling, for each defined portfolio category, the creation of portfolio records; the association of profiles with portfolio records; defining, for each portfolio category, items that will be contained in a portfolio record; allowing a party to input information into the records, and storing the information in the electronic database system; associating and appending Watch List, Pending, or Active profiles to appropriate portfolio records; and allowing the party to access, via the Internet, information stored in the system. Portfolio categories can contain one or more populated “portfolio record” data templates. Detailed portfolio records contain preferably five key components, including: 1) a semi-homogenous category data collection and tracking template per unique, named portfolio category; 2) associated tracking and oversight file attachments; 3) comments log; 4) change history; and 5) the ability to associate specific consumer profiles with specific portfolio records within a given portfolio category. To begin with, the platform aids providers because the underlying profile information is being supplied, updated, and inputted directly by the consumers. As this “primary” information is reviewed by providers they can input information and comments on the portfolio record that documents their oversight of the collection of profiles. One aspect of the method can reduce the time each party spends on data collection entry, re-entry, tracking and distribution of data, and deliver to consumers and providers a tangible return on investment (ROI). The ability to track submitted information via independently managed and auditable change history and site audit records provide a compliance control mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a labor intensive prior art process used by providers to create digitized and semi-homogenized consumer data; FIG. 2 is a screenshot of a semi-homogenous profile or data template along with a list of representative sections as used in one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 is a screenshot of a semi-homogenous profile that highlights the fields within a profile section; FIG. 4 is a screenshot of a portfolio record data template including a list of sample and representative portfolio record sections; FIG. 5 is a screenshot of preferred portfolio record fields within a portfolio record section; FIG. 6a is a screenshot showing preferred portfolio category names, and FIG. 6b is a screenshot of a preferred associated summary list of portfolio records for a given portfolio category; FIGS. 7a and 7b are screenshots showing a portfolio record and how the invention in one embodiment can associate consumer profiles with specific portfolio records; FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the logical architecture of the invention in one embodiment; FIG. 9 is a block diagram of preferred physical architecture supporting the FIG. 8 logical architecture; FIG. 10 is a management and administration tools site map; FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a preferred detailed profile level access and activity entitlements/permissions identification procedure for a UserName; FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a preferred procedure for loading accessible sections in FIG. 1 1; FIG. 13 illustrates preferred major components of profile; FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an investment information management process enabled by the invention in one embodiment; FIG. 15 is a screenshot of a preferred login page; FIG. 16 is a preferred consumer UserName and profile self-registration screen shot; FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a preferred consumer UserName and profile self-creation, registration procedure; FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a preferred profile creation procedure used by providers and other authorized UserNames; FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a preferred edit procedure; FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a preferred file manager procedure; FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a preferred add file procedure; FIG. 22 is a screenshot of a preferred file manager dialog box produced by the FIG. 20 procedure; FIG. 23 illustrates how providers and consumers can self-regulate the level of profile information shared among authorized UserNames via the disclosure level setting; FIG. 24 is a flowchart of preferred site level portfolio summary access and activity entitlements/permissions identification procedure for a UserName; FIG. 25 is a flowchart of preferred portfolio record level access and activity entitlements/permissions identification procedure for a UserName; FIG. 26 contains screen shots of a preferred change history log display that is produced by the FIG. 36 procedure; FIG. 27 is an illustration of a preferred cascading UserName permissions/entitlements structure of the invention in one embodiment; FIG. 28 is a flowchart of an application site map; FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a preferred site level summary profile access and activity entitlements/permissions procedure; FIG. 30 is a flowchart of a preferred site audit history log procedure; FIG. 31 is a flowchart of a preferred reports procedure; FIG. 32 is a flowchart of a preferred support procedure; FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a preferred password reset procedure; and FIG. 34 is a flowchart of a preferred view comments procedure; FIG. 35 is a flowchart of a preferred add comments procedure; FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a preferred change history log procedure; FIG. 37 is a flowchart of a preferred profile metrics summary procedure; FIG. 38 is a flowchart of a preferred profile metrics detail procedure; FIG. 39 is a flowchart of a preferred file metrics summary procedure; FIG. 40 is a flowchart of a preferred file metrics detail procedure; FIG. 41 is a flowchart of a preferred profile permitted users procedure; FIG. 42 is a table showing preferred flexible and granular access and activity permissions/entitlements for a single UserName; FIG. 43 is a screenshot of a preferred guest UserName self-registration page; FIG. 44 is a flowchart of a preferred guest UserName registration procedure; FIG. 45 is a flowchart of a preferred login procedure; FIG. 46 is a screenshot of a preferred site audit history log produced by the procedure of FIG. 30; FIG. 47 is a preferred summary profile screen for a provider type UserName produced by the FIG. 29 procedure; FIG. 48 is a screenshot of a preferred profile for a consumer type UserName produced by the FIG. 17 procedure; FIG. 49 shows screenshots of two representative edit boxes produced by FIG. 19 procedure; FIG. 50 is a screenshot of a preferred view comments display produced by the FIG. 34 procedure; FIGS. 51a and 51b are screenshots of preferred add file dialog boxes produced by the FIG. 21 procedure; FIG. 52 is a screenshot of a preferred profile metrics summary produced by the procedure of FIG. 37; FIG. 53 is a screenshot of a preferred profile metrics detail produced by the procedure of FIG. 38; FIG. 54 is a screenshot of a preferred file metrics summary produced by the procedure of FIG. 39; FIG. 55 is a screenshot of a preferred file metrics detail produced by the procedure of FIG. 40; FIG. 56 is a screenshot of a preferred profile permitted users produced by the procedure of FIG. 41; FIG. 57 shows screenshots of preferred reports tools and representative output produced by the procedure of FIG. 31; and FIG. 58 is a screenshot of a preferred support page produced by the procedure of FIG. 32. DETAILED DESCRIPTION An embodiment of the invention uses customizable data collection templates on a scalable hardware and software platform to collect and manage resource consumer information and to build “semi-homogenous profiles” as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and “portfolio records” as illustrated in FIGS. 4-7. Phase I: Setting up the Platform The system software (FIG. 8) and hardware (FIG. 9), as explained below, are set up preferably to meet specifications of the particular resource provider's deployment. Preferably, a neutral third party administrator, rather than the resource provider, has custody, and maintains security, of the platform, as explained further below. Management procedures and their associated user interface screens (FIG. 10 box 10a) are used in configuring the deployment. Profile Templates A blank default information collection template including compartmentalized sections (FIG. 2) and fields (FIG. 3), generated by the procedures of FIGS. 11 and 12, is adopted and typically modified by a deploying provider, to be filled in by a resource consumer to form a semi-homogenous profile. The default template sections include a company logo, a company name, address, company/consumer contact information, partner/provider contact information, general business descriptors, description of the company, description of their associated markets and products, current status, management team, advisory board and board composition, funding and capitalization table information, list of intellectual property, financial information, comments, lists of the names of vendors who are providing services to the firm, and specialized and/or confidential information sections which have restricted access. A profile's composition can be tailored by an individual consumer or provider. Fields or entire sections may be added or removed. Preferably an embodiment can accommodate a practically unlimited number of profiles. As illustrated in FIG. 13 and further explained below, a profile preferably consolidates into one auditable record 1) the semi-homogenous data template, 2) file attachments which can be added and viewed e.g. models, presentations, 3) the profile's change history, detailing any changes made to any sections and/or fields, and 4) profile-specific comments which may be added and viewed as needed. A consolidated profile gives providers information with which to exercise and demonstrate fiduciary oversight of their consumers, investments, etc. Certain required information (e.g., business plans, valuation data) is confidential. Consumers and providers are very concerned about potential data loss or unauthorized access by others to their data. Consumers and providers often need to parse and send varying levels of detailed information to many different audiences or constituents. The release of such information should be strictly controlled and recorded. UserNames To protect the integrity of collected information, the invention preferably defines UserNames and associated access and activity entitlements (FIG. 10 box 10b). Each person who uses the system preferably is assigned a unique UserName entitling that person to specific access and activities. Preferably, varying levels of access and activity entitlements can be granted to each UserName. Three preferred types or groups of UserNames are: consumers, providers, and guests (e.g., third party partners, vendors, conference attendees, etc.). Preferably an embodiment can accommodate a practically unlimited number of UserName groups. Each group of UserNames is assigned default access and activity entitlements or permissions, further described below, typically modified by the provider. Group entitlements may be further modified for each UserName within the group. A deploying provider typically submits UserName setup instructions to a neutral third party administrator who implements the instructions. Phase II: Establishing Consumer accounts. Filling in Profiles The embodiment preferably accommodates computer terminals where consumers, FIG. 14, can register their UserNames and submit their profile information. FIG. 15 is a screenshot of the sign-in page of an example provider's website. Consumers and guests typically self-register and establish their own UserName and password credentials. A new consumer clicks on “register new account” which brings up a registration page, as shown in FIG. 16, generated by the FIG. 17 “Consumer UserName and Profile Self-registration” procedure. The FIG. 16 registration page prompts the new consumer to provide a UserName and password, select disclosure levels for third party UserNames, and pay by credit card for submitting his company profile. At the bottom of the page, the consumer clicks “yes” to accept the terms and conditions for use of the service and then clicks “submit” to complete the UserName and payment portion of the registration process. The FIG. 16 form is checked by the FIG. 17 procedure. If the form was filled out correctly and the credit card payment processed properly, the procedure creates a new UserName. In some cases, a fee from a registering consumer may be waived. Upon creation of a UserName, a blank template, as illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, is opened and displayed for completion by the just-registered consumer. The newly created—but so far empty—profile is associated with the provider's deployment or site and the UserName is added to the list of valid active users for the provider site. The UserName is preferably assigned an authorization token which establishes that UserName as a valid user of the specific provider's embodiment. The FIG. 11 “profile detail” procedure applies the access and activity limitations established for each UserName, identifying what sections and fields for a specific profile a UserName may access. The consumer inputs their information. Thus, profiles are populated with information primarily from the owners of data, e.g., resource consumers, and only afterwards secondarily from outside parties, e.g., resource providers. Data contributed directly by the originating source is known as “primary data” and is relied upon to attest to consumer performance. The ability to work with primary data is valuable to resource providers. “Ownership” of the newly submitted profile is initially conveyed to the provider and its internal users. A provider or other authorized party that deploys an embodiment may wish to create profiles for consumers, possibly as an incentive to attract business. An authorized provider selecting the “actions” item on the menu bar highlighted in FIG. 2 and then selecting “create profile” invokes the FIG. 18 procedure. A provider may create UserName and password credentials for each profile they create, and distribute these credentials to a consumer for a particular profile so that the consumer can login and update the profile as appropriate later. A provider does not have to establish credentials for the consumer. Next, a blank profile is opened and added to that provider's list of available profiles. The FIG. 11 “profile detail” procedure enforces the access and activity rights that have been established for each UserName and UserName type (i.e. consumer, provider, and guest) for that particular profile. The provider then uses the FIG. 19 edit procedure to populate the form, and the FIG. 20 and FIG. 21 procedures to view and add files to the newly created profile. Profile data collection templates are intended to collect summary information on consumers. As providers and consumers often need more detailed information, an embodiment can enable consumers to append file attachments to their profiles. To initiate the FIG. 20 file manager procedure, consumer or provider clicks on the view/add/manage icon/link on the profile. The FIG. 20 procedure opens the FIG. 22 file manager box and a user may add as many files as they wish. They may also specify individual file access rights right for various Usernames. When the consumer completes the initial input of their data, their submitted profile is placed into the “pending” category on the provider's site. To strengthen the security, accuracy, scalability and reliability of the entitlement system, the invention preferably assigns a unique numeric identification number (ID) to each: profile, portfolio record, section, field, deploying provider site (login site or web page), UserName (i.e., consumers, providers, third parties), and UserName group. One embodiment uses these ID numbers to associate trusted relationships between authorized UserNames, specific provider sites, consumer UserNames, provider UserNames, guest UserNames, profiles, portfolio records, file attachment types, file attachment access levels, sections, fields, etc. These ID identifiers enable an embodiment to deliver a granular UserName entitlement system. Phase III: Working with submitted Profiles Providers, guests, and authorized third party UserNames may login from their respective locations to access available profiles. Their access and activity entitlements are managed by the neutral third party administrator based initially on their UserName group entitlements. Resource providers, guests, and partners can use an embodiment to track, monitor, and report the information provided by the consumers. When a consumer uses the FIG. 16 registration page to register and submit his or her information to a provider's deployment, their profile is initially associated solely with that provider. The provider and its associated internal UserNames are granted ownership rights for that particular profile, and can directly control access to that and all other consumer profiles registered on their deployment. At a later time, the provider with current ownership rights and/or the consumer may grant ownership privileges to additional third party UserNames, e.g., other resource providers. States “State” categories are used to organize profiles. A profile may be in one of the following three “states” at any given time: “pending,” “watch list,” or “active.” The pending state is typically used for newly registered profiles or for profiles that have been modified by either the consumer or provider. The watch list state is typically used for consumer profiles for which the provider does not have an ongoing and active relationship. Providers typically use the active state for consumer profiles that represent their existing and/or ongoing relationships. Only a provider UserName with the appropriate activity entitlement is allowed to change the profile's state from pending to either active or watch list. The provider's internal UserNames can see profiles that they own regardless of what state the profile may be in. Other UserNames that have been granted access to a provider's profile(s) can only see profiles that are designated as active. If necessary, exceptions can be granted. Consumers are not allowed to see, and are unaware of, the state of their particular profile. Providers value this feature because they want and need to screen and release profile data to the active state before any third parties see the data. Disclosure Levels As depicted in FIG. 23, a consumer or provider granting an access entitlement to a third party UserName can independently and directly control the level of information that is shared with newly entitled third party UserName by selecting one of the following three disclosure levels associated with each profile: “general information and high level financials,” “general information no financials,” and “none.” The disclosure setting is circled on the right side in FIG. 23. Each profile may have preferably only one of the three possible disclosure levels at any given time. A provider can designate a different sharing level for each of the profiles which it owns. If the disclosure level for a profile is set at general information, high level financials, then all information on the profile and all file attachments can be accesses by any of the UserNames that have been granted access to it. If the disclosure level for a profile is set at general information no financials, all third party UserNames with access to the profile will be precluded from accessing any financial information (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, capitalization table) in the profile. They will also be unable to access any file attachment with a designated file access right of “financial.” Additional sections and file types can be included in the “financial” exclusion list if desired by either the consumers or provider. If the disclosure level for a profile is none, then the consumer who registered the profile and the provider with ownership rights are the only UserNames who can see the profile. As a profile owner, the provider's internal UserNames can see all of the profile's data, e.g., financial information, regardless of the disclosure level set for that profile. Other UserNames granted access to a provider's profile(s) can only see the level of information allowed, if any, stipulated by the disclosure level on a profile. Embodiments can grant exceptions to these rules. The disclosure level of profiles preferably can be changed at any time and the new disclosure settings reflected in real time. The ability to individually adjust disclosure levels is an important profile level activity entitlement. Portfolios The defined, semi-homogenous data template facilitates comparisons of profiles. Having a means of comparing similar opportunities against a standard can help resource providers make consistent decisions. Further, as depicted in FIG. 10 box 10a, resource providers can develop and deploy customizable portfolio records (management data templates) to facilitate tracking and oversight of specific collections or categories of profiles. The FIG. 24 and FIG. 25 procedures generate the FIGS. 4, 5, 6a, 6b, 7a and 7b screenshots. FIG. 4 shows a partially blank example of a semi-homogenous portfolio record template which providers can begin with for each portfolio category name that they create to track a particular collection of profiles. The portfolio record template includes compartmentalized sections. As shown in FIG. 4 default sections include: profile owner contact information, general information, description, provider investment monitoring activities, management teams, and links to the profiles which have been associated with the portfolio. As depicted in FIG. 5, portfolio record sections can contain one or more fields. A provider can tailor portfolio records to his requirements by adding or removing entire portfolio record sections and/or removing fields within portfolio record sections. FIG. 6a shows representative portfolio category names which providers can create to track and monitor specific collections of profiles. FIG. 6b shows the names of portfolio records associated with a given portfolio category name. A portfolio category name may contain one or more portfolio records. As highlighted in FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b, the invention in one embodiment can associate consumer profiles to a specific portfolio record. As illustrated in FIGS. 6a, 6b, 7a and 7b, a provider can drill down from a generic category name (e.g., Investment Banks) to a specific portfolio record in that category (e.g., Acme Investment Banking) and then ultimately to a profile directly associated with Acme (e.g., ABC Taiwan Electronics Corp.). The underlying profiles on the portfolio record (in this case ABC Taiwan) preferably automatically reflect any updates made by authorized users (e.g., Acme or ABC Taiwan or other authorized UserNames) in real time. This functionality enables a provider to document and track via an auditable record his oversight of his various consumer relationships. A neutral third party administrator preferably will take the specifications (category names, portfolio record category templates, association of consumer profiles to portfolio records) and implement them. Each portfolio record also preferably includes a file folder which can be used to hold related oversight and monitoring files for identified collections of profiles, e.g., performance reviews, monitoring records, etc. One embodiment also allows providers to attach and associate comments directly to portfolio records. One embodiment further allows providers to track in a change history log (FIG. 26) all the changes made to a portfolio record. As illustrated in FIG. 13, a portfolio record, like a profile, preferably consolidates into a auditable record 1) the semi-homogenous data template, 2) file attachments which can be added and viewed e.g. performance results, 3) a portfolio record's specific and individual change history detailing any changes made to any section and/or fields, and 4) portfolio record-specific comments which may be added and viewed as needed. The consolidated elements of a portfolio record give providers the information they need in order to further exercise and demonstrate fiduciary oversight of their consumers, investments, etc. Permissions/Entitlements Providers deploying an embodiment will typically define UserName entitlements for their internal users, consumers receiving resources from them, guests, and third party partners. Providers usually grant varying permission entitlements to various UserNames. Consumers may request sole responsibility over a particular entitlement, e.g., the ability to change the disclosure level on their profile. The preferred neutral third party administrator will implement only entitlements that have been properly approved and validated by all affected parties. As illustrated in FIG. 27, one embodiment uses cascading access and activity entitlements to permit differentiated, broad or narrow, tunable entitlements to individual UserNames. A specific group of UserNames or an individual UserName's aggregation of entitlements can include any combination of the access and activity permissions outlined in FIG. 27. Access entitlements allow a given UserName to gain entry to a specific provider's site or deployment. For control and security purposes, each UserName preferably may only log in at a single provider deployment location. As indicated in the FIG. 28 Application Site Map box 27a, the “access” entitlements also allow an authorized UserName to gain entry to specific access related pages, e.g., profile summary (FIG. 29), portfolio summary (FIG. 24), portfolio detail (FIG. 25), and profile detail (FIG. 11). From these pages, an authorized UserName can see the names of profiles and portfolio records. Users can be granted access to one or all of these pages. One embodiment also preferably utilizes a system of“access” inclusion or exclusion entitlements to ensure that UserName access can be tuned to the finest level of granularity. For example, a UserName may be granted access to all enterprise software profiles but be explicitly excluded from seeing a specific enterprise software profile, e.g., Oracle, because of a conflict of interest. Conversely, another UserName may be generally excluded from all enterprise software profiles but be included to see a single software profile, e.g., Microsoft. As further illustrated in FIG. 27, there are preferably two levels or cascades of “activity” entitlements. The first level are “site” level activities that control a UserName's ability to get to specific pages of the database and to perform specific activities. As indicated in the FIG. 28 Application Site Map box 27b, site level activity entitlements control a UserName's ability to navigate to preferably the following pages: create profile/portfolio records (FIG. 18), site audit history (FIG. 30), reports (FIG. 31), support (FIG. 32), and password reset (FIG. 33). As indicated in FIG. 28 box 27c, site level activity entitlements give the UserName the ability, if authorized, to: access profile names, access portfolio category names, access portfolio record names, create a profile, create a new portfolio record, view site audit history, view and run reports, conduct searches, access the file tools (e.g., export profiles via XML, send profiles via e-mail, and convert profiles to Word®, Excel®, or PDF formats). An embodiment can accommodate an unlimited number of additional “site” level activity entitlements. Specific site level activity entitlements can be converted into profile level activity entitlements. Referring again to FIG. 27, the second level of activity entitlements are “profile” level activities that control a UserName's ability to navigate to preferably the following pages indicated in FIG. 28 box 27d: edit sections (FIG. 19), file manager (FIG. 20), add file (FIG. 21), view comments (FIG. 34), add comments (FIG. 35), change history (FIG. 36), profile metrics (FIG. 37), profile metrics detail (FIG. 38), file metrics (FIG. 39), file metrics detail (FIG. 40), and permitted profile users (FIG. 41). As indicated in FIG. 28 box 27e, profile level activity entitlements give the UserName the ability, if authorized, to: access detailed profiles, access portfolio records, edit profiles, edit portfolio records, change a profile's disclosure level, change a profile's state, delete a profile, delete a portfolio record, view the profile's associated change history detail, view authorized file attachment by file access type and permitted access right, add a file attachment, delete a file attachment, view file metrics, view file metrics detail, view profile metrics, view profile metrics detail, view comments, add a comment, and view the permitted UserNames for a profile. FIG. 42 illustrates a single, representative UserName's access and activity entitlements that have been “tuned” to enable differentiated access and activity entitlements for three different sets of profiles located on three different deployments by three different providers. The specific deployments include: a deployment at his site/enrolling location, a deployment by Partner #1, and a deployment by Partner #N. It is assumed that Partner #1 and Partner #N have elected to share profiles with john@doe.com subject to the restrictions outlined in FIG. 42. This capability is important because it allows a single UserName to have differentiated edit rights for consumer profiles which have been entered via the UserName's deployment site while precluding that same UserName from editing consumer profiles which a business partner may have allowed them to access and view. User Groups The default access entitlements for a consumer group UserName only allow it to access the profile that corresponds directly to the UserName's company's submitted profile. Consumers may be allowed to see confidential sections from any provider that is requesting specific information from them. The provider preferably must instruct the neutral third party administrator as to what confidential sections they would like a consumer to have access to view and/or edit. The administrator will implement the entitlements which will allow consumers to see the selected and confidential provider sections. The default consumer group UserName “site level activity” entitlements include: access to the goto navigation tools and file tools (e.g., export profiles via XML, send profiles via e-mail, and convert profiles to Word, Excel, or PDF formats). The “profile level activity” entitlements for a consumer UserName include: the ability to change their profile's disclosure level, edit their profile, view their file attachments, add a file attachment, and delete a file attachment. The consumer can only edit the contents of their profile and add, remove, or delete files associated with their profiles. The provider deploying the invention in one embodiment has the right to modify the default entitlements for consumers who will be registering on their deployment. The default entitlements for a provider group UserName are typically more robust and include more site and profile activity entitlements than a consumer group UserName. The default access entitlements for a provider UserName give it the capability to see any consumer profiles which have been registered on that provider's site. They may also see any portfolio category names and their associated portfolio records. A provider is only entitled to access their confidential sections on profiles to which they have access. No provider may see the confidential sections of another provider that may be contained on profiles to which the provider has access. A default provider UserName may not see any profiles from any other provider unless they have been granted explicit and documented access authorization. Access to other provider's profiles is an entitlement that is preferably implemented by the neutral third party administrator for the invention in one embodiment. The invention in one embodiment currently prohibits the sharing of portfolio records between firms. The default provider group UserName “site level activity” entitlements include: access to profile names, access to portfolio record names, access to portfolio category names, create a profile, create a portfolio record, view site audit history, view and run reports, conduct searches, file tools (e.g., export profiles via XML, send profiles via e-mail, and convert profiles to Word, Excel, or PDF formats). The default provider group UserName “profile level activity” entitlements include: access detailed profiles, access portfolio records, edit profiles, edit portfolio records, change a profile's disclosure level, change a profile's state, delete a profile, delete a portfolio record, view the profile's associated change history detail, view change history information for portfolio records, view authorized file attachment by file access type and permitted access right, add a file attachment, delete a file attachment, view file metrics, view file metrics detail, view profile metrics, view profile metrics detail, view comments, add a comment, and view the permitted UserNames for a profile. The provider deploying the invention in one embodiment has the right to modify the default entitlements for each of their internal users who will be using the invention. The default access entitlements for a guest group UserName only allow it to access a defined summary or “profile group” that a provider specifies. A guest UserName is specific to a provider's login site. A guest UserName can only access profiles defined by the providers in the profile group. They cannot see or access any confidential sections which have been appended to various profiles by either consumers or providers. The default site level activity entitlements include access to the goto navigation tools, file tools (e.g., export profiles via XML, send profiles via e-mail, and convert profiles to Word, Excel, or PDF formats). The profile level activity entitlements for a guest UserName include only access to view authorized file attachments by file access type and permitted access right. The guest group UserNames do not have any edit or destructive rights, e.g., delete file capabilities. The provider deploying the invention in one embodiment has the right to modify the default entitlements for guest group UserNames. Consumers and providers often need to share their information with multiple providers that have granted, or are considering granting, resources to them, so one embodiment allows consumers and providers to share profiles with third party UserNames, e.g., other providers, business partners, vendors, banks, accounting firms, law firms, etc. Providers may grant sharing or access entitlement to other third party UserNames for profiles that have registered on their deployment. It is anticipated that consumers and providers will negotiate control of the sharing entitlements. Preferably only profiles may be shared. Because portfolio records contain sensitive internal information, the ability to share portfolio records is preferably disabled. The neutral third party administrator will only implement sharing entitlements that have been properly authorized and requested by the respective parties. Providers occasionally need to share their information and profiles with selected individuals, conference attendees, etc. The invention in one embodiment allows providers to create specific “profile groups or collections” to which they may then grant access by the “guest” UserName type. Providers may also designate the specific activity entitlements that the guest UserName type may have as well. Guest UserName types typically will have “view” only rights for selected profiles and associated file attachments. The neutral third party administrator will set up the access and activity entitlements for guest UserName types on the invention in one embodiment. The administrator will preferably also provide a special link to enable the self-registration of guests on the platform. A guest who wishes to access a set of designated profiles on a specific provider's deployment of the invention in one embodiment clicks on “guest registration” in FIG. 15 which brings up a guest registration page, as shown in the FIG. 43 screenshot, that is generated by the FIG. 44 “guest UserName registration” procedure. The FIG. 43 registration page prompts the guest to provide a UserName and password and pay by credit card for accessing the profiles authorized and designated by the provider. The provider may or may not require a fee from the guest. At the bottom of that page, the guest clicks “yes” to accept the terms and conditions and then clicks “submit” to complete the UserName and payment portion of the registration process. The procedure outlined in FIG. 29 is then initiated which identifies the profile or profile group which the UserName may access. In general, to share a profile, a consumer or provider who has ownership rights to a profile preferably must first advise the neutral third party administrator that they wish to share the profile with a third party UserName. The profile owner preferably must specify what access and activities entitlements they wish to grant to each UserName with which they wish to share. For example, Provider X who has ownership rights for Profile Z may wish to share it with UserName Y (from Provider Y). Provider X advises the third party administrator that UserName Y should not have access to any confidential section appended by Provider X on Profile Z. Provider X further stipulates that UserName Y should only have the site level activity entitlement to the goto navigation. Finally Provider X advises that UserName Y should only have the profile activity of view authorized file attachment by file access type and permitted access right and no destructive capabilities, e.g., delete a file, profile, etc. The administrator then implements the UserName Y entitlements stipulated by Provider X for profile Z. Sharing requests preferably must be made in writing by individuals authorized by their respective organizations. Previously Registered UserNames Logging In Authorized UserNames (e.g., consumer, provider, and guest) may access one embodiment using the provider's login page as depicted in FIG. 15, which prompts the individual to enter their UserName and password. Three failed attempts to login will cause the system to disable the UserName. The UserName will then need to be reset by the neutral third party administrator. Assuming the user has a valid and authorized UserName and password, the logging-in user preferably must accept any and all disclaimers by checking “yes” and then clicking the login button in FIG. 15, which initiates the FIG. 45 login procedure. This procedure validates that the UserName is authorized for that provider's site and that any required disclaimers have been accepted. It also displays any warning or alert messages. Only valid UserNames that have accepted any and all disclaimers will be granted an authorization token, without which a UserName will not be admitted onto the provider's deployment. Upon successful completion of the FIG. 45 login procedure an entry is made in the site's audit history recording the UserName and date and time of login. Additional information is also collected and tracked, e.g., which profiles a UserName accesses. The audit history log also records the acceptance of any and all disclaimers. FIG. 46 is a screenshot of some of the site audit history entries generated during the FIG. 45 login procedure. Preferably, system alerts and other parameter driven UserName alerts can be set up. The system alerts can also be used for compliance tracking purposes, e.g., to track the acceptance of disclaimers, etc. Preferably, an unlimited number of system alerts can be accommodated. The number of alerts can be tailored to meet the specific requirements of each deploying provider. An embodiment can be configured to deliver notifications to specific UserNames based upon pre-determined parameters. To utilize these capabilities, a provider should deliver to the neutral third party administrator a list specifying which UserNames should be notified along with their e-mail address and the parameter that should be used to trigger an alert message, e.g., a change to a profile. Providers have a strong desire and need to control which profiles and related information may be accessed and what activities are performed on that accessed data. Confidentiality agreements, regulatory requirements, and other compliance mandates require providers to exercise tight controls over their data. To accommodate these requirements, the invention in one embodiment tests each UserName's entitlements to determine: 1) what profiles may be accessed (FIG. 29); 2) what portfolio records may be accessed (FIG. 24); 3) what site-level activity pages may be accessed that enable the user to perform various site-level activities (FIG. 28 boxes 27b and 27c); and 4) what profile-level activity pages may be accessed that enable the user to perform various profile-level activities (FIG. 28 boxes 27d and 27e). Once a user has successfully logged onto the platform using the FIG. 15 login page and received its authorization token, then if the UserName is either a “provider” or “guest” type, they will be directed to the summary list of “active” profiles page as depicted in FIG. 47 (a provider type screen shot) or, if the UserName is a “consumer” type, they will be directed to their specific profile as depicted in FIG. 48. Both the consumer and guest UserName classifications types are set when they self register their UserNames on the platform. When the provider UserNames and any authorized partners are established on the platform by the neutral third party administrator, they are initially designated as provider type UserNames. Typically providers and guests will choose one of the available profiles from the summary “active” profile page and thereby move from the “active” summary list to the detail associated with a given consumer profile. When a provider or guest clicks on the name of a profile displayed on the summary, the entire profile is loaded and displayed on their screen. The FIG. 29 and FIG. 11 processes validate a UserName's access and activity entitlements. Provider UserNames that have been properly validated may access the list of profiles in either the pending or watch list state for which they are an owner by clicking on the “profiles” menu item on the bar depicted in FIG. 5. Selecting either pending or watch list from the drop down menu will initiate the FIG. 29 procedure which will display authorized profiles for the selected profile state (active, pending, watch list). These procedures are described in greater detail below. A guest or provider UserName type that successfully logs into the system and is issued an authorization token is directed to the FIG. 29 site summary procedure. The first step in the multi-step procedure ensures that the UserName is properly authorized. The next step is to establish and enable the set of site level activity entitlements and related pages that a UserName may access. The neutral third party administrator implements the UserName entitlements and exclusions/inclusions established by providers that the procedures in FIG. 29 and FIG. 11 execute to deliver the appropriate output or HTML. To test a UserName's site-level activity entitlements (detailed in FIG. 28 boxes 27b and 27c), it proceeds from UserName specific activity entitlements, to UserName type entitlements, and then to site default entitlements. Each level of entitlements is defined by providers and implemented by the neutral third party administrator. This allows the deploying organization to establish flexible and granular entitlements based upon the needs of their diverse users. Once the site-level activity entitlements have been established, the invention in one embodiment determines and loads the set of profile names for both the provider's deployment and any authorized partner profiles for each UserName. Finally, the system in one embodiment tests whether the UserName is authorized to access any portfolio records and if so loads the appropriate portfolio category names as well as the names of the portfolio records for each category. The procedure outlined in FIG. 29 enables the use of exclusion and inclusion for each UserName. The use of the various access entitlements, site-level activity entitlements, and the exclusion/inclusions enables providers to offer highly differentiated and granular UserName entitlements. For a representative UserName the FIG. 29 procedure produces a FIG. 47 screen shot listing profiles that the UserName may access and, across the bar, the site-level activity functionality to which the UserName has been granted access. A consumer UserName type will be directed by the FIG. 29 procedure to their profile. The consumer's UserName is logged as audit entry in the site audit history and the profile is temporarily “locked” which prevents it from being edited by another UserName which may also have access to it. In addition, a clock is started which records the period of time that the profile is being updated and/or observed by the consumer's UserName. FIG. 48 shows a screenshot of a detailed profile which is accessed by a consumer type UserName. They may not access any other profiles or portfolio records. As illustrated in FIG. 48, the site-level activity entitlements are preferably limited to access to the goto navigation and file tools functionality (e.g., save their profile as an MS Word file). The profile-level activity entitlements for a consumer type UserName are preferably limited to editing their own profile and using the file attachment manager (e.g., to attach a copy of their detailed financial model, etc.). A guest or provider UserName clicking on a name of a profile listed on their profile summary list initiates the FIG. 11 procedure, which first validates that the UserName is entitled to access the detailed profile. If so, an audit entry is made in the site audit history and the profile is temporarily “locked” which prevents it from being edited by another UserName. A clock is started which records the period of time that the profile is observed by the UserName. The procedure then tests the activity entitlements defined by either or both the provider and consumer. To test a UserName's profile-level activity entitlements (detailed in FIG. 28 boxes 27c, 27d and 27e), it proceeds from UserName specific activity entitlements, to UserName type entitlements, and then to site default entitlements. The site level activities (FIG. 28, box 27c) are then revalidated. The activities are then loaded. The next step determines which sections of a specific profile a UserName may see. The initial section access rights are defined by UserName type. Exceptions are then used to exclude sections on a UserName basis. For example, a provider UserName may be allowed to access all sections on all profiles for a provider's deployment. However, for a single profile, a given UserName may be excluded from accessing the “confidential items” section. The FIG. 11 procedure then invokes the FIG. 12 procedure to determine which sections to load as well as whether specific fields within the various sections should be loaded. A test then determines, based upon the disclosure level for a profile, whether a UserName may access various sections. The authorized sections are then loaded. As a final test, the procedure checks to see if the UserName is entitled to see “board member” section(s). If the UserName is authorized, the board member section(s) are loaded. Only UserNames from a particular provider's deployment may access portfolio categories and portfolio records. Guests and consumers are preferably prohibited from accessing the portfolio records. To access the list of portfolio category names and portfolio records names within each category, an authorized UserName clicks on “portfolios” in the menu bar in FIG. 47, which initiates the FIG. 24 procedure. Once again, the system conducts a series of tests using the defined entitlements, etc. To test a UserName's profile-level activity entitlements (detailed in FIG. 28 boxes 27b and 27c), it proceeds from UserName specific portfolio record activity entitlements, to UserName type entitlements, and then to site default entitlements. The site level activities (FIG. 28, box 27c) are then revalidated. The activities are then loaded. Then the procedure determines which portfolio category names and associated names of portfolio records, if any, the UserName is entitled to access. The appropriate portfolio category names as well as the names of the portfolio records for each category are then loaded. A provider UserName clicking on a name of a portfolio record within a portfolio category initiates the FIG. 25 procedure, which first validates that the UserName is entitled to access the portfolio record. If the UserName is authorized to see the portfolio record, an audit entry is made in the site audit history and the portfolio record is “locked.” A clock is started which records the period of time that the portfolio record is observed by the UserName. The procedure then uses a series of profile-level activity tests using the entitlements defined by the provider. To test a UserName's portfolio-level activity entitlements (detailed in box 27e in FIG. 28), it proceeds from UserName specific activity entitlements, to UserName type entitlements, and then to site default entitlements. The site level activities (FIG. 28, box 27c) are then revalidated. The activities are then loaded. The next step determines which sections of a portfolio record a UserName may see. Exceptions are then used to exclude various sections. The FIG. 25 procedure then uses the FIG. 12 procedure to determine which sections and fields to load. The sections for the portfolio record are then loaded and displayed. The entitlement algorithm is used by various procedures to establish the specific access and activity entitlements for each UserName. As outlined above, the entitlement algorithm determines which profiles and/or portfolio records a specific UserName may access. The entitlement algorithm also establishes the profile-level and site-level activity entitlements for each UserName. Profile-level Activities There are preferably eleven profile-level activity related pages which enable an authorized user to perform various profile-level activities, including: edit, view comments, add comment, file manager, add a file, profile metrics summary, profile metrics detail, file metrics summary, file metrics detail, permitted users, and change history log. An authorized UserName may access these profile-level activities by selecting an item listed on the menu bar circled in FIG. 2 located at the top of each open profile. The significance and functionality of each profile-level activity page is outlined below. Access to the edit page allows a UserName to input data and update data on profiles and/or portfolio records. A single UserName may be entitled to access the edit page for a single profile, multiple profiles, a single portfolio record, multiple portfolio records, or both profiles and portfolio records. The user interface for the edit page allows for compartmentalized data entry and edits for various sections via individually organized edit boxes. To submit data, the consumer clicks on the “edit” button on the menu bar located at the top of their profile. Before displaying any edit dialog box, the FIG. 19 edit procedure validates what sections and fields a particular UserName is allowed to edit. A list of available sections is then displayed. The consumer may then select which section he wishes to edit. When a user clicks on the name of a section the FIG. 19 edit procedure displays an edit dialog box for that section. The user then enters data and clicks the update button to submit the data. The server processes received data as shown by the FIG. 19 flowchart of the edit procedure. Changes are then updated on the profile preferably in real-time. The UserName may enter data or update additional sections if desired. FIG. 49 contains screenshots of two representative edit boxes that may be used by the consumer to initially fill out a profile and/or to update their profile. Providers and other authorized UserNames may also use these boxes and others to update information on behalf of their respective consumers. FIG. 49 shows representative edit dialog boxes for two different profile sections, namely the general business descriptor section and the disclosure level setting. The edit boxes can be configured to provide explicit answers among which a person must choose for a particular item, e.g., development stage in FIG. 49. The use of the compartmentalized edit boxes saves time, cost (e.g., bandwidth), and overhead by reducing the amount of information which must be sent back to the server. In addition, application response times are improved because the amount of data which must be processed by the browser is reduced. Furthermore, the amount of data which can be lost due to power interruptions or PC and/or application problems is reduced. The edit procedures outlined in FIG. 19 allow for both section-by-section and field-by-field edit rights for each profile and portfolio record on the platform. This allows a deploying provider to establish which UserNames may change highly sensitive items, e.g., a profile's disclosure level, confidential sections, and/or board member sections. The section-by-section and/or field-by-field edit rights enable flexibility and control for profiles that are shared between providers, consumers, and guests. For example, it may be the case that Provider A shares Profile C with Provider B but does not allow Provider B to edit Profile C's sections. However, Provider B may wish to append his own confidential section to Profile C. The invention's ability in one embodiment to offer section by section edit entitlements on a profile by profile basis precludes Provider B from editing any section on Profile C except for his own appended sections. The FIG. 19 edit procedure can initiate the sending of change notifications via e-mail to specified recipients. The third party administrator sets up and manages the UserName based notifications. The parameters are established by the provider and/or consumer. When a particular parameter is met, e.g., change to a specific section on a profile, a numeric value reaches a threshold (e.g., cash balance), the registration of a new profile, etc., a notification is sent via e-mail to the designated recipient's UserName/e-mail address. Providers and consumers also need to occasionally append comments or reminders to their profiles. These comments could include reminders to follow-up based upon key consumer milestones, e.g., customer wins, or the hiring of key staff. The ability to append comments directly to each consumer profile is valuable to both providers and consumers because it enables comments to be tracked and recorded. Access to comments can be granted to providers, consumers, or both, on a UserName basis. To view comments for a profile, a UserName clicks on the comments menu item on the bar and selects “view comments,” which initiates the FIG. 34 procedure to display a FIG. 50 comment screen that enables the authorized UserName to view comments appended to the profile. The ability to add a comment is also controlled at the UserName level. A UserName may have the ability to view comments but not add a comment. To add a comment, an authorized UserName clicks on the comment menu item and selects add comment. A UserName clicking on “add comment” invokes the FIG. 35 procedure which brings up a dialog box that enables the UserName to add a comment. The UserName would click the add comment to post the comment to the profile. The comment will be reflected preferably in real-time. Providers and consumers preferably can append file attachments to specific profiles. This facilitates both providers and consumers supplying one another with greater levels of detailed information than they wish to post on the semi-homogenous profile template. Each profile includes a file folder which can be used to hold related file attachments, e.g., business plans, customer contracts, executive summaries, investor presentations, term sheets, sales pipeline reports, deal related documents, compliance documents, financials, capitalization tables, etc. FIG. 20 shows the procedure used to manage files for a profile or portfolio records. FIG. 21 shows the procedure used to add a file to the file folder for a profile or portfolio record. Authorized UserNames may view, add, or delete files by utilizing the file manager functionality. Authorized users will see the view/add/manage file icon on the profile which is illustrated in the upper right hand corner of FIG. 2. A user clicking on the view/add/manage file icon invokes the FIG. 20 file manager procedure which produces the FIG. 22 file manager dialog box. The FIG. 20 procedure checks to see what file attachments a particular UserName may access. Access to file attachments can be restricted based upon the file type (business plan, financial projections, resumes, term sheet, etc.) and/or permitted access rights (board item, financial, general, internal, etc.). If the access settings for a file are changed, the access rights for that file will preferably be reflected in real time. A user may select and open a file attachment they have been authorized to view. The file access authorization can be stipulated by either or both consumers and providers. The neutral third party administrator implements the UserName file entitlements for the various profiles. Permissions can vary from profile to profile. Providers and consumers may also control which UserNames may add and delete file attachments. UserNames may be granted the right to add files but not delete and vice versa. The third party administrator implements the instructions of the providers and consumers. An authorized UserName may delete a file by clicking on the delete link located to the right of the file name which is listed on the file manager box depicted in FIG. 22. To add a file, an authorized UserName would click on the add file link on the file manager box located in the upper right hand corner in FIG. 22. When a UserName clicks on the add file link, the add file procedure in FIG. 21 is initiated and a file add box like one of the boxes in FIG. 51 is displayed. The UserName may add a file by specifying its location or using the browse button to locate and select a desired file attachment. The UserName wishing to add a file preferably must specify both the file's type as depicted in FIG. 51a and a permitted access right as depicted in FIG. 51b. A file may not be uploaded unless both items have been specified for each and every file. For each specific profile, UserNames may be excluded from seeing specific file types, e.g., term sheets. The permitted access rights for file attachments are tied to both specific UserNames and various profile settings. For example, if a UserName is a non-owner of a profile then that UserName may see file attachments that have a “financial” permitted access right designation if and only if the profile's disclosure level is designated as “general information and financial.” Any file attachment with a permitted access right of financial will be removed and added back based upon the setting of the disclosure level for a given profile. Similarly, any file which carries a “board item” permitted access right can only be seen by UserNames with a board member designation. Providers often need to monitor which UserNames are accessing various profiles and their associated file attachments. One embodiment can allow providers to see exactly which UserNames have accessed specific profiles. To access the record of which UserNames have accessed a particular profile, the UserName would first open the desired profile. The authorized UserName would then click on the audit menu item on the profile and then click on profile metrics. A user clicking on the profile metrics link invokes the FIG. 37 procedure which brings up the profile metrics summary depicted in FIG. 52. This displays the UserNames who have accessed the profile, the date and time of their last view of the profile, and the total time they spent on that particularly profile. To obtain more detail, the UserName could then click on one of the UserNames depicted in the FIG. 52 profile metrics summary. By doing so, the FIG. 38 profile metrics detail procedure is initiated which brings up the profile metrics detail page depicted in FIG. 53 showing the exact number as well as the dates and times that a UserName has accessed a particular profile. It also shows the elapsed time that a UserName spent observing a profile on each occasion. This capability enables a provider to better track which UserNames have accessed their respective profiles. Access to the profile metric summary and profile metric detail can be granted on a UserName basis. Providers will likely restrict the use of this functionality to internal and selected UserNames. The invention in one embodiment can also allow providers to see exactly which UserNames have accessed specific file attachments for each and every profile. To access a record of which UserNames have accessed various file attachments for a given profile, an authorized UserName would first open the desired profile. The UserName would then click on the audit menu item on the profile and then click on file metrics. A user clicking on the file metrics link invokes the FIG. 39 procedure which brings up the file metrics summary depicted in FIG. 54. This displays the names of all the file attachments for a given profile, the number of times each attachment has been accessed, the name of the person who last accessed the file attachment, and the date and time that the file was last accessed. To obtain more detail, an authorized UserName could then click on one of the names of the file attachments depicted in FIG. 54 which invokes the FIG. 40 procedure which brings up the file metrics detail page depicted in FIG. 55 showing the names of each person who has accessed that particular file attachment along with the date and time that they accessed the file attachment. Access to the file metrics summary and file metrics detail can be granted on a UserName basis. Providers will likely restrict the use of this functionality to internal and selected users. The permitted users page is an important profile-level activity page associated functionality that enables an authorized UserName to see what firms and associated UserNames have access to a given profile. Providers wish to strictly control which internal and external UserName have access to a given profile. It is often difficult for a provider to know exactly who may have access to a given profile for which they have ownership of and/or responsibility for. To address this requirement, one embodiment can display the UserNames and the names of the respective firms along with a contact number for each UserName which has been granted access to a given profile, and indicates whether a particular UserName that has access to a given profile is allowed to “edit” that profile. The platform can display additional information if desired. To access the permitted users log for a given profile, an authorized UserName would first open the desired profile. The UserName would then click on the audit menu item on the profile and then click on the permitted users option, invoking the FIG. 41 procedure which brings up the permitted users summary depicted in FIG. 56. This enables a provider to better track which UserNames have accessed a particular profile at any given time. Access to the permitted users functionality can be granted on a UserName basis. Providers will likely restrict the use of this functionality to internal and selected users. The FIG. 36 procedure tracks in a separate and discrete change history log as shown in FIG. 26 the changes made to a specific profile. Entries are made in the change history log whenever a change is made, e.g., any field is changed within a section on a profile or portfolio record, a file is added to a profile or portfolio record, a profile is e-mailed to someone, etc. When any field for a profile section is edited or changed using the FIG. 19 procedure, an entry is made in the change history log as shown in FIG. 26 for a representative profile. The entry in the change history log details: the UserName making a change, the field or item that is being changed, the value before the change was made, the value after the change was made, and the date and time the change was made. When the UserName has completed entering or updating data for the various sections on their profile, they may then click the logout button on the profile to exit the system and end their session. Fiduciary Oversight Monitoring and compliance tracking are increasingly important. Consumers and providers must increasingly demonstrate that they have exercised appropriate fiduciary oversight of data which they submit, update, manage, and control. Consumers and providers should discretely track each individual UserName's access to data along with the activities they perform on the data which they have accessed. The UserName entitlement system enables consumers and providers to track individual UserName accesses and activities. Every piece of information that is accessed by each UserName along with any activities performed are preferably recorded in the change history and site audit (described below) logs for each provider's deployment. The value of the change history log is enhanced because it is administered by the neutral third party and the entries cannot be altered in any way by any UserName. As such, a change made by any UserName cannot be repudiated. External auditors can validate when and how often particular profiles have been updated, by whom, and when. This log of information can also provide independent validation as to how well the activities and progress of a consumer have been monitored by various providers. The ability to demonstrate and offer an independent and non-repudiatable record that can attest to appropriate fiduciary oversight is valuable to providers. The change history record also enables providers to observe and monitor the activities of internal users, partners, and consumers to evaluate their performances. Providers may select which UserNames may have access to the change history log. Authorized UserNames can access the change history by selecting the audit menu item on the menu bar and then selecting the change history item. Clicking on “change history” in the menu bar initiates the FIG. 36 procedure which validates that the UserName is authorized to see the change history and display the change history items for a particular profile. The change history algorithm used by the FIG. 36 procedure assures that only UserNames that are authorized to see selected and/or restricted sections (e.g., mutual consumer and provider confidential sections, board items sections, provider specific confidential sections, etc.) may also see the change history entries for those fields. This assures the ability to accurately track changes associated with specific profiles and portfolio records without the need to sacrifice or jeopardize the security and confidentiality of sensitive data. A given provider cannot see any change history items for confidential sections owned by other providers. Site-Level Activities Similarly to the eleven profile-level activity pages, there are five site-level activity pages which enable an authorized UserName to perform various site-level activities, including: create profile, site audit history, reports, support, and password reset, of which all, some, or none may be authorized. An authorized UserName may access these site-level activities by selecting an item listed on the menu bar circled in FIG. 2 located at the top of each open profile. For control and audit purposes, providers preferably must be able to attest as to exactly who has accessed their application and the date and time. As is the case with the change history associated with profiles, site monitoring and tracking are emerging as important compliance items. The value of the site audit log is enhanced because it is also administered by the neutral third party and the entries made in the log cannot be altered in any way by any UserName. As such, the site audit entries made by any UserName that accesses a provider's application or site cannot be repudiated. External auditors can validate when and how often particular UserNames have accessed a provider's deployment. The ability to demonstrate and offer an independent and non-repudiatable site audit log that can attest to appropriate fiduciary oversight is valuable to providers. The site audit record enables providers to observe and monitor the activities of internal users, partners, and of course consumers to evaluate their performance. Providers may select which UserNames may have access to the site audit log. Authorized UserNames can access the site audit log by selecting the audit menu item from the menu bar and then selecting the site audit log item. Clicking on the site audit history log item initiates the FIG. 30 procedure which validates that the UserName is authorized to see the site audit history and display the site audit history log for that provider's site. A UserName cannot see any entries for any other site. UserNames accessing the site audit log are limited strictly to the entries that pertain to the location from which they logged into the platform. The FIG. 30 procedure produces the audit log displayed in FIG. 46. Each entry in the site audit log includes the activity performed (login, view profile, create profile, delete profile), the UserName performing the activity, the IP address of the UserName, and the data and time that the entry was made. The combination of the change history log and the site audit log provides each resource provider with a comprehensive view of what changes have been made and by whom for the profiles and portfolio records for which they have a fiduciary responsibility. The resource provider can better assess which profiles are being most actively and accurately maintained. In addition, the resource providers are in a better position to track how the specific individuals responsible for various profiles are managing their oversight and compliance monitoring capabilities. As such, resource providers deploying the invention in one embodiment can better demonstrate that they are exercising adequate oversight which can be attested to by an independent third party administrator. Resource providers need to run reports for various purposes, e.g., weekly meetings, monthly meetings, annual meetings. They also need to search for information that has been submitted by various consumers. The ability to retrieve real time reports that reflect information that contains information that is directly updated by consumers is highly valuable to providers. Providers often have tight turn around times for reporting back to their internal and external partners, investor, regulators, etc. Providers and their authorized UserNames can use reporting tools to run reports and conduct searches for profiles and/or portfolios by name, geography, industry, sector, profitability, etc. To access the report functionality an authorized UserName would select reports from the menu bar. Clicking on the reports item on the menu bar invokes the FIG. 31 procedure which displays the FIG. 57a report creation and search tools screen. An authorized UserName can then select and run a report from the list of available reports or they may run a search. FIG. 57b shows the output of a representative search. The neutral third party administrator can create custom reports on behalf of the provider. The administrator can also deliver the raw consumer data to providers so that they can generate reports using standard packages, e.g., Crystal Reports. Additional reports can be created if necessary. If needed, the invention in one embodiment can also be configured to produce system performance and utilization reports as outlined in FIG. 10 box 10c. Providers typically expect and need access to support from the third party administrator. To access the support page an authorized UserName would select support from the menu bar. Clicking on the support menu item initiates the FIG. 32 procedure which in turn displays the FIG. 58 support page. The support page includes the contact information for support staff. If a user forgets his password he can request an automatic reset and delivery of a new password to the e-mail address associated with his UserName. To do so, the user clicks the “lost password” link on the screen shot in FIG. 15 which invokes the FIG. 33 procedure to bring up a password reset screen. The user is prompted to supply the e-mail address or UserName they use to log into the system. The user then clicks on the “reset password” button and their new password will be encrypted and sent via e-mail to them. Architecture FIG. 8 is a high level architectural block diagram of the logic of an embodiment of the method, which includes three layers or tiers: a presentation tier, a business tier, and a data tier. The presentation tier provides the graphical user interface that displays templates that either request the user to provide data or displays information that has been requested. The presentation layer could reside on a PC, cell phone, pager, telephone, etc. The business tier contains the business rules of the embodiment and provides the entry point for all presentation tier requests, and preferably utilizes Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) to handle incoming client requests and to host the ASP.Net controls. The business tier logic is written preferably in C#.Net and interoperates with IIS to manage and coordinate the execution of the business rules of the invention. Communication between the presentation tier and the business tier is accomplished preferably over a secure 128-bit SSL connection. The SSL certificate state of authority is preferably provided by Verisign (www.verisign.com). The data tier contains the information that has been supplied by providers, consumers, guests, partners, etc. The database is created and managed preferably using Microsoft's SQL Server 2000. The embodiment can accommodate other databases as well, e.g. Oracle. Communication between the business tier and the data tier is handled preferably by Microsoft's ADO.Net data access objects. Data exchanged throughout each of the logical tiers is formatted preferably using industry standardized XML. Providers will appreciate one embodiment's use preferably of open standards and proven infrastructure elements, e.g., Microsoft 2000, Verisign encryption, etc. The three logical tiers map or correspond directly to the three similarly named tiers in the physical architecture as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 9. The logical and physical tiers are separated to ensure the scalability and performance of the invention in one embodiment. Scalability is achieved because the underlying logical layer does not need to be adjusted in response to increases in the number of users, system loads, or utilization levels. The physical layer can accommodate load changes because each physical tier may contain any number of computers, servers, load balancers, or other devices needed. The physical tiers provide the computing and control resources which the logical layers use. Software Deployment Options An embodiment is preferably customized to meet the often unique requirements of each provider that elects to deploy the invention. The provider preferably has the option of deploying the invention as either an enterprise software license or on an Application Service Provider (ASP) basis. If a provider elects to deploy the invention on an enterprise license basis, the provider assumes responsibility for the management and administration of the physical infrastructure or tiers, the logical tiers, operating system, UserNames, system administration, security, report creation and management, setup and integration, and management of the underlying database of data collected by the invention. Providers who deploy the invention on an enterprise licenses basis preferably must coordinate directly with the neutral third party administrator if they wish to share information via the invention outside of their organization. Most providers are expected to choose to deploy the invention in an embodiment on an ASP basis. An ASP deployment may require a neutral third party administrator and enforcement authority for the platform. The third party will assume the responsibility for the management and maintenance of the physical tiers, the logical tiers, operating system, security, system administration, setup and integration of the platform, the administration of the UserNames, setup and administration of profile and portfolio record templates, association of profiles to portfolio records, management of the UserName and system alerts, report configuration and administration, and management of the underlying database of information collected by the invention. If desired, providers can be supplied with the system tools needed to allow them to self-administer some portions of the invention in one embodiment. However, the neutral third party administrator will always administer the sharing permissions entitlements among and between UserNames. Providers are likely to choose the ASP model because it can be implemented much more rapidly and without the need for them to buy equipment, software, and hire additional technical resources to mange the deployment. In addition, providers have expressed a desire to jointly deploy an ASP version of the invention with other industry providers and/or partners. While the present invention is described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this embodiment may be modified without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as covering any modifications falling within the true spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Technical Field This invention relates generally to private equity and debt markets, and more particularly to managing, tracking and distributing resource consumers' account, company, and relationship information in such markets. 2. Discussion of Prior Art In the equity and debt funding business a “resource provider” (provider) is a party, who may be a venture capitalist, a bank, an accounting firm, a law firm or other business partner, that provides capital, assets or services. A “resource consumer” (consumer) is a party, typically an emerging growth company, that is seeking these resources. Resource providers and consumers agree what information the consumers are to deliver in exchange for being considered to receive resources from the providers. However, the formatting of information and the delivery mechanisms are not standardized. Currently, consumers may deliver information via ground mail, e-mail, online forms, FAX, teletext, etc. The current methods and processes typically require duplicative and costly data entry by both providers and consumer. In order to create more semi-homogenized data, providers currently must collect, re-enter, and format data submitted by consumers. The problem is illustrated in FIG. 1 . Consumers often receive resources from multiple providers. Consumers receiving duplicative information requests from different resource providers must duplicate the efforts of producing and delivering the same information to the different resource providers. Current methods do not allow a single consumer to efficiently distribute the same digital information and updates to multiple providers using a single platform and/or user interface. Despite the growing demand for more digital information, attempts to automate the digital distribution of consumer information have failed. This is largely due to the fact that individual software or system deployments by providers currently require consumers to reenter and/or resubmit their same data into multiple stand-alone systems that do not share information. This creates additional time-consuming and expensive work for the consumers who do not have the resources needed to enter and re-enter the same data multiple times in order to satisfy their providers. It is currently difficult to share and distribute consumer information among providers because 1) the data is not semi-homogeneous, 2) providers often have additional and special information requests, and 3) no platform or neutral third party administrator exists to regulate and control the sharing of data submitted by consumers among and between interested parties. Thus, there is a growing need and strong desire among providers to obtain more semi-homogeneous and digital data directly from consumers. There is also a growing demand for more strict controls over the tracking of submitted data and changes made to data. Companies, investment mangers, plan sponsors, and fiduciaries of all types are increasingly being required to demonstrate higher levels of fiduciary oversight and control of such information, or else risk liability to criminal and civil penalties. Previous methods of obtaining and managing consumer information have included: external research; proprietary information databases or exchanges (e.g., M&A transactions, IPO data, deal listings, etc.); portals (e.g., MSN, Yahoo); collaboration tools (e.g., chat boards); secure file transfer and management services; virtual data rooms; work flow products; contact management platforms (e.g., Outlook, Onyx); customer and sales force relationship management tools; and back-end systems (e.g., SAP, Peoplesoft). These previous methods do not provide sufficient controls to adequately track and manage the submissions and changes made by either or both providers and consumers. Existing methods and solutions do not allow providers and other interested parties to efficiently organize and track specific categories or collections of profiles in real-time. Providers and others typically need to track groups of profiles by category. In addition, providers must maintain accurate records tracking how they have supervised these various categories of profiles. To address these challenges, many providers and others must first dedicate resources to collect, update, organize the underlying consumer profile data and then must spend additional dollars to manually organize and update the summary files and documents that they use to track and demonstrate oversight of the various categories or groups of consumer profiles. Public equity and debt market needs are addressed by services such as Edgar, Hoovers, Bloomberg, and Yahoo, whose on-line sites post information for retrieval, sometimes for a fee, through web browsers. However, these public market solutions do not address business processes by which private equity firms and debt providers manage and control consumer information on a relationship-by-relationship basis. For example, these solutions do not align data collection and management responsibilities in an efficient and auditable manner. In short, there is not a comparable “private equity” or debt marketplace solution to capture, collect, organize, maintain, monitor, and control access to information flowing into a provider organization. Instead, previous solutions often contain secondary data resulting from efforts of individuals who research and collect information on a company (aka consumer), e.g., Venture Source. Secondary data is not reliable for evaluating or managing the performance of prospect and/or portfolio of relationships. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other acts require greater levels of fiduciary oversight for alternative asset classes, e.g., venture capital, hedge funds, private equity, etc. ERISA standards require managers to demonstrate adequate fiduciary oversight of capital deployed in private equity investment vehicles. Failure to exercise such oversight could incur criminal and civil penalties. Finally, providers must meet the above requirements with reduced budgets and available resources. A recent study by the Private Equity Industry Guidelines Group (PEIGG) noted that the available investment management staffs at general partner firms, i.e. providers, are often small. These factors point to a growing need for automation to help providers collect, input, track, manage and distribute consumer data. The PEIGG report further highlighted the fact that the investors to whom providers must report to are demanding access to greater amounts of digital information rather physical hard copies. There remains therefore a need for a system which will enable senior providers to free up more time to search for, identify, and qualify potential prospects, to exercise greater levels of due diligence on prospective and existing portfolio companies, and to do so with fewer management dollars. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>A method of using an electronic database system for collecting resource consumer information, organizing the information into standardized profiles, and managing the profiles to enable accessing the information as desired comprises the steps of defining a data collection template of fields for a standardized profile of resource consumer information desired by a resource provider; allowing at least one user to input information into the fields; storing the information as a profile in an electronic database system; and allowing at least one authorized party to access information stored in the system. The method(s) reduce cost or enable real-time tracking and distribution of information preferably by: 1) aligning the responsibilities of consumers and providers; 2) enabling the semi-homogenous capture of information; 3) reducing the need for duplicative data entry; 4) streamlining data management, tracking, and distribution; and 5) utilizing a neutral third party platform administrator to oversee the business rules, intra- and inter-firm data sharing permissions, and compliance requirements. In one approach incorporating the alignment of data entry and management duties, consumers accept lead responsibility for the entry and update of their digital “primary data” into semi-homogenous data collection templates or profiles specified and created by providers. This can reduce the need for duplicative data entry by recipients, i.e. providers and investors. It also may help providers to more rapidly compare consumer profiles within and among various industries or other groupings. Providers use and/or edit the data submitted by consumers to conduct their analyses, track progress, and report results as appropriate. This allows providers to spend more of their time on tracking down new investment ideas, raising additional capital, and reporting out to investors. Finally, providers, investors, regulators, etc. can use the data that has been submitted to exercise fiduciary oversight and track and document the progress of portfolio companies. The platform can enable exchange of digital data with users or directly with other applications, via XML, SQL, etc. All changes are preferably reflected in real-time, which permits interested parties to instantly access updated and timely information, which enables more timely oversight of consumers. Efficient management, tracking, and distribution of common consumer information can arise through the use of semi-homogenous profiles. A profile is created for each consumer who enters their data on the platform. Profiles contain the semi-homogenous information outlined above along with optionally associated files (e.g., models, presentations), comments, and an auditable change history for each consumer relationship. The profiles consolidate the critically important information that providers need in order to exercise appropriate diligence, track investments, and demonstrate appropriate fiduciary oversight of investments. This aspect allows providers to expand their oversight capabilities while reducing the expense and time requirements of doing so. The system's software allows consumers to attach multiple, custom provider information request sections to their semi-homogenous profile data. In one aspect a designated administrator can act as a neutral third party that manages the business rules and data sharing, distribution permissions among and between consumers and providers. Thus, consumers can submit their baseline and additional information requested by their providers on a single platform that intelligently parses and controls the distribution of their digital information in real-time. Access to their data and any other data on the platform is controlled at the individual UserName level. In one embodiment, only authorized UserNames are allowed to access specific pieces of data. UserNames are controlled by the administrator for a managed service offering embodiment of the invention. Enterprise license deployments may require the licensee to coordinate with the third party administrator. To enable creating named categories or collections (e.g., fund name, investment manager, geography, industry, office, investment class) of profiles, tracking and managing groups of profiles within categories, and recording evidence of how providers have supervised groups of profiles, one aspect of the method provides a capability called “portfolios,” by enabling the definition and deployment of real-time, customizable, management audit, tracking and compliance data collection template portfolios by the steps of: defining portfolio categories; enabling, for each defined portfolio category, the creation of portfolio records; the association of profiles with portfolio records; defining, for each portfolio category, items that will be contained in a portfolio record; allowing a party to input information into the records, and storing the information in the electronic database system; associating and appending Watch List, Pending, or Active profiles to appropriate portfolio records; and allowing the party to access, via the Internet, information stored in the system. Portfolio categories can contain one or more populated “portfolio record” data templates. Detailed portfolio records contain preferably five key components, including: 1) a semi-homogenous category data collection and tracking template per unique, named portfolio category; 2) associated tracking and oversight file attachments; 3) comments log; 4) change history; and 5) the ability to associate specific consumer profiles with specific portfolio records within a given portfolio category. To begin with, the platform aids providers because the underlying profile information is being supplied, updated, and inputted directly by the consumers. As this “primary” information is reviewed by providers they can input information and comments on the portfolio record that documents their oversight of the collection of profiles. One aspect of the method can reduce the time each party spends on data collection entry, re-entry, tracking and distribution of data, and deliver to consumers and providers a tangible return on investment (ROI). The ability to track submitted information via independently managed and auditable change history and site audit records provide a compliance control mechanism. | 20040617 | 20110315 | 20050616 | 59106.0 | 12 | JOHNSON, GREGORY L | PRIVATE ENTITY PROFILE NETWORK | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,780 | ACCEPTED | MTJ STACK WITH CRYSTALLIZATION INHIBITING LAYER | A method of forming a magnetic stack and a structure for a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device. A crystallization inhibiting layer is formed over the free layer of a magnetic stack, improving thermal stability. The crystallization inhibiting layer comprises an amorphous material having a higher crystallization temperature than the crystallization temperature of the free layer material. The crystallization inhibiting layer inhibits the crystallization of the underlying free layer, providing improved thermal stability for the resistive memory device. | 1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device over a workpiece, the method comprising: depositing a first magnetic material layer over the workpiece; depositing a tunnel insulator over the first magnetic material layer; depositing a second magnetic material layer over the tunnel insulator; and depositing a crystallization inhibiting layer over the second magnetic material layer, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: 1) materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; 2) TaCo; 3) TiPN2; 4) W85Si15; 5) IrTa; and 6) TaRu. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material of the form MSiN, where M comprises Ta, Ti, Mo, or W. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein depositing the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises depositing a material that crystallizes at a temperature of about 400 to 450 degrees C. or greater. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer crystallizes at a first temperature, wherein the second magnetic material layer crystallizes at a second temperature, wherein the first temperature is higher than the second temperature. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein depositing the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises depositing an amorphous material. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein depositing the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises depositing a material having a thickness of about 200 Angstroms or less. 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising disposing a cap layer over the crystallization inhibiting layer. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein disposing the cap layer comprises disposing Ta, TaN, Ti, TiN, or combinations thereof. 9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: depositing a pinning layer over the workpiece, before depositing the first magnetic material layer. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein depositing the pinning layer comprises depositing a bottom electrode material, and depositing an antiferromagnetic material over the bottom electrode material. 11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising depositing a top electrode material over the crystallization inhibiting layer. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein depositing the top electrode material comprises depositing a conductive hard mask over the crystallization inhibiting layer, further comprising using the conductive hard mask as a mask to pattern the crystallization inhibiting layer and at least the second magnetic material layer. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein depositing the first magnetic material layer or depositing the second magnetic material layer comprise forming a first magnetic layer, forming a non-magnetic spacer layer over the first magnetic layer, and forming a second magnetic layer over the non-magnetic spacer layer. 14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising patterning the magnetic stack to form at least one resistive memory element. 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein patterning the magnetic stack comprises forming a plurality of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cells, wherein the MRAM cells comprise a FET MRAM array or a crosspoint MRAM array. 16. A magnetic stack of a resistive memory device, comprising: a first magnetic material layer; a tunnel insulator disposed over the first magnetic material layer; a second magnetic material layer disposed over the tunnel insulator; and a crystallization inhibiting layer disposed over the second magnetic material layer, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: 1) materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; 2) TaCo; 3) TiPN2; 4) W85Si15; 5) IrTa; and 6) TaRu. 17. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material of the form MSiN, where M comprises Ta, Ti, Mo, or W. 18. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material that crystallizes at a temperature of about 400 to 450 degrees C. or greater. 19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer crystallizes at a first temperature, wherein the second magnetic material layer crystallizes at a second temperature, wherein the first temperature is higher than the second temperature. 20. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises an amorphous material. 21. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material having a thickness of about 200 Angstroms or less. 22. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, further comprising a cap layer disposed over the crystallization inhibiting layer. 23. The magnetic stack according to claim 22, wherein the cap layer comprises Ta, TaN, Ti, TiN, or combinations thereof. 24. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, further comprising a pinning layer disposed beneath the first magnetic material layer. 25. The magnetic stack according to claim 24, wherein the pinning layer comprises a bottom electrode material, and an antiferromagnetic material disposed over the bottom electrode material. 26. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, further comprising a top electrode material disposed over the crystallization inhibiting layer. 27. The magnetic stack according to claim 16, wherein the first magnetic material layer or the second magnetic material layer comprise a first magnetic layer, a non-magnetic spacer layer disposed over the first magnetic layer, and a second magnetic layer disposed over the non-magnetic spacer layer. 28. A resistive memory element formed from the magnetic stack of claim 16. 29. An array of resistive memory elements formed from the magnetic stack of claim 16. 30. The array according to claim 29, wherein the array of resistive memory elements comprises a plurality of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cells, wherein the plurality of MRAM cells comprise a FET MRAM array or a crosspoint MRAM array. | TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of semiconductor devices, and more particularly to the fabrication of magnetic memory devices. BACKGROUND Semiconductors are used in integrated circuits for electronic applications, including radios, televisions, cell phones, and personal computing devices, as examples. One type of semiconductor device is a semiconductor storage device, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash memory, which use a charge to store information. A recent development in semiconductor memory devices involves spin electronics, which combines semiconductor technology and magnetics. The spin of electrons, rather than the charge, is used to indicate the presence of binary states “1” and “0.” One such spin electronic device is a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device which includes conductive lines (wordlines and bitlines) positioned in a different direction, e.g., perpendicular to one another in different metal layers, the conductive lines sandwiching a magnetic stack or magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), which functions as a magnetic memory cell. A current flowing through one of the conductive lines generates a magnetic field around the conductive line and orients the magnetic polarity into a certain direction along the wire or conductive line. A current flowing through the other conductive line induces the magnetic field and can partially turn the magnetic polarity, also. Digital information, represented as a “0” or “1,” is storable in the alignment of magnetic moments. The resistance of the magnetic memory cell depends on the moment's alignment. The stored state is read from the magnetic memory cell by detecting the component's resistive state. MRAM devices are typically arranged in an array of rows and columns and the wordlines and bitlines are activated to access each individual memory cell. In a cross-point MRAM array, current is run through the wordlines and bitlines to select a particular memory cell. In a field effect transistor (FET) array, each MTJ is disposed proximate a FET, and the FET for each MTJ is used to select a particular memory cell in the array. In a FET array, an electrode is typically formed between the MTJ and the FET to make electrical contact between the MTJ and the FET. An advantage of MRAM devices compared to traditional semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices is that MRAM devices are non-volatile. For example, a personal computer (PC) utilizing MRAM devices would not have a long “boot-up” time as with conventional PCs that utilize DRAM devices. Also, an MRAM device does not need to be continually powered to “remember” the stored data. Therefore, it is expected that MRAM devices will replace flash memory, DRAM and static random access memory devices (SRAM) devices in electronic applications where a memory device is needed. Because MRAM devices operate differently than traditional memory devices and because they are relatively new, they introduce design and manufacturing challenges. For example, improved methods of forming resistive memory elements are needed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention provide novel methods of forming a magnetic stack and fabricating magnetic memory cells of an MRAM device. Embodiments of the present invention provide methods of forming a magnetic stack of magnetic memory devices and structures thereof having improved thermal stability, by disposing an amorphous material having a higher crystallization temperature than the crystallization temperature of the free layer over the free layer of a resistive memory element. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device over a workpiece includes depositing a first magnetic material layer over the workpiece, depositing a tunnel insulator over the first magnetic material layer, depositing a second magnetic material layer over the tunnel insulator, and depositing a crystallization inhibiting layer over the second magnetic material layer. The crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; TaCo; TiPN2; W85Si15; IrTa; and TaRu. In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device includes a first magnetic material layer, a tunnel insulator disposed over the first magnetic material layer, a second magnetic material layer disposed over the tunnel insulator, and a crystallization inhibiting layer disposed over the second magnetic material layer. The crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; TaCo; TiPN2; W85Si15; IrTa; and TaRu. Advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention include providing a resistive memory element and method of manufacture thereof having improved thermal stability, improved coercitivity Hc, and CMOS compatibility. The crystallization inhibiting layer advantageously may also function as a diffusion barrier. The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a prior art MRAM array; FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a less preferred embodiment of a magnetic stack structure for a resistive memory element; FIG. 3 illustrates in cross-section a magnetic stack structure for a resistive memory element according to an embodiment of the present invention, having a crystallization inhibiting layer formed over the free layer of the magnetic stack, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material that is amorphous and has a higher crystallization temperature than the underlying free layer; FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention implemented in a FET MRAM array; FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention implemented in a crosspoint MRAM array; FIGS. 6 and 7 show Kerr loop graphs of magnetic stacks in a less preferred embodiment after an anneal at 400 degrees C.; and FIGS. 8 and 9 show Kerr loop graphs of magnetic stacks including the novel crystallization inhibiting layer disposed over the free layer of a magnetic stack in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, after an anneal at 400 degrees C. Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the preferred embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS The making and using of the presently preferred embodiments are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention. The present invention will be described with respect to preferred embodiments in a specific context, namely a magnetic stack implemented in an MRAM array. Embodiments of the present invention may also be applied, however, to other resistive memory device applications, magnetic memory cell designs, and magnetic semiconductor device applications, as examples. The present invention is particularly beneficial when implemented in the manufacture of FET and crosspoint MRAM arrays, as examples. A prior art MRAM design structure will be described, followed by a discussion of a less preferred embodiment of a magnetic stack, preferred embodiments and exemplary implementations of the present invention, and some advantages of embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a prior art crosspoint MRAM 100 device having bitlines 112 located substantially perpendicular to wordlines 122 in adjacent metallization layers. Magnetic stacks 114 are positioned between the bitlines 112 and wordlines 122 adjacent and electrically coupled to bitlines 112 and wordlines 122. The magnetic stacks 114 are also referred to herein as resistive memory elements or MTJ's. A typical manufacturing process for the MRAM device 100 of FIG. 1 will next be described. A workpiece (not shown) is provided, typically comprising silicon oxide over silicon single-crystal silicon, for example. The workpiece may include other conductive layers or other semiconductor elements, e.g., transistors, diodes, etc. Compound semiconductors such as GaAs, InP, Si/Ge, and SiC may be used in place of silicon, for example. A first inter-level dielectric layer (not shown) is deposited over the workpiece. The inter-level dielectric may comprise silicon dioxide, for example. The inter-level dielectric layer is patterned, for example, for vias, and etched. The vias may be filled with a metal such as copper, tungsten or other metals, for example. A metallization layer, e.g., an M2 layer comprising aluminum or copper, is formed next. If copper is used for the first conductive lines 112, typically a damascene process is used to form the first conductive lines 112. A dielectric, not shown, is deposited over inter-level dielectric layer and vias. The dielectric layer is patterned and etched, and the trenches are filled with conductive material to form the first conductive lines 112 in the M2 layer. Alternatively, the first conductive lines 112 may be formed using a subtractive etch process, and a dielectric material may be disposed between the first conductive lines 112. Next, a magnetic stack 114 is formed over first conductive lines 112. The magnetic stack 114 typically comprises a first magnetic layer 116 including one or more magnetic layers. The first magnetic layer 116 may comprise a plurality of layers of materials such as PtMn, NiMn, IrMn, FeMn, CoFe, Ru, Al, and NiFe, as examples, although alternatively, other materials may be used for the first magnetic layer 116, for example. The first magnetic layer 116 is also referred to as a hard layer or a pinned layer because its magnetic orientation is fixed. The magnetic stack 114 also includes a thin dielectric layer 118 comprising AlxOy, e.g., Al2O3, for example, deposited over the first magnetic layer 116, although alternatively, the dielectric layer 118 may comprise other insulating materials. The dielectric layer 118 is often referred to as a tunnel layer, tunnel junction, or barrier layer. The magnetic stack 114 also includes a second magnetic layer 120 comprising similar materials as the first magnetic layer 116. The second magnetic layer 116 is often referred to as the soft layer or free layer because its magnetic orientation is changed depending on the desired logic state of the magnetic memory cell. The first magnetic layer 116, dielectric layer 118 and second magnetic layer 120 are patterned to form a plurality of MTJ's 110, with each MTJ 110 being disposed over a first conductive line 112. The patterned magnetic stacks 114 or MTJ's 110 are typically substantially rectangular or oval in shape, as shown. The MTJ's 110 comprise resistive memory elements, and the terms “MTJ” and “resistive memory element” are used interchangeably herein. A plurality of second conductive lines 122 is formed over the MTJ's 110. The second conductive lines 122 may be formed within an M3 layer, for example, and are positioned in a different direction than the first conductive lines 112. If the second conductive lines 122 comprise copper, again, a damascene process is typically used to form them. A dielectric layer (not shown) is deposited over the MTJ's 110. The dielectric layer is patterned and etched with trenches that will be filled with a conductive material to form the second conductive lines 122. Alternatively, a non-damascene process may be used to form the first and second conductive lines 112 and 122. Conductive lines 112 and 122 may function as the wordlines and bitlines of the MRAM array 100, as examples. The order of the magnetic stack 114 layers may be reversed, e.g., the pinned layer 116 may be on the top of or above the insulating layer 118, and the free layer 120 may be on the bottom of or below the insulating layer 118. Similarly, the wordlines 112 and bitlines 122 may be disposed either above or below the magnetic stack layers 114. In MRAM devices, information is stored in the free layer 120 of the MTJ's 110. To store the information, the magnetization of one ferromagnetic layer or information layer, e.g., the free layer 120, is aligned either parallel or anti-parallel to a second magnetic layer or reference layer, e.g., the pinned layer 116. The information is detectable due to the fact that the resistance of a parallel element is different than an anti-parallel element. Switching from a parallel to an anti-parallel state, and vice versa, may be accomplished by running current, often referred to as the switching current, through both conductive lines 112 and 122, and from the pinned layer 116 to the free layer 120, or vice versa. The switching current induces a magnetic field at the location of the MTJ memory element 110 large enough to change the magnetization of the information layer or free layer 120. Tunneling current is current run through the element that is used for reading the resistive state. A more detailed cross-sectional view of a less-preferred embodiment of a magnetic stack 214 for an MRAM device is shown in FIG. 2. Like numerals are used for the various elements in FIG. 2 as were described with reference to FIG. 1. To avoid repetition, each reference number shown in the diagram may not necessarily be described again in detail herein. Rather, similar materials x16, x18, x20, etc. . . . are preferably used for the material layers shown as were described for FIG. 1, where x=1 in FIG. 1 and x=2 in FIG. 2. The magnetic stack 214 includes an optional pinning layer 238 disposed over a first insulating layer and first conductive lines (not shown in FIG. 2; refer to FIG. 1). The optional pinning layer 238 comprises a bottom electrode 230 and an antiferromagnetic layer 236 disposed over the bottom electrode 230, as shown. The bottom electrode 230 typically comprises a first layer 232 comprising a conductive material such as TaN, and a second layer 234 comprising a conductive material such as Ta deposited over the first layer 232. The antiferromagnetic layer 236 preferably comprises a Mn-containing material such as PtMn or IrMn deposited over the bottom electrode 230. The first layer 232 of the bottom electrode 230 may comprise a thickness of about 50 to 100 Angstroms, the second layer 234 of the bottom electrode 230 may comprise a thickness of about 50 to 100 Angstroms, and the PtMn layer may comprise a thickness of about 125 to 300 Angstroms, as examples, although alternatively, layers 232, 234 and 236 may comprise other dimensions, for example. The bottom electrode 230 may function as a seed layer for the antiferromagnetic layer 236. The bottom electrode 230 may also function to connect the bottom magnetic layer 216 of the resistive memory cell formed by a patterned magnetic stack 214 to an underlying wordline or access FET, for example (not shown in FIG. 2; see FIG. 4). Thus, the pinning layer 238 functions as a pinning layer for the fixed layer 240 of the magnetic stack 214, by increasing the coercive field of the fixed layer 216, and also may function as a bottom electrode to electrically connect the free layer 240 to an underlying first conductive line, e.g., by a via, to be described further herein with reference to FIG. 4. If the magnetic stack 214 is used in a FET MRAM array, preferably the optional pinning layer 238 is used, in order to make electrical contact to underlying access FETs and other electrical components. However, in some crosspoint MRAM array designs, a pinning layer 238 may not be required in the magnetic stack 214, but rather, the first magnetic material layer 216 may be formed directly over an underlying wordline or bitline (such as conductive line 112 shown in FIG. 1). A first magnetic material layer 216 is formed over the pinning layer 238 (or over an underlying first insulating layer, if a pinning layer 238 is not used), as shown in FIG. 2. The first magnetic material layer 216 is also referred to herein as a fixed layer 216 because its magnetic orientation is fixed by the pinning layer 238. The fixed layer 216 is often referred to in the art as a pinned layer, for example. The fixed layer 216 may include a first magnetic layer 240 deposited over the pinning layer 238, a thin spacer layer 242 deposited over the first magnetic layer 240, and a second magnetic layer 244 deposited over the thin spacer layer 242. In the embodiment shown, the fixed layer 216 may comprise two magnetic layers 240 and 244 comprising a material such as NiFe or CoFe having a thickness of about 30 Angstroms each, that sandwich a non-magnetic spacer material 242 such as Ru having a thickness of about 10 Angstroms, as examples. The non-magnetic spacer material 242 anti-couples the two magnetic layers 240 and 244 of the fixed layer 216. The fixed layer 216 may alternatively comprise a single magnetic layer or a plurality of magnetic layers (not shown in FIG. 2; see FIG. 5). For example, the fixed layer 216 may comprise a single layer of magnetic material such as NiFe or CoFe having a thickness of about 30 Angstroms. A tunnel insulator 218 is formed over the first magnetic material layer 216. The tunnel insulator 218 may comprise about 10 to 15 Angstroms or less of an insulator such as AlxOy, for example, although alternatively, other insulating materials may be used for the tunnel insulator 218. The tunnel insulator 218 is also referred to as a tunnel barrier or a tunnel junction. A second magnetic material layer 220 is deposited over the tunnel insulator 218. The second magnetic material layer 220 may comprise a single magnetic layer as shown in FIG. 2, or alternatively, the second magnetic material layer 220 may comprise a plurality of magnetic layers (not shown). Alternatively, the second magnetic material layer 220 may comprise two magnetic layers comprising a material such as NiFe or CoFe having a thickness of about 30 Angstroms each, that sandwich a non-magnetic spacer material such as Ru having a thickness of about 10 Angstroms, as examples, as described for the first magnetic material layer 216 (not shown in FIG. 2; see FIG. 5). The first magnetic material layer 216 and the second magnetic material layer 220 may comprise one or more magnetic material layers comprising CoFe, NiFe, CoFeB or other magnetic materials, as examples, although alternatively, the first magnetic material layer 216 and the second magnetic material layer 220 may comprise other materials. The second magnetic material layer 220 is also referred to herein as a free layer 220 because the magnetic polarization direction may rotate depending on the magnetic field, which is how information is written to or stored in a resistive memory cell of an MRAM device. After being patterned, the optional pinning layer 238, the fixed layer 216, the tunnel insulator 218, and the free layer 220 of the magnetic stack 214 (and also top electrode 216, to be described herein) are often collectively referred to as a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) or resistive memory element. A top electrode material 246 is deposited over the free layer 220, as shown. The top electrode material 246 may comprise a first hard mask comprising a conductive material. For example, the top electrode material 246 may comprise a metal such as TiN, and may alternatively comprise TaN, Ta, Ti, Pt, PtMn, Ru, IrMn, or Al, as examples, although the top electrode material 246 may also comprise other materials. The top electrode material 246 may be patterned, using a photoresist as a mask, for example, using lithography techniques, and the top electrode material 246 may be used as a mask to pattern one or more underlying material layers 220, 218, 216 and 238, for example. A second hard mask (not shown) may be used to pattern the pinning layer 238, for example (not shown: see U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,802 entitled “Magnetic Tunnel Junction Patterning Using SiC or SiN,” issued on Mar. 30, 2004 to Lee, which is incorporated herein by reference.) Second conductive lines such as conductive lines 122 shown in FIG. 1 may be formed over the top electrode material 246 in a later manufacturing step, to make electrical contact to the top electrode material 246, not shown. A problem with the magnetic stack 214 shown in FIG. 2 is that at high temperatures, the magnetic properties of the free layer 220 deteriorate, resulting in decreased performance and in some cases, loss of the ability to store information in a resistive memory cell. For example, if CoFeB is used for the material of the free layer 220, CoFeB crystallizes at about 375 degrees C., which is a relatively low temperature. In some less preferred magnetic stack designs, the free layer 220 may include a top layer or cap layer (not shown) of about 100 Angstroms of Ta or TaN, for example, to protect the free layer 220 during the patterning process and to function as a diffusion barrier. However, this top layer is not amorphous, but rather, is typically crystalline, and does not improve the thermal stability of the magnetic stack 214. The material of the top layer may interdiffuse into the free layer 220 and/or induce crystallization of the free layer 220, thus resulting in the loss of magnetoresistance, an increase in the coercivity Hc of the free layer 220, and deterioration of the magnetic properties of the magnetic stack 214. Also, material from layers above the top layer of the free layer 220 (e.g., from conductive lines 122 shown in FIG. 1) may diffuse along grain boundaries of the top layer into the free layer 220. Embodiments of the present invention achieve technical advantages by forming a crystallization inhibiting layer 350 over the free layer 320 of a magnetic material stack 314, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 comprises a material that crystallizes at a temperature higher than the temperature the free layer 320 crystallizes at. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 improves the performance of the free layer 320 by increasing the thermal stability of the resistive memory cell. A cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. Like numerals are preferably used for the various elements in FIG. 3 as were described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. To avoid repetition, each reference number shown in the diagram may not necessarily be described again in detail herein. Rather, similar materials x16, x18, x120, etc. . . . are preferably used for the material layers shown as were described for FIGS. 1 and 2, where x=1 in FIG. 1, x=2 in FIG. 2, and x=3 in FIG. 3. As an example, the preferred and alternative materials and dimensions described for first magnetic material layer 216 in the description for FIG. 2 are preferably also used for the first magnetic material layer 316 in FIG. 3. The magnetic stack 314 includes a crystallization inhibiting layer 350 formed over the second magnetic material layer 320, as shown. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is preferably formed over the second magnetic material layer 320 before the magnetic stack 314 is patterned. For example, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is preferably formed over the second magnetic material layer 320 before the hard mask 346 is deposited. According to the particular application of the magnetic stack 314, the term “magnetic stack” may refer only to the fixed layer 316, tunnel insulator 318, free layer 320 and the crystallization inhibiting layer 350, as shown in phantom at 314a. Alternatively, the term magnetic stack 314 may also include the antiferromagnetic layer 336, as shown in phantom at 314b. In other applications, the term magnetic stack 314 may further include the bottom electrode 330, as shown in phantom at 314c, for example. Furthermore, a portion of the bottom electrode 330 e.g., layer 334, may be considered a part of the magnetic stack 314, while portion 332 may not be considered a part of the magnetic stack 314, for example. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises an amorphous material that crystallizes at a temperature higher than the temperature the free layer 320 crystallizes at, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Preferably, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is conductive so that electrical connection is made between the top electrode 346 and the free layer 320. However, alternatively, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 may comprise insulating materials, if the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is very thin, e.g., a few Angstroms thick. In one embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises a material of the form MSiN, wherein M= is a metal such as Ta, Ti, Mo, or W, as examples. Alternatively, M may comprise other metals, for example. Such metals of the form MSiN are amorphous within a wide range of compositions and crystallize generally above 600 degrees C. For example, if the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 comprises TaSiN, TaSiN is amorphous if the ratio of Ta:Si<3, regardless of the N concentration. Crystallization of TaSiN does not occur below about 900 degrees C., for example. Thus, a crystallization inhibiting layer 350 comprising TaSiN substantially improves the thermal stability of the magnetic stack 314 of a resistive memory cell. In another embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises TaCo, which crystallizes at about 600 degrees C., for example. In yet another embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises TiPN2, W85Si15, or IrTa, as examples. In another embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises TaRu. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably comprises a thickness of about 200 Angstroms or less, e.g., about 10 to 200 Angstroms. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 preferably crystallizes at a temperature of greater than about 375 degrees C., in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 crystallizes at a temperature of greater than about 400 to 450 degrees C., for example. Alternatively, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 crystallizes at other temperatures, for example. Preferably, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 crystallizes at a first temperature, and the second magnetic material layer 320 crystallizes at a second temperature, wherein the first temperature is higher than the second temperature. In another embodiment, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 comprises AlxOy. In this embodiment, preferably the thickness of the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is thinner, e.g., between about 5 and 20 Angstroms, to allow significant tunneling current. In this embodiment, preferably the resistance of the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is less than the resistance of the tunnel barrier 318, to avoid loss of magnetoresistance due to series resistance, and to optimize the performance of the resistive memory cell. AlxOy is a material that is amorphous and crystallizes at a temperature greater than the temperature at which the free layer 320 crystallizes. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350 may be deposited using physical vapor deposition (PVD), ion beam deposition, or a sputter deposition, as examples. Alternatively, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 may be deposited using other deposition methods. Amorphous materials used for diffusion barriers in copper technology that have a crystallization temperature higher than the temperature of the material of the free layer 320 may also be used for the crystallization inhibiting layer 350, for example. Because the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 is amorphous and crystallizes at a higher temperature than the temperature the free layer 320 material crystallizes at, the crystallization inhibiting layer 350 prevents the free layer 320 from crystallizing when the magnetic stack 314 is heated. Thus, a resistive memory cell formed from the magnetic stack 314 has a tunnel junction that has increased thermal stability. Because the material used for the tunnel insulator 318 is also amorphous, the free layer 320 is sandwiched by two amorphous material layers 350 and 318, which further improves the thermal stability of the magnetic stack 314. Embodiments of the present invention have useful application in both FET MRAM arrays and crosspoint MRAM arrays. For example, a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device 400 comprising a magnetic stack 414 described herein implemented in a FET MRAM array is shown in FIG. 4. Again, like numerals are preferably used for the various elements in FIG. 4 as were described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3, and to avoid repetition, each reference number shown in FIG. 4 is not necessarily described again in detail herein. The magnetic stack 414 includes the crystallization inhibiting layer 450 disposed over the free layer 420, as shown. At least a portion of the pinning layer 438 (e.g., such as the bottom electrode 330 shown in FIG. 3; not shown in FIG. 4) functions as a strap to electrically couple the fixed layer 416 to via 406b formed in insulating layer 404b. The via 406b is coupled to a conductive line 412 formed in insulating layer 404a, as shown. The conductive line 412 is connected by via 406a to a FET 408 comprising a source S, drain D, gate oxide 409 and gate G formed over and within the workpiece 402. A conductive line 422 is disposed over and abutting the top electrode 446. A plurality of resistive memory elements (not shown) comprised of patterned magnetic stacks 414 may be disposed in an array on a single semiconductor device, for example. An embodiment of the present invention implemented in a crosspoint MRAM array is shown in FIG. 5 in a cross-sectional view. Again, like numerals are preferably used for the various elements in FIG. 5 as were described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 4, and to avoid repetition, each reference number shown in FIG. 5 is not necessarily described again in detail herein. In this embodiment, there is no top electrode (such as 346 shown in FIG. 3), but rather, the crystallization inhibiting layer 550 is formed over the top surface of the free layer 520, and conductive lines 522 are formed directly over and abutting the crystallization inhibiting layer 550, for example. In this embodiment, the free layer 520 comprises two magnetic layers 560 and 564 comprising a material such as NiFe or CoFe having a thickness of about 30 Angstroms each, that sandwich a non-magnetic spacer material 562 such as Ru having a thickness of about 10 Angstroms, as examples. The non-magnetic spacer material 562 couples the two magnetic layers 560 and 564 of the free layer 520. The free layer 520 may alternatively comprise a single magnetic layer or a plurality of magnetic layers, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Also, in this embodiment, the fixed layer 512 comprises a single magnetic layer or a plurality of magnetic layers, although alternatively the fixed layer 512 may comprise a sandwich as shown in FIG. 3. A plurality of resistive memory elements may be formed from the material stack 514 shown, with the resistive memory elements being separate from one another by insulating material 504 disposed over the workpiece 502, as shown. An optional cap layer 570 may be disposed over the crystallization inhibiting layer 550, as shown, wherein the cap layer 570 comprises about 50 Angstroms or less of Ta, TaN, TiN, Ti, or combinations thereof, as examples. The optional cap layer 570 may also be used in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example. FIGS. 6 and 7 show Kerr loop graphs in the easy axis direction of magnetic stacks after an anneal at 400 degrees C., for the less preferred magnetic stack shown in FIG. 2. FIGS. 8 and 9 show Kerr loop graphs for a magnetic stack comprising the same materials, yet having an amorphous crystallization inhibiting layer comprising AlxOy disposed over the free layer. A different scale is observed for the minor loop, indicating very high Hc for the less preferred magnetic stack of FIG. 2. The sample with the crystallization inhibiting layer in accordance with embodiments of the present invention in FIGS. 8 and 9 does not show any changes in the magnetic properties after the anneal, and thus allows a controlled design of the magnetic properties in the magnetic stack. Advantages of embodiments of the invention include improving the thermal stability of resistive memory elements and magnetic stacks of an MRAM device. The crystallization inhibiting layer 350, 450, and 550 described herein prevents the free layer 320, 420, and 520, respectively of magnetic stacks 314, 414, and 514 from crystallizing when subjected to high temperatures, thus providing improved thermal stability for resistive memory elements of an MRAM memory device. A resistive memory device that is thermally stabile at temperatures of at least 400 degrees C. may be manufactured using the novel crystallization inhibiting layer 350, 450, and 550 of the present invention, for example. The crystallization inhibiting layers 350, 450, and 550 described herein also function as a diffusion barrier, for example. MRAM devices with improved Hc and CMOS compatibility advantageously result from embodiments of the present invention. Although embodiments of the present invention and their advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that many of the features, functions, processes, and materials described herein may be varied while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Semiconductors are used in integrated circuits for electronic applications, including radios, televisions, cell phones, and personal computing devices, as examples. One type of semiconductor device is a semiconductor storage device, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash memory, which use a charge to store information. A recent development in semiconductor memory devices involves spin electronics, which combines semiconductor technology and magnetics. The spin of electrons, rather than the charge, is used to indicate the presence of binary states “1” and “0.” One such spin electronic device is a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device which includes conductive lines (wordlines and bitlines) positioned in a different direction, e.g., perpendicular to one another in different metal layers, the conductive lines sandwiching a magnetic stack or magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), which functions as a magnetic memory cell. A current flowing through one of the conductive lines generates a magnetic field around the conductive line and orients the magnetic polarity into a certain direction along the wire or conductive line. A current flowing through the other conductive line induces the magnetic field and can partially turn the magnetic polarity, also. Digital information, represented as a “0” or “1,” is storable in the alignment of magnetic moments. The resistance of the magnetic memory cell depends on the moment's alignment. The stored state is read from the magnetic memory cell by detecting the component's resistive state. MRAM devices are typically arranged in an array of rows and columns and the wordlines and bitlines are activated to access each individual memory cell. In a cross-point MRAM array, current is run through the wordlines and bitlines to select a particular memory cell. In a field effect transistor (FET) array, each MTJ is disposed proximate a FET, and the FET for each MTJ is used to select a particular memory cell in the array. In a FET array, an electrode is typically formed between the MTJ and the FET to make electrical contact between the MTJ and the FET. An advantage of MRAM devices compared to traditional semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices is that MRAM devices are non-volatile. For example, a personal computer (PC) utilizing MRAM devices would not have a long “boot-up” time as with conventional PCs that utilize DRAM devices. Also, an MRAM device does not need to be continually powered to “remember” the stored data. Therefore, it is expected that MRAM devices will replace flash memory, DRAM and static random access memory devices (SRAM) devices in electronic applications where a memory device is needed. Because MRAM devices operate differently than traditional memory devices and because they are relatively new, they introduce design and manufacturing challenges. For example, improved methods of forming resistive memory elements are needed. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Embodiments of the present invention provide novel methods of forming a magnetic stack and fabricating magnetic memory cells of an MRAM device. Embodiments of the present invention provide methods of forming a magnetic stack of magnetic memory devices and structures thereof having improved thermal stability, by disposing an amorphous material having a higher crystallization temperature than the crystallization temperature of the free layer over the free layer of a resistive memory element. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device over a workpiece includes depositing a first magnetic material layer over the workpiece, depositing a tunnel insulator over the first magnetic material layer, depositing a second magnetic material layer over the tunnel insulator, and depositing a crystallization inhibiting layer over the second magnetic material layer. The crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; TaCo; TiPN 2 ; W 85 Si 15 ; IrTa; and TaRu. In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic stack of a resistive memory device includes a first magnetic material layer, a tunnel insulator disposed over the first magnetic material layer, a second magnetic material layer disposed over the tunnel insulator, and a crystallization inhibiting layer disposed over the second magnetic material layer. The crystallization inhibiting layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: materials of the form MSiN, wherein M is a metal; TaCo; TiPN 2 ; W 85 Si 15 ; IrTa; and TaRu. Advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention include providing a resistive memory element and method of manufacture thereof having improved thermal stability, improved coercitivity H c , and CMOS compatibility. The crystallization inhibiting layer advantageously may also function as a diffusion barrier. The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. | 20040617 | 20051220 | 20051222 | 67894.0 | 0 | DANG, PHUC T | MTJ STACK WITH CRYSTALLIZATION INHIBITING LAYER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,870,844 | ACCEPTED | Additives to eliminate bronzing of ink-jet inks | Anti-bronzing agents are added to ink-jet inks to prevent bronzing of the inks when printed on various types of media. The additive can be an amine anti-bronzing agent that is protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the print medium. | 1. An ink-jet printing system, comprising: a) a print medium having an ink-receiving layer; and b) an ink-jet ink configured for printing on the ink-receiving layer, said ink-jet ink comprising: i) a liquid vehicle, ii) a dye, and iii) an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer, said anti-bronzing agent being present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. 2. A system as in claim 1, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is higher than a pH value of the ink-jet printed on the ink-receiving layer. 3. A system as in claim 1, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value no more than 1 pH unit less than the pH value of the ink-jet printed on the ink-receiving layer. 4. A system as in claim 1, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is greater than a pH value of the ink-receiving layer. 5. A system as in claim 1, wherein the effective concentration of the amine anti-bronzing agent is an amount that improves stability of the dye when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. 6. A system as in claim 5, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is greater than the pH of the ink-jet ink printed on the print medium, and wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a protonated form which disrupts dye aggregation once the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. 7. A system as in claim 1, wherein ink-receiving layer includes a metal oxide or semi-metal oxide particulate-based based coating. 8. A system as in claim 7, wherein the metal oxide or semi-metal oxide particulate-based based coating is alumina- or silica-based coating. 9. A system as in claim 1, wherein the ink-receiving layer includes a polymeric swellable coating. 10. A system as in claim 1, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylamines, ammonia, ethanolamines, pyridines, naphthalenes, morpholines, amino acids, and mixtures thereof. 11. A system as in claim 10, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is selected from the group consisting of triethylamine, triethanolamine, methylmorpholine, morpholine,1,8-bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene, and pyridylcarbinol. 12. A system as in claim 1, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is present in the ink-jet ink at from about 0.2 wt % to 30 wt %. 13. A method of reducing bronzing of an ink-jet ink printed on a print medium, comprising jetting the ink-jet ink onto the print medium, said print medium including an ink-receiving layer, said ink-jet ink, comprising: a) a liquid vehicle, b) a dye, and c) an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer, said anti-bronzing agent being present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. 14. A method as in claim 13, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is greater than the pH value of the ink-jet ink once printed on the ink-receiving layer. 15. A method as in claim 13, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value no more than 1 pH unit less than the pH value of the ink-jet ink once printed in the ink-receiving layer. 16. A method as in claim 13, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is greater than the pH value of the ink-receiving layer. 17. A method as in claim 13, wherein the effective concentration of the amine anti-bronzing agent is an amount that improves stability of the dye when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. 18. A method as in claim 17, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a pKa value that is greater than the pH of the ink-jet ink printed on the print medium, and wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent has a protonated form which disrupts dye aggregation once the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. 19. A method as in claim 13, wherein ink-receiving layer includes a metal oxide or semi-metal oxide particulate-based based coating. 20. A method as in claim 19, wherein the metal oxide or semi-metal oxide particulate-based based coating is alumina- or silica-based coating. 21. A method as in claim 13, wherein the ink-receiving layer includes a polymeric swellable coating. 22. A method as in claim 13, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylamines, ammonia, ethanolamines, pyridines, naphthalenes, morpholines, amino acids, and mixtures thereof. 23. A method as in claim 22, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is selected from the group consisting of triethylamine, triethanolamine, methylmorpholine, morpholine,1,8-bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene, and pyridylcarbinol. 24. A method as in claim 13, wherein the amine anti-bronzing agent is present in the ink-jet ink at from about 0.2 wt % to 30 wt %. | The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/628,903, filed on Jul. 28, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is drawn to ink-jet inks used in printing. More particularly, the present invention is drawn to improved ink-jet inks in which bronzing on print media has been reduced or even eliminated. BACKGROUND ART Bronzing is a lustrous sheen of a printed sample in reflected light which can be associated with certain dyes. Specifically, bronzing refers to a reddish-brown reflected color of the ink upon drying. It is particularly an undesirable property of black inks because of lowered optical densities produced. However, it also can affect other colors such as cyan, producing a reddish tone. Additionally, bronzing is an undesirable print characteristic which can prevent color attributes from being measured. One solution proposed to eliminate or reduce bronzing has been to raise the pH of the ink. However, it has been found that raising the pH of an ink can cause materials degradation of printheads that are used to jet the ink. Thus, an alternative means of reducing or even eliminating bronzing of ink-jet inks printed on print media would be an advancement in the art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been recognized that certain additives can be included in ink-jet inks to reduce bronzing on photographic media, such as specialty fast-drying ink-jet photographic porous media or specialty slower-drying ink-jet photographic swellable media. In accordance with this recognition, an ink-jet printing system can comprise a print medium having an ink-receiving layer, and an ink-jet ink configured for printing on the ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. In another embodiment, a method of reducing bronzing of an ink-jet ink printed on a print medium can comprise the step of jetting the ink-jet ink onto the print medium, wherein the print medium includes an ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) Before particular embodiments of the present invention are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular process and materials disclosed herein as such may vary to some degree. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting, as the scope of the present invention will be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a dye” includes reference to one or more of such materials. As used herein, “liquid vehicle” is defined to include liquid compositions that can be used to carry colorants to a substrate. Liquid vehicles are well known in the art, and a wide variety of ink vehicles may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Such ink vehicles may include a mixture of a variety of different agents, including without limitation, surfactants, solvents, co-solvents, buffers, biocides, viscosity modifiers, sequestering agents, stabilizing agents, and water. The liquid vehicle can also carry other additives such as polymers, UV curable materials, plasticizers, and/or co-solvents in some embodiments. The term “anti-bronzing agent” herein includes compositions that are added to ink-jet inks to prevent bronzing when the ink is printed on a print medium. In a first general embodiment, the anti-bronzing agent can include an amine composition that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is applied to a print medium. In other words, the aqueous pKa of the amine can be greater than the pH of the ink once applied to the medium, or alternatively, slightly less than, e.g., no more than about 1 pH unit lower, than the pH of the ink applied to the medium, such that at least a relatively significant portion of the amines are still protonated on the medium. Such amine compositions, when added at appropriate concentrations, can act to deaggregate dyes on media that are prone to bronzing. The act of promoting deaggregation of these dyes when printed on ink-receiving layers of print media can reduce bronzing. With respect to levels of bronzing reduction, the teachings herein permit reduction of bronzing to acceptable levels or even elimination of bronzing of ink-jet inks printed on print media. Advantages of the teachings herein over other approaches, such as increasing the pH of the ink, include that pH-sensitive materials in the printhead are not jeopardized, and that there is a relatively wide range of compounds that can be utilized in practice of the embodiments described herein. The term “protonated” or “at least partially protonated,” when referring to amine compositions, indicates that the pKa value of the amine is either greater than the pH value of the ink-jet ink once printed on the print medium, or alternatively, is slightly lower, e.g., no more than about 1 pH unit lower, than the pH of the ink-jet ink once printed on the print medium, such that at least a relatively significant portion of the amines are protonated on the print medium. Depending on the relative values, substantially all of the amines can be protonated, or a significant plurality of the amines can be protonated. “pKa” is defined as the pH at which half of a composition is protonated and half is deprotonated. As the pH is increased, fewer molecules are protonated. Likewise, as the pH is decreased, more molecules will be protonated. For example, one can consider the amine anti-bronzing agents of the present invention which have fixed pKa values (experimentally determined). For every whole unit of increased pH of the composition containing the amine anti-bronzing agent compared to the pKa value of the amine anti-bronzing agent itself, there will be 10 times fewer protonated amines present. Thus, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the pKa can either be higher than the pH of the ink-jet printed on the print medium, or alternatively, can be as much as 1 unit lower than the pH of the ink-jet printed on the print medium. In either case, the amine anti-bronzing agent can still be considered to be “protonated” or “at least partially protonated” in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. When referring to “protonated amines” or “partially protonated amines,” these compositions are included in ink-jet inks to inhibit bronzing. However, bronzing is a phenomenon that occurs not while an ink is in a liquid state, such as while being stored in ink-jet architecture, but is a phenomenon that occurs once the ink is printed on print media. Thus, it is the pH of the ink-jet ink composition after printing on the print medium that is relevant as to whether the pH value and the pKa value meets the criteria of the present invention. For example, an amine anti-bronzing agent having a pKa of about 5 that is printed with an ink-jet ink onto a print medium having a pH of 6 may not prevent bronzing, whereas the same ink-jet ink containing the same amine anti-bronzing agent printed on a print medium having a pH of about 4 may prevent bronzing. This may be explained in that a print medium having a lower pH would more likely lower the pH of the ink-jet ink/print medium combination (once combined to form a printed image), thus providing a greater degree of amine protonation. Of course, this example is not definitive for every situation, as relative concentrations of both ink and media components can also play a role in whether bronzing occurs as well. As a result, it is to be noted that, in one embodiment, it is the pH of the ink-jet ink combined with the pH of the print medium that determines whether the amine is protonated enough to deaggregate the ink-jet ink dye to an extent that reduces bronzing of the printed image. In another embodiment, the pH of the print medium may be less relevant if there is a great enough difference between the pKa of the amine anti-bronzing agent and the pH of the ink. However, in either case, the protonation of the amine is more relevant with respect to the ink-jet ink printed on the print medium in predicting whether anti-bronzing will result. The term “about” when referring to a numerical value or range is intended to encompass the values resulting from experimental error that can occur when taking measurements. As used herein, “effective amount” or “effective concentration” refers to at least the minimal amount of a substance or agent, which is sufficient to achieve a desire effect. For example, an effective amount of an “ink vehicle” is at least the minimum amount required in order to create an ink composition, while maintaining properties necessary for effective ink-jetting. Ratios, concentrations, amounts, and other numerical data numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a weight range of about 1 wt % to about 20 wt % should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited concentration limits of 1 wt % to about 20 wt %, but also to include individual concentrations such as 2 wt %, 3 wt %, 4 wt %, and sub-ranges such as 5 wt % to 15 wt %, 10 wt % to 20 wt %, etc. In accordance with the present invention, an ink-jet printing system can comprise a print medium having an ink-receiving layer, and an ink-jet ink configured for printing on the ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. In another embodiment, a method of reducing bronzing of an ink-jet ink printed on a print medium can comprise the step of jetting the ink-jet ink onto the print medium, wherein the print medium includes an ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. With respect to the above embodiments, i) the amine can be sufficiently protonated in the ink-jet ink to reduce bronzing irrespective of the pH of the medium, ii) the amine can become sufficiently protonated on the print medium to reduce bronzing due to the lower pH of the print medium, or iii) or the amine can maintain sufficient protonation upon printing on the print medium to reduce or eliminate bronzing. Thus, how the amine is or becomes protonated in the ink once printed on the print medium is less important than the fact that the final printed image includes amines that are sufficiently protonated to reduce bronzing. To determine whether bronzing is reduced, one can compare bronzing of an anti-bronzing agent-containing ink-jet ink printed on a media substrate to an ink-jet ink that does not include the anti-bronzing agent printed on the same media type. The effective concentration of the amine anti-bronzing agent can be an amount that reduces an aggregation state of the dye when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer, as it is typically dye aggregation that causes bronzing on various types of photo media. This being stated, the addition of too much anti-bronzing agent can also act to aggregate a dye when printed on print media. The concentration range that can be used to reduce bronzing is, to some degree, case specific. Thus, when determining how much of the anti-bronzing agent to add to an ink-jet ink, several considerations can be made, such as the type and amount of dye present, the type of anti-bronzing agent to be added, and the type and amount of liquid vehicle components present. Determining how much anti-bronzing agent to add would be easily ascertainable to one skilled in the art after considering the present disclosure. As a general rule, concentrations in the range of 0.2 wt % to 30 wt % of anti-bronzing agent provide acceptable results. If the anti-bronzing agent selected for use is to be an amine in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, then an amine can be selected that has a pKa that is greater than the pH of the ink-jet medium. Alternatively, if the amine has a lower pKa than the pH of the medium, the pKa should only be slightly lower such that at least a relatively significant portion of the amine additives are protonated, e.g., a pKa value no more than about 1 pH unit lower than the pH of the ink-jet ink once printed on the print medium. Examples of amines that can be protonated and used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are alkylamines, including as ethylamine derivatives; ammonia; ethanolamines, including ethanolamine derivatives; pyridines; naphthalenes, morpholines, amino acids; and mixtures thereof. Specifically, triethylamine, triethanolamine, methylmorpholine, morpholine,1,8-bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene, and pyridylcarbinol have each been found to reduce bronzing at various concentration ranges with various dye-types. A quaternary amine is an example of composition that is not included as an effective anti-bronzing agent, as quaternary amines do not cause appropriate deaggregation behavior. Thus, as mentioned, amines can be added to the ink-jet inks such that the pKa of the amine is greater than or slightly less than the pH of the ink-jet on the print medium. Regardless of which system is used, amines having a pKa (experimentally determined) above the pH of the print media can be preferred for use. As lower pH print media is more common than higher pH print media, the use of amines can provide a means for printing on more acidic print media without causing bronzing. With higher pH print media, the problems associated with bronzing are less prevalent. Thus, controlling the bronzing by inclusion of these additives in the ink, particularly when printing on more acidic print media, is beneficial. Without subscribing to any particular theory, it appears that the presence of the protonated amine anti-bronzing agent may serve to prevent a more acidic print media from aggregating the dye. Aside from the anti-bronzing agent, the balance of the ink-jet ink can include conventional co-solvents (organic and aqueous) and at least one dye in the conventional ranges disclosed elsewhere; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,485, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, for a list of suitable co-solvents and dyes and concentration ranges thereof for ink-jet inks. It will be appreciated that not all dyes result in bronzing on the coated print media discussed herein. However, where any such dye used in ink-jet printing is found to bronze, the present teachings provide an approach to eliminating such bronzing. More specifically with respect to the liquid vehicle, the ink-jet ink compositions of the present invention are typically prepared in an aqueous formulation or liquid vehicle which can include water, cosolvents, surfactants, buffering agents, biocides, sequestering agents, viscosity modifiers, humectants, and/or other known additives. In one aspect of the present invention, the liquid vehicle can comprise from about 70 wt % to about 99.9 wt % by weight of the ink-jet ink composition. In another aspect, other than the colorant, liquid vehicle can also carry polymeric binders, latex particulates, and/or other solids. As described, cosolvents can be included in the ink-jet compositions of the present invention. Suitable cosolvents for use in the present invention include water soluble organic cosolvents, but are not limited to, aliphatic alcohols, aromatic alcohols, diols, glycol ethers, poly(glycol) ethers, lactams, formamides, acetamides, long chain alcohols, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycols, triethylene glycols, glycerine, dipropylene glycols, glycol butyl ethers, polyethylene glycols, polypropylene glycols, amides, ethers, carboxylic acids, esters, organosulfides, organosulfoxides, sulfones, alcohol derivatives, carbitol, butyl carbitol, cellosolve, ether derivatives, amino alcohols, and ketones. For example, cosolvents can include primary aliphatic alcohols of 30 carbons or less, primary aromatic alcohols of 30 carbons or less, secondary aliphatic alcohols of 30 carbons or less, secondary aromatic alcohols of 30 carbons or less, 1,2-diols of 30 carbons or less, 1,3-diols of 30 carbons or less, 1,5-diols of 30 carbons or less, ethylene glycol alkyl ethers, propylene glycol alkyl ethers, poly(ethylene glycol) alkyl ethers, higher homologs of poly(ethylene glycol) alkyl ethers, poly(propylene glycol) alkyl ethers, higher homologs of poly(propylene glycol) alkyl ethers, lactams, substituted formamides, unsubstituted formamides, substituted acetamides, and unsubstituted acetamides. Specific examples of cosolvents that are preferably employed in the practice of this invention include, but are not limited to, 1,5-pentanediol, 2-pyrrolidone, 2-ethyl-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol, diethylene glycol, 3-methoxybutanol, and 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone. Cosolvents can be added to reduce the rate of evaporation of water in the ink-jet to minimize clogging or other properties of the ink such as viscosity, pH, surface tension, optical density, and print quality. The cosolvent concentration can range from about 0.01 wt % to about 40 wt %, and in one embodiment is from about 5 wt % to about 15 wt %. Multiple cosolvents can also be used, as is known in the art. Various buffering agents or pH adjusting agents can also be optionally used in the ink-jet ink compositions of the present invention. Typical buffering agents include such pH control solutions as hydroxides of alkali metals and amines, such as lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide; citric acid; amines such as triethanolamine, diethanolamine, and dimethylethanolamine; hydrochloric acid; and other basic or acidic components which do not substantially interfere with the bleed control or optical density characteristics of the present invention. If used, buffering agents typically comprise less than about 10 wt % of the ink-jet ink composition. In another aspect of the present invention, various biocides can be used to inhibit growth of undesirable microorganisms. Several non-limiting examples of suitable biocides include benzoate salts, sorbate salts, commercial products such as NUOSEPT (Nudex, Inc., a division of Huls America), UCARCIDE (Union Carbide), VANCIDE (RT Vanderbilt Co.), and PROXEL (ICI Americas) and other known biocides. Typically, such biocides comprise less than about 5 wt % of the ink-jet ink composition and often from about 0.1 wt % to about 0.25 wt %. One or more of various surfactants can also be used as are known by those skilled in the art of ink formulation. Non-limiting examples of suitable surfactants include alkyl polyethylene oxides, alkyl phenyl polyethylene oxides, polyethylene oxide block copolymers, acetylenic polyethylene oxides, polyethylene oxide (di)esters, polyethylene oxide amines, protonated polyethylene oxide amines, protonated polyethylene oxide amides, dimethicone copolyols, substituted amine oxides, commercial products such as TERGITOLS, SURFYNOLS, ZONYLS, TRITONS, MERPOLS, and combinations thereof. The amount of surfactant added to the ink-jet inks of this invention can range from 0 wt % to 10 wt %. In one embodiment of the present invention, the ink-jet ink can be configured for application from a thermal ink-jet pen. Thermal ink-jet systems are quite different in their jetting properties than piezo ink-jet systems. As such, compositions that are effective for use in piezo ink-jet systems are not necessarily effective for use with thermal ink-jet ink systems. However, the converse is not necessarily true. In other words, polymers that work well with thermal ink-jet systems are more likely to work with piezo systems than vice versa. Therefore, the selection of liquid vehicle or other additives for use with thermal ink-jet systems often requires more care, as thermal ink-jet systems are less forgiving than piezo ink-jet systems. Examples of dyes benefiting from the teachings herein include, but are not limited to, Direct Blue 199 (CI 74180), Black 287 (Projet Fast Black 2), as well as other dyes described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,893, to name a few. It is to be emphasized that the concentration of components in the ink is to be made on a case by case basis. More specifically, the concentration and selection of the type of the anti-bronzing agent can depend on identity of dye, concentration of dye, the pKa of the dye, the vehicle components present, the pH of the ink, the pKa of the amine, the pH of the media, the type of media, etc. Such a determination of concentration is not considered to be undue, since the pKa values of most commonly used additives are known and published, or can be determined by simple titration, and determining the pH of both the print media and the ink is easily done with a pH meter. To illustrate an example of such a process, once can consider the difference between DB199 and Black 287 dyes. DB199 is a phthalocyanine dye that is more sensitive amine salts than Black 287. Therefore, less anti-bronzing additive, e.g., amine, may be required in some embodiments to achieve an anti-bronzing result. Additionally, the inclusion of more anti-bronzing agent than is necessary may also have adverse results. In other words, either too high or too low of a concentration of an anti-bronzing agent can lead to dye destabilization, and thus, concentrations can be determined on a case by case basis. In addition to the dependency of ink-jet ink components, there also may be a dependency of ink bronzing on the nature of the print media. For example, many dyes that do not evidence bronzing on plain paper are found to evidence bronzing on other types of print media, such as photopaper that includes a photobase substrate, a quick-drying ink-receiving layer coated thereon comprising an inorganic pigment (e.g., silica or alumina) and binder, and an optional topcoat. Thus, ink systems can be prepared while considering the types of media that these ink systems will be used with. When referring to the ink-receiving layer of a print medium, this can include any coating that is used to accept an ink-jet ink to produce an image. There are at least two types of ink-receiving layers that can be used, including metal oxide or semi-metal oxide particulate-based ink-receiving layers, e.g., alumina- or silica-based, and polymeric swellable ink-receiving layers, e.g., gelatin or polyvinyl alcohol. The media substrate, for example, can be paper, plastic, coated paper, fabric, art paper, or other known substrate used in the ink-jet printing arts. In one embodiment, photobase can be used as the substrate. Photobase is typically a three-layered system comprising a single layer of paper sandwiched by two polymeric layers, such as polyethylene layers. With respect to the ink-receiving layer, if a semi-metal oxide or metal oxide particulate-based ink-receiving layer is used; inorganic semi-metal or metal oxide particulates, a polymeric binder, and optionally, mordants and/or other porous coating composition agents can be present. In one embodiment, the inorganic semi-metal or metal oxide particulates can be silica, alumina, boehmite, silicates (such as aluminum silicate, magnesium silicate, and the like), titania, zirconia, calcium carbonate, clays, and combinations thereof. In a more detailed aspect, the particulates can be alumina, silica, or aluminosilicate. Each of these inorganic particulates can be dispersed throughout a porous coating composition, which can be applied to a media substrate to form the porous ink-receiving layer. The semi-metal oxide or metal oxide particulates can be chemically surface-modified using silane coupling agents having functional moieties attached thereto. Turning to the organic swellable ink-receiving layer that can be coated on the media substrate, hydrophilic compositions such as gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol, methyl cellulose, or the like can be applied. These compositions are polymeric in nature, and when an ink-jet ink is printed thereon, the polymeric coating that makes up the ink-receiving layer absorbs and traps the ink. These hydrophilic polymeric materials can be coated on a single side of a media substrate, or can be coated on both sides of a media substrate to provide a good printing surface for ink-jet ink applications, as well as to provide balance to the back of the substrate, preventing substrate curl that may occur with a paper substrate. Backcoats can also be applied to the media to prevent ink-transfer when stacking media after printing. An example of such media is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,585, which is incorporated herein by reference. The ink-receiving layer, whether primarily inorganic porous or organic swellable, can be a single layer or a multilayer coating designed to adsorb or absorb sufficient quantities of ink to produce high quality printed images. The coating composition may be applied to the media substrate to form the ink-receiving layer by any means known to one skilled in the art, including blade coating, air knife coating, rod coating, wire rod coating, roll coating, slot coating, slide hopper coating, gravure, curtain, and cascade coating. The ink-receiving layer can be printed on one or both sides of the media substrate EXAMPLES The following examples illustrate embodiments of the invention that are presently best known. However, it is to be understood that the following is only exemplary or illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous modifications and alternative compositions, methods, and systems may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present invention has been described above with particularity, the following examples provide further detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiment of the invention. Example 1 Two typical ink-jet ink compositions were prepared, one including Black 287 (Projet Fast Black 2) (Ink 1) and the other containing DB199Na (CI 74180) (Ink 2). Each of these two ink-jet inks was divided into six equal volumes for a total of 12 ink-jet ink volumes; six including Black 287 (Inks 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, and 1f) and six including DB199Na (Inks 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, and 2f). Inks 1a and 2a were not further modified, providing a baseline or control for determining bronzing improvement of the other inks. Inks 1 b-f and 2b-f were each modified with an amine anti-bronzing agent; namely 1b and 2b were each modified with methylmorpholine, 1c and 2c were each modified with morpholine, 1d and 2d were each modified with 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene, 1e and 2e were each modified with triethylamine, and 1f and 2f were each modified with 3-pyridylcarbinol. All of the ink-jet inks prepared had a pH from about 8 to 8.5. The print media used for the study were 1) an experimental photopaper comprising a photobase substrate and a silica-based ink-receiving layer having a pH of about 4 coated thereon (referred to as “porous media”) and 2) a polyvinyl alcohol coated swellable media having a pH of about 6, which is sold commercially as HP Premium Plus Photo Paper, Glossy (referred to as “swellable media”). Both of these print media types are used in color ink-jet printing to provide the equivalent of photographic prints. With respect to the porous media, silica coatings on print media are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,275,867; 5,463,178; 5,576,088; 5,605,750; 5,989,378; and 6,187,430, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Tables 1 and 2 indicate the results of the study, as follows: TABLE 1 Relationship between pKa of amine, pH of ink on print media, and bronzing for Black 287 dye-containing ink-jet inks Swellable Media: Porous Media: Ink Additive pKa Improvement? Improvement? Ink 1a None — Bronzing control Bronzing control Ink 1b Methylmorpholine 7.13 Yes Yes Ink 1c morpholine 8.33 Yes Yes Ink 1d 1,8- 12.37 Yes Yes bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene Ink 1e triethylamine 10.72 Yes Yes Ink 1f pyridylcarbinol ˜5 No Yes TABLE 2 Relationship between pKa of amine, pH of ink on print media, and bronzing for DB199Na dye-containing ink-jet inks Swellable Media: Porous Media: Ink Additive pKa Improvement? Improvement? Ink 2a None — Bronzing baseline Bronzing baseline Ink 2b Methylmorpholine 7.13 Yes Yes Ink 2c morpholine 8.33 Yes Yes Ink 2d 1,8- 12.37 Yes Yes bis(dimethylamino) naphthalene As can be seen by Tables 1 and 2, by not including an amine additive, bronzing occurred, which provided a bronzing control for comparison purposes. However, by including an amine additive that was protonated when the ink-jet ink was printed on the print medium, bronzing was reduced or improved. The only exception in this study with respect to bronzing improvement occurred when Ink 1f was printed on swellable media. As the pH of the media was higher than the pKa of the pyridylcarbinol additive, the amine was not protonated enough on the print medium to deaggregate the dye, and thus, bronzing was not improved. While the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, changes, omissions, and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>Bronzing is a lustrous sheen of a printed sample in reflected light which can be associated with certain dyes. Specifically, bronzing refers to a reddish-brown reflected color of the ink upon drying. It is particularly an undesirable property of black inks because of lowered optical densities produced. However, it also can affect other colors such as cyan, producing a reddish tone. Additionally, bronzing is an undesirable print characteristic which can prevent color attributes from being measured. One solution proposed to eliminate or reduce bronzing has been to raise the pH of the ink. However, it has been found that raising the pH of an ink can cause materials degradation of printheads that are used to jet the ink. Thus, an alternative means of reducing or even eliminating bronzing of ink-jet inks printed on print media would be an advancement in the art. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It has been recognized that certain additives can be included in ink-jet inks to reduce bronzing on photographic media, such as specialty fast-drying ink-jet photographic porous media or specialty slower-drying ink-jet photographic swellable media. In accordance with this recognition, an ink-jet printing system can comprise a print medium having an ink-receiving layer, and an ink-jet ink configured for printing on the ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. In another embodiment, a method of reducing bronzing of an ink-jet ink printed on a print medium can comprise the step of jetting the ink-jet ink onto the print medium, wherein the print medium includes an ink-receiving layer. The ink-jet ink can comprise a liquid vehicle, a dye, and an amine anti-bronzing agent that is at least partially protonated when the ink-jet ink is printed on the ink-receiving layer. The anti-bronzing agent can be present in an effective concentration to at least reduce bronzing of the ink-jet ink printed on the ink-receiving layer. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040616 | 20100427 | 20050203 | 63048.0 | 0 | SHEWAREGED, BETELHEM | ADDITIVES TO ELIMINATE BRONZING OF INK-JET INKS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,196 | ACCEPTED | Current sensing system | A current sensing system comprises a current transformer; a burden resistor connected across a secondary of the current transformer; a piezo-optic sensor coupled to the burden resistor, comprising a piezoelectric transducer, an optical fiber and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth; and an optical interrogator, configured for sending an originating signal to the first bandwidth optical filter and receiving a resulting data signal and a second optical filter with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal. | 1. A system for obtaining currents in high voltage environments, comprising: a current transformer for sensing current flowing in a conductor, the current transformer including a secondary winding; a burden resistor coupled to the secondary winding; a piezo-optic sensor coupled to the burden resistor, the piezo-optic sensor including a piezoelectric transducer, an optical fiber and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth; and an optical interrogator coupled to the optical fiber, the optical interrogator configured for sending an originating signal to the first optical filter and receiving a resulting data signal, the optical interrogator comprising a second optical filter with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal, the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth at least partially overlapping. 2. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the optical interrogator further comprises a broadband light source for providing the originating signal. 3. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first optical filter comprises a grating. 4. The current sensing system of claim 3, wherein the grating comprises a Bragg grating. 5. The current sensing system of claim 3, wherein the grating comprises a long period grating. 6. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first optical filter comprises a Fabry Perot in-fiber cavity. 7. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the second optical filter comprises a grating. 8. The current sensing system of claim 7, wherein the second optical filter comprises a chirped grating. 9. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the second optical filter comprises a broadband filter. 10. The current sensing system of claim 9, wherein an overlap of the first and second bandwidths is in a non-zero slope region in the transmission or reflection spectrum of the second optical filter. 11. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first optical filter comprises a transmissive optical filter. 12. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the optical interrogator further comprises a data signal photodetector for converting the filtered resulting data signal into an electrical signal. 13. The current sensing system of claim 12, further comprising process and control instrumentation for using the electrical signal to obtain the currents. 14. The current sensing system of claim 12, further including a reference signal photodetector, and wherein the optical interrogator further includes a receiving splitter configured to couple the resulting data signal to the second optical filter and to the reference signal photodetector. 15. The current sensing system of claim 14, wherein the optical interrogator includes a differential amplifier, the differential amplifier configured to compare power outputs of the data signal photodetector and the reference signal photodetector. 16. The current sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first optical filter comprises a reflective optical filter. 17. A system for obtaining currents in high voltage environments, comprising: a plurality of current transformers for sensing current, each including a secondary winding; a plurality of burden resistors, each coupled to a respective one of the secondary windings; an optical fiber; a plurality of piezo-optic sensors, each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of burden resistors and each including the optical fiber, a piezoelectric transducer and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth; and an optical interrogator coupled to the optical fiber, the optical interrogator configured for sending an originating signal to the plurality of first optical filters and receiving a resulting data signal, the optical interrogator comprising a plurality of second optical filters with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal, bandwidths of respective first and second optical filters at least partially overlapping. 18. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein the optical interrogator further comprises at least one broadband light source for providing the originating signal. 19. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least two of the first optical filters have different frequency responses. 20. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the first optical filters comprises a grating. 21. The current sensing system of claim 20, wherein the grating comprises a Bragg grating. 22. The current sensing system of claim 20, wherein the grating comprises a long period grating. 23. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the first optical filters comprises a Fabry Perot in-fiber cavity. 24. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the second optical filters comprises a grating. 25. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the second optical filters comprises a chirped grating. 26. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the second optical filters comprises a broadband filter. 27. The current sensing system of claim 26, wherein an overlap of the first and second bandwidths is in a non-zero slope region in the transmission or reflection spectrum of the second optical filter. 28. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein the first optical filters comprise transmissive optical filters. 29. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein the optical interrogator includes a plurality of data signal photodetectors for converting the filtered resulting data signal into electrical signals. 30. The current sensing system of claim 29, further comprising process and control instrumentation for using the electrical signals to obtain currents. 31. The current sensing system of claim 29, wherein the optical interrogator further comprises a plurality of reference signal photodetectors and a plurality of receiving splitters, wherein the plurality of receiving splitters are configured to couple the resulting data signal to the plurality of second optical filters and to the plurality of reference signal photodetectors. 32. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein the first optical filters comprise reflective optical filters. 33. The current sensing system of claim 32, wherein the optical interrogator further comprises an optical wavelength demultiplexer to separate optical signals originating from the plurality of first optical filters, the optical wavelength demultiplexer configured to couple the separated resulting data signal into the plurality of receiving splitters. 34. The current sensing system of claim 32, wherein the optical interrogator includes a plurality of differential amplifiers, the differential amplifiers configured to compare power outputs of respective data signal and reference signal photodetectors. 35. A system for obtaining currents in high voltage environments, comprising: a plurality of current transformers for sensing current, the current transformers each including a secondary winding; a plurality of burden resistors coupled to the respective ones of the plurality of secondary windings of the secondary transformers; a piezo-optic sensor module comprising a housing and a plurality of piezoelectric transducers, each transducer coupled to a respective one of the plurality of burden resistors; and an optical interrogator module coupled to the piezo-optic sensor module. 36. The system of claim 35 wherein the plurality of burden resistors are situated within the housing. 37. The system of claim 35 wherein the plurality of burden resistors are situated outside the housing. 38. The current sensing system of claim 35, wherein the piezo-optic sensors each comprise a piezoelectric transducer, an optical fiber and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth. 39. The current sensing system of claim 35, wherein the optical interrogator module comprises at least one broadband light source for sending an originating signal to a plurality of first optical filters and receiving a resulting data signal and a plurality of second optical filters with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal, the bandwidths of the first optical filter and the optical filter at least partially overlapping. 40. The current sensing system of claim 39, wherein the optical interrogator module further comprises data signal photodetectors coupled to the plurality of second optical filters, reference signal photodetectors, receiving splitters configured to couple the resulting data signal to the plurality of second optical filters and to the reference signal photodetectors, an optical wavelength demultiplexer to separate optical signals originating from the plurality of first optical filters, the optical wavelength demultiplexer configured to couple the separated resulting data signal into the plurality of receiving splitters, and a plurality of differential amplifiers, the differential amplifiers configured to compare power outputs of respective data signal and reference signal photodetectors. 41. The current sensing system of claim 35, wherein the piezo-optic sensors each comprise a piezoelectric transducer, a first optical filter with a first bandwidth, the first optical filters separated by sufficient space along the optical fiber for time division multiplexing of the resulting data signal. 42. The current sensing system of claim 17, wherein the first optical filters are separated by sufficient space along the optical fiber for time division multiplexing of the resulting data signal. | BACKGROUND The invention relates generally to current sensing systems. In particular, the invention relates to optically interrogated systems. Measurement of currents flowing in high-voltage environments is highly desirable, especially in power transmission and distribution systems. Transmission systems react dynamically to changes in active and reactive power. For power transmission to be economical and the risk of power system failure to be low, reactive compensation systems are desirable, particularly systems capable of simultaneously monitoring current flow at several points on a grid. High-voltage current transformers (CTs) are traditionally used in the utility industry to measure currents flowing on transmission lines at voltages up to 735 kV. Use of high-voltage CTs is very costly, ranging into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, because of the cost of large, oil-filled insulating columns that provide the mechanical support for a large current transformer and ensure sufficient dielectric insulation from measurement point to ground. As an alternative to high-voltage current transformers, optical current sensors are sometimes used. Optical current sensors typically rely upon the Faraday effect, whereby the magnetic field created by the alternating current alters the polarization of light flowing in fiber near the conductor. The method for extracting this information from fiber is very intricate and costly. In one example complex, active power supplies are located at line potential. These supplies derive electrical power from the transmission line or a ground-based laser and provide power to electronics that actively sample, multiplex, and transmit optical digital signals over fiber to ground-potential equipment. There is a need therefore for low cost high-voltage current metering and instrumentation. There is a particular need for a current measuring system that allows for multiplexing, which can be economically scaled and used in applications where instrumentation of multiple channels is required. Additionally, a completely passive current sensor, eliminating any need for auxiliary power circuits at the high-voltage level, is highly desirable in high-voltage equipment, where a sensor failure can require costly outages to allow for repair. BRIEF DESCRIPTION Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a high voltage current measuring system comprises a current transformer (CT), a burden resistor connected across a secondary of the CT, a piezo-optic sensor coupled to the burden resistor, and an optical interrogator. The piezo-optic sensor comprises a piezoelectric transducer, an optical fiber and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth. The optical interrogator is configured for sending an originating signal to the first optical filter and receiving a resulting data signal and comprises a second optical filter with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal. The first bandwidth and the second bandwidth at least partially overlap. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, multiple CTs are positioned on various points of a transmission network, burden resistors connected across secondary windings of the CTs are coupled to a piezo-optic sensor module, and an optical interrogator module is coupled to the piezo-optic sensor module. DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference-to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an optically interrogated current sensor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a multiplexed current sensor system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a reactive compensation system incorporating an embodiment of the optically interrogated current sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention relate to optically interrogated, high voltage current sensors. In one embodiment of the present invention, a current transformer (CT) 12, isolated from ground potential and mounted to a conductor 10, is used to measure current flowing in a conductor 10 at line voltage. CT 12 typically comprises a low voltage current transformer, including a secondary winding, such as a 600V class transformer, for example. The CT secondary 14 is coupled to a burden resistor 16 and the voltage drop across the burden resistor 16 is applied to a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) 18. Piezo-optic sensor 19 includes the PZT 18, and a first optical filter 20 with a first bandwidth, configured to have to a wavelength response and bonded to the PZT 18. Piezo-optic sensor 19 is located at the high-voltage conductor in one embodiment as shown in FIG. 1 or is alternatively located remote from conductor 10 as shown in FIG. 3. The burden resistor 16 is sized to provide sufficient driving voltage for the PZT 18. The PZT 18 expands and contracts in response to alternating current and transients and effectively modulates the wavelength response of the first optical filter bonded to it. A wideband light source 24 (that is, a source or collection of sources capable of emitting light over a range of wavelengths) at the ground is coupled into an optical fiber 32 and is used to optically interrogate the first optical filter 20 by providing an originating signal. The first optical filter 20 transmits (FIG. 1) or reflects (FIG. 2) a narrowband (frequency) of optical energy (the resulting data signal). In embodiments such as shown in FIG. 2 wherein reflected light is used as the resulting data signal, an originating splitter 34 typically has one end coupled to the light source and a second end coupled to transmit the resulting data signal. Although the transmission type first optical filter is shown in the single sensor illustration of FIG. 1 and the reflection type first optical filter is shown in the multiple sensor illustration of FIG. 2, either filter arrangement can be used in single or multiple sensor embodiments. As PZT 18 modulates the wavelength response of the first optical filter 20, the wavelength of the resulting data signal shifts, effectively performing frequency modulation (FM) in the optical domain. The resulting data signal is passed to a second optical filter 26 with a second bandwidth. Second optical filter 26 is chosen such that the amplitude of the filtered resulting data signal varies with wavelength of the resulting data signal. As the resulting data signal modulates in frequency around a specific wavelength, the filtered resulting data signal through the second optical filter 26 modulates in amplitude. This optical, amplitude-modulated signal is presented to a data signal photodetector 28 for conversion to an electrical signal. The electrical signal is passed to an instrumentation and control system 42 for further electronic processing to retrieve the sensed current information. One non-limiting example of the first optical filter is a Bragg grating. Another non-limiting example of the first optical filter is a long period grating. Typically a Bragg grating consists of refractive index modulation along a portion of a fiber with a specified period. Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) are based on the principle of Bragg reflection. When light propagates through periodically alternating regions of higher and lower refractive index, the light is partially reflected at each interface between those regions. A series of evenly spaced regions results in significant reflections at a single frequency while all other frequencies are transmitted. When a Bragg grating is used, the grating thus acts as a notch filter, which reflects light of a certain wavelength. Since the frequency, which is reflected, is dependent on the grating period, a small change in the length of the fiber can be detected as a frequency shift. More specifically, strain induced in the fiber changes the grating period, which alters the center frequency of the filter. Since the optical fiber is bonded to the PZT 18, the frequency shift in the reflected light is in proportion to the deformation of the PZT. This in turn is proportional to the voltage applied, which in turn depends on the current measured. Therefore, the shift in wavelength is proportional to the current flow in the conductor. Long period gratings are similar to fiber Bragg gratings in that a periodic change in refractive index is created in the fiber core. However, a long period grating has a period that is typically several orders of magnitude larger than the period of a fiber Bragg grating. The long period grating acts as a notch filter for transmitted light, with a wavelength response that can be modulated by applied voltage through the PZT. One alternative to fiber gratings, for example, is a Fabry-Perot in-fiber sensor, which reflects light strongly at several wavelengths. The pattern of reflected light is affected by the width of the Fabry-Perot cavity. This pattern can be modulated by applied voltage through the PZT. One non-limiting example of the second optical filter is a chirped grating. Typically in a chirped grating, the grating spacing differentially changes along the length of the grating. The amplitude of the signal filtered through the grating varies as the wavelength of the signal varies, effectively performing amplitude modulation of the input optical signal. Another non-limiting example of the second optical filter is a broadband filter. Typically such an optical filter has a non-zero slope region at the edge of the bandwidth in its transmission or reflection spectrum. If the first and second optical filters are so configured that the wavelengths of light emerging from the first optical filter and incident on the second optical filter, fall along the non-zero slope region of the second optical filter in the reflection or transmission spectrum, then the signal emerging from the second optical filter will modulate in amplitude as the wavelength shifts up and down the non-zero slope region. Another non-limiting example of a second optical filter is an optical filter whose transmission or reflection spectral envelope overlaps partially with the transmission or reflection spectral envelope of the first optical filter. As the spectral envelope of the first optical filter varies due to variation in the sensed current, the extent of overlap varies, leading to variation in amplitude of the incident light transmitted or reflected by the second optical filter. To further refine the signal analysis, an optional receiving splitter 36 (FIG. 2) can be used. Receiving splitter 36 is configured to couple the resulting data signal from the first optical filter to the second optical filter 26 and to a reference signal photodetector 30. Differential amplifier 40 is configured to obtain the difference in signals obtained by data signal photodetector 28 (the filtered portion of the resulting data signal) and reference signal photodetector 40 (the unfiltered portion of the resulting data signal). The above-described embodiments were primarily described in terms of a single CT, resistor, and Piezo-optic sensor for purposes of example, however, each system may include one or more of each such elements and “a” as used herein is intended to mean “at least one.” When a plurality of CTs are used, such CTs may conveniently share a common optical fiber 32. In the reflective example of FIG. 2, first optical filter 20 comprises a reflective optical filter, and optical fiber 32 is coupled to originating splitter 34 having one end for coupling to the light source 24 for providing the originating optical signal, and a second end coupled to a wavelength demultiplexer 38. The signal is used to optically interrogate the first optical filters 20 bonded to the piezoelectric transducers 18. At wavelength demultiplexer 38, the multiplexed data signal is demultiplexed and the separated signals are passed on to the respective ones of a plurality of receiving splitters 36. The receiving splitters 36 are configured to couple the resulting data signal to the respective second optical filter 26 and to the respective reference signal photodetector 30. The second filter 26 is chosen such that the amplitude of the filtered signal varies with the wavelength of the signal. As the signal modulates in frequency around a specific wavelength, the filtered signal through the second optical filter 26 modulates in amplitude. This optical, amplitude-modulated data signal is presented to a data signal photodetector 28 for conversion to an electrical signal. The reference data signal is passed onto a reference signal detector 30. The use of the reference signal ensures that the observed amplitude variations in the data signal are due only to the current signal of interest. The outputs of the data signal photodetector 28 and the reference signal photodetector 30 are compared at a differential amplifier 40. The amplified difference signal is passed to instrumentation and control system 42 for further electronic processing to retrieve the sensed current information. In another embodiment of the present invention, particularly applicable in reactive compensation systems for power transmission networks 48, several low-voltage (600V class) current transformers (CT) 12, completely isolated from ground potential are mounted at several points on conductors 10 in a transmission network 48 (FIG. 3). Each CT secondary 14 is coupled to a burden resistor 16 or 116 and the voltage drop across the burden resistor coupled to a piezo-optic sensor in a piezo-optic sensor module 44 located on a platform. Burden resistor 16 or 116 may be situated either inside or outside the module housing. The optical interrogator module 46 interrogates the piezo-optic sensors by sending an originating broadband signal along at least one optical fiber 32. Each piezo-optic sensor, including a piezoelectric transducer and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth, is configured to respond in different wavelength regions. The sensor responds to changes in current causing the center frequency of the filter to shift. The optical interrogator module 46, from at least one optical fiber 32, receives the resulting optical data signal. The optical data signal originating from different piezo-optic sensors are demultiplexed by demultiplexers, filtered through second optical filters with a second bandwidth and converted to electric signals by photodetectors housed in the optical interrogator module 44. The electrical signal is further processed and the information on current flow at various points on the network is passed on to a controller to enable dynamic control of the power flow in the system. In an embodiment, which may be an alternative or used in combination with the frequency-multiplexing embodiment, a time division-multiplexing scheme could be used. In this embodiment, reflected or transmitted signals from the various filters could be resolved by observing the signals at different times. Since the gratings are separated in space on the same fiber, the time of arrival of reflected or transmitted signals will be different for each CT. The previously described embodiments of the present invention have many advantages, including being low cost and being applicable in systems where simultaneous monitoring of current flow through several points on a conductor is required. The optical interrogation of the current sensor in the present invention is simple and avoids the complexities involved in optical current sensors exploiting the Faraday or Kerr effect. The optically interrogated current sensors of the present invention would be useful in monitoring current flow in complex transmission networks and in high voltage equipment. While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The invention relates generally to current sensing systems. In particular, the invention relates to optically interrogated systems. Measurement of currents flowing in high-voltage environments is highly desirable, especially in power transmission and distribution systems. Transmission systems react dynamically to changes in active and reactive power. For power transmission to be economical and the risk of power system failure to be low, reactive compensation systems are desirable, particularly systems capable of simultaneously monitoring current flow at several points on a grid. High-voltage current transformers (CTs) are traditionally used in the utility industry to measure currents flowing on transmission lines at voltages up to 735 kV. Use of high-voltage CTs is very costly, ranging into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, because of the cost of large, oil-filled insulating columns that provide the mechanical support for a large current transformer and ensure sufficient dielectric insulation from measurement point to ground. As an alternative to high-voltage current transformers, optical current sensors are sometimes used. Optical current sensors typically rely upon the Faraday effect, whereby the magnetic field created by the alternating current alters the polarization of light flowing in fiber near the conductor. The method for extracting this information from fiber is very intricate and costly. In one example complex, active power supplies are located at line potential. These supplies derive electrical power from the transmission line or a ground-based laser and provide power to electronics that actively sample, multiplex, and transmit optical digital signals over fiber to ground-potential equipment. There is a need therefore for low cost high-voltage current metering and instrumentation. There is a particular need for a current measuring system that allows for multiplexing, which can be economically scaled and used in applications where instrumentation of multiple channels is required. Additionally, a completely passive current sensor, eliminating any need for auxiliary power circuits at the high-voltage level, is highly desirable in high-voltage equipment, where a sensor failure can require costly outages to allow for repair. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION <EOH>Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a high voltage current measuring system comprises a current transformer (CT), a burden resistor connected across a secondary of the CT, a piezo-optic sensor coupled to the burden resistor, and an optical interrogator. The piezo-optic sensor comprises a piezoelectric transducer, an optical fiber and a first optical filter with a first bandwidth. The optical interrogator is configured for sending an originating signal to the first optical filter and receiving a resulting data signal and comprises a second optical filter with a second bandwidth for filtering the resulting data signal. The first bandwidth and the second bandwidth at least partially overlap. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, multiple CTs are positioned on various points of a transmission network, burden resistors connected across secondary windings of the CTs are coupled to a piezo-optic sensor module, and an optical interrogator module is coupled to the piezo-optic sensor module. | 20040617 | 20080701 | 20051222 | 76356.0 | 0 | TRAN, DZUNG D | CURRENT SENSING SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,305 | ACCEPTED | Method of variable position strap mounting for RFID transponder | A method of coupling an RFID chip to an antenna includes the steps of, iteratively until a test criterion is met, positioning an RFID chip relative to an antenna and testing the RFID chip and antenna. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip is coupled with the antenna. A method of coupling an RFID chip to one of a plurality of various antennas is also provided. A method of coupling an RFID chip to an antenna on an object is also provided. | 1. A method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna, the method comprising: iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the RFID transponder; once the test criterion is met, coupling the RFID chip to the antenna. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the test criterion includes a predetermined test criterion. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the test criterion includes a result comparison-based test criterion. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna is a dipole antenna comprising two antenna portions. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the two antenna portions includes at least one extended strap bond portion. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna includes a slot antenna. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna includes a loop antenna. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna includes a hole antenna. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID chip is part of an RFID strap that includes strap leads mounted to the chip. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the position of the chip and antenna relative to each other in a first direction. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the position of the chip and antenna relative to each other in a second direction. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the attach angle between the chip and the antenna. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing includes determining the resonant frequencies of the transponder. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum energy absorption of the transponder. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum radiation coupling of the transponder. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing includes determining the reflection and/or re-radiation of RF energy in amplitude and/or phase of the transponder. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing includes testing the communication properties of the transponder. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning and testing is performed simultaneously. 19. A method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna, the method comprising: iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder; once the test criterion is met, coupling the RFID chip with the antenna. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the test criterion includes a predetermined test criterion. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the test criterion includes a result comparison-based test criterion. 22. The method of claim 19, wherein the RFID chip is part of an RFID strap that includes strap leads mounted to the chip. 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the antenna structure includes a plurality of various dipole antennas. 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the testing includes determining the resonant frequencies of the transponder. 25. The method of claim 19, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum energy absorption of the transponder. 26. The method of claim 19, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum radiation coupling of the transponder. 27. The method of claim 19, wherein the testing includes determining the reflection and/or re-radiation of RF energy in amplitude and/or phase of the transponder. 28. The method of claim 19, wherein the testing includes testing the communication properties of the transponder. 29. The method of claim 19, wherein the positioning and testing is performed simultaneously. 30. A method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object comprising: applying an antenna to the object; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the RFID transponder; once the test criterion is met, coupling the RFID chip to the antenna 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the test criterion includes a predetermined test criterion. 32. The method of claim 30, wherein the test criterion includes a result comparison-based test criterion. 33. The method of claim 30, wherein the antenna is a dipole antenna comprising two antenna portions. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein at least one of the two antenna portions includes at least one extended strap bond portion. 35. The method of claim 30, wherein the antenna includes a slot antenna. 36. The method of claim 30, wherein the antenna includes a loop antenna. 37. The method of claim 30, wherein the antenna includes a hole antenna. 38. The method of claim 30, wherein the RFID chip is part of an RFID strap that includes strap leads mounted to the chip. 39. The method of claim 30, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the position of the chip and antenna relative to each other in a first direction. 40. The method of claim 30, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the position of the chip and antenna relative to each other in a second direction. 41. The method of claim 30, wherein the positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other includes adjusting the attach angle between the chip and the antenna. 42. The method of claim 30, wherein the testing includes determining the resonant frequencies of the transponder. 43. The method of claim 30, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum energy absorption of the transponder. 44. The method of claim 30, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum radiation coupling. 45. The method of claim 30, wherein the testing includes determining the reflection and/or re-radiation of RF energy in amplitude and/or phase. 46. The method of claim 30, wherein the testing includes testing communication properties. 47. The method of claim 30, wherein the object includes a package. 48. The method of claim 47, wherein the package is packed prior to coupling the RFID chip with the antenna. 49. The method of claim 30, wherein the object includes fabric. 50. The method of claim 30, wherein the positioning and testing is performed simultaneously. 51. A method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object comprising: applying an antenna structure to the object, the antenna structure including a plurality of antennas; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder; once the test criterion is met, coupling the RFID chip with the antenna. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein the test criterion includes a predetermined test criterion. 53. The method of claim 51, wherein the test criterion includes a result comparison-based test criterion. 54. The method of claim 51, wherein the chip is part of a strap that includes strap leads mounted to the chip. 55. The method of claim 51, wherein the antenna structure includes a plurality of various dipole antennas. 56. The method of claim 51, wherein the testing includes determining the resonant frequencies of the transponder. 57. The method of claim 51, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum energy absorption of the transponder. 58. The method of claim 51, wherein the testing includes determining the frequency of maximum radiation coupling of the transponder. 59. The method of claim 51, wherein the testing includes determining the reflection and/or re-radiation of RF energy in amplitude and/or phase of the transponder. 60. The method of claim 51, wherein the testing includes testing the communication properties of the transponder. 61. The method of claim 51, wherein the object includes a package. 62. The method of claim 52, wherein the package is packed prior to coupling the chip with the antenna. 63. The method of claim 51, wherein the positioning and testing is performed continuously. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the assembly of electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the assembly of radio frequency identification (RFID) straps interposers and/or tags. 2. Description of the Related Art Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and labels (collectively referred to herein as “devices”) are widely used to associate an object with an identification code. RFID devices generally have a combination of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics, which may include for example communications electronics, data memory, and control logic. Furthermore the RFID devices include structures to support and protect the antennas and electronics, and to mount or attach them to objects. For example, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars, for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels. Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,292, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. As noted above, RFID devices are generally categorized as labels or tags. RFID labels are RFID devices that are adhesively or otherwise attached directly to objects. RFID tags, in contrast, are secured to objects by other means, for example by use of a plastic fastener, string or other fastening means. In addition, as discussed below, as an alternative to RFID tags and labels it is possible to mount or incorporate some or all of the antennas and electronics directly on the objects. As used herein, the term “transponders” refers both to RFID devices and to RFID combinations of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics wherein the antenna and/or electronics are mounted directly on the objects. In many applications the size and shape (form factor) of RFID devices, and mechanical properties such as flexibility, are critical. For reasons such as security, aesthetics, and manufacturing efficiency there is a strong tendency toward smaller form factors. Where thinness and flexibility are desired, it is important to avoid materials (such as bulky electronics) and constructions that add undue thickness or stiffness to the RFID tag or label. RFID devices on the other hand should have adequate electrical connections, mechanical support, and appropriate positioning of the components (chips, chip connectors, antennas). Structures for these purposes can add complexity, thickness and inflexibility to an RFID device. Another significant form factor, for example in thin flat tags and labels, is the area of the device, and performance requirements of the antenna can affect this area. For example, in the case of a dipole antenna the antenna typically should have a physical length approximately one-half wavelength of the RF device's operating frequency. While the length of this type of antenna may be short for the operating frequency of an RF tag, it may still be larger than many desired RFID device form factors. In many applications it is desirable to reduce the size of the electronics as small as possible. In order to interconnect very small chips with antennas in RFID inlets, it is known to use a structure variously called “straps”, “interposers”, and “carriers” to facilitate device manufacture. Straps include conductive leads or pads that are electrically coupled to the contact pads of the chips for coupling to the antennas. These pads may be used to provide a larger effective electrical contact area than a chip precisely aligned for direct placement without an interposer. The larger area reduces the accuracy required for placement of chips during manufacture while still providing effective electrical connection. Chip placement and mounting are serious limitations for high-speed manufacture. The prior art discloses a variety of RFID strap or interposer structures, typically using a flexible substrate that carries the strap's contact pads or leads. RFID devices incorporating straps or interposers are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,247 and in European Patent Publication 1 039 543, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. Another consideration is effectiveness of operation of RFID transponders in various operating environments and conditions. For example, operation of an RFID transponder may be affected by the composition of the surface to which it is mounted, the moisture content of the surface to which it is mounted, and various other aspects of an operating environment. Metallic objects in the operating environment, including other RFID transponders, can shift the resonant frequency of an RFID transponder thereby decreasing its effective range. Metallic objects may also reflect an RFID signal, and other objects, such as humans, may absorb RFID signals. Moisture content and/or humidity in the operating environment have further been known to adversely affect RFID transponder performance. While the effects of these materials and operating environment conditions may be avoided by removing them from the RFID operating environment, it is often not practical to do so. For example, when using an RFID transponder to track a package containing a metallic object, it may not be practical to remove the metallic object from the package to facilitate reading the RFID transponder. Antennas of RFID transponders may be tuned to improve performance in various environments and conditions. One method of tuning an antenna is to provide an antenna with one or more additional conductor portions adjacent to the elements of the antenna. By adjusting the additional conductor portion length, width, and/or spacing distance, and/or the number of conductor portions, the antenna impedance can be changed. This may typically be done mechanically by adding or removing portions of the additional conductor portions and/or by connecting the additional portions with each other and the antenna. By varying the impedance of the antenna, the resonant frequency may be adjusted to compensate for operating environment conditions. However, this method is not well suited for high-speed, low cost implementation of RFID transponders because it may require adding or removing elements of an antenna and manipulation of more than one component. A known way to form an RFID transponder on an object, such as a package is to mount or form one or more antennas directly on the object, then couple the electronics to the antenna. Various patented combinations of packages with RFID transponders produced in this manner include: U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,920 assigned to Motorola (FIGS. 14 and 15 show a package blank with directly formed antenna, and an RFID circuit chip secured to the package surface); U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,369 assigned to Moore North America (antenna sections printed in conductive ink on a package or envelope, with a label containing an RFID device bridging the antenna sections); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,092 assigned to International Paper (capacitive antenna having two pads separated by a gap embedded in packaging linerboard, with an interposer including an RFID processor coupled between the antenna pads). It is also known to incorporate this type of transponder in combination with fabric articles such as clothing, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,917 assigned to Philips Electronics. In comparison with the production of RFID devices with antennas and electronics that have been predesigned for improved performance, however, this method of producing RFID transponders on objects suffers the shortcoming that the coupling of the electronics to the antenna may yield sub-optimal, inferior performance. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method of making an RFID transponder wherein the configuration of the transponder is dynamically altered to tune a desired characteristic of the transponder in response to various operating environment factors. From the foregoing it will be seen there is room for improvement of RFID transponders and manufacturing processes relating thereto. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an chip and an antenna is provided. The method comprises, iteratively until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other to thereby configure the transponder; and testing the RFID transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the chip and the antenna are coupled. According to another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna is provided. The method comprises, iteratively until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip and the antenna are coupled. According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object is provided. The method comprises: applying an antenna to the object; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the RFID transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip is coupled to the antenna. According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object is provided. The method comprises: applying an antenna structure to the object, the antenna structure including a plurality of antennas; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip and the antenna are coupled. In one embodiment the object comprises a package. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the annexed drawings, which are not necessarily according to scale, FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a method of coupling an RFID strap to an antenna, according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an plan view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 3 is an plan view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 4 is an plan view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 5 is an plan view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 6 is an plan view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method of coupling an RFID strap to an antenna using a pressure sensitive adhesive according to the invention; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an RFID strap on a label substrate according to the invention; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an RFID transponder according to the invention; and FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method of coupling an RFID strap to an antenna according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A method of coupling an RFID chip to an antenna includes the steps of, iteratively until a test criterion is met, positioning an RFID chip relative to an antenna and testing the RFID chip and antenna. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip is coupled with the antenna. A method of coupling an RFID chip to one of a plurality of various antennas is also provided. A method of coupling an RFID chip to an antenna on an object is also provided. In FIG. 1, a flowchart depicting a method 5 of variable attachment of an RFID strap to an antenna is shown. The method 5 begins with providing a web of antenna structures in process step 12. The web of antenna structures may be a web of antenna structures as disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/805,938. In process step 14, a web of RFID straps is provided. An individual RFID strap is picked, separated, or severed from the web of RFID straps and positioned on an antenna structure in process steps 16 and 18, respectively. Once the RFID strap is positioned on an antenna, the RFID transponder is tested in process step 20. In process step 22, if the test results satisfy a test criterion, the RFID strap is coupled to the antenna in step 26. If the test results do not meet the test criterion, the method diverts to process step 24 where a decision is made whether to revert to process step 18 or to terminate the method. If the decision is to terminate the method, the method ends at process step 28. If the decision is to revert to process step 18, the RFID strap is positioned on the antenna in a new position. The transponder is then tested in process step 20. The method continues until either the test results satisfy the test criterion, at which time the RFID strap is coupled to the antenna in process step 26, or the method is terminated via process step 24. As described in more detail herein, because the electrical characteristics of a transponder, which includes the strap and the antenna, may be altered by varying the position of the strap and antenna with respect to each other, each time the strap and antenna are repositioned the resulting transponder may exhibit unique electrical characteristics. Thus, it will be appreciated that multiple “temporary” transponders may be configured and tested in process steps 18 and 20, respectively, before a transponder is produced that satisfies the test criteria in process step 22 and the strap is coupled with the antenna in process step 26. It will be appreciated that there are two main classes of tests that may be performed when testing the RFID transponder. The first class includes tests that directly measure a parameter of the tag at the intended, or related RF frequency. The second class includes tests performed at the intended or related RF frequency that measure some parameter related to communication between the tag and reading system. Thus, testing the RFID transponder may include testing properties of the RFID transponder such as the resonant frequency, the frequency of maximum energy absorption, the frequency of maximum radiation coupling, reflection and/or re-radiation of RF energy in amplitude and/or phase, or a defined state of communication wherein the RFID transponder successfully carries out various tasks including reading data, writing data and any statistical measurement on such data communication, and/or other suitable parameters. The testing may involve direct measurement of the testing properties, or may involve indirect determination of such properties by measurement of other properties. It will be appreciated that by altering the alignment of the RFID strap to the antenna structure, one or more of the electrical properties of the RFID transponder may be altered. As previously mentioned, various operating environment conditions may interfere with the function of an RFID transponder. Thus, by testing various configurations of the RFID strap and antenna before coupling, the RFID transponder may be configured and assembled to operate more reliably in the given operating environment. Testing the RFID transponder is generally performed when the strap is not fixed to the antenna (i.e., pre-attachment). The strap may be held by an applicator head and electrically coupled with the antenna structure for testing. However, mechanical coupling of the RFID chip or strap to the antenna structure generally will not occur until the test criteria are met. Various environmental conditions present during testing, such as the testing equipment itself, may interfere with or alter the performance and/or electrical properties of the RFID transponder. Further, the performance and/or electrical properties of an RFID transponder may vary between the pre-attachment and post-attachment assemblies. Therefore, the test criteria may be developed and selected to account for these variances. For example, and as discussed in more detail below, when using a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) to capacitively couple an RFID strap to an antenna, the capacitance of the RFID transponder changes when the PSA is compressed (i.e., post-attachment). Such pre-attachment and post-attachment variations are typically predictable and may be determined theoretically or through testing, and accounted for during testing and/or assembly. The term “test criterion,” as used herein, includes a wide variety of criteria for acceptable performance. A test criterion may be a predetermined criterion, meeting some level of performance that is determined before testing. For example, the test criterion may be the frequency of maximum energy absorption is within some given percentage of a desired operating frequency of an RFID reader which is to read the RFID transponder. Alternatively, a test criterion may include some result based on a comparison of various test results. Such a test criterion is referred to herein as a result comparison-based test criterion. For example, a result comparison-based test criterion may involve selecting a relative alignment position in which the frequency of maximum energy absorption is closest to an operating frequency for an RFID reader which is to read the RFID transponder. For result comparison-based criteria a suitable memory device may be used to record the various test results and alignment positions associated with each test result. Thus, for result comparison-based test criteria, the iterative positioning and testing process may involve a certain predetermined number of positioning and testing iterations, or a certain minimum number of positioning and testing iterations. Test criteria may also involve a combination of predetermined criteria and result comparison-based criteria. For example, a predetermined criterion may be set for acceptance of the first test result. If the predetermined criterion is not met for the first test, the criterion may be relaxed in predetermined steps for each subsequent test, widening the range of results that would be considered acceptable. Results of previous tests and corresponding alignment positions may be maintained in a memory, to allow previous alignments to be returned to if they are acceptable under a relaxed acceptance criterion. As will be described in greater detail below, a wide variety of types of re-positioning may be used in finding an acceptable alignment of strap and antenna. The strap may be translated and/or rotated a specified amount relative to contacts of an antenna. Alternatively, an antenna structure may include multiple types of antenna elements performance of which in conjunction with the strap may be tested in succession. It will be appreciated that the method 5 may be terminated in process step 24 for a variety of reasons. For example, in some instances it may be impractical or impossible to satisfy a test criterion due to physical limitations of the strap and/or antenna, or due to a defective strap and/or antenna. In either situation, it may be advantageous to terminate the method before a test criterion is met. In other situations the method may be terminated by process step 24 after a given number of unsuccessful attempts to satisfy a test criterion. In still other situations, the method may be terminated by process step 24 because it is determined that a strap is not intended to be coupled with a particular antenna. For example, in the case of applying straps to antennas on products as discussed in more detail herein, some customers may require RFID devices to be integrated into the product and other customers may not. Thus, if the product is to be sent to a customer that does not require RFID transponders to be incorporated into the product, process step 24 can terminate the process prior to coupling a strap to the antenna. Turning to FIG. 24, various RFID transponders produced by the method of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 2, an RFID transponder 50 is shown. The RFID transponder 50 includes a strap 54 mounted to antenna portions 52. The strap includes a chip 58 and strap leads 56. The antenna portions 52 include extended bond portions 53 that enable a strap 54 to be coupled with the antenna portions 52 in a multitude of positions. In FIG. 2, the strap leads 56 of the strap 54 are coupled to the extended bond portions 53 of the antenna portions 52 in a first position. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the strap 54 is coupled to the extended bond portions 53 of the antenna portions 52 in second and third alternative positions. The strap 54 may be coupled to the conductor by any of a variety of suitable methods, such as, by use of a conductive or non-conductive adhesive, by use of welding and/or soldering, or by electroplating. It will be appreciated that the extended strap bond portions 53 allow attachment of the strap 54 in a virtually infinite variety of positions. Adjusting the relative position of attachment of the strap 54 to the antenna portions 52 alters the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 50 by effectively altering the antenna configuration. In the case of a simple dipole antenna, adjusting the strap position will tune the effective resonant frequency of the antenna. Thus, the position of attachment can be adjusted to compensate for variations in the operating environment such as moisture content or the package contents that may otherwise adversely affect the performance of the RFID transponder. The configuration of the RFID transponders 50 shown in FIGS. 2-4 may be produced by the method of FIG. 1. For example, the RFID strap 54 may first be aligned with the extended strap bond portions 53 of antenna portions 52 as shown in FIG. 2. The RFID transponder 50 comprising the strap 54 and the antenna portions 52 will then be tested to determine whether the electrical properties of the transponder satisfy a test criterion. If the electrical properties are satisfactory, the RFID strap 54 will be coupled with the antenna portions 52 forming the RFID transponder 50 of FIG. 2. If, however, the electrical properties of the RFID strap 54 and the antenna portions 52 are not satisfactory, the RFID strap 54 is repositioned on the extended strap bond portions 53 of antenna portions 52. For example, the strap 54 may be repositioned as shown in FIG. 3. The configuration of the RFID transponder 50 shown in FIG. 3 will then be tested to determine whether the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 50 satisfy the test criterion. If the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 50 are satisfactory, the RFID strap 54 will be coupled with the antenna portions 52 to form the RFID transponder 50. If the electrical properties are not satisfactory, the RFID strap 54 may again be repositioned on the extended strap bond portions 53 of the antenna portions 52. For example, in FIG. 4, the RFID strap 54 is positioned on the extended strap bond portions 53 of the antenna portions 54 at a strap attach angle θ, forming another configuration of the RFID transponder 50. The process will continue until the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 50 are satisfactory, at which time the RFID strap 54 is coupled in any suitable manner with the antenna portions 52. It will be appreciated that the position of the strap 54 on the antenna portions 52 may be varied in any suitable direction including the X-axis, Y-axis, and strap angle θ. The extended strap bond portions 53 shown in the figures may allow a wider range of variation of strap attach positions but extended strap bond portions are not required. Other types of antenna structures in addition to dipole antennas may also be used such as patch, slot and loop antennas. Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, another RFID transponder produced according to a method of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 5, an antenna structure 60 includes several complementary antenna portions: 62 and 62′, 64 and 64′, 66 and 66′, 68 and 68′. Each pair of antenna portions represents a different antenna design which, when coupled to an RFID strap, will exhibit different electrical properties such as frequency of maximum energy absorption, frequency of maximum radiation coupling, and/or resonant frequencies. In FIG. 6, an RFID strap 72 having strap leads 74 and a chip 76 is shown coupled to antenna portions 64 and 64′. The RFID strap 72 may be coupled to any one pair of complementary antenna portions depending on which antenna portions provide the most suitable electrical properties. For example, with reference to process steps 18, 20, and 22 of the method 5 shown in FIG. 1, the RFID strap 72 may first be aligned with antenna portions 62 and 62′. The RFID transponder 78 comprising the RFID strap 72 and the antenna portions 62 and 62′ will then be tested to determine whether the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 78 satisfy a test criterion. If the electrical properties of the RFID transponder 78 are satisfactory, the RFID strap 72 will be coupled with the antenna portions 62 and 62′. If the test results do not satisfy the test criterion, a determination is made in process step 24 whether to continue testing various combinations of the strap and antenna structures or to terminate the method. If the determination is made to cease testing, the process ends at process step 28. If the testing is to continue, the process reverts to process step 86, and the RFID strap 72 is repositioned, for example, onto antenna portions 64 and 64′. The RFID transponder 78 comprising the strap 72 and antenna portions 64 and 64′ will then be tested to determine whether the electrical properties of the RFID transponder satisfy a predetermined criterion. If the electrical properties of the RFID transponder are satisfactory, the RFID strap 72 will be coupled with the antenna portions 64 and 64′. If the electrical properties are not satisfactory, a determination is made in process step 24 whether to continue testing various combinations of the strap and antenna structures or to terminate the process. The process will continue until the electrical properties of the RFID transponder are satisfactory or a determination is made to cease testing in process step 24. It will be appreciated that the RFID strap 72 of the present embodiment may also be repositioned with respect to a pair of complementary antenna elements on the antenna structure in the manner described previously in connection with FIGS. 2-5. That is, the RFID strap position with respect to a pair of complementary antenna portions may be adjusted in any suitable manner such as the X-axis, Y-axis, or strap angle □, to allow an even greater variety of configurations to be achieved. In FIG. 7, a flow chart depicting a method 80 of variable attachment of an RFID strap to an antenna using pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) is shown. In process step 84, an RFID strap is applied to a label substrate containing a PSA. The label substrate containing the RFID strap is then positioned on the antenna structure in process step 86. In process step 88, the RFID transponder is tested. If the test results are satisfactory, the RFID strap is coupled to the antenna structure via the PSA label in process step 94. If the test results are not satisfactory a determination is made in process step 92 whether to continue testing various combinations of the strap and antenna or to terminate the method. If the determination is made to cease testing, the process ends at process step 96. If the testing is to continue, the process reverts to process step 86. The process continues until the test results are satisfactory and the RFID strap is coupled with the antenna structure in process step 94 or until the method is terminated at process step 96. Turning to FIGS. 8-10, an RFID transponder 90 produced by the method 80 of FIG. 7 will be described. FIG. 8 shows a label substrate 92 containing a PSA layer 94 and an RFID strap 96. The label substrate 92 may be larger than the RFID strap 96 to facilitate attaching the strap 96 to the antenna structure. In FIG. 9, the RFID strap 96 on the label substrate 92 is positioned facing the antenna structure 98 formed on the antenna substrate 100. In this position, the label substrate 92 and RFID strap 96 are not coupled to the antenna structure 98 and may be repositioned and tested in accordance with process steps 86 and 88 until the test results are satisfactory. Once the test results are satisfactory, the label substrate 92 and RFID strap 96 are coupled to the antenna structure by applying pressure to the PSA layer 94. FIG. 10 shows the finished RFID transponder 90 with the label substrate 92 adhered to the antenna structure 98 and/or antenna substrate 100 thereby coupling the RFID strap with the antenna structure. It will be appreciated that in the present embodiment the RFID strap 96 is conductively coupled to the antenna structure 98. The RFID strap or chip may alternatively be reactively coupled to the antenna structure. For example, the RFID strap or chip may be capacitively coupled to the antenna structure by forming a thin dielectric layer on the strap 96 and/or antenna structure 98 in the location of attachment. One method of forming a thin dielectric layer would be to use titanium or aluminum for the strap leads of the RFID strap and to oxidize the surface of the strap leads. Alternatively, a thin dielectric layer of titanium dioxide or barium titanate may be applied to the surface by conventional printing techniques. Reactive coupling of the RFID strap or chip to the antenna structure may be advantageous under circumstances where conductive coupling may be difficult to achieve. For example, conductive coupling may be difficult to achieve in environments where contaminants are present. The contaminants may interfere with achieving a conductive coupling by preventing adequate conductor to conductor contact. In contrast, reactive coupling may be relatively unaffected by the presence of contaminants because conductor to conductor contact is not necessary. As previously stated, the pre-attachment and post-attachment electrical properties of an RFID transponder may vary. In the present embodiment, the pre-attachment state of the RFID transponder when the PSA is not compressed will have a lower capacitance, and therefore a higher operating frequency, than the corresponding post-attachment state of the RFID transponder. Thus, because the RFID transponder is tested in the pre-attachment state, the test criterion may be adjusted as appropriate to ensure that the electrical properties of the RFID transponder in the post-attachment state are satisfactory. In FIG. 11 a flow chart depicting a method 102 of variable attachment of an RFID strap to an antenna on a package is shown. While method 102 depicts variable attachment of an RFID strap to an antenna on a package, it will be appreciated that the method 102 is suitable for variable attachment of an RFID strap to an antenna on a wide variety of objects, surfaces, and materials other than packages. In process step 106, a package is provided. As discussed in more detail herein, the package may be empty or optionally filled with contents. In process step 108, an antenna structure is applied to the package or formed on the package in any suitable manner. For example, the antenna may be printed directly to the package or may be affixed to a label that is adhered to the package. Alternatively, the antenna structure may be inserted or formed into the sheet material to be used for construction of the package. For example, an antenna may be inserted between the plies of a corrugated cardboard sheet that is subsequently formed into a cardboard box. The antenna structure may be one of the antenna structures previously described, or may alternatively be any suitable antenna structure. In process step 110, an RFID strap is positioned to the antenna on the carton in a first configuration. The RFID strap and antenna are then tested in process step 112 to determine whether the electrical properties of the RFID and antenna configuration satisfy a test criterion. If the electrical properties of the RFID transponder are satisfactory, in step 114 the RFID strap is coupled with the antenna. If, however, the electrical properties are determined to be unsatisfactory, a determination is made in process step 116 whether to continue testing various combinations of the strap and antenna or to terminate the method 102. If the determination is made to terminate the method 102, the method 102 ends at process step 120. If the testing is to continue, the process reverts to process step 110, and the RFID strap is repositioned. The process continues until the test results are satisfactory and the RFID strap is coupled with the antenna structure in process step 118 or until the method is terminated at process step 120. It will be appreciated that because various operating environment conditions may affect performance of an RFID transponder, the variable strap attach methods previously set forth may be advantageous for assembling and testing an RFID transponder in place on a package after the package has been filled with its contents. As set forth previously, the contents of a package or object may adversely affect the operation of an RFID transponder. By varying the position of a strap with respect to an antenna structure, the resonant frequency of the RFID transponder and various other electrical properties of the RFID transponder can be altered to compensate for interference from the contents of a package and/or other various operating environment conditions such as the positioning of the contents within the package, the moisture content of the contents within the package, the moisture content of the package itself, the position of the RFID transponder on the package, etc. It will further be appreciated that the method of the present embodiment may also be performed prior to filling a package. In some cases, the contents of the package may have little or no effect on the operation of the RFID transponder and thus it may be less advantageous to configure the RFID transponder after the package has been filled. In cases where the contents of the package will not affect RFID transponder performance, the RFID transponder may be assembled prior to filling the package. It will be appreciated that the methods of the present invention may be used for attaching an RFID strap to an antenna on a wide variety of objects. The embodiments set forth are but a few of the numerous applications of the present invention. The methods of the present invention may be used in connection with virtually any object, material, or surface. For example, the present invention may be used in connection with incorporating an RFID transponder into clothing, shoes, electronics, motor vehicles, etc. The positioning process step and the testing process step of any of the above-described methods may be performed substantially continuously. For example, an applicator head holding a strap may be “swept” across an antenna, simultaneously testing and repositioning the RFID strap with respect to the antenna until a predetermined criterion is reached. Similarly, an antenna may be “swept” past an applicator head while the applicator head tests the RFID transponder configuration. Continuous alignment, realignment, and testing of the strap on the antenna may be advantageous for high-speed operations. Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular type of wireless communication device, or straps. Further, a wide variety of antenna designs may be used with the present invention such as loop, slot, or patch antennas. For the purposes of this application, couple, coupled, or coupling may encompass both mechanical coupling and electrical coupling. Mechanical coupling includes physically securing the strap to an electronic component. Electrical coupling includes forming an electrical connection between the strap and electronic component. An electrical connection includes directly connecting or reactively coupling a strap to an electronic component. Reactive coupling is defined as either capacitive or inductive coupling, or a combination of both. Capacitive coupling may involve putting the strap into close proximity with an electronic component, with dielectric pads therebetween, to allow capacitive coupling between the strap and the electronic component. The dielectric pads may include a non-conductive adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive, for example Fasson adhesives S4800 and S333 available from Avery Dennison Corporation, and a high dielectric constant material, such as a titanium compound, for example titanium dioxide or barium titanate. The dielectric pads have an effective dielectric constant that is a non-constant function of thickness of the dielectric pads. For example, the dielectric pads may include conductive particles, such as aluminum and/or nickel particles, to minimize the effect of changes in thickness on the capacitive coupling. The dielectric pads may have a thickness of about 0.025 mm (0.001 inches) or less. The methods of the invention, though described in relation to coupling RFID straps to antennas, may be advantageous for coupling chips directly to antennas. For example, in any of the above embodiments, a chip may be substituted for a strap and coupled directly to an antenna. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there are different manners in which these elements can accomplish the present invention. The present invention is intended to cover what is claimed and any equivalents. The specific embodiments used herein are to aid in the understanding of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the scope of the invention in a manner narrower than the claims and their equivalents. Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described elements (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specified function of the described element (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the assembly of electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the assembly of radio frequency identification (RFID) straps interposers and/or tags. 2. Description of the Related Art Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and labels (collectively referred to herein as “devices”) are widely used to associate an object with an identification code. RFID devices generally have a combination of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics, which may include for example communications electronics, data memory, and control logic. Furthermore the RFID devices include structures to support and protect the antennas and electronics, and to mount or attach them to objects. For example, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars, for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels. Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,292, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. As noted above, RFID devices are generally categorized as labels or tags. RFID labels are RFID devices that are adhesively or otherwise attached directly to objects. RFID tags, in contrast, are secured to objects by other means, for example by use of a plastic fastener, string or other fastening means. In addition, as discussed below, as an alternative to RFID tags and labels it is possible to mount or incorporate some or all of the antennas and electronics directly on the objects. As used herein, the term “transponders” refers both to RFID devices and to RFID combinations of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics wherein the antenna and/or electronics are mounted directly on the objects. In many applications the size and shape (form factor) of RFID devices, and mechanical properties such as flexibility, are critical. For reasons such as security, aesthetics, and manufacturing efficiency there is a strong tendency toward smaller form factors. Where thinness and flexibility are desired, it is important to avoid materials (such as bulky electronics) and constructions that add undue thickness or stiffness to the RFID tag or label. RFID devices on the other hand should have adequate electrical connections, mechanical support, and appropriate positioning of the components (chips, chip connectors, antennas). Structures for these purposes can add complexity, thickness and inflexibility to an RFID device. Another significant form factor, for example in thin flat tags and labels, is the area of the device, and performance requirements of the antenna can affect this area. For example, in the case of a dipole antenna the antenna typically should have a physical length approximately one-half wavelength of the RF device's operating frequency. While the length of this type of antenna may be short for the operating frequency of an RF tag, it may still be larger than many desired RFID device form factors. In many applications it is desirable to reduce the size of the electronics as small as possible. In order to interconnect very small chips with antennas in RFID inlets, it is known to use a structure variously called “straps”, “interposers”, and “carriers” to facilitate device manufacture. Straps include conductive leads or pads that are electrically coupled to the contact pads of the chips for coupling to the antennas. These pads may be used to provide a larger effective electrical contact area than a chip precisely aligned for direct placement without an interposer. The larger area reduces the accuracy required for placement of chips during manufacture while still providing effective electrical connection. Chip placement and mounting are serious limitations for high-speed manufacture. The prior art discloses a variety of RFID strap or interposer structures, typically using a flexible substrate that carries the strap's contact pads or leads. RFID devices incorporating straps or interposers are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,247 and in European Patent Publication 1 039 543, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. Another consideration is effectiveness of operation of RFID transponders in various operating environments and conditions. For example, operation of an RFID transponder may be affected by the composition of the surface to which it is mounted, the moisture content of the surface to which it is mounted, and various other aspects of an operating environment. Metallic objects in the operating environment, including other RFID transponders, can shift the resonant frequency of an RFID transponder thereby decreasing its effective range. Metallic objects may also reflect an RFID signal, and other objects, such as humans, may absorb RFID signals. Moisture content and/or humidity in the operating environment have further been known to adversely affect RFID transponder performance. While the effects of these materials and operating environment conditions may be avoided by removing them from the RFID operating environment, it is often not practical to do so. For example, when using an RFID transponder to track a package containing a metallic object, it may not be practical to remove the metallic object from the package to facilitate reading the RFID transponder. Antennas of RFID transponders may be tuned to improve performance in various environments and conditions. One method of tuning an antenna is to provide an antenna with one or more additional conductor portions adjacent to the elements of the antenna. By adjusting the additional conductor portion length, width, and/or spacing distance, and/or the number of conductor portions, the antenna impedance can be changed. This may typically be done mechanically by adding or removing portions of the additional conductor portions and/or by connecting the additional portions with each other and the antenna. By varying the impedance of the antenna, the resonant frequency may be adjusted to compensate for operating environment conditions. However, this method is not well suited for high-speed, low cost implementation of RFID transponders because it may require adding or removing elements of an antenna and manipulation of more than one component. A known way to form an RFID transponder on an object, such as a package is to mount or form one or more antennas directly on the object, then couple the electronics to the antenna. Various patented combinations of packages with RFID transponders produced in this manner include: U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,920 assigned to Motorola ( FIGS. 14 and 15 show a package blank with directly formed antenna, and an RFID circuit chip secured to the package surface); U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,369 assigned to Moore North America (antenna sections printed in conductive ink on a package or envelope, with a label containing an RFID device bridging the antenna sections); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,092 assigned to International Paper (capacitive antenna having two pads separated by a gap embedded in packaging linerboard, with an interposer including an RFID processor coupled between the antenna pads). It is also known to incorporate this type of transponder in combination with fabric articles such as clothing, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,917 assigned to Philips Electronics. In comparison with the production of RFID devices with antennas and electronics that have been predesigned for improved performance, however, this method of producing RFID transponders on objects suffers the shortcoming that the coupling of the electronics to the antenna may yield sub-optimal, inferior performance. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method of making an RFID transponder wherein the configuration of the transponder is dynamically altered to tune a desired characteristic of the transponder in response to various operating environment factors. From the foregoing it will be seen there is room for improvement of RFID transponders and manufacturing processes relating thereto. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to an aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an chip and an antenna is provided. The method comprises, iteratively until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other to thereby configure the transponder; and testing the RFID transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the chip and the antenna are coupled. According to another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna is provided. The method comprises, iteratively until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip and the antenna are coupled. According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object is provided. The method comprises: applying an antenna to the object; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and the antenna relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the RFID transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip is coupled to the antenna. According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of making a transponder that includes an RFID chip and an antenna on an object is provided. The method comprises: applying an antenna structure to the object, the antenna structure including a plurality of antennas; iteratively, until a test criterion is met: positioning the chip and an antenna of an antenna structure containing a plurality of various antennas relative to each other, to thereby configure the RFID transponder; and testing the transponder. Once the test criterion is met, the RFID chip and the antenna are coupled. In one embodiment the object comprises a package. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings. | 20040618 | 20071106 | 20051222 | 97647.0 | 2 | MILORD, MARCEAU | METHOD OF VARIABLE POSITION STRAP MOUNTING FOR RFID TRANSPONDER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,322 | ACCEPTED | Method of forming storage node of capacitor in semiconductor memory, and structure therefore | In one embodiment, an etch stop layer and a mold layer is sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate having an interlayer insulation layer. The interlayer insulation layer includes a conductive region formed therein. The mold layer is partially etched to expose a top surface of the etching stop layer. The exposed etching stop layer and an upper portion of the interlayer insulating layer are removed to form a first aperture part that exposes a portion of the conductive region. The conductive region exposed in the first aperture part is etched to form a second aperture part. A conductive layer for the capacitor storage node is deposited on the semiconductor substrate having the first and second aperture parts. The conductive layer provided on the mold layer is planarized to form separated capacitor storage nodes. | 1. A method of forming a storage node of capacitor, the method comprising: sequentially forming an etching stop layer and a mold layer on a semiconductor substrate, a lower structure of which includes a conductive region, said conductive region being formed in an interlayer insulation layer to be connected with a capacitor storage node; partially etching the mold layer until a top surface of the etching stop layer is exposed; partially removing the exposed portion of the etching stop layer and also an upper portion of the interlayer insulating layer, thereby forming a first aperture part that exposes a portion of the conductive region; etching the portion of the conductive region exposed in the first aperture part to form a second aperture part; and depositing a conductive layer on sidewalls of the first and second aperture parts to form the capacitor storage node. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a lower face of the capacitor storage node is contacted with an upper part of the etched conductive region, with the etched conductive region being recessed adjacent an edge portion of the upper portion of the interlayer insulation layer. 3. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the mold layer is formed of a material having a high etch selection rate as compared with the etching stop layer. 4. The method as claimed in 3, wherein the mold layer is a PE-TEOS single layer or a multilayer containing a PE-TEOS layer. 5. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the etching stop layer comprises a silicon nitride layer. 6. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a capacitor storage node contact connected with the capacitor storage node. 7. The method as claimed in 6, wherein the capacitor storage node contact is formed of polysilicon. 8. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the conductive region is a capacitor storage node contact. 9. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the conductive region is in contact with a source region. 10. The method as claimed in 1, wherein etching of the mold layer comprises using a etch mask pattern that employs a polysilicon etch mask. 11. The method as claimed in 10, wherein the etch mask is etched at substantially the same time as the etching to form the second aperture part. 12. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the second aperture part is formed by determining an etch selection rate for the mold layer, the etching stop layer and by selectively etching only the conductive region. 13. The method as claimed in 12, wherein the etching of the conductive region to form the second aperture part is performed in a range of approximately 100 Å through approximately 3000 Å. 14. The method as claimed in 13, wherein the etching to form the second aperture part comprises dry etching. 15. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the capacitor storage node is a capacitor storage node for a DRAM cell. 16. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the conductive layer is formed of a material deposited by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD). 17. The method as claimed in 1, wherein the conductive layer is formed of amorphous silicon or polysilicon. 18. The method as claimed in 1, further comprising a process of performing a node separation of the capacitor storage node through a planarization process. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the lower structure is formed by a straight structure. 20. A method of forming a storage node of capacitor, the method comprising: sequentially forming a buffer layer, an etching stop layer and a mold layer on a semiconductor substrate, a lower structure of which includes a conductive region, said conductive region being formed in an interlayer insulation layer to be connected with a capacitor storage node; partially etching the mold layer until a top surface of the etching stop layer is exposed, using an etch mask pattern; partially removing the exposed etching stop layer to expose a portion of the buffer layer; removing the exposed portion of the buffer layer and also an upper portion of the interlayer insulation layer, thereby forming a first aperture part that exposes a portion of the conductive region; partially etching the conductive region exposed in the first aperture part to form a second aperture part; and depositing a conductive layer on sidewalls of the first and second aperture parts to form the capacitor storage node. 21. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the mold layer has a high etch selection rate as compared with the etching stop layer. 22. The method as claimed in 21, wherein the mold layer is a PE-TEOS single layer or a multilayer containing a PE-TEOS layer. 23. The method as claimed in 21, wherein the etching stop layer comprises a silicon nitride layer. 24. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the buffer layer is formed of PE-TEOS material. 25. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a capacitor storage node contact connected with the capacitor storage node. 26. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the conductive region formed on the semiconductor substrate is a capacitor storage node contact. 27. The method as claimed in 25, wherein the capacitor storage node contact comprises polysilicon. 28. The method as claimed in 27, wherein the etch mask pattern employs an etch mask comprises polysilicon. 29. The method as claimed in 28, wherein the etch mask is etched at substantially the same time as when the etching is performed to form the second aperture part. 30. The method as claimed in 29, wherein the second aperture part is formed by determining an etch selection rate for the mold layer, the etching stop layer and by selectively etching only the conductive region. 31. The method as claimed in 30, wherein the etching of the conductive region to form the second aperture part is performed in a range of about 100 angstroms to about 3000 angstroms. 32. The method as claimed in 31, wherein the etching of the conductive region comprises dry etching. 33. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the conductive region is in contact with a source region provided in the lower structure of semiconductor substrate. 34. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the capacitor storage node is a capacitor storage node for a DRAM cell. 35. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the conductive layer is deposited by CVD. 36. The method as claimed in 20, wherein the conductive layer is formed of amorphous silicon or polysilicon. 37. The method as claimed in 20, further comprising the process of performing a node separation of the capacitor storage node through a planarization process. 38. The method of claim 20, wherein the lower structure is formed by a straight structure. 39. The method of claim 20, wherein the capacitor storage node is based on the square type. 40. A semiconductor device comprising: a transistor formed on a semiconductor substrate; an interlayer insulating layer covering the transistor, the interlayer insulating layer having a contact pad electrically connected with an active region of the transistor; and a capacitor storage node having a lower portion that is in contact with the contact pad, wherein the contact pad has a recessed portion adjacent an edge portion of an upper portion of the interlayer insulation layer. 41. The device as claimed in 40, wherein the contact pad is a capacitor storage node contact. 42. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the etching of the mold layer employs a square type etch mask pattern overlapping with an upper portion of the conductive region. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a method of forming a storage node of capacitor in a semiconductor memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and a structure thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art A memory cell of DRAM is generally constructed of one access transistor and one storage capacitor. The capacitor is largely classified as a laminated type or a trench type depending on its formed position on a semiconductor substrate. Semiconductor manufacturers for manufacturing a semiconductor memory that employs the laminated-type capacitor have continuously researched producing capacitors with a higher capacitance in a limited area in conformity with various requirements of semiconductor users. The need for this continuous research is derived from the high integration of memory cells that produces a tightened critical dimension which results in low capacitance of the memory cells. However, in order to guarantee a refresh operating period within a range of regulated value, the capacitance must instead be increased. Capacitors are generally composed of a storage node as a lower electrode node and a plate node as an upper electrode. High integration causes the bottom critical dimension (CD) of the storage node to be too small which causes a leaning phenomenon resulting in the collapse of the storage node. To prevent the leaning phenomenon, two methods have widely been used in this field. First is the method of increasing the bottom CD of straight type storage node. Second is the a method of lowering the height of storage node. However, the straight type method is undesirable because it is difficult to increase the bottom CD after a design rule was first decided, and the latter method is undesirable because it is unlikely to obtain the desired capacitance. The former method was recently improved to provide a larger bottom CD and reduce the occurrence rate of the leaning phenomenon within a limited area. In this improved method, and in forming the storage node of the capacitor, an active region, a gate, a bit line contact, a storage node contact or buried contact, and bit line patterns are formed in a diagonal direction slightly slanted as compared with the existing straight structure, and thereon, the capacitor storage node is formed. This improved method significantly increases the bottom CD of the storage node as compared with the storage node of the existing straight type, and this is known in this field as a diagonal structure. However, this diagonal structure has severely complicated manufacturing processes in forming the storage node. To avoid the complicated manufacturing processes of the diagonal structure, a new method for forming a storage node of square type was recently developed which shared advantages of the straight structure and the diagonal structure. In this method for the square type, an active region, a gate, a bit line and a capacitor storage node contact etc. are formed by the existing straight structure. Then, entirely thereon, a buffer layer is formed, and a contact is formed in the buffer layer, to thus connect the capacitor storage node of square type with a capacitor storage node contact of the straight structure. This new method has been regarded as increasing the storage node of the square type so that the bottom CD of the capacitor storage node is largely increased to about twice that of the storage node of the straight type based on the straight structure. The method of manufacturing the storage node of square type in the prior art will be described referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, as follows, only to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention to be described later. FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a disposed relationship for storage nodes of capacitor based on a square type in a semiconductor memory according to an example of the prior art. FIGS. 2 to 6 are sectional views showing sequential processes in manufacturing the storage node referred to FIG. 1. Referring first to FIG. 1, vertically on the drawing, six word line patterns 13 as gates of a plurality of access transistors are formed, and horizontally on the drawing, four bit line patterns 16 connected to drains of the access transistors are formed. Storage nodes 23 of square type of the capacitors form an oblong structure in a diagonal direction to the bit line patterns 16 and the word line patterns 13. Herewith, each contact 17 of the storage node of capacitor and its lower structure are formed by a straight structure as the afore-mentioned. A reference number 14 indicates a bit line contact for connecting a bit line with a drain, and 14a designates a bit line pad. FIGS. 2 to 6 are sectional views taken along A-A′ and B-B′ cutting lines shown in FIG. 1. On the left drawings of FIGS. 2 through 6, cross-sectional views taken along A-A′ cutting line direction of FIG. 1, namely, the direction of a word line connected to a gate of access transistor, are illustrated per process. On the right drawings of FIGS. 2 to 6, cross-sectional views taken along B-B′ cutting line direction of FIG. 1, namely, the direction of a bit line connected to a drain of the access transistor, are illustrated per process. FIG. 2 illustrates a structure before forming a storage node of capacitor having a square type in a DRAM based on a capacitor over bitline (COB) structure. A device separate layer 3 is formed on a determined region of a semiconductor substrate 11 to define a plurality of active regions. A gate oxide layer 5 is formed on the active regions. Thereon, a plurality of parallel word line patterns 13 traversing the active regions are formed. The word line pattern 13 contains a word line 7b and a capping layer pattern 7c laminated sequentially. An impurity ion is implanted into the active regions by using the word line pattern 13 and the device separate layer 3 as an ion implantation mask, to form impurity regions 4s, 4d. The active impurity regions 4d between one pair of word line patterns 13 traversing the respective active regions are pertinent to a common drain region of a DRAM cell transistor. Further, the impurity region 4s formed on both sides of each common drain region 4d is pertinent to a source region of the DRAM cell transistor. A word line spacer 7a is formed on a sidewall of the gate oxide layer 5 and the word line patterns 13. A first interlayer insulation layer 13a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the word line spacer 7a. The first interlayer insulation layer 13a is etched by using an etch mask pattern, to form the bit line pad 14a connected with the common drain region 4d and a capacitor storage node pad 12 connected with the source region 4s. Then, a second interlayer insulation layer 16a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line pad 14a and the capacitor storage node pad 12. The second interlayer insulation layer 16a is patterned to form the bit line contact 14 referred to FIG. 1. Then, the bitline contact 14 is connected with the plurality of bit line patterns 16 having a sidewall spacer 15. The bit line patterns 16 are formed, involving a bit line 16b and a bit line capping layer pattern 16c each laminated sequentially and traversing the word line patterns 13. Each bit line 16b is electrically connected to the bit line pad 14a through the bit line contact 14. A third interlayer insulation layer 15a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line spacer 15. The third interlayer insulation layer 15a and the second interlayer insulation layer 16a are continuously patterned to form a capacitor storage node contact 17. The lower structure of semiconductor substrate composed of the active region 4s, 4d, the bitline contact 14, the capacitor storage node pad 12, the bitline pattern 16, the word line pattern 13 and the capacitor storage node contact 17 etc., is formed by the straight structure. Referring to FIG. 3, a buffer layer 18 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 11 having the capacitor storage node contact 17. An aperture for connecting the storage node of square type with the capacitor storage node contact 17 is formed through a photolithography and etching process. Metallic material such as tungsten etc. is deposited in the aperture and then a flattening is performed to form a pad contact 19. Referring to FIG. 4, film material such as silicon nitride layer etc. is deposited to form an etching stop layer 20 on the semiconductor substrate having the pad contact 19. Thereon, a mold oxide layer 21 for a formation of the storage node of capacitor is formed by a thick thickness. In FIG. 5, an etching mask pattern is formed in the mold oxide layer 21, and an aperture part 22 is formed to expose an upper part of the pad contact 19 connected with the storage node of the capacitor, through an etching process. In FIG. 6, a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) process is performed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate having the aperture part 22, to form a conductive layer 23 of polysilicon etc. The conductive layer remained on an upper part of the mold oxide layer is removed through a process such as a flattening etc., to form the capacitor storage node of square type. The capacitor storage node 23a through 23e of square type provides a sectional face of the storage node of the capacitor based on the square type referred to FIG. 1. In the prior art described above, in order to form a capacitor storage node of square type on a semiconductor substrate based on a conventional straight lower structure, a buffer layer is adapted. Thus, there is a problem of an additional step of forming a pad contact on the buffer layer, the pad contact being for connecting the storage node of square type with a storage node contact of straight structure. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one embodiment, an etch stop layer and a mold layer is sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate having an interlayer insulation layer. The interlayer insulation layer includes a conductive region formed therein. The mold layer is partially etched to expose a top surface of the etching stop layer. The exposed etching stop layer and an upper portion of the interlayer insulating layer are removed to form a first aperture part that exposes a portion of the conductive region. The conductive region exposed in the first aperture part is etched to form a second aperture part. A conductive layer for the capacitor storage node is deposited on the semiconductor substrate having the first and second aperture parts. The conductive layer provided on the mold layer is planarized to form separated capacitor storage nodes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent from the description of the exemplary embodiment that follows, Referring to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a disposed relationship of storage nodes of capacitors based on a square type in a semiconductor memory according to the prior art. FIGS. 2 through 6 are cross-sectional views of sequential processes for manufacturing the storage node referred to FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a disposed relationship of storage nodes of capacitors based on a square type in a semiconductor memory according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 8 through 13 are cross-sectional views of sequential processes for a manufacturing of the storage node referred to FIG. 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied by numerous different types and is not limited to the following described embodiments. The following various embodiments are exemplary in nature. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a capacitor storage nodes of a square type in a semiconductor memory according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 8 through 13 are cross-sectional views of sequential processes for manufacturing the storage node referred to in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 7, vertically on the drawing, six word line patterns 113 as gates of a plurality of access transistors are formed, and horizontally on the drawing, four bit line patterns 116 connected to drains of the access transistors are formed. Storage nodes 123 of the capacitors based on a square type form an oblong structure in a diagonal direction to the bit lines 116 and the word lines 113. Herewith, a storage node contact 117 of each capacitor storage node, an interlayer insulation layer and its below structure are formed by a straight structure as the afore-mentioned. The capacitor storage node 123 is in contact with an inner face of an aperture part 125 that is formed at a portion of the storage node contact 117 based on the straight structure, to be thus electrically connected to the storage node contact 117. A reference number 114 indicates a bit line contact for connecting a bit line with a drain, and 114a designates a bit line pad. FIGS. 8 to 13 are cross-sectional views taken along C-C′ and D-D′ cutting lines referred to FIG. 7. On the left drawings of FIGS. 8 through 13, cross-sectional views taken along line C-C of FIG. 7, namely, a direction of a word line connected to a gate of access transistor, are illustrated per process. On the right drawings of FIGS. 8 to 13, cross-sectional views taken along line D-D′ of FIG. 7, namely, a direction of a bit line connected to a drain of the access transistor, are illustrated per process. FIG. 8 illustrates a structure before forming a storage node of capacitor having a square type in a DRAM based on a capacitor over bitline (COB) structure. A device separate layer 103 is formed on a determined region of a semiconductor substrate 111 to define a plurality of active regions. A gate oxide layer 105 is formed on the active regions. Thereon, a conductive layer and a word line capping layer are formed sequentially. The conductive layer is formed of polysilicon layer or metallic polycide layer. The word line capping layer can be desirably formed of silicon nitride layer. The word line capping layer and the conductive layer are continuously patterned to form a plurality of parallel word line patterns 113 traversing the active regions. The word line pattern 113 contains a word line 107b and a capping layer pattern 107c laminated sequentially. An impurity ion is implanted into the active regions by using the word line patterns 113 and the device separate layer 103 as an ion implantation mask, to form impurity regions 104s, 104d. The active impurity regions 104d between one pair of word line patterns 113 traversing the respective active regions are pertinent to a common drain region of a DRAM cell transistor. Further, the impurity regions 104s formed on both sides of the common drain region 104d are pertinent to a source region of the DRAM cell transistor. A word line spacer 107a is formed on a sidewall of the gate oxide layer 105 and the word line patterns 113 through a general method. The word line spacer 107a can be desirably formed of material layer same as the word line capping layer pattern 107c. A first interlayer insulation layer 113a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the word line spacer 107a. The first interlayer insulation layer 113a is etched by using an etch mask pattern, to form the bit line pad 114a connected with the common drain region 104d and a capacitor storage node pad 112 connected with the source region 104s. Then, a second interlayer insulation layer 116a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line pad 114a and the capacitor storage node pad 112. The second interlayer insulation layer 116a is patterned to form the bit line contact 114 referred to FIG. 7. Then, the plurality of bit line patterns 116 having a sidewall spacer 115 are formed being connected with the bitline contact 114. The bit line patterns 116 are formed traversing the word line patterns 113. The bit line pattern 116 involves a bit line 116b and a bit line capping layer pattern 116c laminated sequentially. The bitline 116b is formed of a conductive layer such as a tungsten layer or tungsten polycide layer, and the bitline capping layer pattern 116c is formed of silicon nitride layer. The bitline spacer 115 is formed at a sidewall of the bitline 116b. The bitline spacer 115 is formed of a nitride layer having an etch selection rate for silicon oxide. Each bitline 116b is electrically connected to the bit line pad 114a through the bit line contact 114. A third interlayer insulation layer 115a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line spacer 115. The third interlayer insulation layer 115a and the second interlayer insulation layer 116a are continuously patterned to form the capacitor storage node contact 117. The capacitor storage node contact 117 may be formed of polysilicon. The lower structure of semiconductor substrate constructed of the active regions 104s, 104d, the bitline contact 114, the capacitor storage node pad 112, the bitline pattern 116, the word line pattern 113 and the capacitor storage node contact 117 may be formed by the straight structure. Referring to FIG. 9, a buffer layer 118 made of PE-TEOS (Plasma Enhanced Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) is formed on the semiconductor substrate having the capacitor storage node contact 117. The buffer layer 118 can be formed to prevent the structure below the buffer layer from being damaged. Subsequently, an etching stop layer 120 is formed on the buffer layer 118. Then, a mold oxide layer 121 having a high etch selection rate as compared with the etching stop layer is formed. The etching stop layer 120 can be formed of silicon nitride layer if the mold oxide layer 121 is made of PE-TEOS material. That is, the mold oxide layer 121, on which a capacitor storage node of square type will be formed, e.g., a single layer of PE-TEOS or a multilayer containing the PE-TEOS layer, is formed thick. FIG. 10 illustrates a process of forming a first aperture part 122, that is, after etching a portion of the mold oxide layer until a top surface of the etching stop layer is exposed, to be overlapped with an upper portion of the conductive region, by using an etch mask pattern (not shown) formed by, for example, a square type. To prevent an excessive etching, the etching is preferably stopped at the etching stop layer 120. The etch mask can be formed of polysilicon. Referring to FIG. 11, after etching a portion of the mold oxide layer 121, the etching stop layer 120 is removed, and the buffer layer 118 is etched to form the first aperture part 122 for exposing the capacitor storage node contact 117. The conductive region 117 exposed in the first aperture part 122 is illustrated as the capacitor storage node contact 117 in the drawing. This conductive region may be in communication with a source region of the transistor. Referring to FIG. 12, the capacitor storage node contact 117 exposed in the first aperture part 122 is selectively etched, to form a second aperture part 125 in which the capacitor storage node 123 of square type will be formed. The second aperture part is formed by highly determining an etch selection rate for the mold oxide layer 121, the etching stop layer 120 and the bitline spacer 115 and by selectively dry etching only the capacitor storage node contact 117 exposed in the first aperture part 122. The etching process to form the second aperture part can be appropriately formed to a depth of about 100 Å through about 3000 Å. In addition, if the capacitor storage node contact is formed of polysilicon, and when the capacitor storage node contact 117 is etched to form the second aperture part 125, the polysilicon used as the etch mask when forming the first aperture part is removed together, thus eliminating the additional step of removing the etch mask when separating the capacitor storage node 123. Referring to FIG. 13, a conductive layer for a formation of the capacitor storage node of square type is deposited on the semiconductor substrate having the first aperture part 122 and the second aperture part 125. The conductive layer is preferably formed of a material such as amorphous silicon or polysilicon through a conventional technique such as a CVD process. Further, a residual conductive layer on the mold oxide layer is removed by a planarization process to form the capacitor storage node of square type. The planarization process may be a CMP (Chemical and Mechanical Polishing) process or an etch back process, or can employ an anisotropic etching process. The capacitor storage nodes 123a to 123e referred to in FIG. 13 are cross-sectional views from the capacitor storage nodes 123a to 123e referred to FIG. 7. The capacitor storage node 123a to 123e is electrically contacted with a sidewall of the selectively etched storage node contact 117. The capacitor storage node 123 of square type can be widely applied to a semiconductor memory device for a DRAM cell. Further, the capacitor storage node of square type can be formed by a box shape based on a solid stack structure, a cylinder type or a hemisphere(HSG) type, or others. According to this embodiment of the present invention, the following advantages can be provided in forming a capacitor storage node of square type. First, there is no need to perform a process of forming a contact through a buffer layer, as in the prior art where a precise photolithography and etching process is required in the process of forming the contact through use of the buffer layer. In addition, an etch mask and a storage node contact are formed of polysilicon, and in selectively etching the storage node contact, the etch mask is etched together, and thus the step of removing the etch mask in separating the capacitor storage node can be omitted. Therefore, the number of processes can be reduced. Second, the capacitor storage node may be formed in such a way that a lower face of the storage node is contacted with an upper part of the etched conductive region, because of the recess at an edge portion of upper portion of the interlayer insulation layer. Thus, an area of the storage node is extended by the contacted area. As a result, capacitance can be increased. Third, the capacitor storage node may be formed by a square type to increase a bottom critical dimension of the storage node, thus reducing the leaning phenomenon. Fourth, the capacitor storage node is formed being contacted with a sidewall through an aperture part formed in a storage node contact extending the contact area connected electrically, thus increasing process stability. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover any such modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. For instance, the storage node may be formed of variously varied type and material and the number of manufacturing processes may be added or reduced. Accordingly, these and other changes and modifications are seen to be within the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a method of forming a storage node of capacitor in a semiconductor memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and a structure thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art A memory cell of DRAM is generally constructed of one access transistor and one storage capacitor. The capacitor is largely classified as a laminated type or a trench type depending on its formed position on a semiconductor substrate. Semiconductor manufacturers for manufacturing a semiconductor memory that employs the laminated-type capacitor have continuously researched producing capacitors with a higher capacitance in a limited area in conformity with various requirements of semiconductor users. The need for this continuous research is derived from the high integration of memory cells that produces a tightened critical dimension which results in low capacitance of the memory cells. However, in order to guarantee a refresh operating period within a range of regulated value, the capacitance must instead be increased. Capacitors are generally composed of a storage node as a lower electrode node and a plate node as an upper electrode. High integration causes the bottom critical dimension (CD) of the storage node to be too small which causes a leaning phenomenon resulting in the collapse of the storage node. To prevent the leaning phenomenon, two methods have widely been used in this field. First is the method of increasing the bottom CD of straight type storage node. Second is the a method of lowering the height of storage node. However, the straight type method is undesirable because it is difficult to increase the bottom CD after a design rule was first decided, and the latter method is undesirable because it is unlikely to obtain the desired capacitance. The former method was recently improved to provide a larger bottom CD and reduce the occurrence rate of the leaning phenomenon within a limited area. In this improved method, and in forming the storage node of the capacitor, an active region, a gate, a bit line contact, a storage node contact or buried contact, and bit line patterns are formed in a diagonal direction slightly slanted as compared with the existing straight structure, and thereon, the capacitor storage node is formed. This improved method significantly increases the bottom CD of the storage node as compared with the storage node of the existing straight type, and this is known in this field as a diagonal structure. However, this diagonal structure has severely complicated manufacturing processes in forming the storage node. To avoid the complicated manufacturing processes of the diagonal structure, a new method for forming a storage node of square type was recently developed which shared advantages of the straight structure and the diagonal structure. In this method for the square type, an active region, a gate, a bit line and a capacitor storage node contact etc. are formed by the existing straight structure. Then, entirely thereon, a buffer layer is formed, and a contact is formed in the buffer layer, to thus connect the capacitor storage node of square type with a capacitor storage node contact of the straight structure. This new method has been regarded as increasing the storage node of the square type so that the bottom CD of the capacitor storage node is largely increased to about twice that of the storage node of the straight type based on the straight structure. The method of manufacturing the storage node of square type in the prior art will be described referring to FIGS. 1 through 6 , as follows, only to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention to be described later. FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a disposed relationship for storage nodes of capacitor based on a square type in a semiconductor memory according to an example of the prior art. FIGS. 2 to 6 are sectional views showing sequential processes in manufacturing the storage node referred to FIG. 1 . Referring first to FIG. 1 , vertically on the drawing, six word line patterns 13 as gates of a plurality of access transistors are formed, and horizontally on the drawing, four bit line patterns 16 connected to drains of the access transistors are formed. Storage nodes 23 of square type of the capacitors form an oblong structure in a diagonal direction to the bit line patterns 16 and the word line patterns 13 . Herewith, each contact 17 of the storage node of capacitor and its lower structure are formed by a straight structure as the afore-mentioned. A reference number 14 indicates a bit line contact for connecting a bit line with a drain, and 14 a designates a bit line pad. FIGS. 2 to 6 are sectional views taken along A-A′ and B-B′ cutting lines shown in FIG. 1 . On the left drawings of FIGS. 2 through 6 , cross-sectional views taken along A-A′ cutting line direction of FIG. 1 , namely, the direction of a word line connected to a gate of access transistor, are illustrated per process. On the right drawings of FIGS. 2 to 6 , cross-sectional views taken along B-B′ cutting line direction of FIG. 1 , namely, the direction of a bit line connected to a drain of the access transistor, are illustrated per process. FIG. 2 illustrates a structure before forming a storage node of capacitor having a square type in a DRAM based on a capacitor over bitline (COB) structure. A device separate layer 3 is formed on a determined region of a semiconductor substrate 11 to define a plurality of active regions. A gate oxide layer 5 is formed on the active regions. Thereon, a plurality of parallel word line patterns 13 traversing the active regions are formed. The word line pattern 13 contains a word line 7 b and a capping layer pattern 7 c laminated sequentially. An impurity ion is implanted into the active regions by using the word line pattern 13 and the device separate layer 3 as an ion implantation mask, to form impurity regions 4 s , 4 d . The active impurity regions 4 d between one pair of word line patterns 13 traversing the respective active regions are pertinent to a common drain region of a DRAM cell transistor. Further, the impurity region 4 s formed on both sides of each common drain region 4 d is pertinent to a source region of the DRAM cell transistor. A word line spacer 7 a is formed on a sidewall of the gate oxide layer 5 and the word line patterns 13 . A first interlayer insulation layer 13 a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the word line spacer 7 a . The first interlayer insulation layer 13 a is etched by using an etch mask pattern, to form the bit line pad 14 a connected with the common drain region 4 d and a capacitor storage node pad 12 connected with the source region 4 s . Then, a second interlayer insulation layer 16 a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line pad 14 a and the capacitor storage node pad 12 . The second interlayer insulation layer 16 a is patterned to form the bit line contact 14 referred to FIG. 1 . Then, the bitline contact 14 is connected with the plurality of bit line patterns 16 having a sidewall spacer 15 . The bit line patterns 16 are formed, involving a bit line 16 b and a bit line capping layer pattern 16 c each laminated sequentially and traversing the word line patterns 13 . Each bit line 16 b is electrically connected to the bit line pad 14 a through the bit line contact 14 . A third interlayer insulation layer 15 a is formed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate containing the bit line spacer 15 . The third interlayer insulation layer 15 a and the second interlayer insulation layer 16 a are continuously patterned to form a capacitor storage node contact 17 . The lower structure of semiconductor substrate composed of the active region 4 s , 4 d , the bitline contact 14 , the capacitor storage node pad 12 , the bitline pattern 16 , the word line pattern 13 and the capacitor storage node contact 17 etc., is formed by the straight structure. Referring to FIG. 3 , a buffer layer 18 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 11 having the capacitor storage node contact 17 . An aperture for connecting the storage node of square type with the capacitor storage node contact 17 is formed through a photolithography and etching process. Metallic material such as tungsten etc. is deposited in the aperture and then a flattening is performed to form a pad contact 19 . Referring to FIG. 4 , film material such as silicon nitride layer etc. is deposited to form an etching stop layer 20 on the semiconductor substrate having the pad contact 19 . Thereon, a mold oxide layer 21 for a formation of the storage node of capacitor is formed by a thick thickness. In FIG. 5 , an etching mask pattern is formed in the mold oxide layer 21 , and an aperture part 22 is formed to expose an upper part of the pad contact 19 connected with the storage node of the capacitor, through an etching process. In FIG. 6 , a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) process is performed on an entire face of the semiconductor substrate having the aperture part 22 , to form a conductive layer 23 of polysilicon etc. The conductive layer remained on an upper part of the mold oxide layer is removed through a process such as a flattening etc., to form the capacitor storage node of square type. The capacitor storage node 23 a through 23 e of square type provides a sectional face of the storage node of the capacitor based on the square type referred to FIG. 1 . In the prior art described above, in order to form a capacitor storage node of square type on a semiconductor substrate based on a conventional straight lower structure, a buffer layer is adapted. Thus, there is a problem of an additional step of forming a pad contact on the buffer layer, the pad contact being for connecting the storage node of square type with a storage node contact of straight structure. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In one embodiment, an etch stop layer and a mold layer is sequentially formed on a semiconductor substrate having an interlayer insulation layer. The interlayer insulation layer includes a conductive region formed therein. The mold layer is partially etched to expose a top surface of the etching stop layer. The exposed etching stop layer and an upper portion of the interlayer insulating layer are removed to form a first aperture part that exposes a portion of the conductive region. The conductive region exposed in the first aperture part is etched to form a second aperture part. A conductive layer for the capacitor storage node is deposited on the semiconductor substrate having the first and second aperture parts. The conductive layer provided on the mold layer is planarized to form separated capacitor storage nodes. | 20040618 | 20060711 | 20050210 | 77616.0 | 0 | TSAI, HUI JEY | METHOD OF FORMING STORAGE NODE OF CAPACITOR IN SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY, AND STRUCTURE THEREFORE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,455 | ACCEPTED | Coated abrasive article with tie layer, and method of making and using the same | Coated abrasive articles have a tie layer that is preparable by at least partially polymerizing an isotropic polymerizable composition comprising a polyfunctional aziridine, an acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and an oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. | 1. A coated abrasive article comprising a backing having a major surface, a tie layer secured to at least a portion of the major surface, an abrasive layer secured to at least a portion of the tie layer, the abrasive layer comprising abrasive particles and at least one binder resin, wherein the tie layer is preparable by at least partially polymerizing an isotropic polymerizable composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. 2. A coated abrasive article according to claim 1, wherein the isotropic polymerizable composition further comprises a curative. 3. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein the curative comprises at least one free-radical photoinitiator. 4. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein the curative comprises at least one free-radical thermal initiator. 5. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein based on the total weight of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two free-radically polymerizable groups, the amount of polyfunctional aziridine is in a range of from 0.5 to 10 percent, and wherein the amount of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is in a range of from 1 to 45 percent. 6. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein based on the total weight of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two free-radically polymerizable groups, the amount of polyfunctional aziridine is in a range of from 2 to 4 percent, and wherein the amount of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is in a range or from 2 to 20 percent. 7. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein the polyfunctional aziridine is selected from the group consisting of trimethylolpropane tris[3-aziridinyl propionate], trimethylolpropane tris[3(2-methyl-aziridinyl)-propionate], trimethylolpropane tris[2-aziridinyl butyrate], tris(1-aziridinyl)phosphine oxide, tris(2-methyl-1aziridinyl)phosphine oxide, pentaerythritol tris-3-(1-aziridinyl propionate), pentaerythritol tetrakis-3-(1-aziridinyl propionate), and combinations thereof. 8. A coated abrasive article according to claim 7, wherein the abrasive layer comprises a make layer comprising a first binder resin, wherein the abrasive particles are embedded in the make layer, and a size layer comprising a second binder resin secured to the make layer and the abrasive particles. 9. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein the acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is selected from the group consisting of (meth)acrylic acid, maleic acid, monoalkyl esters of maleic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl esters of fumaric acid, itaconic acid, isocrotonic acid, crotonic acid, citraconic acid, and beta-carboxyethyl acrylate, 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate, styrene sulfonic acid, and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, vinyl phosphonic acid, and combinations thereof. 10. A coated abrasive article according to claim 2, wherein the oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and aromatic urethane (meth)acrylate oligomers, polybutadiene (meth)acrylate oligomer, acrylic (meth)acrylate oligomers, polyether (meth)acrylate oligomers, aliphatic and aromatic polyester (meth)acrylate oligomers, epoxy (meth)acrylate oligomers, and combinations thereof. 11. A coated abrasive article according to claim 1, wherein the abrasive layer is preparable from components comprising at least one free-radically polymerizable monomer, free-radically polymerizable oligomer, epoxy resin, phenolic resin, melamine-formaldehyde resin, aminoplast resin, cyanate resin, or a combination thereof. 12. A coated abrasive article according to claim 1, wherein the abrasive layer comprises a make layer comprising a first binder resin, wherein the abrasive particles are embedded in the make layer, and a size layer comprising a second binder resin secured to the make layer and the abrasive particles. 13. A coated abrasive article according to claim 12, wherein the abrasive layer further comprises a supersize. 14. A coated abrasive article according to claim 12, wherein the backing comprises a treated backing comprising at least one treatment selected from the group consisting of a presize, a backsize, a subsize, and a saturant. 15. A coated abrasive article according to claim 1, wherein the abrasive particles are dispersed in the binder resin. 16. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the isotropic polymerizable composition further comprises a curative. 17. A coated abrasive article according to claim 16, wherein the curative comprises at least one free-radical photoinitiator. 18. A coated abrasive article according to claim 16, wherein the curative comprises at least one free-radical thermal initiator. 19. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein based on the total weight of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two free-radically polymerizable groups, the amount of polyfunctional aziridine is in a range of from 0.5 to 10 percent, and wherein the amount of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is in a range of from 1 to 45 percent. 20. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein based on the total weight of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two free-radically polymerizable groups, the amount of polyfunctional aziridine is in a range of from 2 to 4 percent, and wherein the amount of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is in a range of from 2 to 20 percent. 21. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the polyfunctional aziridine is selected from the group consisting of trimethylolpropane tris[3-aziridinyl propionate], trimethylolpropane tris[3(2-methyl-aziridinyl)-propionate], trimethylolpropane tris[2-aziridinyl butyrate], tris(1-aziridinyl)phosphine oxide, tris(2-methyl-1aziridinyl)phosphine oxide, pentaerythritol tris-3-(1-aziridinyl propionate), pentaerythritol tetrakis-3-(1-aziridinyl propionate), and combinations thereof. 22. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer is selected from the group consisting of (meth)acrylic acid, maleic acid, monoalkyl esters of maleic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl esters of fumaric acid, itaconic acid, isocrotonic acid, crotonic acid, citraconic acid, and beta-carboxyethyl acrylate, 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate, styrene sulfonic acid, and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid, vinyl phosphonic acid, and combinations thereof. 23. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and aromatic urethane (meth)acrylate oligomers, polybutadiene (meth)acrylate oligomer, acrylic (meth)acrylate oligomers, polyether (meth)acrylate oligomers, aliphatic and aromatic polyester (meth)acrylate oligomers, epoxy (meth)acrylate oligomers, and combinations thereof. 24. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the backing is a treated backing comprising at least one of a presize, a backsize, or a sub-size. 25. A coated abrasive article according to claim 15, wherein the abrasive layer comprises precisely-shaped abrasive composites. 26. A coated abrasive article according to claim 25, wherein the backing comprises polymeric film. 27. A coated abrasive article according to claim 25, wherein the composition further comprises a curative. 28. A method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a polymerizable make resin precursor on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; at least partially embedding abrasive particles in the make resin precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the make resin precursor. 29. A method according to claim 28, further comprising: disposing a polymerizable size resin precursor on at least a portion of the at least partially polymerized make resin and abrasive particles; and at least partially polymerizing the size resin precursor. 30. A method according to claim 28, wherein the backing is a treated backing having at least one treatment secured thereto selected from the group consisting of a presize, a backsize, a sub-size, and a saturant. 31. A method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a slurry comprising polymerizable binder precursor and abrasive particles on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the binder precursor. 32. A method according to claim 31, wherein the backing is a treated backing having at least one treatment secured thereto selected from the group consisting of a presize, a backsize, a sub-size, and a saturant. 33. A method according to claim 31, further comprising providing a tool having a surface with plurality of precisely-shaped cavities therein, and urging the slurry into at least a portion of the cavities prior to disposing the slurry on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor. 34. A method of abrading a workpiece comprising: providing a coated abrasive article according to claim 1; frictionally contacting at least a portion of the abrasive layer with at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece; and moving at least one of the coated abrasive article or the workpiece relative to the other to abrade at least a portion of the surface. 35. A method of abrading a workpiece comprising: providing a coated abrasive article according to claim 11; frictionally contacting at least a portion of the size layer with at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece; and moving at least one of the coated abrasive article or the workpiece relative to the other to abrade at least a portion of the surface. 36. A method of abrading a workpiece comprising: providing a coated abrasive article according to claim 15; frictionally contacting at least a portion of the abrasive layer with at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece; and moving at least one of the coated abrasive article or the workpiece relative to the other to abrade at least a portion of the surface. 37. A method of abrading a workpiece comprising: providing a coated abrasive article according to claim 25; frictionally contacting at least a portion of the abrasive layer with at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece; and moving at least one of the coated abrasive article or the workpiece relative to the other to abrade at least a portion of the surface. | BACKGROUND In general, coated abrasive articles have abrasive particles secured to a backing. More typically, coated abrasive articles comprise a backing having two major opposed surfaces and an abrasive layer secured to one of the major surfaces. The abrasive layer is typically comprised of abrasive particles and a binder, wherein the binder serves to secure the abrasive particles to the backing. One common type of coated abrasive article has an abrasive layer which comprises a make layer, a size layer, and abrasive particles. In making such a coated abrasive article, a make layer comprising a first binder precursor is applied to a major surface of the backing. Abrasive particles are then at least partially embedded into the make layer (e.g., by electrostatic coating), and the first binder precursor is cured (i.e., crosslinked) to secure the particles to the make layer. A size layer comprising a second binder precursor is then applied over the make layer and abrasive particles, followed by curing of the binder precursors. Another common type of coated abrasive article comprises an abrasive layer secured to a major surface of a backing, wherein the abrasive layer is provided by applying a slurry comprised of binder precursor and abrasive particles onto a major surface of a backing, and then curing the binder precursor. In another aspect, coated abrasive articles may further comprise a supersize layer covering the abrasive layer. The supersize layer typically includes grinding aids and/or anti-loading materials. Optionally, backings used in coated abrasive articles may be treated with one or more applied coatings. Examples of typical backing treatments are a backsize layer (i.e., a coating on the major surface of the backing opposite the abrasive layer), a presize layer or a tie layer (i.e., a coating on the backing disposed between the abrasive layer and the backing), and/or a saturant that saturates the backing. A subsize is similar to a saturant, except that it is applied to a previously treated backing. However, depending on the particular choice of abrasive layer and backing (treated or untreated), the abrasive layer may partially separate from the backing during abrading resulting in the release of abrasive particles. This phenomenon is known in the abrasive art as “shelling”. In most cases, shelling is undesirable because it results in a loss of performance. In one approach, a tie layer disposed between the backing and the abrasive layer has been used to address the problem of shelling in some coated abrasive articles. Yet, despite such advances, there remains a continuing need for new materials and methods that can reduce the problem of shelling in coated abrasive articles. SUMMARY In one aspect, the present invention provides a coated abrasive article comprising a backing having a major surface, a tie layer secured to at least a portion of the major surface, an abrasive layer secured to at least a portion of the tie layer, the abrasive layer comprising abrasive particles and at least one binder resin, wherein the tie layer is preparable by at least partially polymerizing an isotropic polymerizable composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. In some embodiments, the abrasive layer comprises a make layer comprising a first binder resin, abrasive particles embedded in the make layer, and a size layer comprising a second binder resin secured to the make layer and abrasive particles. In some embodiments, the abrasive particles are dispersed in the binder resin. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a polymerizable make resin precursor on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; at least partially embedding abrasive particles in the make resin precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the make resin precursor. In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a slurry comprising polymerizable binder precursor and abrasive particles on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the binder precursor. Coated abrasive articles according to the present invention are typically useful for abrading a workpiece, and may exhibit low levels of shelling during abrading processes. As used herein, the term “(meth)acryl” includes both “acryl” and “methacryl”. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary coated abrasive article; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary coated abrasive article; and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary coated abrasive article. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Coated abrasive articles according to present invention comprise a backing having a major surface, a tie layer secured to at least a portion of the major surface, and an abrasive layer secured to at least a portion of the tie layer Suitable backings include those known in the art for making coated abrasive articles. Typically, the backing has two opposed major surfaces. The thickness of the backing generally ranges from about 0.02 to about 5 millimeters, desirably from about 0.05 to about 2.5 millimeters, and more desirably from about 0.1 to about 0.4 millimeter, although thicknesses outside of these ranges may also be useful. The backing may be flexible or rigid, and may be made of any number of various materials including those conventionally used as backings in the manufacture of coated abrasives. Examples include paper, fabric, film, polymeric foam, vulcanized fiber, woven and nonwoven materials, combinations of two or more of these materials. The backing may also be a laminate of two materials (e.g., paper/film, cloth/paper, film/cloth). Exemplary flexible backings include polymeric film (including primed films) such as polyolefin film (e.g., polypropylene including biaxially oriented polypropylene, polyester film, polyamide film, cellulose ester film), metal foil, mesh, scrim, foam (e.g., natural sponge material or polyurethane foam), cloth (e.g., cloth made from fibers or yarns comprising polyester, nylon, silk, cotton, and/or rayon), paper, vulcanized paper, vulcanized fiber, nonwoven materials, and combinations thereof. Cloth backings may be woven or stitch bonded. The backing may be a fibrous reinforced thermoplastic such as described, for example, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,726 (Stout et al.), or an endless spliceless belt, for example, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,619 (Benedict et al.), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Likewise, the backing may be a polymeric substrate having hooking stems projecting therefrom such as that described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,747 (Chesley et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Similarly, the backing may be a loop fabric such as that described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,011 (Follett et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Exemplary rigid backings include metal plates, and ceramic plates. Another example of a suitable rigid backing is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,726 (Stout et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The backing may be a treated backing having one or more treatments applied thereto such as, for example, a presize, a backsize, a subsize, and/or a saturant. Additional details regarding backing treatments can be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,463 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,542 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,716 (Buchanan); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,753 (Buchanan et al.), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The tie layer is preparable by at least partially polymerizing a tie layer precursor, which is an isotropic polymerizable composition comprising a polyfunctional aziridine, an acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and an oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. As used herein, the term “polyfunctional aziridine” refers to a species having a plurality of aziridinyl groups. Suitable polyfunctional aziridines include, for example, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,013 (Fram); U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,617 (Canty); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,391 (Wang), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Specific examples include trimethylolpropane tris[3-aziridinyl propionate]; trimethylolpropane tris[3-(2-methylaziridinyl)propionate]; trimethylolpropane tris[2-aziridinylbutyrate]; tris(1-aziridinyl)phosphine oxide; tris(2-methyl-1-aziridinyl)phosphine oxide; pentaerythritol tris[3-(1-aziridinyl)propionate]; and pentaerythritol tetrakis[3-(1-aziridinyl)propionate]. Combinations of more than one polyfunctional aziridine may also be used. Commercially available polyfunctional aziridines include those available under the trade designations “XAMA-2” (believed to be trimethylolpropane tris[3-(2-methylaziridinyl)propanoate]) and “XAMA-7” (believed to be pentaerythritol tris(beta-(N-aziridinyl)propionate)) from EIT, Inc. Corporation, Lake Wylie, S.C.; “HYDROFLEX XR2990” (believed to be trimethylolpropane tris[3-(2-methylaziridinyl)propanoate]) from H.B. Fuller Co., Vadnais Heights, Minn.; and “NEOCRYL CX-100” (believed to be trimethylolpropane tris[3-(2-methylaziridinyl)-propanoate]) from Zeneca Resins, Wilmington, Mass. The amount of polyfunctional aziridine incorporated into the tie layer precursor is generally in a range of from at least 0.5, 1, or 2 percent by weight up to and including 4, 6, 8, or even 10 percent by weight, or more, based on the total weight of polyfunctional aziridine, acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups. The acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer has both an acidic group and a group (e.g., a (meth)acryl group) that is free-radically polymerizable. The acidic group may be, for example, carbon-, sulfur-, or phosphorus-based, and may be the free acid or in a partially or fully neutralized state. The acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer may have more than one acidic groups and/or free-radically polymerizable groups. Useful carbon-based acidic free-radically polymerizable monomers include, for example, (meth)acrylic acid, maleic acid, monoalkyl esters of maleic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl esters of fumaric acid, itaconic acid, isocrotonic acid, crotonic acid, citraconic acid, and beta-carboxyethyl acrylate. Useful sulfur-based acidic free-radically polymerizable monomers include, for example, 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate, styrene sulfonic acid, and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid. Acidic, free radically polymerizable monomers are commercially available, for example, under the trade designations “PHOTOMER 4173” from Cognis Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, and “CN118”, “CD9050”, “CD9051” and “CD9052” all from Sartomer Co., Exton Pa. Useful phosphorus-based acidic free-radically polymerizable monomers include, for example, vinyl phosphonic acid. The amount of acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer incorporated into the tie layer precursor is generally in a range of from at least 1, or 2 percent by weight up to and including 5, 10, 20, 30, or even 45 percent by weight, or more, based on the total weight of polyfunctional aziridine, acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups. The oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups is selected such that free-radical homopolymerization of the oligomer (e.g., by photo- or thermal initiation) results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature at or below 50 degrees Celsius (° C.). As used herein, the term “oligomer” refers to molecule composed of a small number of linked monomer units. Oligomers generally have less than one hundred monomer units and more typically less than thirty. Useful oligomers having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups include, for example, aliphatic and aromatic urethane (meth)acrylate oligomers, polybutadiene (meth)acrylate oligomer, acrylic (meth)acrylate oligomers, polyether (meth)acrylate oligomers, aliphatic and aromatic polyester (meth)acrylate oligomers, epoxy (meth)acrylate oligomers, and combinations thereof. Methods for making such oligomers are well known in the art, and many useful free-radically polymerizable oligomers are commercially available. Examples include aliphatic and aromatic urethane (meth)acrylate oligomers such as those available from UCB Chemicals Corp., Smyrna, Ga., under the trade designations “EBECRYL 270”, “EBECRYL 8804”, “EBECRYL 8807”, “EBECRYL 4827”, “EBECRYL 6700”, “EBECRYL 5129”, or “EBECRYL 8402” and those available from Sartomer Co., Exton, Pa., under the trade designations “CN 1963”, “CN 934”, “CN 953B70”, “CN 984”, “CN 962”, “CN 964”, “CN 965”, “CN 972”, “CN 978”; polyester (meth)acrylate oligomers such as those available from UCB Chemicals Corp. under the trade designations “EBECRYL 80”, “EBECRYL 81”, “EBECRYL 657”, “EBECRYL 810”, “EBECRYL 450”, “EBECRYL 870”, or “EBECRYL 2870” and that available from Sartomer Co. under the trade designation “CN 292”; polyether (meth)acrylate oligomers such as those available from Sartomer Co. under the trade designations “CN 501”, “CN 502”, “CN 550”, “CN 551”; acrylic oligomers such as those available from Sartomer Co. under the trade designations “CN 816”, “CN 817”, “CN 818”; epoxy (meth)acrylate oligomers such as that available from Sartomer Co. under the trade designation, “CN119”, and “CN121”; and polybutadiene (meth)acrylate oligomers such as that available from Sartomer Co. under the trade designation “CN 301”. The amount of oligomer incorporated into the tie layer precursor is generally in a range of from at least 30, 35, 40, or 45 percent by weight up to and including 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or even 95 percent by weight, or more, based on the total weight of polyfunctional aziridine, acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups. The tie layer precursor may, optionally, further comprise one or more curatives that are capable of at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor. Useful curatives include free-radical initiators such as, for example, photoinitiators and/or thermal initiators for free-radical polymerization. Blends of photo-and/or thermal initiators may be used. Useful photoinitiators include those known as useful for photocuring free-radically polyfunctional acrylates. Exemplary photoinitiators include benzoin and its derivatives such as alpha-methylbenzoin; alpha-phenylbenzoin; alpha-allylbenzoin; alpha-benzylbenzoin; benzoin ethers such as benzil dimethyl ketal (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 651” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Tarrytown, N.Y.), benzoin methyl ether, benzoin ethyl ether, benzoin n-butyl ether; acetophenone and its derivatives such as 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenyl-1-propanone (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “DAROCUR 1173” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals) and 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 184” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals); 2-methyl-1-[4-(methylthio)phenyl]-2-(4-morpholinyl)-1-propanone (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 907” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals); 2-benzyl-2-(dimethylamino)-1-[4-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl]-1-butanone (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 369” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals). Other useful photoinitiators include, for example, pivaloin ethyl ether, anisoin ethyl ether, anthraquinones (e.g., anthraquinone, 2-ethylanthraquinone, 1-chloroanthraquinone, 1,4-dimethylanthraquinone, 1-methoxyanthraquinone, or benzanthraquinone), halomethyltriazines, benzophenone and its derivatives, iodonium salts and sulfonium salts, titanium complexes such as bis(eta5-2,4-cyclopentadien-1-yl)-bis[2,6-difluoro-3-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl]titanium (e.g., as commercially available under the trade designation “CGI 784DC” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals); halomethylnitrobenzenes (e.g., 4-bromomethylnitrobenzene), mono- and bis-acylphosphines (e.g., as commercially available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals under the trade designations “IRGACURE 1700”, “IRGACURE 1800”, “IRGACURE 1850”, and “DAROCUR 4265”). One or more spectral sensitizers (e.g., dyes) may be added to the tie layer precursor in combination with the optional photoinitiator, for example, in order to increase sensitivity of the photoinitiator to a specific source of actinic radiation. Examples of suitable thermal free-radical polymerization initiators include peroxides such as benzoyl peroxide, dibenzoyl peroxide, dilauryl peroxide, cyclohexane peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide; hydroperoxides such as tert-butyl hydroperoxide and cumene hydroperoxide; dicyclohexyl peroxydicarbonate; 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile); and t-butyl perbenzoate. Examples of commercially available thermal free-radical polymerization initiators include initiators available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., Wilmington, Del., under the trade designation “VAZO” (e.g., “VAZO 64” and “VAZO 52”) and from Elf Atochem North America, Philadelphia, Pa., under the trade designation “LUCIDOL 70”. If present, the curative is typically used in an amount effective to facilitate polymerization, for example, in an amount in a range of from about 0.01 percent by weight up to about 10 percent by weight, based on the total amount of tie layer precursor, although amounts outside of these ranges may also be useful. In addition to other components, the tie layer precursor of the present invention may contain optional additives, for example, to modify performance and/or appearance. Exemplary additives include, fillers, solvents, plasticizers, wetting agents, surfactants, pigments, coupling agents, fragrances, fibers, lubricants, thixotropic materials, antistatic agents, suspending agents, pigments, and dyes. Reactive diluents may also be added to the tie layer precursor, for example, to adjust viscosity and/or physical properties of the cured composition. Examples of suitable reactive diluents include diluents mono and polyfunctional (meth)acrylate monomers (e.g., ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, triethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, tripropylene glycol di(meth)acrylate), vinyl ethers (e.g., butyl vinyl ether), vinyl esters (e.g., vinyl acetate), and styrenic monomers (e.g., styrene). Typically, it is only necessary to combine the components under conditions wherein sufficient mixing occurs to prepare the tie layer precursor. In cases wherein the components of the composition are mutually soluble, the composition may be homogeneous throughout its entirety. To facilitate mixing agitation and/or stirring may be used. In instances, of higher viscosity, the mixture may be heated to reduce its viscosity. The application of the tie layer precursor to the backing can be performed in a variety of ways including, for example, such techniques as brushing, spraying, roll coating, curtain coating, gravure coating, and knife coating. Organic solvent may be added to the isotropic polymerizable composition to facilitate the specific coating technique used. The coated backing may then be processed for a time at a temperature sufficient to dry (if organic solvent is present) and at least partially polymerize the coating thereby securing it to the backing. After an optional period of at least about 10, 20, or 30 seconds, or even longer, the tie layer precursor is typically at least partially polymerized, for example, by any of a number of well-known techniques such as, for example, by exposure electron beam radiation, actinic radiation (i.e., ultraviolet and/or visible electromagnetic radiation), and thermal energy. If actinic radiation is used, at least one photoinitiator is typically present in the tie layer precursor. If thermal energy is used, at least one thermal initiator is typically present in the tie layer precursor. The polymerization may be carried out in air or in an inert atmosphere such as, for example, nitrogen or argon. In one exemplary embodiment, abrasive layer comprises a make layer comprising a first binder resin, abrasive particles embedded in the make layer, and a size layer comprising a second binder resin secured to the make layer and abrasive particles. Referring to FIG. 1, exemplary coated abrasive article 100 according to the present invention has backing 110, tie layer 120 according to the present invention secured to major surface 115 of backing 110 and abrasive layer 130 secured to tie layer 120. Abrasive layer 130, in turn, includes abrasive particles 160 secured to tie layer 120 by make layer 140 and size layer 150. The make and size layers may comprise any binder resin that is suitable for use in abrading applications. Typically, the make layer is prepared by coating at least a portion of the backing (treated or untreated) with a make layer precursor. Abrasive particles are then at least partially embedded (e.g., by electrostatic coating) in the make layer precursor comprising a first binder precursor, and the make layer precursor is at least partially polymerized. Next, the size layer is prepared by coating at least a portion of the make layer and abrasive particles with a size layer precursor comprising a second binder precursor (which may be the same as, or different from, the first binder precursor), and at least partially curing the size layer precursor. In one embodiment, the make layer precursor may be partially polymerized prior to coating with abrasive particles and further polymerized at a later point in the manufacturing process. In one embodiment, a supersize may be applied to at least a portion of the size layer. Useful first and second binder precursors are well known in the abrasive art and include, for example, free-radically polymerizable monomer and/or oligomer, epoxy resins, phenolic resins, melamine-formaldehyde resins, aminoplast resins, cyanate resins, or combinations thereof. Useful abrasive particles are well known in the abrasive art and include for example, fused aluminum oxide, heat treated aluminum oxide, white fused aluminum oxide, black silicon carbide, green silicon carbide, titanium diboride, boron carbide, tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, diamond, cubic boron nitride, garnet, fused alumina zirconia, sol gel abrasive particles, silica, iron oxide, chromia, ceria, zirconia, titania, silicates, metal carbonates (such as calcium carbonate (e.g., chalk, calcite, marl, travertine, marble and limestone), calcium magnesium carbonate, sodium carbonate, magnesium carbonate), silica (e.g., quartz, glass beads, glass bubbles and glass fibers) silicates (e.g., talc, clays, (montmorillonite) feldspar, mica, calcium silicate, calcium metasilicate, sodium aluminosilicate, sodium silicate) metal sulfates (e.g., calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, sodium sulfate, aluminum sodium sulfate, aluminum sulfate), gypsum, aluminum trihydrate, graphite, metal oxides (e.g., tin oxide, calcium oxide), aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide) and metal sulfites (e.g., calcium sulfite), metal particles (e.g., tin, lead, copper), plastic abrasive particles formed from a thermoplastic material (e.g., polycarbonate, polyetherimide, polyester, polyethylene, polysulfone, polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene block copolymer, polypropylene, acetal polymers, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethanes, nylon), plastic abrasive particles formed from crosslinked polymers (e.g., phenolic resins, aminoplast resins, urethane resins, epoxy resins, melamine-formaldehyde, acrylate resins, acrylated isocyanurate resins, urea-formaldehyde resins, isocyanurate resins, acrylated urethane resins, acrylated epoxy resins), and combinations thereof. In another exemplary embodiment of a coated abrasive article according to the present invention, the abrasive layer may comprise abrasive particles dispersed in a binder. Referring now to FIG. 2, exemplary coated abrasive article 200 has backing 210, tie layer 220 according to the present invention secured to major surface 215 of backing 210, and abrasive layer 230 secured to tie layer 220. Abrasive layer 230 includes abrasive particles 260 dispersed in binder 240. In making such a coated abrasive article, a slurry comprising a binder precursor and abrasive particles is typically applied to a major surface of the backing, and the binder precursor is then at least partially cured. Suitable binder precursors and abrasive particles include, for example, those listed hereinabove. In another exemplary embodiment, a coated abrasive article according to the present invention may comprise a structured abrasive article. Referring now to FIG. 3, exemplary structured abrasive article 300 has backing 310, tie layer 320 according to the present invention secured to major surface 315 of backing 310, and abrasive layer 330 secured to tie layer 320. Abrasive layer 330 includes a plurality of precisely-shaped abrasive composites 355. The abrasive composites comprise abrasive particles 360 dispersed in binder 350. In making such a coated abrasive article, a slurry comprising a binder precursor and abrasive particles may be applied to a tool having a plurality of precisely-shaped cavities therein. The slurry is then at least partially polymerized and adhered to the tie layer, for example, by adhesive or addition polymerization of the slurry. Suitable binder precursors and abrasive particles include, for example, those listed hereinabove. The abrasive composites may have a variety of shapes including, for example, those shapes selected from the group consisting of cubic, block-like, cylindrical, prismatic, pyramidal, truncated pyramidal, conical, truncated conical, cross-shaped, and hemispherical. Optionally, coated abrasive articles may further comprise, for example, a backsize, a presize and/or subsize (i.e., a coating between the tie layer and the major surface to which the tie layer is secured), and/or a saturant which coats both major surfaces of the backing. Coated abrasive articles may further comprise a supersize covering at least a portion of the abrasive coat. If present, the supersize typically includes grinding aids and/or anti-loading materials. Coated abrasive articles according to the present invention may be converted, for example, into belts, rolls, discs (including perforated discs), and/or sheets. For belt applications, two free ends of the abrasive sheet may be joined together using known methods to form a spliced belt. Further description of techniques and materials for making coated abrasive articles may be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,827 (Leitheiser et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,397 (Leitheiser et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,419 (Caul et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,364 (Cottringer et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,275 (Bloecher et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,104 (Broberg); U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,163 (Larkey); U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,802 (Schwabel); U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,138 (Tumey et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,671 (Monroe et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,939 (Bloecher et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,951 (Wood et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,431 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,269 (Larmie); U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,508 (Wald et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,753 (Broberg et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,968 (Pellow); U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,463 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,542 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,978 (Wood); U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,917 (Pieper et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,916 (Berg et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,884 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,104 (Bauer); U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,223 (Pieper et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,716 (Buchanan); U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,523 (Rowenhorst et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,251 (Culler et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,726 (Stout et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,647 (Larmie); U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,063 (Follett et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,878 (Peterson et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,550 (Krishnan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,386 (Broberg et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,711 (Helmin); U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,962 (Holmes et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,963 (Larmie); U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,437 (Lee et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,753 (Buchanan et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,619 (Benedict et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,706 (Benedict et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,186 (Chesley et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,302 (Stoetzel et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,247 (Stoetzel et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,716 (Mucci et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,015 (Culler et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,844 (Law et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,674 (Gagliardi et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,988 (Christianson); U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,850 (Lise et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,682 (Law), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Abrasive articles according to the present invention are useful for abrading a workpiece in a process wherein at least a portion of the abrasive layer of a coated abrasive article is frictionally contacted with the abrasive layer with at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece, and then at least one of the coated abrasive article or the workpiece is moved relative to the other to abrade at least a portion of the surface. The abrading process may be carried out, for example, by hand or by machine. Optionally, liquid (e.g., water, oil) and/or surfactant (e.g., soap, nonionic surfactant) may be applied to the workpiece, for example, to facilitate the abrading process. Objects and advantages of this invention are further illustrated by the following non-limiting examples, but the particular materials and amounts thereof recited in these examples, as well as other conditions and, details, should not be construed to unduly limit this invention. EXAMPLES Unless otherwise noted, all parts, percentages, ratios, etc. in the examples and the rest of the specification are by weight, and all reagents used in the examples were obtained, or are available, from general chemical suppliers such as, for example, Sigma-Aldrich Co., Saint Louis, Mo., or may be synthesized by conventional methods. The following abbreviations are used throughout the Examples. TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS A1 silane methacrylate commercially available from GE Silicones, Friendly, West Virginia under the trade designation “SILANE A-174NT” A2 silicon dioxide commercially available from Degussa Corp., Parsippany, New Jersey under the trade designation “SILICONE DIOXIDE OX-50 AEROSIL” ACR1 trimethylolpropane triacrylate, commercially available under the trade designation “TMPTA-N” from UCB Group, Springfield, Massachusetts AFR1 acid modified epoxy acrylate, commercially available under the trade designation “CN118” from Sartomer Co., Exton, Pennsylvania AFR2 monofunctional acid ester acrylate, commercially available under the trade designation “CD9050” from Sartomer Co. AFR3 trifunctional acid ester acrylate, commercially available under the trade designation “CD9052” from Sartomer Co. AFR4 acidic aromatic acrylate oligomer, commercially available under the trade designation “PHOTOMER 4173” from Cognis Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio AZ1 polyfunctional aziridine commercially available under the trade designation from “HYDROFLEX XR-2990” from H. B. Fuller Co. BK1 a treated fabric backing, prepared according to the following procedure: follows: EPR1 (11,306, grams (g)) was mixed with 1507 g of ACR1 and 151 g of PI2 at 20° C. until homogeneous using a mechanical stirrer. The mixture was then heated at 50° C. in an oven for 2 hours. After removing the mixture from the oven, 1206 grams DICY was added and with stirring for 10 minutes. Next, 754 g of NOV1 was added and stirring continued for 10 minutes. 114 g of CUR2 was added and stirring continued until dissolved. A 30.5 cm wide coating knife obtained from the Paul N. Gardner Co., Pompano Beach, Florida, and a 30 cm × 30 cm × 2.5 cm machined stainless steel coating platform were heated to 66° C. The knife was set to a minimum gap of 225 micrometers. A 100% polyester 4/1 sateen fabric made from open-end spun yarns weighing 326 grams/meter2, commercially available under the trade designation “POWERSTRAIGHT” from Milliken and Co., Spartanburg, South Carolina, was placed under the coating knife. The resin composition was poured onto the polyester fabric and then the fabric was pulled by hand under the knife to form a presize coat on the fabric. The pre-sized fabric was then irradiated by passing once through a UV processor obtained under the trade designation “UV PROCESSOR”, obtained from Fusion UV Systems, Gaithersburg, Maryland, using a “FUSION D” bulb at 761 Watts/inch2 (118 W/cm2) and 16.4 feet/minute (5 m/min), then thermally cured at 160° C. for 5 minutes. The resultant pre-size coating weight was 106 g of/meter2. A resin blend was prepared, by mixing until homogeneous at 20° C., 55 percent by weight FL1; 43 percent by weight RPR1 and a small amount of red Fe203 (2 percent by weight) for color. The backside of the fabric was then coated with this resin blend and cured at 90° C. for 10 minutes, then at 105° C. for 15 minutes. The resultant backsize coating weight was 111.5 grams/meter2. BK2 a treated fabric backing, prepared according to the following procedure: A resin blend was prepared by mixing until homogeneous at 20° C., 90 percent by weight of RPR1 and 10 percent by weight of NLR1. This resin blend was applied as a saturant to the a 100 percent polyester 4/1 sateen fabric made from open end spun yarns weighing 326 grams/meter2, commercially available under the trade designation “POWERSTRAIGHT” from Milliken and Co., Spartanburg, South Carolina. The resin-coated fabric was then heated at 90° C. for 10 minutes, and then at 105° C. for 15 minutes. The resultant saturant coating was 75 grams/meter2. A backsize treatment was applied as described in Backing Treatment 1, to give a backsize coat of 50 grams/meter2. BK3 unprimed 2 mil polyester film commercially available from DuPont Teijin Films, Hopewell, Virginia under the trade designation “MYLAR” BR1 acrylated aliphatic urethane, commercially available under the trade designation “EBECRYL 8402” from UCB Group BR2 acrylated polyester, obtained under the trade designation “EBECRYL 810” from UCB Group CUR1 polyamide epoxy curing agent, commercially available under the trade designation “VERSAMID 125” from Cognis Corp. CUR2 2-propylimidazole, commercially available under the trade designation “ACTIRON NXJ-60 LIQUID” from Synthron, Morganton, North Carolina CUR3 modified aliphatic amine, obtained under the trade designation “ANCAMINE AD CURING AGENT” from Air Products and Chemicals, Allentown, Pennsylvania DICY dicyandiamide (having an average particle size of less than 10 micrometers), commercially available under the trade designation “AMICURE CG-1400” from Air Products and Chemicals EPR1 epoxy resin commercially available under the trade designation “EPON 828” from Resolution Performance Products, Houston, Texas FL1 calcium carbonate filler commercially available from J.W. Huber Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, under the trade designation “HUBERCARB Q325” FL2 calcium metasilicate commercially available from NYCO Minerals, Wilisboro, New York, under the trade designation “400 WOLLASTACOAT” LA1 hot melt adhesive, commercially available under the trade designation “JET- MELT HOT MELT ADHESIVE PG3779” from 3M Company LA2 adhesive composition, prepared according to the following procedure: A 237- milliliter jar was charged with 132 grams ER1, 56 grams CUR1, 120 grams FL1 and 10 grams CUR3. The mixture was stirred until homogeneous using a low shear mixer. MN1 ANSI grade 36 aluminum oxide commercially available from Washington Mills Electro Minerals, Niagara Falls, New York MN2 sol-gel abrasive grain, commercially available under the trade designation “GRADE JIS 400 3M CUBITRON 321” from 3M Company NLR1 nitrile latex resin, commercially available under the trade designation “HYCAR 1581” from Noveon, Cleveland, Ohio NOV1 novolac resin, commercially available under the trade designation “RUTAPHEN 8656F” from Bakelite AG, Frielendorf, German pbw parts by weight PI1 2-benzyl-2-(dimethylamino)-1-[4-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl]-1-butanone, commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 369” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Hawthorne, New York PI2 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone, commercially available under the trade designation “IRGACURE 651” from Ciba Specialty Chemicals RPR1 resole phenolic (a phenol-formaldehyde resin, having phenol to formaldehyde ratio of 1.5-2.1/1, catalyzed with 2.5 percent potassium hydroxide 90° Peel Adhesion Test The coated abrasive article to be tested is converted into an about 8 cm wide by 25 cm long piece. One-half the length of a wooden board (17.8 cm by 7.6 cm by 0.6 cm) is coated with either Laminating Adhesive 1 (LA1) or Laminating Adhesive 2 (LA2), described below. With respect to LA1, the adhesive is applied with a hot melt glue gun (commercially available under the trade designation “POLYGUN II HOT MELT APPLICATOR” from 3M Company). With respect to LA2, the adhesive is manually applied by brushing with a 2-inch (5.1-cm) paintbrush. The entire width of, but only the first 15 cm of the length of, the coated abrasive article is coated with laminating adhesive on the side bearing the abrasive particles. The side of the coated abrasive article bearing the abrasive particles is attached to the side of the board containing the laminating adhesive coating in such a manner that the 10 cm of the coated abrasive article not bearing the laminating adhesive overhung from the board. Pressure is applied such that the board and the coated abrasive article were intimately bonded. With respect to LA2, the bonded board and coated abrasive article assembly is cured at 25° C. for about 12 hours and at 50° C. for 12 hours. Operating at 25° C., the abrasive article to be tested is cut along a straight line on both sides of the article such that the width of the coated abrasive article is reduced to 5.1 cm. The resulting abrasive article/board composite is mounted horizontally in a fixture attached to the upper jaw of a tensile testing machine, commercially available under the trade designation “SINTECH 6 W” from MTS Systems Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn. Approximately 1 cm of the overhanging portion of the coated abrasive article is mounted into the lower jaw of the machine such that the distance between the jaws is 12.7 cm. The machine separates the jaws at a rate of 0.05 centimeter/second (cm/sec), with the coated abrasive article being pulled at an angle of 90° away from the wooden board so that a portion of the coated abrasive article separated from the board. The force required for such separation (i.e., stripback force) is reported in kilograms/centimeter (kg/cm). General Method for Preparation of Tie Layer Precursor Composition Acidic, free-radically polymerizable monomer is added to the oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, followed by the initiator, at 20° C. The mixture is stirred until homogeneous using a mechanical stirrer, then heated at 50° C. in an oven for 2 hours. After removing the mixture from the oven, the polyfunctional aziridine is added, and the stirring continued for 10 minutes until the polyfunctional aziridine dissolved, resulting in an isotropic tie layer precursor composition. General Method for Preparation of Backing with Tie Layer Freshly prepared, warm tie layer precursor composition is applied to a treated backing, as indicated, using a 4-inch (1.6-cm) wide hand-held coating knife, available from the Paul N. Gardner Company, Pompano Beach, Fla. The knife gap is set at 225 micrometers. The resultant tie layer precursor-coated backing is then irradiated by passing once through a UV processor obtained under the trade designation “UV PROCESSOR”, obtained from Fusion UV Systems, Gaithersburg, Md., using a “FUSION D” bulb at 761 Watts/inch2 (118 W/cm2) and 16.4 feet/minute (5 m/min), then heated at 120° C. for 10 to 20 minutes to give a backing having a tie layer secured thereto. The nominal coating weight of the resultant tie layer is 110 grams/m2. Preparation of Slurry Resin 1 (SR1) A one-gallon (4-L) plastic container was charged with 1917 g of ACR1, 19 g of PI1, 1738 g of F2, 2235 of MN2, 74 g of A1 and 17 g of A2. The resin was mechanically stirred at 25° C. for 1 hour. Preparation of Powder Coat 1 (PC1) A powder coat of resin and mineral was prepared as described in Example 1 of U.S. Pat. Appl. 20040018802 (Welygan et al.). Preparation of Binder Precursor 1 (BP1) A one-gallon (4-L) plastic container was charged with 544 g of RPR1 and 442 g of F1. The reaction was stirred with an overhead stirrer for 30 minutes, and then diluted with water to reach a total weight of one kilogram. Preparation of Binder Precursor 2 (BP2) A one-gallon (4-L) plastic container was charged with 425 g of ACR1, 11 g of PI2 and 726 g of F1 and mechanically stirred at 25° C. for one hour. General Method for Bonding an Abrasive Layer to a Tie Layer Abrasive layers are bonded to the tie layer according to the following procedures: Binder Precursor 1 or 2 is coated onto the tie layer using a handheld coating knife at a coating thickness of 4 mils (101 micrometers). For examples coated with Binder Precursor 1, Binder Precursor 1 is coated onto the tie layer using a handheld coating knife at a coating thickness of 4 mils (101 micrometers). MN1 is drop-coated into Binder Precursor 1 to form a closed mineral coat, then Binder Precursor 1 is heated at 90° C. for 60 minutes, and then at 105° C. for 12 hours. For examples coated with Binder Precursor 2, Binder Precursor 2 is coated onto the tie layer using a handheld coating knife at a coating thickness of 4 mils (101 micrometers). MN1 is drop-coated into the Binder Precursor 2 to form a closed mineral coat, and Binder Precursor 2 is passed once through a UV processor obtained under the trade designation “UV PROCESSOR”, obtained from Fusion UV Systems, Gaithersburg, Md., using a “FUSION D” bulb at 761 Watts/inch2 (118 W/cm2) and 16.4 feet/minute (5 m/min). For examples coated with Powder Coat 1, Powder Coat 1 is coated onto the tie layer using a handheld coating knife at a coating thickness of 10 mils. The resultant powder coating is melted by passing under IR lamps at 25 fpm (7.6 m/min), and is then heated at 150° C. for 1 hour. For examples coated with Slurry 1, Slurry 1 is coated onto the tie layer using a handheld coating knife at a coating thickness of 2-3 mils (101 micrometers) onto a tool having precisely-shaped cavities therein as described in Example 1 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/668,736 (Collins et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and then transferred to tie layer. The slurry is passed once through two UV processors obtained under the trade designation “UV PROCESSOR”, obtained from Fusion UV Systems, Gaithersburg, Md., using a “FUSION D” bulb at 761 Watts/inch2 (118 W/cm2) and 50 feet/minute (15 m/min), and then heated at 120° C. for 24 hours. EXAMPLES 1-25 As indicated in Table 1, tie layer precursors were prepared according to the General Method for Preparation of Tie Layer Precursor. The tie layer precursors were then coated on the indicated backing and cured to form a tie layer according to the General Method for Preparation of Backing with Tie Layer. An Abrasive Layer was then applied to the tie-coat layer. The resultant coated abrasive articles were subjected to the 90° Peel Adhesion Test. In Table 1, the coated abrasives failed within the coated abrasive. TABLE 1 Tie Layer Precursor Components Acidic Oligomer/ monomer/ Curative/ Abrasive Stripback amount, amount, amount, AZ1, Binder Laminating Force Example pbw pbw pbw pbw Backing Precursor Adhesive (kg/cm) 1 BR1/90 AFR3/10 PI1/1 1 BK1 SL1 LA1 2.99 2 BR1/90 AFR3/10 PI1/1 2 BK1 SL1 LA1 3.47 3 BR1/90 AFR3/10 PI1/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA1 2.65 4 BR2/89 AFR4/5 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA1 4.03 5 BR2/74 AFR1/20 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA1 1.92 6 BR2/79 AFR3/10, PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA1 3.67 AFR4/5 7 BR1/86 AFR4/8 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 6.19 8 BR1/91 AFR4/5 PI2/1 3 BK1 SL1 LA2 6.00 9 BR2/86 AFR4/8 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 5.91 10 BR2/92 AFR4/2 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 4.76 11 BR1/83.5 AFR3/12.5 PI2/1 3 BK1 SL1 LA2 6.03 12 BR1/89 AFR3/5 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 5.87 13 BR2/83.5 AFR3/12.5 PI2/1 3 BK1 SL1 LA2 4.78 14 BR2/89 AFR3/5 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 5.08 15 BR1/78 AFR2/20 PI2/1 1 BK1 SL1 LA2 4.69 16 BR1/74 AFR2/20 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 4.40 17 BR2/89 AFR2/5 PI2/1 5 BK1 SL1 LA2 5.03 18 BR2/86 AFR4/8 PI2/1 5 BK2 SL1 LA2 3.88 19 BR1/92 AFR4/2 PI2/1 5 BK2 SL1 LA2 3.70 20 BR1/90 AFR4/8 PI2/1 1 BK2 SL1 LA2 3.11 21 BR2/92 AFR4/2 PI2/1 5 BK2 SL1 LA2 3.38 22 BR1/91 AFR4/5 PI2/1 3 BK1 BP1 LA1 1.36 23 BR1/91 AFR4/5 PI2/1 3 BK1 BP2 LA1 1.32 24 BR1/91 AFR4/5 PI2/1 3 BK1 PC1 LA1 2.19 25 BR1/91 AFR4/5 PI2/1 3 BK3 SL1 LA1 Film Separated* *Adhesion of abrasive and tie layer to film exceeded internal strength of film, which resulted in film separation Various modifications and alterations of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In general, coated abrasive articles have abrasive particles secured to a backing. More typically, coated abrasive articles comprise a backing having two major opposed surfaces and an abrasive layer secured to one of the major surfaces. The abrasive layer is typically comprised of abrasive particles and a binder, wherein the binder serves to secure the abrasive particles to the backing. One common type of coated abrasive article has an abrasive layer which comprises a make layer, a size layer, and abrasive particles. In making such a coated abrasive article, a make layer comprising a first binder precursor is applied to a major surface of the backing. Abrasive particles are then at least partially embedded into the make layer (e.g., by electrostatic coating), and the first binder precursor is cured (i.e., crosslinked) to secure the particles to the make layer. A size layer comprising a second binder precursor is then applied over the make layer and abrasive particles, followed by curing of the binder precursors. Another common type of coated abrasive article comprises an abrasive layer secured to a major surface of a backing, wherein the abrasive layer is provided by applying a slurry comprised of binder precursor and abrasive particles onto a major surface of a backing, and then curing the binder precursor. In another aspect, coated abrasive articles may further comprise a supersize layer covering the abrasive layer. The supersize layer typically includes grinding aids and/or anti-loading materials. Optionally, backings used in coated abrasive articles may be treated with one or more applied coatings. Examples of typical backing treatments are a backsize layer (i.e., a coating on the major surface of the backing opposite the abrasive layer), a presize layer or a tie layer (i.e., a coating on the backing disposed between the abrasive layer and the backing), and/or a saturant that saturates the backing. A subsize is similar to a saturant, except that it is applied to a previously treated backing. However, depending on the particular choice of abrasive layer and backing (treated or untreated), the abrasive layer may partially separate from the backing during abrading resulting in the release of abrasive particles. This phenomenon is known in the abrasive art as “shelling”. In most cases, shelling is undesirable because it results in a loss of performance. In one approach, a tie layer disposed between the backing and the abrasive layer has been used to address the problem of shelling in some coated abrasive articles. Yet, despite such advances, there remains a continuing need for new materials and methods that can reduce the problem of shelling in coated abrasive articles. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In one aspect, the present invention provides a coated abrasive article comprising a backing having a major surface, a tie layer secured to at least a portion of the major surface, an abrasive layer secured to at least a portion of the tie layer, the abrasive layer comprising abrasive particles and at least one binder resin, wherein the tie layer is preparable by at least partially polymerizing an isotropic polymerizable composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. In some embodiments, the abrasive layer comprises a make layer comprising a first binder resin, abrasive particles embedded in the make layer, and a size layer comprising a second binder resin secured to the make layer and abrasive particles. In some embodiments, the abrasive particles are dispersed in the binder resin. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a polymerizable make resin precursor on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; at least partially embedding abrasive particles in the make resin precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the make resin precursor. In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method of making a coated abrasive article comprising: disposing a tie layer precursor on at least a portion of a backing, the tie layer precursor comprising an isotropic composition comprising at least one polyfunctional aziridine, at least one acidic free-radically polymerizable monomer, and at least one oligomer having at least two pendant free-radically polymerizable groups, wherein homopolymerization of the oligomer results in a polymer having a glass transition temperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius; and at least partially polymerizing the tie layer precursor; disposing a slurry comprising polymerizable binder precursor and abrasive particles on the at least partially polymerized tie layer precursor; and at least partially polymerizing the binder precursor. Coated abrasive articles according to the present invention are typically useful for abrading a workpiece, and may exhibit low levels of shelling during abrading processes. As used herein, the term “(meth)acryl” includes both “acryl” and “methacryl”. | 20040618 | 20061219 | 20051222 | 98528.0 | 0 | MARCHESCHI, MICHAEL A | COATED ABRASIVE ARTICLE WITH TIE LAYER, AND METHOD OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,524 | ACCEPTED | Purge valve including a dual coil permanent magnet linear actuator | A purge valve includes an aperture, a member, and an actuator. The aperture defines a portion of a vapor flow path that extends between a first port that communicates vapor with a fuel vapor collection canister and a second port that communicates vapor with an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. The member is displaced between a first configuration that occludes the aperture and a second configuration that permits vapor flow along the vapor flow path. The actuator, which displaces the member between the first and second configurations, includes a stator and an armature. The stator includes first and second windings that are spaced along an axis. The armature, which is coupled to the member, includes a permanent magnet that is axially positioned at least partially between the first and second windings. | 1. A purge valve for a fuel system including an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and a fuel tank in vapor communication with a fuel vapor collection canister, the purge valve comprising: an aperture defining a portion of a vapor flow path extending between first and second ports, the first port communicates vapor with the fuel vapor collection canister, and the second port communicates vapor with the intake manifold; a member being displaced between first and second configurations with respect to the aperture, the member in the first configuration occludes the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is substantially prevented, and the member in the second configuration is spaced from the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is permitted; and an actuator displacing the member between the first and second configurations, the actuator including: a stator including first and second windings spaced along an axis; and an armature being coupled to the member and being displaced along the axis, the armature including a permanent magnet axially positioned at least partially between the first and second windings. 2. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the first winding is oppositely wound relative to the second winding. 3. The purge valve according to claim 2, wherein an electrical current being supplied to the first and second windings magnetically attracts and magnetically repulses, respectively, the permanent magnet, which displaces the armature, which displaces the member toward the second configuration. 4. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second ports comprises a sonic nozzle. 5. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the member comprises a pintle that is received in and occludes the aperture in the first configuration. 6. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the stator comprises a sleeve extending longitudinally along the axis and being located radially between the armature and the first and second windings, the sleeve guiding the armature relative to the stator. 7. The purge valve according to claim 6, wherein the sleeve comprises at least one slot extending generally parallel to the axis. 8. The purge valve according to claim 7, wherein the vapor flow path extends from the first port, around the first winding, along the at least one slot, through the second winding, through the aperture when the member is in the second configuration, to the second port. 9. The purge valve according to claim 8, wherein the first port is offset with respect to the axis, and the second port extends along the axis. 10. The purge valve according to claim 7, wherein the vapor flow path extends from the first port, through the first winding, along the at least one slot, through the second winding, through the aperture when the member is in the second configuration, to the second port. 11. The purge valve according to claim 10, wherein the first and second ports extend along the axis. 12. The purge valve according to claim 6, wherein the sleeve comprises brass. 13. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the stator comprises first and second ferrous pole pieces associated respectively with the first and second windings. 14. The purge valve according to claim 13, wherein the stator comprises a non-ferrous spacer interposed axially between the first and second windings. 15. The purge valve according to claim 14, wherein the stator comprises a ferrous shell extending longitudinally along the axis and surrounding the first and second windings, the ferrous shell magnetically coupling the first and second ferrous pole pieces. 16. The purge valve according to claim 15, wherein the stator comprises first and second ferrous washers magnetically coupled to the ferrous shell, the first ferrous washer is positioned axially between the first winding and the spacer, and the second ferrous washer is positioned axially between the second winding and the spacer. 17. The purge valve according to claim 14, wherein the non-ferrous spacer comprises nylon. 18. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a housing that is relatively fixed with respect to the stator. 19. The purge valve according to claim 18, wherein the actuator comprises a resilient member extending between the armature and the housing, and the resilient member applies a force biasing the armature toward the first configuration. 20. The purge valve according to claim 18, wherein the housing defines at least one of the aperture, the first port, and the second port. 21. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the permanent magnet is magnetically coupled to the member. 22. The purge valve according to claim 21, wherein the permanent magnet is mechanically coupled to the member. 23. The purge valve according to claim 1, wherein the permanent magnet comprises at least one rib surrounding the axis and projecting radially outward from the axis. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/480,426, filed 20 Jun. 2003, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Related co-pending applications filed concurrently herewith are identified as “Purge Valve and Method of Purging Using a Permanent Magnet Linear Actuator” (Attorney Docket No. 2004P10232US) and “Purge Valve Including an Annular Permanent Magnet Linear Actuator” (Attorney Docket No. 2003P08980US-01), each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is germane to devices including linear actuators. This invention relates generally to on-board emission control systems for internal combustion engine powered motor vehicles, e.g., evaporative emission control systems, and more particularly to a fuel vapor canister purge solenoid valve in an evaporative emission control system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A known on-board evaporative emission control system includes a canister that collects fuel vapor emitted from a fuel tank containing a volatile liquid fuel for the engine. As the canister collects fuel vapor, the canister progressively becomes more saturated with the fuel vapor. During engine operation, vacuum from the engine intake manifold induces atmospheric airflow through the canister, and draws the collected fuel vapor into the engine intake manifold for consumption in the combustion process. This process is commonly referred to as “purging” the fuel vapor collection canister, and is controlled by a canister purge solenoid valve in response to a purge control signal generated by an engine management system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a purge valve for a fuel system that includes an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and a fuel tank in vapor communication with a fuel vapor collection canister. The purge valve includes an aperture, a member, and an actuator. The aperture defines a portion of a vapor flow path that extends between first and second ports. The first port communicates vapor with the fuel vapor collection canister, and the second port communicates vapor with the intake manifold. The member is displaced between first and second configurations with respect to the aperture. The member in the first configuration occludes the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is substantially prevented. The member in the second configuration is spaced from the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is permitted. The actuator displaces the member between the first and second configurations. The actuator includes a stator and an armature. The stator includes first and second windings that are spaced along an axis. The armature is coupled to the member and is displaced along the axis. And the armature includes a permanent magnet that is axially positioned at least partially between the first and second windings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain features of the invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a fuel system that includes a fuel vapor canister purge valve in accordance with the detailed description of the preferred embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a first preferred embodiment for the fuel vapor canister purge valve illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a detail view showing the particulars of the “flow-through” fuel vapor path through the first preferred embodiment for the fuel vapor canister purge valve shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a second preferred embodiment for the fuel vapor canister purge valve illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a detail view showing the particulars of the “flow-around” fuel vapor path through the second preferred embodiment for the fuel vapor canister purge valve shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the relationship between actuator force and armature displacement. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a fuel system 10, e.g., for an engine (not shown), includes a fuel tank 12, a fuel vapor collection canister 14 (e.g., a charcoal canister), a canister solenoid valve 16, a vacuum source 18 such as an intake manifold of the engine, and a purge valve 20. Hydrocarbon fuel vapors from the fuel tank 12 flow through a fuel vapor line connecting the fuel tank 12 and the fuel vapor collection canister 14. These fuel vapors are stored in the fuel vapor collection canister 14, which includes a storage medium, e.g., charcoal, that has a natural affinity for hydrocarbons. During engine operation, the intake manifold vacuum source 18 draws atmospheric air through the canister, via the canister solenoid valve 16, where the air picks up hydrocarbon vapors. These vapors then enter the engine intake manifold where they combine with the fuel-air mixture and are burnt in the engine. So that the effect on the fuel-air mixture of the additional hydrocarbon vapors can be managed, it is important for a purge valve to precisely meter the fuel vapor flow, and thus it is desirable for the purge valve 20 to respond in a linear manner to control signals from an engine management computer. Thus, it is desirable that an actuator for the purge valve provides a linear relationship between the force it produces and its range of movement. Moreover, it is desirable that the magnitudes of the force and range of the actuator be sufficient for different control signals. An actuator for the purge valve 12 provides a force that allows for a stronger return spring opposing movement of the actuator, and thus provides improved leak resistance when the purge valve 12 is closed and provides improved positional stability during purging. And the range of the actuator provides increased sensitivity to the control signal, and thus provides accurate purging. Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a first preferred embodiment 200 for the fuel vapor canister purge valve 12 shown in FIG. 1. An inlet port 202 communicates fuel vapor from the fuel vapor collection canister 14. A replaceable nozzle 220 that defines the inlet port 202 may, as shown in FIG. 2, preferably have an internal cross-section profile of a sonic nozzle. As it is used here, the term “sonic nozzle” refers to a nozzle geometry that substantially mitigates the effect of varying pressure levels that are drawn by the vacuum source 18. Of course, other profiles are envisioned, including a straight, constant diameter internal diameter. The replaceable nozzle 220 may be fitted to a housing 230 that defines the exterior of the purge valve 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 230 includes a cap 232 and a body 234, to which the replaceable nozzle 220 is fitted. A seal 236 suitable for contact with fuel vapor may be positioned between the cap 232 and the body 234 to ensure that the connection therebetween is fluid tight. The cap 232 also defines an outlet port 204, which communicates fuel vapor to the vacuum source 18, and an aperture 206 through which fuel vapor passes when flowing from the inlet port 202 to the outlet port 204. A member 240 is displaced between first and second configurations with respect to the aperture 206. The member 240 in the first configuration (as shown in FIG. 4) occludes the aperture 206 and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is substantially prevented, and the member 240 in the second configuration (as will be described with respect to FIG. 4) is spaced from the aperture 206 and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is permitted. Between the first and second configurations, changes in the vapor occur in a proportionally linear manner with respect to a control signal that is applied to the purge valve 200. Preferably, the member 240 is a pintle that is received in and occludes the aperture 206 in the first configuration. The member 240 is displaced by an actuator 100 that includes a stator 120 and an armature 140. The stator 120 includes a first winding 122 and a second winding 123 that are spaced from one another and are supplied a common electrical current so as to produce magnetic flux. By virtue of the first and second windings 122,123 being wound opposite to one another, opposite magnetic forces, i.e., attracting and repulsing are produced. Preferably, a single wire is used for the first and second windings. A magnetic circuit for the flux produced by the first winding 122 includes a first pole piece 124, and magnetic circuit for the flux produced by the second winding 123 includes a second pole piece 126. A shell 128 provides a return path for the flux produced by both the first and second windings 122,123. The magnetic circuit for the first winding 122 may also include a first washer 130 positioned adjacent to the winding 122 at an axial end that is opposite to the first pole piece 124, and the magnetic circuit for the second winding 122 may also include a second washer 132 positioned adjacent to the winding 123 at an axial end that is opposite to the second pole piece 126. The first and second washers 130,132 may be fixed to the shell 128. The first and second pole pieces 124,126, the shell 128, and the first and second washers 130,132 are made of a ferrous material, e.g., steel. The first and second pole pieces 124,126 concentrate the magnetic flux of the respective windings 122,123, and the shell 128 and the first and second washers 130,132 complete the magnetic circuits that also include the armature 140. Preferably, the armature 140 includes a permanent magnet 142 to which the member 240 is coupled. According to the present invention, the member 240 may be coupled to the armature 140 solely due to the magnetic attraction of the permanent magnet 142, and/or the member 240 may extend longitudinally within a hollow core of the permanent magnet 142. The permanent magnet 142 is preferably a rare earth magnet, such as a composition of neodymium, iron and boron that is made by a powder metallurgy process that results, after magnetic alignment and sintering, in oriented metal magnets exhibiting >99% of theoretical density. A sintered construction permits complex geometries while minimizing cost and without sacrificing magnetic strength. Preferably, the permanent magnet 142 has an energy product of at least approximately 32 Mega Gauss Oersted (MGOe), which is believed to provide a suitable balance between cost and energy products. Additional characteristics, such as operating temperature, can be provided by adjusting the metallurgy of the permanent magnet 142. The permanent magnet 142, which may be constructed by a bonding or some other alternative process, may also be formed with circumferential ribs (not shown) that reduce sliding friction with respect to the stator 120. A sleeve 150 is radially interposed between the stator 120 and the armature 140. The sleeve 150 may provide a guide for the relative movement of the armature 140 with respect to the stator 120, and may align the stator 120 and the armature 140 along a common longitudinal axis A. The sleeve 150 reduces sliding friction while providing a durable guide for the armature 140 and, by virtue of its minimal radial thickness, minimizes the gaps in the magnetic circuit between the stator 120 and the armature 140. Preferably, the sleeve 150 is formed of brass, however, other non-ferrous materials such as stainless steel, Teflon®, or other plastic materials, etc. may be used so long as they also reduce friction, are durable, and minimize the magnetic gap. The sleeve 150 includes at least one perforation 152, e.g., one or more radial holes or longitudinal slots, in the vicinity between the first and second windings 122,123. As will be discussed in greater detail with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5, the at least one perforation may define may a portion of a passage through which fuel vapor flows in the open configuration of the purge valve 200. Interposed axially between the first and second windings 122,123 is a non-ferrous spacer 160. Preferably, the spacer 160 is formed from Nylon, but may be formed from any non-ferrous material. In addition to providing axial spacing between the first and second windings 122,123, the spacer 160 may also provide axial spacing between the first and second pole pieces 124,126 and the between the first and second washers 130,132. A resilient element 250, e.g., a coil spring, which may be positioned between the armature 140 and the body 234 of the housing 230, provides a force that biases the armature 140 and the member 240 toward the closed configuration of the purge valve 200. A calibration device (not shown) may be provided to vary the biasing force of the resilient element 250. As it is used herein, “flow path” refers to the entirety of the passage through which fuel vapor passes through the purge valve 200. Accordingly, with reference also to FIG. 4, in the second or open configuration of the purge valve 200, fuel vapor enters via the inlet port 202, passes through the nozzle 220, passes through the center of the first winding 122, by-passes around the armature 140 via one or more of the perforations 152 in the sleeve 150, i.e., in radial flow channel(s) between the armature 140 and the spacer 160, passes through the space between the member 240 and the aperture 206, and exits via the outlet port 204. Purge valve 200 is referred to as a “flow-through” purge valve insofar as the flow path is always inside the stator 120. FIGS. 3 and 5, which show a “flow-around” purge valve 200′ as an alternative embodiment to flow-through purge valve 200, will now be described. Features that are substantially similar to those described with regard to the purge valve 200, which may be indicated with the reference numbers, will not be described further with respect to the purge valve 200′. The purge valve 200′ includes a housing 230 that includes a cap 232, a body 234, and an intermediate portion 233 positioned longitudinally between the cap 232 and the body 234. Seals 236 (two are indicated) suitable for contact with fuel vapor may be positioned between the cap 232 and the intermediate portion 233, and between the intermediate portion 233 and the body 234, to ensure that the connections therebetween are fluid tight. A second replaceable nozzle 222, which defines the outlet port 204, may be fitted to the cap 232. As compared to the purge valve 200′, the replaceable nozzle 220 and the inlet port 202 may be offset from a central longitudinal axis A. The spacer 160 in the purge valve 200′ additionally includes radial holes 162 that are aligned with radial holes 129 extending through the shell 128. As will be discussed in further detail with reference to FIG. 5, the holes 162 and 129 define a portion of a flow path through the purge valve 200′. The purge valve 200′ additionally includes a calibration device 250 that is adjustable with respect to the stator 120 to vary the biasing force of the resilient element 250. With particular reference also to FIG. 5, in the second or open configuration of the purge valve 200′, fuel vapor enters via the inlet port 202, passes through the replaceable nozzle 220, passes along one or more flow channels between the body 234 and the stator 120, i.e., outside of the first winding 122, passes through the holes 129,162 in the shell 128 and the spacer 160, respectively, passes around the armature 140 via one or more of the perforations 152 in the sleeve 150, passes through the space between the member 240 and the aperture 206, passes through the replaceable nozzle 222, and exits via the outlet port 204. Purge valve 200′ is referred to as a “flow-around” purge valve insofar as the flow path is partially outside the stator 120, i.e., around the first winding 122. As illustrated by the traces shown in FIG. 6 the actuators 100 in the purge valves 200 and 200′ provide, for various electric currents, the desired generally linear relationship between the displacement force and the displacement of the armature 140. Of course, by changing the shape of the armature 140, the performance of the magnetic circuit for the purge valves 200 and 200′ can be changed as desired to suit a specific application. Notably, there is a range of suitable linearity from approximately 2 millimeters to at least 9 millimeters, i.e., a range of at least 7 millimeters. The present invention provides a number of advantages. First, the present invention provides a smaller exterior size as compared to known purge valves, particularly linear purge valves having similar actuator force capabilities. Second, a purge valve according to the present invention avoids stacking-up of manufacturing tolerance variations and may be controlled by simpler algorithms, as compared to the present invention. Third, a sleeve according to the present invention is positioned between the stator and the armature to provide central alignment during assembly, guide the relative movement between the armature and the stator, and reduce hysteresis, particularly in the direction of armature travel. Fourth, the slots in the sleeve according to the present invention permit a “flow-through” arrangement whereby very nearly flat actuator force versus flow volume curves can be achieved with a very compact overall valve. While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to certain preferred embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations, and changes to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the sphere and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but that it have the full scope defined by the language of the following claims, and equivalents thereof. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A known on-board evaporative emission control system includes a canister that collects fuel vapor emitted from a fuel tank containing a volatile liquid fuel for the engine. As the canister collects fuel vapor, the canister progressively becomes more saturated with the fuel vapor. During engine operation, vacuum from the engine intake manifold induces atmospheric airflow through the canister, and draws the collected fuel vapor into the engine intake manifold for consumption in the combustion process. This process is commonly referred to as “purging” the fuel vapor collection canister, and is controlled by a canister purge solenoid valve in response to a purge control signal generated by an engine management system. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides a purge valve for a fuel system that includes an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine and a fuel tank in vapor communication with a fuel vapor collection canister. The purge valve includes an aperture, a member, and an actuator. The aperture defines a portion of a vapor flow path that extends between first and second ports. The first port communicates vapor with the fuel vapor collection canister, and the second port communicates vapor with the intake manifold. The member is displaced between first and second configurations with respect to the aperture. The member in the first configuration occludes the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is substantially prevented. The member in the second configuration is spaced from the aperture and vapor flow along the vapor flow path is permitted. The actuator displaces the member between the first and second configurations. The actuator includes a stator and an armature. The stator includes first and second windings that are spaced along an axis. The armature is coupled to the member and is displaced along the axis. And the armature includes a permanent magnet that is axially positioned at least partially between the first and second windings. | 20040621 | 20060627 | 20050310 | 63299.0 | 0 | MOULIS, THOMAS N | PURGE VALVE INCLUDING A DUAL COIL PERMANENT MAGNET LINEAR ACTUATOR | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,664 | ACCEPTED | Thin keypad assemblies and components for electronics devices and methods | A keypad assembly, the keypad assembly including a keycap layer 110 having multiple user interface key caps flexibly coupled to a carrier portion, a luminescent layer 120 disposed toward a backside of the plurality of key cap layer, the luminescent layer carrying a plurality of switch domes aligned with a corresponding one of the plurality of key caps of the key cap layer. In some embodiments, a backing material is applied to a backside of the user interface keycaps. | 1. A keypad, the keypad comprising: a plurality of user interface key caps, the plurality of user interface key caps separated by spaces on at least some sides thereof; a carrier portion interconnecting the plurality of user interface key caps, the plurality of user interface key caps flexibly coupled to the carrier portion, and the plurality of user interface key caps and the carrier portion constitute a unitary member; a flexible web interconnecting at least some of the plurality of user interface key caps. 2. The keypad of claim 1, the plurality of user interface key caps and carrier portion formed of a metal material. 3. The keypad of claim 1, the plurality of user interface key caps and carrier portion having a thickness not more than 1.5 mm. 4. The keypad of claim 1, the flexible web and the plurality of user interface key caps comprise a common material and forming a unitary member, the flexible web having a thickness less than a thickness of the user interface key caps. 5. The keypad of claim 1, the flexible web interconnecting the plurality of user interface key caps comprising an elastic material different than a material of the user interface key caps. 6. The keypad of claim 5, the flexible web disposed on a backside of at least some of the plurality of user interface key caps. 7. The keypad of claim 5, the flexible web is a resilient material, and the unitary member is a metal material. 8. The keypad of claim 1, a rigid backing disposed on a backside of at least some of the plurality of user interface key caps. 9. The keypad of claim 8, the plurality of user interface key caps are metal, the rigid backing is a plastic material, the flexible web interconnecting the plurality of user interface key caps is an elastic material. 10-22. (canceled) 23. A keypad, the keypad comprising: a plurality of user interface key caps, the plurality of user interface key caps separated by spaces on at least some sides thereof; a carrier portion interconnecting the plurality of user interface key caps, a flexible portion of the carrier flexibly coupling each of the plurality of user interface key caps to the carrier portion, the flexible carrier portion disposed along not more than one side of the corresponding user interface key cap, other sides of each of the user interface key caps separated from neighboring key caps by a space, the plurality of user interface key caps and the carrier portion forming a unitary member. 24. The keypad of claim 23, the unitary member is a metal material not more than 1.5 mm in thickness. 25. The keypad of claim 23, the keycaps are flexibly coupled to the carrier portion along relatively thin portions of the unitary member. 26. The keypad of claim 23, a resilient material bridging the space between the key caps and carrier, the resilient material more flexible than the flexible portion of the carrier. 27-35. (canceled) | FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to input devices, and more particularly to keypad assemblies and keypad components, for example, keypad assemblies and components for use in super-thin applications, for example, wireless communications devices, and corresponding methods. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE In the past, keypads on cellular radiotelephones device have comprised a multi-layered structure having a large part count that is relatively thick, thus limiting in the thinness of the devices in which the keypad is integrated. Typical keypads include user interface forming user accessible key caps, which are sometimes interconnected by a web. The key caps are each aligned over a corresponding switch-dome mounted on a carrier made of Mylar or some other carrier material. The carrier and dome assembly is disposed on a switch contact circuitry layer. To provide keypad lighting, it is known to dispose a luminescent layer between the dome carrier and the key caps. The luminescent layer however includes cutouts through which plunger portions of the key caps may contact the domes to actuate the switches on the circuit layer. This configuration lacks luminescence directly below or behind the key caps where it is desired most. Instead, the key caps are lighted indirectly by dispersed light, some of which emanates from circumferential areas surrounding the keys. The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exemplary keypad assembly. FIG. 2 is an exemplary key cap layer. FIG. 3 is another exemplary key cap layer. FIG. 4 is an exemplary key cap layer fastening tab. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of an exemplary key cap layer assembly. FIG. 6 is an exploded diagram of an exemplary switch-dome/luminescent layer. FIG. 7 is an exemplary luminescent layer having colored portions. FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a potion of an exemplary keypad assembly. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of portion of another exemplary keypad assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of an exemplary keypad assembly 100 comprising generally a user interface keycap layer assembly 110, a switch-dome/luminescent layer assembly 120 and a keypad circuitry layer 130. The exemplary keypad assembly 100 and variations thereof, which will become more apparent from the discussion below, have applications in handheld electronics devices, for example, calculators, personal organizers, personal digital assistants, wired and wireless communications devices including cellular telephones, portable computing machines, among other devices. The exemplary key cap assembly layer 110 comprises generally a key cap layer having a plurality of user interface key caps flexibly coupled to a carrier or carrier portions. FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary key cap layer 510. In one embodiment, each key cap is flexibly coupled to the carrier along at least one side of the key cap, and other remaining sides of the key cap are separated from other key caps and/or carrier portions by a space, thereby allowing the key caps to flex in response to a tactile depressing action by a user. In another embodiment, each of the plurality of user interface key caps are coupled to the carrier by a flexible carrier portion disposed along not more than one side of the corresponding user interface key cap, wherein other sides of each of the user interface key caps separated from neighboring key caps and/or carrier portions by a space. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary key cap assembly layer 200 viewed from the user interface side thereof. The exemplary keypad assembly layer 200 includes a plurality of key caps, for example, the “7” key cap 210, the “0” key cap 212 and the “9” key cap 214 flexibly coupled by intermediate carrier portions 211 and 213. FIG. 2 also illustrates space between adjacent key caps and between key caps and carrier portions. For example, there is space 220 between key cap 210 and the “*” key cap 216. The same space 220 separates key cap 216 from the carrier portion 211. In FIG. 2, at least some of the plurality of key caps and some of the carrier portions form a unitary member, for example, key caps 210, 212, 214 and carrier portions 211 and 213. FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary key cap assembly layer 300 viewed also from the user interface side thereof. The exemplary keypad assembly layer 300 includes a plurality of key caps, for example, the “7” key cap 310, the “0” key cap 312, and the “9” key cap 314 flexibly coupled to intermediate carrier portions 311 and 313. The key cap assembly layer of FIG. 3 is distinguished from that of FIG. 2 by a carrier portion or portions 316 and 318 along lateral sides of the plurality of user interface key caps. The exemplary lateral carrier portions 316 and 318 interconnect all of the rows of key caps, for example, the row containing key caps “1”, “5” and “3” and the row containing key caps “4”, “8” and “6”, thereby forming a unitary member comprising the plurality of key caps and carrier portions. FIG. 3 also illustrates spaces between adjacent key caps and between key caps and the carrier portions. For example, there is space 320 between key cap 310 and the numeral “4” key cap 322. The space 320 also extends between key cap 310 and the carrier portion 316. FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded view of an exemplary key cap assembly layer 500 comprising a key cap layer 510, and a flexible web 520 applied to a backside of the key cap layer. In one embodiment, the key cap layer including the plurality of user interface key caps flexibly coupled to the carrier is formed from a single sheet of material, for example, stainless steel, or aluminum, or phosphor bronze, or copper alloy or some other suitable metal material. In one exemplary embodiment, the key cap layer is grade SS304 stainless steel. In other embodiments, the key cap layer is formed of a synthetic or composite material with suitable rigidity and flexibility characteristics. In some embodiments, the plurality of key caps are defined by forming the spaces in a stamping process or in some other material removal process, for example, by chemical or laser etching, high velocity fluid cutting, etc. In other embodiments, the key caps are formed in a molding or casting or some other fabricating process. In one embodiment, the key cap layer is not more than 1.5 mm thick, and in an exemplary super-thin keypad application the key cap layer is between approximately 0.2 and approximately 0.3 mm thick. These exemplary ranges however are not intended to be limiting. Other exemplary ranges are discussed below. In FIG. 1, the exemplary key cap assembly layer 110 comprises a plurality of fastening tabs protruding from the side portions of the key cap layer. FIG. 4 is a more detailed view of an exemplary fastening tab 400. The fastening tab 400 includes a first flange 410 extending from a lateral carrier portion 404 of the key cap, and a second flange 420 extending from the first flange. The fastening tab is preferably formed unitarily with the key caps and the carrier from a single sheet of material, though in other embodiments the fastening tabs may be appended by some fastening means. FIG. 4 illustrates a bent corner portion 412 between the first flange and the second flange. In some embodiments, the corner portion 412 is formed along a thinned portion 414 of the sheet material from which the fastening tab is fabricated. The thinned portion 414 facilitates formation of the corner portion and may be formed by etching or some other process. FIG. 4 also illustrates a corner portion 416 between the lateral carrier portion and the first flange 410. In one embodiment, the corner portion 416 is thinned to facilitate bending and to provide continuity of an edge portion 402 along the lateral carrier portion 404. Unlike conventional key pad assemblies that must be installed from the inside of electronics device housings, keypad assemblies comprising the exemplary key cap layers disclose herein may be installed from the outside of the device housing, and be fastened to the housing by the fastening tabs. In some embodiments, the flexible portion of the carrier flexibly coupling the plurality of user interface key caps to the carrier portion is relatively thin compared to other portions of the carrier and/or key caps. In FIG. 3, for example, the carrier portion 330 between key caps “1” and “5” has reduced thickness to provide increased flexibility. The amount of any required carrier thinning is dependent many factors, including, among others, the thickness and rigidity of the sheet material from which the carrier and key caps are formed, desired tactile performance, etc. In one embodiment, the thinned carrier portion is formed by etching or by some other material removal process applied to the surface of the sheet material from which the key cap layer is formed. In one embodiment, a flexible web interconnects at least some of the plurality of user interface key caps. The flexible web generally bridges the space between the plurality of user interface key caps and the space between the key caps and any carrier portions, for example, lateral carrier portions 316 and 318 in FIG. 3. The flexible web generally prevents debris from entering into the space between the keycaps, and in some embodiments forms part of the exterior of the key cap layer. In one embodiment, the flexible web interconnecting the plurality of user interface key caps comprises a material different than the material of the user interface key caps. In one exemplary embodiment, the flexible web is a resilient material, for example, silicone. More generally, in other embodiments, the flexible web may be some other elastomer material. In one embodiment, the flexible web is formed of a translucent material that permits emanation of backlighting from luminescent layer, which is discussed further below. The flexible web may be clear or tinted to provide contrast relative to the key caps. In some embodiments, the flexible material is doped with the materials to provide special effects, and/or it may be coated with ink or other coloration. FIG. 5 illustrates the exemplary key cap assembly layer 500 comprising the key cap layer 510 discussed above, and a flexible web 520 applied to a backside of the key cap layer. The exemplary flexible web 520 may be molded, for example, injection molded or insert molded or otherwise deposited on the backside of the key cap layer. In one embodiment, the flexible web material protrudes into the space between key caps and any carrier portions, and in some embodiments the flexible web forms part of the visible exterior of the key cap layer. In FIG. 5, the exemplary flexible web 520 is applied largely to the carrier and partly to the key caps, leaving portions of the key cap exposed for the application of another backing material discussed further below. In other embodiments, the flexible web may be a flexible web film disposed over or applied to an outer surface of the key cap layer. In another alternative embodiment, the flexible web and the plurality of user interface key caps comprise a common material forming the unitary member. According to this alternative embodiment, the flexible web is formed from the sheet material from which the key cap layer is formed. In one embodiment, the flexible web portions between key caps and any carrier portions is formed by reducing the thickness of portions of the sheet material, for example, by etching. In this embodiment, the removed portion of the sheet material forms the space between individual key caps, and the reduced thickness portion of the sheet material also forms the flexible web bridging the space. In one exemplary key cap layer assembly, a backing material is disposed on the backside of corresponding key caps. In some embodiments, the backing material provides rigidity for the key caps, particularly in applications where the key cap is relatively thin and also in embodiments where the key cap material is insufficiently rigid to provide the desired tactile performance. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5, backing material portions 530 are disposed on corresponding key caps of the key cap layer 510, for example, backing portion 502 is applied to key cap 512. In some embodiments, the backing material is different than the material constituting the flexible web. For the example, the flexible web may be a relatively resilient or elastic material and the backing material may be a relatively rigid or hard material. In one exemplary embodiment, the backing is a TOYOLAC 900 Series material. In some embodiments, the backing material is doped with materials to provide special effects, and/or it may be coated with ink or other coloration. In one exemplary application process, the backing material is applied to a backside of a plurality of key caps, for example, keycaps flexible interconnected by a carrier portion. In embodiments where multiple user interface key caps are flexibly coupled to one or more carrier portions, a flexible web is applied to the backside of the key cap layer. In one embodiment, the flexible web is applied to the backside of the key cap layer. The flexible web may be applied by any application procedure, for example, an insert molding process. In an alternative embodiment, the resilient material is applied to the key cap first, so that the resilient material forms a wall portion surrounding the portion of the key cap where the backing material is desired. The backing material is then applied to the portion of the key cap surrounded by the resilient material wall portion, wherein the resilient material wall portion captures the backing material applied to the key cap. In another alternative embodiment, the backing material is part of the flexible web disposed on the backside of the key caps. In some embodiments, some or all of the key caps have artwork disposed thereon for indicating functionality and/or for providing other information associated with the corresponding key cap. The artwork may be printed or imprinted on the key caps. In other embodiments, embossed or intaglio artwork is applied to the key caps, for example, to a home key like the “5” key, or to all of the key caps to provide a tactile interface. The exemplary key cap layers 200 and 300 of FIGS. 2 and 3 comprise key caps including artwork apertures. The exemplary artwork apertures include alphanumeric characters and other functional symbols suitable for use in a communications device application. In some embodiments, the key cap backing material covers or fills the artwork aperture. In one embodiment, the backing material is a clear or tinted translucent material that permits light to emanate from a luminescent layer disposed below the key caps as discussed further below. According to a related aspect of the disclosure, the backing material disposed in the artwork aperture may be used to capture portions of the artwork that would otherwise require support structure or be susceptible to dislodgement. These captured artwork portions include, for example, the center portions of the numerals “0”, “4”, “6”, “8” etc. A tactile interface may be formed on some or all of the key caps as discussed above or by allowing some of the backing material to protrude through the artwork aperture beyond the surface of the key cap. The tactile interface may also be produced by embossing or by an intaglio process. According to another process for making the key cap layer assembly, key cap function or identification artwork is etched in a relatively thin metal sheet, for example, a thickness between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm. Then a hard translucent plastic material is molded to a backside of the metal sheet where the key caps will be defined. Next, the key cap perimeters are etched in the thin sheet. And then the flexible web is formed around the key cap perimeter, as discussed above. The flexible web allows the key caps to move independently, and it also prevents the key caps from being pulled up. As a final step, the key caps may be subject to finishing operations to polish the cosmetic surface and/or to remove excess molded in material from the key cap layer. In FIG. 1, the switch-dome/luminescent layer 120 comprises a luminescent layer, for example, an electro-luminescent layer. In the exemplary embodiment, the luminescent layer functions as a carrier for an array of switch-domes aligned with corresponding key caps of the key cap layer. FIG. 6 is an exploded diagram of an exemplary switch-dome/luminescent layer assembly 600. The exemplary assembly comprises a luminescent layer 610. In one embodiment, the luminescent layer 610 is an electro-luminescent layer, for example, the Durel DFLX-665 flexible electro-luminescent lamp manufactured by Rogers Corporation, Durel Division, Chandler, Ariz. In other embodiments, the luminescent layer may comprise other luminescent materials. In one embodiment, the luminescent layer is colored or tinted to provide colored backlighting. In FIG. 7, the exemplary luminescent layer includes a green colored or tinted portion 702 and a red colored or tinted portion 704. The exemplary green and red colored portions may be located behind ON or SEND keys and OFF or END keys, respectively. In other embodiments, other colors may be used on these and other keys. FIG. 6 also illustrates an adhesive layer 620, for example, a screen-printed adhesive, which is adhered to a side of the luminescent layer 610. Also included with the switch-dome/luminescent layer is an array of switch domes 630 adhered to the luminescent layer 610 by the adhesive layer 620 in alignment with the corresponding key caps. Alternatively, the domes 630 may be adhered to the luminescent layer 610 by discrete amounts of adhesive, without the requirement for the exemplary adhesive layer. In other embodiments, the switch-domes may be coupled to the luminescent layer by some other fastening means. Carrying the domes on the luminescent layer eliminates the need for the dedicated carrier, e.g., the Mylar layer, used in conventional designs. In the exemplary embodiment, the switch-domes array 630 is adhered to a backside of the luminescent layer 610 by the intermediate adhesive layer 620. In one embodiment, the luminescent layer is a pliable material that conforms about the domed surface of the switch dome, thereby ensuring sufficient adhesion with the adhesive layer. In an alternative embodiment, the domes may be disposed between the luminescent layer and some other layer. Locating the switch-domes on the backside of the luminescent layer ensures that light emanates from the luminescent layer directly behind the key caps. In an alternative embodiment, the switch-domes are disposed on a front-side of, or atop, the luminescent layer. The use of a clear or translucent switch-dome will reduce any obstruction, by the dome, of light emanating from directly behind the key caps. In the exemplary embodiment, the switch-domes include a nipple 632, which provides good tactile performance by ensuring that the dome sweet spot is actuated. In other embodiments, the protrusion may be located in or on the backing material disposed on the key caps. In alternative embodiments, the luminescent layer includes cutout portions that accommodate the switch-domes or portions thereof, thereby reducing the thickness of the assembly resulting from layer stacking. In other embodiments, a conventional carrier layer, for example, a Mylar layer, carries the switch-domes. The switch-domes carrier layer is positioned so that the domes adhered or otherwise fastened thereto are aligned with corresponding switches on a keypad circuitry layer. In FIG. 1, the exemplary luminescent layer dome carrier 120 is positioned to that the plurality of switch-domes, e.g., domes 122 and 124, disposed thereon are positioned over corresponding switches, e.g., switch 132 and 134, on the circuitry layer 130. The resulting assembly of the keypad layer assembly 110, the switch-dome/luminescent layer 120 and the circuitry layer provides for a relatively compact keypad assembly having an overall thickness between approximately 1.0 mm and 5.0 mm. In FIG. 8, a sectional portion of an exemplary keypad assembly 800 comprises an exemplary keypad assembly incorporating features discussed above. The section portion of FIG. 8 corresponds, for example, to a section through the directional cursor controller 230 and selection key 232 in FIG. 2. A key cap layer 802 includes a selection key cap 803 and a directional cursor controller input 805 corresponding to the selection key 232 and cursor controller 230 of FIG. 2. The exemplary key cap layer is approximately 0.15 mm and includes a surface coating 806, for example, Urethane. The selection key cap includes an artwork aperture filed with a translucent material 805 to permit the passage of light from a backlight source, discussed below. A base film 810, which is preferably transparent, is co-molded between top and bottom silicone films 812 and 814, respectively. The key top layer is adhered to the base film by a glue layer 816. A luminescent layer 820 functions as a dome carrier. An exemplary dome 822 is located below the key cap 803. A plunger 824 is disposed between the key cap 803 and the dome 822. The plunger may be a part of, or attached, to the dome or to structure opposite the dome. The overall thickness of the exemplary keypad layer is less than approximately 1.2 mm. In FIG. 9, another exemplary keypad assembly 900 comprises a key cap layer including a first key cap 902 and a second key cap 904. A flexible web portion 906 is disposed between adjacent key caps 902 and 904 and other neighboring key caps. A backing material 908 is disposed on a backside of key cap 902 and protrudes through an artwork aperture in the key cap, as illustrated. A plunger 912 is formed integrally with the backing material a switch-dome below the key cap 902. A luminescent layer 920 is disposed below the key cap layer assembly. The exemplary luminescent layer 920 functions as a carrier for switch-domes 922, which are adhered thereto by an intermediate adhesive layer 924, as discussed above. The luminescent layer and switch-domes are disposed on a circuit board 930, which is mounted in a housing 940. While the present disclosure and what the best modes of the inventions have been described in a manner establishing possession thereof by the inventors and enabling those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the same, it will be understood and appreciated that there are many equivalents to the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein and that modifications and variations may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventions, which are to be limited not by the exemplary embodiments but by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>In the past, keypads on cellular radiotelephones device have comprised a multi-layered structure having a large part count that is relatively thick, thus limiting in the thinness of the devices in which the keypad is integrated. Typical keypads include user interface forming user accessible key caps, which are sometimes interconnected by a web. The key caps are each aligned over a corresponding switch-dome mounted on a carrier made of Mylar or some other carrier material. The carrier and dome assembly is disposed on a switch contact circuitry layer. To provide keypad lighting, it is known to dispose a luminescent layer between the dome carrier and the key caps. The luminescent layer however includes cutouts through which plunger portions of the key caps may contact the domes to actuate the switches on the circuit layer. This configuration lacks luminescence directly below or behind the key caps where it is desired most. Instead, the key caps are lighted indirectly by dispersed light, some of which emanates from circumferential areas surrounding the keys. The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is an exemplary keypad assembly. FIG. 2 is an exemplary key cap layer. FIG. 3 is another exemplary key cap layer. FIG. 4 is an exemplary key cap layer fastening tab. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of an exemplary key cap layer assembly. FIG. 6 is an exploded diagram of an exemplary switch-dome/luminescent layer. FIG. 7 is an exemplary luminescent layer having colored portions. FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a potion of an exemplary keypad assembly. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of portion of another exemplary keypad assembly. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040618 | 20060704 | 20051222 | 87527.0 | 1 | GHATT, DAVE A | THIN KEYPAD ASSEMBLIES AND COMPONENTS FOR ELECTRONICS DEVICES AND METHODS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,725 | ACCEPTED | Hanger for case holding nonprescription reading glasses | A hanger for a case holding a pair of glasses is provided which includes a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. | 1. A hanger for a case holding a pair of glasses, comprising a web of flexible material, said web having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. 2. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the web of flexible material is a web of thin plastic material. 3. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the web of flexible material is a web of polyvinylchloride. 4. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the web of flexible material is constructed from a paper product. 5. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion have adhesive thereon whereby the tabs are adapted to adhere to the case. 6. The hanger of claim 5, wherein the adhesive is double-backed tape. 7. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the main body portion and the pair of tabs form a generally upside down T-shape. 8. A hanger and a case holding a pair of glasses, said hanger comprising a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case, the case holding the pair of glasses in a folded configuration in a central compartment. 9. The hanger and case of claim 8, wherein the tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion have adhesive thereon whereby the tabs are adhered to the case. 10. The hanger and case of claim 9, wherein the adhesive is double-backed tape. 11. The hanger and case of claim 8, wherein the main body portion and the pair of tabs form a generally upside down T-shape. 12. The hanger and case of claim 8, wherein the reading glasses are non-prescription reading glasses. 13. The hanger and case of claim 8, wherein the case has an upper lid section and a lower body portion and the tabs are adhered to the lower body portion only such that the upper lid section may be removed without disturbing the tabs adhered to the lower body portion. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a display hanger for an eyeglasses case for use on a hanging type display stand. Various display hangers exist in the prior art for hanging various articles, such as hand tools and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,056 (Wood) teaches a display hanger for suspending an article such as a screwdriver. A special elastomeric grommet is used to hang the tool. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,443 (McMaster) teaches a pressure-sensitive hanger for small articles such as merchandise packages, wall packages and the like that can be hung on display rods or hooks. This invention is directed to a universal hanger that is applied with adhesive to a small item. Here, a means to prevent peeling of the hanger from the product to which it is secured is included. Various eyeglass holders are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,696 (Lee) teaches a holder for eyeglasses which accepts a temple portion of an eyeglass frame for supporting eyeglasses in a vertical position. The holder may be mounted, for example, in an automobile, boat or convenient location in a home. The design includes a planar first member and a second member integral to the first which protrudes outwardly. An opening between the first and second members accepts the temple of the eyeglass frame. An adhesive is applied to a surface of the first member for adhesion of the device to another surface. However, to this point, a very simple and inexpensive hanger for a glasses case has not been known that allows a user remove the glasses case from a display rack, allows a user to open the glasses case to remove a pair of glasses therein to try the glasses on for appearance and strength of lenses, and that maintains the integrity of the hanger so that the glasses can be reinserted into the case and the case can be re-hung on a display rack. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hanger for a case holding a pair of glasses is provided which includes a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. The web of flexible material is preferably a web of thin plastic material such as polyvinylchloride. Alternatively, the web of flexible material may be constructed from, for example, a paper product. The tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion may have adhesive thereon whereby the tabs are adapted to adhere to the case. The adhesive may be, for example, double-backed tape. The main body portion and the pair of tabs preferably form a generally upside down T-shape. The present invention is also directed to the combination of a hanger and a case holding a pair of glasses. Again, the hanger is a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. The case holds the pair of glasses in a folded configuration in a central compartment. The reading glasses may be non-prescription reading glasses. The case preferably has an upper lid section and a lower body portion and the tabs are adhered to the lower body portion only such that the upper lid section may be removed without disturbing the tabs adhered to the lower body portion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals designate like elements and wherein: FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a hanger for a case holding non-prescription reading glasses in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, where the dotted lines represent the case; FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the hanger for a case holding non-prescription reading glasses of FIG. 1, shown prior to installation on the case; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the hanger for a case holding non-prescription sun glasses of FIG. 1, taken substantially along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1; and FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the hanger for a case holding non-prescription reading glasses of FIG. 1 along with a case, shown with the lid of the case and glasses in a removed condition. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will be illustrated in more detail with reference to the following embodiments, but it should be understood that the present invention is not deemed to be limited thereto. Referring now to the drawings wherein like part numbers refer to like elements throughout the several views, there is shown FIGS. 1-3 a hanger 10 for a case 12 holding a pair of glasses in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. The hanger 10 is constructed from a web 14 of flexible material. The hanger has an elongated main body portion 16 having an upper end 18 and a lower end 20, a pair of tabs 22A, 22B extending from the lower end 20 of the main body portion 16 that encircle the case 12, and an aperture 24 adjacent to the upper end 18 of the main body portion 16 that is formed to receive a support for hanging the hanger 10 holding the case 12. Preferably, the web 14 of flexible material is thin plastic material such as polyvinylchloride (PVC). However, the web 14 may be made from a paper product such as thin cardboard or the like so long as the web 14 has sufficient strength to support the case 12 on a rack by use of hook through the aperture 24. Preferably, the tabs 22A, 22B that extend from the lower end 20 of the main body portion 16 have adhesive 26 thereon. The tabs 22A, 22B encircle the case 12 and may be adhered to one another, to the case 12 alone or to both one another and the case 12. The adhesive may be a double-backed tape and is preferably has a release liner strip (not shown) to assist in assembly. The case may be, for example, oval in cross-sectional shape, rectangular, or any other cross-sectional shape that is suitable to hold a pair of glasses or reading glasses. The hanger 10 is preferably very inexpensively manufactured as essentially a two-dimensional object and is preferably in the form of an upside down T-shape where the tabs 22A, 22B are at the lower end 20 of the main body portion 16. As shown in FIG. 4, the case 12 is preferably of a two-piece design. That is, the case 12 preferably has an upper lid portion 28 that slides onto a lower main body portion 30. The tabs 22A, 22B of the hanger attach to either the upper lid portion 28 or the lower main body portion 30 such that the lid portion 28 can be removed and a pair of glasses (in a folded configuration) in a central compartment 32 the main body portion 30 can be withdrawn. A user can then try on the glasses and determine if the strength of the glasses is appropriate (for example, where the glasses are reading glasses) and determine if the style is appropriate. While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific examples thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention relates to a display hanger for an eyeglasses case for use on a hanging type display stand. Various display hangers exist in the prior art for hanging various articles, such as hand tools and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,056 (Wood) teaches a display hanger for suspending an article such as a screwdriver. A special elastomeric grommet is used to hang the tool. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,443 (McMaster) teaches a pressure-sensitive hanger for small articles such as merchandise packages, wall packages and the like that can be hung on display rods or hooks. This invention is directed to a universal hanger that is applied with adhesive to a small item. Here, a means to prevent peeling of the hanger from the product to which it is secured is included. Various eyeglass holders are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,696 (Lee) teaches a holder for eyeglasses which accepts a temple portion of an eyeglass frame for supporting eyeglasses in a vertical position. The holder may be mounted, for example, in an automobile, boat or convenient location in a home. The design includes a planar first member and a second member integral to the first which protrudes outwardly. An opening between the first and second members accepts the temple of the eyeglass frame. An adhesive is applied to a surface of the first member for adhesion of the device to another surface. However, to this point, a very simple and inexpensive hanger for a glasses case has not been known that allows a user remove the glasses case from a display rack, allows a user to open the glasses case to remove a pair of glasses therein to try the glasses on for appearance and strength of lenses, and that maintains the integrity of the hanger so that the glasses can be reinserted into the case and the case can be re-hung on a display rack. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A hanger for a case holding a pair of glasses is provided which includes a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. The web of flexible material is preferably a web of thin plastic material such as polyvinylchloride. Alternatively, the web of flexible material may be constructed from, for example, a paper product. The tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion may have adhesive thereon whereby the tabs are adapted to adhere to the case. The adhesive may be, for example, double-backed tape. The main body portion and the pair of tabs preferably form a generally upside down T-shape. The present invention is also directed to the combination of a hanger and a case holding a pair of glasses. Again, the hanger is a web of flexible material having an elongate main body portion having an upper end and a lower end, a pair of tabs extending from the lower end of the main body portion adapted to encircle the case, and an aperture adjacent to the upper end of the main body portion adapted to receive a support for hanging the hanger holding the case. The case holds the pair of glasses in a folded configuration in a central compartment. The reading glasses may be non-prescription reading glasses. The case preferably has an upper lid section and a lower body portion and the tabs are adhered to the lower body portion only such that the upper lid section may be removed without disturbing the tabs adhered to the lower body portion. | 20040618 | 20060606 | 20051222 | 92271.0 | 1 | FIDEI, DAVID | HANGER FOR CASE HOLDING NONPRESCRIPTION READING GLASSES | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,768 | ACCEPTED | Virus production | An improved process for recovery of virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. Virus associated with granular and fibrous debris in the allantoic fluid can be disassociated from the debris and recovered, thereby increasing viral yield. Dissociation can be achieved by subjecting the virus-debris complex to conditions of increased salt concentrations, e.g., 0.5 M or greater. | 1. A process for recovering virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos, comprising the steps of: (a) adding one or more salts to the allantoic fluid to generate a total salt concentration therein of greater than 0.5 M and (b) recovering virus from the resulting fluid. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the salt is added to the allantoic fluid prior to removing the allantoic fluid from an egg. 3. The process of claim 1, wherein recovery step (b) comprises clarifying the allantoic fluid of step (a) by centrifugation to form a debris-containing pellet and a virus-containing supernatant. 4. The process of claim 3, further comprising dissociating virus from the pellet by suspending the pellet into a solution having a total salt concentration of 0.5 M or greater and recovering virus from the resulting suspension. 5. The process of claim 1, wherein recovery step (b) comprises clarifying the allantoic fluid of step (a) by filtration to form a virus-containing filtrate and a debris-containing filter retentate. 6. The process of claim 1, wherein step (b) comprises sucrose density centrifugation of allantoic fluid of step a) to localize virus within the density gradient. 7. The process of claim 1, wherein the virus is an enveloped virus. 8. The process of claim 7, wherein the enveloped virus comprises an RNA genome. 9. The process of claim 8, wherein the enveloped virus is a member of a virus family selected from the group consisting of orthomyxoviridae, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae. 10. The process of claim 9, wherein the virus is an influenza virus. 11. The process of claim 10, wherein the virus is an Influenza A virus. 12. The process of claim 10, wherein the virus is an Influenza B 13. The process of claim 1, comprising diluting the allantoic fluid prior to the addition of said one or more salts. 14. The process of claim 11, wherein the virus is Moscow strain of Influenza A. 15. The process of claim 1, wherein a total salt concentration from 1.0 M to 3.5 M is generated in step (a). 16. The process of claim 15, wherein said one or more salts comprise sodium chloride. 17. The process of claim 1, wherein said one or more salts are contained within a phosphate buffered solution. 18. The process of claim 1, wherein the pH of the allantoic fluid is adjusted to or maintained in the range of pH 3 to 10. 19. In a process for recovery of virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos wherein the allantoic fluid is subjected to clarification to form a clarified liquid fraction and a debris-containing fraction, the improvement comprising extracting virus from both the clarified liquid fraction and the debris-containing fraction. 20. The process of claim 19, wherein said extracting step comprising: (a) dissociating virus associated with the debris-containing fraction into a suspension with a solution of one or more salts having a non-isotonic total salt concentration therein; and (b) recovering dissociated virus from the suspension. 21. The process of claim 20, wherein said extracting step comprising: (a) dissociating virus associated with the debris-containing fraction into a suspension with a solution of one or more salts having a total salt concentration therein of 0.5 M or greater; and (b) recovering dissociated virus from the suspension. 22. The process of claim 21, wherein said clarification comprises centrifugation and said debris-containing fraction comprises a centrifugation pellet. 23. The process of claim 21, wherein said clarification comprises filtration and said debris-containing fraction comprises a filter retentate. 24. The process of claim 21, further comprising the step of recovering virus from the suspension by-clarifying the suspension to form a second clarified liquid and a second debris-containing fraction. 25. The process of claim 24, further comprising the step of recovering virus from the second clarified fluid by localization on a sucrose density gradient. 26. The process of claim 21, wherein the virus is an enveloped virus. 27. The process of claim 26, wherein the enveloped virus comprises an RNA genome. 28. The process of claim 27, wherein the enveloped virus is a member of a virus family selected from the group consisting of orthomyxoviridae, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae. 29. The process of claim 28, wherein the virus is an Influenza virus. 30. The process of claim 29, wherein the virus is an Influenza A virus. 31. The process of claim 29, wherein the virus is an Influenza B virus. 32. The process of claim 21, comprising diluting the allantoic fluid prior to the addition of said one or more salts. 33. The process of claim 30, wherein the virus is Moscow strain of Influenza A. 34. The process of claim 21, wherein said total salt concentration in said suspension is from 1.0 M to 3.5 M. 35. The process of claim 34, wherein said one or more salts comprise sodium chloride. 36. The process of claim 21, wherein the pH of the allantoic fluid is adjusted to or maintained in the range of pH 3 to 10. 37. A process for recovering influenza virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos comprising the steps of: a) adding one or more salts to the allantoic fluid to generate a total salt concentration therein of 1.0 M or greater; b) clarifying the allantoic fluid by centrifugation or filtration; c) subjecting clarified allantoic fluid to sucrose density gradient separation to localize virus within the density gradient; and d) isolating localized virus from the gradient. 38. The process according to claim 37, wherein the allantoic fluid of step a) has a pH adjusted to or maintained in the range pH 3.0 to pH 6.8. 39. The process according to claim 37, wherein the allantoic fluid of step a) has a pH adjusted to or maintained in the range pH 6.8 to pH 9.8. 40. The process according to claim 37 further comprising suspending the pellet resulting from centrifugation or retentate resulting from filtration in a salt solution providing a total salt concentration of 1.0 M or greater. | This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/429,723, filed Jun. 20, 2003, U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/540,782, filed Jan. 30, 2004, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/572,718, filed May 20, 2004, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the recovery of enveloped virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. The heightened recoveries facilitate production of viral vaccines, especially influenza vaccine, and can also provide enhanced yields of viral proteins, including heterologous proteins expressed by viral vectors. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Upon infection by a pathogen, the host's immune system recognizes antigens on or in the pathogen and directs an immune response against the antigen-containing pathogen. During this response, there is an increase in the number of immune cells specific to the antigens of the pathogen and some of these cells remain after the infection subsides. The presence of the remaining cells prevents the pathogen from establishing infection when the host is subjected to the pathogen at a later time. This is referred to as protective immunity. Vaccines provide protective immunity against pathogens by presenting a pathogen's antigens to the immune system without causing disease. Several methods have been developed to allow presentation of antigens without disease-causing infection by the pathogen. These include using a live but attenuated pathogen, an inactivated pathogen, or a fragment (subunit) of the pathogen. Because therapy for many viral infections remains elusive, it is preferred to prevent or moderate infection through vaccination rather than treat the infection after it occurs. Examples of particularly problematic infectious viruses are those of the orthomyxoviridae, especially influenza virus, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae families. Millions of people are vaccinated against one or more members of these virus families each year. While some viruses will propagate well in cell culture, others require propagation in embryonated chicken eggs with virus recovery from allantoic fluids. Influenza vaccine has been supplied to the populace for many years as a multi-strain combination product recovered from the allantoic fluids of embryonated chicken eggs. Three strains, selected annually from a large panel of strains, are grown, purified, and pooled to create a given vaccine. The growth of each selected strain of influenza can vary markedly, often leading to difficulties in efficiently meeting the annual market demand for such a trivalent vaccine. Various methods have been proposed to improve and/or simplify the recovery of virus or viral products from feedstock. U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,873 describes a process in which virus is extracted from concentrated allantoic fluid feedstock using diethyl ether and methylacetate. Still further yield improvements are said to have been obtained using multiple extractions with both butyl and ethylacetates according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,257. U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,153 describes a multi-step extraction process, aimed at separating virus particles from cellular debris and is assertedly applicable to feedstocks that derive from virus-infected chick allantoic fluid or from cell or tissue-culture fluids. In this method, virus adsorbed to precipitated calcium phosphate is dispersed in EDTA at pH 7.8-8.3, causing dissociation and an EDTA-based sequestering of the soluble calcium, thereby releasing the virus for recovery. The resulting virus-containing solution is dialyzed against water or preferably an aqueous glycine-sodium chloride solution to reduce the EDTA and phosphate content. U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,210 describes methods for purification of influenza using ion exchange chromatography. An influenza-containing solution, e.g. allantoic fluid, is passed through cellulose sulfate column wherein the virus is adhered to the column packing. The column is subsequently washed and virus eluted with a solution containing 1.0 M to 1.5 M sodium chloride. This is followed by a 4.99 M sodium chloride wash. In WO 02/067983, preparation of a split influenza vaccine is described as involving moderate-speed centrifugation to clarify allantoic fluid, adsorption of the clarified fluid on a CaHPO4 gel, followed by resolublization with an EDTA-Na2 solution. See also WO 02/08749 describing the same process. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,182, allantoic fluid feedstocks from the growth of influenza virus are subjected to a multi-stage extraction process aimed at recovering influenza subunits, haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The technique relies on a concentration step in which virus feedstock is present with detergent and a saline solution followed by successive filtration to remove non-viral particles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,421 describes a method for the disruption of influenza viruses. Allantoic fluid is subjected to high-speed centrifugation. The resulting pellet is resuspended in saline and ball-milled for 12-15 hours to create a virus suspension. The virus suspension is then treated with phosphate-ester to disrupt the virus particles into lipid-free particles (subunits) that carry the surface antigens of intact viruses. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,999, allantoic fluids containing influenza virus are centrifuged at low speeds to remove gross particles. The virus is then removed from the supernatant by high-speed centrifugation and resuspended in a phosphate buffer. Nonvirus proteins and lipids are removed by treatment of the suspension with 0.1-0.4 M magnesium sulfate at an alkaline pH for 16-18 hours at 4° C. The resultant suspension is clarified by low speed centrifugation and the virus is purified from the resulting supernatant. Of particular interest to the background of the invention are viral recovery manipulations involving the contact of non-allantoic fluid virus sources with solutions having elevated concentrations of one or more salts and studies of the effect of various salt concentrations on purified virus. Some processes assertedly provide for increased yields or greater purity of virus when infected cells are contacted or incubated with solution containing elevated salt concentrations followed by purification of the virus from the solution. In WO 99/07834, herpesvirus infected Vero cell cultures are incubated in a hypertonic aqueous salt solution (e.g., 0.8 to 0.9 M NaCl) for several hours. The solution is then removed and herpesvirus harvested from the solution. This method was asserted to be superior to methods wherein the cells are subjected to ultrasonic disruption. Others have addressed contacting virus-infected cultured cells with elevated salt concentrations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,129 reports increased yields of hepatitis A virus after growing infected BS-C-1 cells in growth medium containing ˜0.3 M NaCl. Karakuyumchan et al. (Acta virol.:155-158, 1981) reports that rabies virus obtained after shaking infected brain tissue in a 0.3 M NaCl containing buffered solution lacks neuroallergenic activity caused by residual brain tissue. Pauli and Ludwig (Virus Research, 2:29-33, 1985) reports increased yields of Boma disease virus from a virus-infected cell lines grown in medium containing ˜0.3 M NaCl. Various groups have studied the effect of contacting purified viruses with elevated salt concentrations on the characteristics of the virus. In Breschkin et al. (Virology, 80:441-444, 1977), a particular mutated measles virus lacking hemagglutination activity in isotonic saline has wild-type level hemagglutination activity in 0.8 M (NH4)2SO4, whereas the high salt has no effect on the hemagglutination activity of a wild-type virus. Wallis and Melnick (Virology, 16:504-506, 1962) report that, while high salt (1 M MgCl2, 1 M CaCl2, or 2 M NaCl) prevents heat inactivation of polio, coxsackie, and ECHO viruses, 1 M MgCl2 enhances inactivation of adeno-, papova-, herpes-, myxo-, arbor, and poxviruses. In Willkommen et al. (Acta virol., 27:407-411, 1983), purified lyophilized influenza virus is reconstituted in buffered saline containing increasing concentrations of NaCl (up to 1.15 M). Subsequently, the reconstituted virus is cleaved with detergent and a single-radial-immunodiffusion (SRD) test performed. With some strains of influenza virus, increasing the salt concentration in the reconstitution buffer shows no effect on the results of an SRD test to hemaggluinin (HA). However, other strains, when reconstituted in buffered saline containing 1.15 M NaCl, give a HA concentration in the SRD test that is twice that of the same strain reconstituted in buffered saline containing 0.15 M NaCl. The authors identify viral aggregation as possibly blocking detergent penetration and attenuated the SRD response. Molodkina et al. (Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 98:1-9, 1995) report that increasing salt concentrations up to 0.3 M NaCl leads to dispersion of purified influenza virus aggregates. Sudnik et al. (Vyestsi Akademii Navuk BSSR Syeryya Biyalahichnykh Navuk, 6:71-77, 1985) report high ionicity can partially offset the destruction of the influenza virus envelope at pH 2.2. Also of interest to the background of the invention are the results of studies by Makhov et al. (Voprosy Virusologii, 34(2):274-279, 1989) on the proportion of filamentous influenza virions in allantoic fluids. In a context divorced from virus recovery, Makhov et al. report that presence of filamentous influenza virions in allantoic fluids is strain specific and ionic-strength dependent. Allantoic fluids were examined using electron microscopy to determine the presence of filamentous virions. The occurrence of filamentous virions in the allantoic fluid for one particular influenza strain was 7.1%. When the NaCl concentration was raised to 0.25 M or 1.0 M, the occurrence was reduced to 0.37% and 0.16%, respectively. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improvement of the purity and yield of viruses from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an improvement in a process for recovering virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. As disclosed herein, a considerable portion of the virus within the allantoic fluid has now been found to be associated with granular or fibrous debris and is therefore lost when the allantoic fluid is clarified to remove the debris. By dissociating the virus from the debris prior to final separatory processing, viral yields are improved. Processes to recover virus from allantoic fluid often contain a step wherein the allantoic fluid is subjected to clarification, e.g., by centrifugation or filtration, to form a clarified liquid fraction and a debris-containing fraction. When the allantoic fluid is clarified by centrifugation, the debris-containing fraction is typically in the form of a pellet; when clarified by filtration, it is typically in the form of a retentate. By including the step of extracting virus from this debris-containing fraction, the invention provides an improvement over known processes of recovering virus from allantoic fluid of infected chick embryos. A preferred method of extracting virus the debris-containing allantoic fluid fraction is to dissociate the virus into a suspension having a non-isotonic concentration of one or more salts. In particular, virus is readily dissociated from the debris with solutions comprising one or more salts having a total salt concentration therein of about 0.5 M or greater or equivalent mole ratio of salt per ml of allantoic fluid. Particularly useful solutions are phosphate buffered solutions having a pH ranging from 3 to 10 and comprising a total salt concentration (e.g., total NaCl concentration) from about 1.0 M to about 3.5 M. Dissociated virus can be recovered from the suspension. Recovery can include a second clarification forming a second clarified liquid and a second debris-containing fraction. Preferred methods of recovering virus also include localization of the virus on a sucrose density gradient. In some aspects, the invention provides a process for recovering virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos by adding one or more salts to the allantoic fluid to generate a total salt concentration therein of about 0.5 M or greater followed by recovering virus from the resulting fluid. The salt can be added in the form of an aqueous solution, such as concentrated phosphate buffered saline (PBS). In one embodiment, the salt is added to the allantoic fluid prior to removing the allantoic fluid from an egg. After addition of the one or more salts, recovery of the virus can include a clarification step to form a debris-containing fraction. Any virus remaining in the debris-containing fraction can be extracted to optimize viral yields. Alternatively, the salt-treated allantoic fluid may be directly processed by, e.g., sucrose density gradient fractionation with or without removal of water to reduce the volume of fluid subjected to fractionation. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a solution of one or more salts is added to allantoic fluid to generate a total volume concentration therein of about 1.5 M or greater. The pH of the allantoic fluid also can be adjusted or maintained. Preferred ranges of pH include pH 3.0 to pH 6.8 or pH 6.8 to pH 9.8. After the salts are added to the allantoic fluid, it is clarified by centrifugation or filtration. The clarified allantoic fluid is then subjected to sucrose density gradient separation to localize virus. Subsequently, localized virus is isolated from the gradient. The methods of the present invention can be used to recover essentially any virus that replicates in virus-infected chick embryos and is present in the allantoic fluid. Particularly preferred viruses are the enveloped RNA viruses, including members of the orthomyxoviridae, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae families. As demonstrated in the Examples, methods of the present invention improve the recovery of both Influenza A and Influenza B virus considerably. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, because various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1. Treatment of pellets from clarified allantoic fluid with a solution containing 1.6 M NaCl increases yield and provides better localization in a sucrose gradient. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In one aspect, the invention provides an improved process for recovery of virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. This process significantly improves the yield of virus from allantoic fluid and provides highly purified virus compositions, or derivative virus subunit preparations, useful to prepare vaccines. As used herein and in the claims, “virus” shall mean enveloped, preferably intact and infectious, viral particles as opposed to viral fragments, components and/or individual viral antigens such as obtained by well-know splitting techniques. Following recovery of virus according to the present invention, viral particles may readily be subjected to fragmentation or splitting. Processes of the invention are applicable to both naturally occurring viruses and genetically modified viruses, such as those described, for example, in WO 99/66045 and its counterpart publication US 2003/0087417. In a preferred embodiment, virally infected allantoic fluid from chick embryos is prepared according to guidelines currently established for vaccine production. Generally, this process entails the use of 9-12 day old embryonated chicken eggs that are pre-candled to eliminate spoiled or unfertilized eggs. The remaining eggs are then inoculated in the amniotic and/or allantoic cavity with the particular strain of live virus for which a vaccine is desired. The eggs are incubated at 32-37° C. typically for two or three days, post-candled to eliminate spoiled eggs, and the eggs are next refrigerated at a temperature of about 4-6° C. for about 24 hours before the egg fluids are aseptically harvested. The allantoic fluid so harvested contains a high concentration of live virus. This process is useful particularly for the production of influenza virus of various types including most or all strains influenza-A and influenza-B. As demonstrated in Example 1 below, although the virus infected allantoic fluid contains a high concentration of live virus, much of the virus is associated (aggregated) with fibrous or granular debris and is lost when the debris is typically separated from the allantoic fluid by clarification. By employing elevated salt concentrations to dissociate virus from the debris and recovering the dissociated virus, the methods of the present invention provide increased viral yields from allantoic fluid. Virus can be dissociated from the debris within the allantoic fluid (either within the infected egg or after the allantoic fluid is removed from the egg) prior to any clarification. Indeed, in some instances, clarification can be dispensed with as a preliminary recovery step prior to, e.g., sucrose density gradient separation. Alternatively, the allantoic fluid can be clarified to form a debris-containing fraction and the virus can be subsequently dissociated from the debris in this debris-containing fraction. After dissociation from the debris, virus can be recovered using conventional virus purification techniques as described below. A preferred method of dissociating virus from the aggregated debris is to place the virus associated with the debris in an environment having a non-isotonic salt concentration. The environment is said to have a “non-isotonic” salt concentration when it differs significantly from that of allantoic fluid, which has a total salt concentration of about 150 mM. Examples of non-isotonic salt concentrations include, but are not limited to, 10 mM or less, 20 mM or less, 30 mM or less, 40 mM or less, 50 mM or less, 60 mM or less, 70 mM or less, 80 mM or less, 90 mM or less, 100 mM or less, 110 mM or less, 120 mM or less, 130 mM or less, 140 mM or less, which concentrations can result from dilution of allantoic fluid with water. Dilution with isotonic salt solutions such as phosphate buffered saline will not render the allantoic fluid non-isotonic but, as noted below, may have beneficial effects in terms of dissociating virus from debris. Non-isotonic salt concentrations includes hypertonic salt concentrations such as 160 mM or greater, 170 mM or greater, 180 mM or greater, 190 mM or greater, 0.2 M or greater, 0.3 M or greater, 0.4 M or greater, 0.5 M or greater, 0.6 M or greater, 0.7 M or greater, 0.8 M or greater, 0.9 M or greater, 1.0 M or greater, 1.1 M or greater, 1.2 M or greater, 1.3 M or greater, 1.4 M or greater, 1.5 M or greater, 1.6 M or greater, 1.7 M or greater, 1.8 M or greater, 1.9 M or greater, 2.0 M or greater, 2.5 M or greater, 3.0 M or greater, and 3.5 M or greater and may be obtained by direct addition of free salt or preferably, by addition of concentrated salt solutions. In all embodiments, one or more salts are added to the allantoic fluid to accomplish dissociation of virus from the aggregated debris. Once virus dissociation occurs, the virus-containing solution could be diluted, e.g., rendered more isotonic (i.e. less hypertonic) again, prior to recovering the virus. Alternatively, the allantoic fluid can be diluted prior to or concurrently with salt addition and the diluted solution may thereafter be concentrated to increase the salt concentration thereby dissociating virus from the aggregated debris, prior to recovering the virus. In such embodiments, a preferred mole ratio of salt to original volume of allantoic fluid is created. For example, in illustrative example 10 below, a 100 ml aliquot of allantoic fluid was diluted by the addition of 50 ml of 1×PBS, bringing the sample volume to 150 ml. An equal volume (150 ml) of 20×PBS was subsequently added to the sample to create a final volume of 300 ml. Allantoic fluid and 1×PBS have a NaCl concentration of about 0.15 M (150 mM). Thus, there was 0.015 moles NaCl (0.1 L×150 mM NaCl) in the original allantoic fluid. Then 0.0075 moles NaCl (0.05 L×150 mM NaCl) was added by the dilution with 1×PBS. The addition of the 20×PBS added 0.45 moles NaCl (0.15 L×3.0 M NaCl). The 300 ml final volume contained 0.4725 moles of NaCl (0.015+0.0075+0.45). Therefore, the mole ratio of salt to allantoic fluid was 0.4725 moles per 100 ml allantoic fluid or 4.725 mmoles per ml of allantoic fluid starting material. Had the adjustment of allantoic fluid been to 0.5 M NaCl, the mole ratio would have been 1.5 mmoles NaCl per ml of allantoic fluid starting material, regardless of the adjusted (total) volume. Preferred salts are those that are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) for use in human pharmaceuticals. The preferred salt is sodium chloride. The salt can also be formed from monovalent, divalent or multivalent cation mixtures thereof and can include or specifically exclude ammonium sulfate. Thus, KCl, LiCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 and other salts are envisioned as combinations of salts. Other salts include a variety of inorganic salts and organic salts (e.g. sodium acetate, potassium acetate, etc.). In embodiments wherein elevated salts concentrations are used to dissociate virus from the aggregated debris, the salts selected for use in the present method should be those salts which remain soluble at the high concentration required to confer the desired environment. Any salt that can substantially increase the ionicity (osmolarity) of a solution while retaining solubility is suitable. Such salts include sodium chloride and potassium chloride and the like. In a preferred embodiment, virally infected allantoic fluid prepared in the established manner is admixed with an aqueous solution containing salt at high concentration, so that the resulting admixture contains the salt at a molarity of at least 0.5 M and at most saturation, more desirably at a molarity in the range from 1.0 M to 3.5 M. This can usually be achieved, for instance, by mixing equal volumes of allantoic fluid and salt solution, or using any other blending procedure that provides the desired salt concentration. In certain embodiments, the allantoic fluid can be removed from the egg prior to addition of the salt solution. In other embodiments, salt solution is added to the allantoic fluid within the egg, or used to wash the allantoic chamber after collection of the bulk allantoic fluid. Preferably, the admixture of allantoic fluid with salt is also buffered, using for instance a phosphate buffering system (e.g., 20-250 mM) in the usual manner to provide a desired pH. A preferred pH range is from 3.0 to 10.0. The pH can be adjusted to maximize the recovery on a virus-by-virus basis. Yields can further be enhanced by tailoring the pH of the concentrated salt/feedstock admixture to within a range preferred for a given virus type or subtype. A preferred pH range is from 3.0 to 10.0. For instance, Moscow strains of Influenza A provide higher yields when the non-isotonic environment has a relatively neutral/slightly acidic pH in the range from 6.8-7.1. However, under the same salt conditions, yields of certain Yamanashi strains of Influenza B are greater when the non-isotonic environment has a higher pH level, about 8.4. The environment in which the virus is dissociated from debris can further comprise a divalent cation chelating agent, such as EDTA. The chelating agent serves the purpose of sequestering divalent cations that effect precipitation or agglomeration of virus particles, thus rendering them either invisible to the titre measurement or unavailable to the inactivation conditions used during the vaccine production phase of the process. Suitable chelating agent concentrations are those that foster separation of agglomerated virus particles. In the case of EDTA, concentrations suitably are within the range from 1.0 mM to 1.0 M, depending on the initial divalent cation concentration. Other additives, alone or in combination, include reducing agents, such as DTT, and wetting agents, such as the nonionic detergents Triton X-100 and Pluronic F68. As noted above, in certain embodiments, one or more salts are added to allantoic fluid from virus-infected chick embryos to elevate the salt concentration therein. In certain embodiments, this entails the admixture of allantoic fluid and a concentrated salt solution that is optionally pH adjusted and optionally contains a chelating agent, at room temperature (18-25° C.) for convenience. The admixture can be stirred. The admixture is then chilled to preserve virus infectivity without precipitating the salt and the virus-containing suspension is formed either during a non-agitation resting period or, desirably, by centrifugation or filtration. The virus-containing supernatant or filtrate is then processed as desired to further enrich for virus. Typically, the supernatant is next subjected, in the manner established for raw allantoic fluid, to a sucrose gradient centrifugation processing that localizes virus on or within the gradient. The localized virus can be recovered from the gradient to yield virus-containing fractions. One or more pooled virus-containing fractions can be obtained following the sucrose-based separation process, to form an enriched virus extract. This enriched virus extract can also be subjected to the high salt treatment, preventing or removing aggregates of virus that are commonly induced by gradient purification. It is to be appreciated that the present method is not limited to any particular fractionation or separation process, but instead can be applied with any other fractionation or separation processes useful to obtain purified virus from allantoic fluids, including those utilizing size exclusion chromatography, centrifugation, filtration, solvent extraction, ion-exhange chromatography, and the like. Moreover, any one or more of the resulting fractions can be rendered non-isotonic, to improve the virus recovery process, in that virus is rendered substantially monodisperse in solution. In certain embodiments, the recovered virus is inactivated. The inactivation process can be any of those already established in vaccine production, including formalin fixation, irradiation, detergent or solvent splitting and the like. The present invention can be applied for the recovery and purification of a wide range of viruses. In preferred embodiments, the method is applied for the recovery of an enveloped virus comprising an RNA genome. Such viruses include those of the family orthomyxoviradae (e.g., influenza viruses), paramnyxoviridae (e.g., mumps virus, Sendai virus, and Newcastle disease virus), flaviviridae (e.g., Japanese encephalitis virus and yellow fever virus), togaviridae (e.g., rubella), rhabdoviridae (e.g., vesicular stomatitis virus and rabies virus), and coronaviridae (e.g., avian infectious bronchitis virus). In particular embodiments, the method is applied for the recovery of influenza virus, including strains of Influenza A, Influenza B, Influenza C, avian influenza virus, equine influenza virus, and swine influenza virus. As noted above, in certain practices of the invention, the allantoic fluid is diluted prior to recovery of virus. In other aspects, the resulting debris-containing fraction of an initial clarification is resuspended, treated with high salt to liberate virus from the debris, reclarified, and the resulting clarified solution added back to the original clarified solution. Thus, the volume of virus-containing solution may increase during processing. Working with large volumes of virus-containing solution may be cumbersome, particularly when recovering virus from sucrose density gradients. Methods of reducing the volume of virus-containing solutions without significant loss of virus are known in the art. For example, the virus-containing solution may be subjected to tangential flow filtration (TFF) or diafiltration. In TFF, viruses in solution are passed through hollow fiber filter tubes or across plates of filter material. As opposed to normal flow filtration wherein the feed flow and pressure are in the same direction, TFF relies upon pressure that is perpendicular to the feed flow. Thus, in TFF, the filtrate passes through the membrane-containing walls of the tube while the retentate flows down the path of the tube. During this process, solution volume can be reduced as desired. In certain embodiments, it may be desirable to subject a virus-containing solution to diafiltration. During diafiltration surfactants, proteins, or other solutes that freely permeate the membrane are removed from the solution. Generally, there are two common modes of diafiltration: Batch and constant-volume. During batch diafiltration, a large volume of buffer or solution is added and then the retentate is concentrated. During constant-volume diafiltration, buffer or solution is added at the same rate that the filtrate is removed. Membranes for use in TFF or diafiltration of virus-containing solutions are commercially available (e.g., MILLIPORE, Billerica, Mass.). In preferred embodiments, the membrane cutoff range is 100 kD - 0.05 μm. In certain embodiments, the present invention can be applied to the purification of one or more proteins encoded by a virus and, in some instances, secreted into allantoic fluid by infected embryonic cells. The protein can be a viral protein or a protein encoded by a heterologous gene contained in a recombinant virus vector. In preferred embodiments, one or more salts are added to the allantoic fluid containing the protein to dissociate the protein from the debris. Alternatively, the protein associated with fibrous debris is separated from the allantoic fluid, e.g., by centrifugation or filtration, and the debris-containing fraction is then subjected to a non-isotonic salt concentration to dissociate the protein from the debris. The dissociated protein is subsequently purified using standard techniques. When applied to the recovery of influenza viruses from chick allantoic fluid, the present invention provides a significantly reduction of the number of eggs that are required for a given influenza vaccine production run. This, in turn, reduces the possibility of vaccine shortages at the start of the annual flu season. Sundry benefits also include a smaller total workload and an easing of waste management issues. All of these benefits significantly reduce the cost of producing influenza vaccines. In specific embodiments of the invention as applied to the extraction of influenza from allantoic fluids, the present method can be applied in the following particular manner. Infected allantoic fluids containing high titre influenza virus vaccine strains are harvested under standard industry procedures and either processed immediately or stored in a frozen state (e.g., at −70° C.) prior to further processing. When processed, liquid allantoic fluid is treated with an equal volume of phosphate-buffered 16-20% (w/v) NaCl at a pH usually in the range 6.5 to 8.5, depending on the strain of influenza virus to be purified, and with or without a chelating agent such as EDTA or other additives. After a suitable incubation, approximately 5 minutes or longer, where virus has dissociated from fibrous debris within the allantoic material, virus can be purified from the solution by sucrose density centrifugation. Alternatively, one or more clarification steps may be employed. In certain embodiments, the viral preparation is clarified by centrifugation at up to 14,000×g, e.g., 2,000-5,000×g. The supernatant is significantly enriched for live virus over supernatants not receiving the high-salt treatment. Pelleted debris may optionally be treated with a solution containing a high concentration of salt to extract any virus which may not have been liberated from the contaminating debris. Alternately, the allantoic fluid may be clarified to form a clarified liquid fraction and a debris-containing fraction. Preferred methods of clarification include centrifugation and filtration. The resulting pellet or filter retentate is suspended or washed in high salt concentration solutions to liberate virus, which optionally can be pooled back into the bulk allantoic fluid with or without clarification by centrifugation or other means. The clarity of the treated supernatant can generally facilitate further purification by sucrose density centrifugation. A step or continuous 30-50% (w/v) sucrose gradient is typically employed. Manufacturers of influenza vaccine typically use continuous flow centrifugation strategies. Finally, live influenza virus retrieved from sucrose gradients usually has a significant proportion of the virus in an aggregated state. Further treatment of the isolated gradient fractions or fraction pools with phosphate-buffered high salt solution, or other solution of high ionic strength, at a pH usually in the range 6.5 to 8.5, liberates aggregated live influenza virus and maximizes virus yield, which can be monitored by HA titre, infectivity assay, immunoassay and electron microscopy. The post-purification treatment of virus preparations achieves a solution of disaggregated or, ideally, monodisperse virus particles, which can be further manipulated with less loss than typically encountered. For example, formalin inactivation of gradient-purified virus is often not completely effective, due to the presence of virus aggregates, and leads to significant product loss and necessitates post-formalin processing. In the case of influenza vaccines, the presence of live virus following formalin treatment requires the application of ether extraction or other manipulation. After high-salt treatment, formalin treatment of the virus preparation is less likely to fail, and product loss due to aggregation is greatly reduced. A further benefit of the methods of the present invention is that dissociation of virus from debris in the allantoic fluid leads to recovery of virus stocks having increased purity, i.e, containing significantly less contamination by egg components. Because egg components, such as ovalbumin, can cause an allergic reaction in certain individuals, the methods of the present invention are thought to provide for vaccines having a greater purity and, thus, have a decreased likelihood in causing an allergic reaction in an individual receiving the vaccine. For example, one or more sucrose gradient fractionations of influenza virus which has been subjected to dissociation from allantoic fluid debris by elevated salt treatment will ordinarily be sufficient to provide products having no detectable ovalbumin. Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the following examples, which are presented for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. EXAMPLES Example 1 In Influenza-Infected Allantoic Fluids, Most Virus is Present in Highly Insoluble Virus/Debris Aggregates Raw allantoic pools were assayed by HA (End-point determination) with and without clarification by centrifugation (Eppendorf microcentrifuge, 5,000 RPM for 5 minutes). TABLE 1 Titre (HAU/mL) Virus Strain Untreated Clarified Flu A/New Caledonia 2,560 640 Flu A/Panama 1,280 320 Flu A/Moscow 1,280 320 Flu A/Texas 10,240 320 Flu B/Yamanashi 2,560 640 Flu B/Hong Kong 1,280 160 Table 1 indicates that clarification by centrifugation typically caused a four-fold reduction in HA titer, although far higher increments were recorded (Flu A/Texas). Overall, the data show the majority of influenza present in allantoic pools is in a low solubility form, easily removed by physical manipulation. Example 2 Treatment of Allantoic Fluids Increases Soluble Influenza Virus Titre 80 μL aliquots of virus of crude Influenza A/Moscow-infected allantoic fluid were mixed with 80 μL 3 M NaCl solution. Salt-treated virus samples and controls were incubated 15 min on ice with occasional mixing, then clarified by centrifugation (Eppendorf Microfuge, full speed, 30 seconds). HA Assay: A 100 μL sample of each supernatant specimen was serially (2-fold) diluted by transfer of 50 μl into wells containing 50 μl phosphate buffered saline (PBS). An equal volume (50 μl) of 0.5% (v/v) chick RBC suspension was added, mixed, and allowed to settle at room temperature (1-2 hr). End point HA titre was determined for each test sample as the final well in the dilution series in which complete hemagglutination was observed. Typically, as indicated in Table 2, a four-fold increase in HA titre was seen in salt-treated Flu A/Moscow infected allantoic fluid samples versus controls. TABLE 2 HA End-point Titres (HA units/mL) 1.6 M NaCl SAMPLE 0.15 M NaCl (final) Flu A/Moscow 5.1 2,560 10,240 Flu A/Moscow 5.3 320 2,560 Flu A/Moscow 11.1 1,280 10,240 Flu A/Moscow 11.2 2,560 10,240 Example 3 Treatment of Allantoic Debris Liberates Soluble Influenza Virus 1.5 M NaCl was applied to Flu A and B pools. Control samples were treated with 0.15 M NaCl, and each preparation was centrifuged for varying times to assess the amount of virus partitioning in the supernatant versus the pellet. Each virus sample was aliquoted (2×300 μl) and mixed with 1 volume of 3 M NaCl or 0.15 M NaCl (control). Samples were mixed and aliquoted into 6×100 μl. After a 30 min incubation, samples were centrifuged at 10,000 RPM for 0, 2, 4, or 6 minutes (Eppendorf Microcentrifuge), and the 100 μl supernatants were retrieved and transferred to HA assay plates. Pellets were resuspended in 100 μl of 1.6 M NaCl, centrifuged for 2 minutes, and the pellet washes were transferred to HA assay plates. Results are summarized in Tables 3 and 4. Values are HA endpoints expressed in HA Units/mL. TABLE 3 Flu B/Yamanashi Centrifugation 1.6 M NaCl 0.15 M NaCl Time Supernatant Pellet Supernatant Pellet 0 2560 — 2560 — 2 1280 1280 0 2560 4 1280 640 0 5120 6 1280 640 0 5120 TABLE 4 Flu A/Moscow Centrifugation 1.6 M NaCl 0.15 M NaCl Time Supernatant Pellet Supernatant Pellet 0 2560 — 1280 — 2 2560 320 640 1280 4 2560 640 640 1280 6 2560 640 640 1280 Example 4 Treatment Greatly Increases Virus Yield in Sucrose Gradient-Purified Influenza A Virus Allantoic fluid samples for high salt treatment were clarified by centrifugation, and virus was retrieved from the debris pellet by two 10% volume 1.6 M salt washes (overnight, and then 1 hour). Washes were reclarified and then pooled back with the allantoic supernatants. Control samples were clarified using a coarse glass fibre ‘depth’ filter, to mimic the typical process used for vaccine manufacture. Controls remained slightly cloudy after filtration. Secondary filtration, through 1 μm or 0.45 μm filters, was not employed, thereby providing a worst-case-scenario for technology-based yield gains. Each of the allantoic preparations was fractionated on 6 mL sucrose step gradients to achieve a 17:1 loading ratio. Allantoic samples were loaded onto gradients in several steps to achieve the overall loading ratio. TABLE 5 Flu A/New Caledonia Gradient Loading Experiment Salt Treated HAU Control HAU Recovery Ratio 1 5,232,640 86,816 60:1 2 4,149,120 95,488 44:1 TABLE 6 Flu A/Moscow Gradient Loading Experiment Salt Treated HAU Control HAU Recovery Ratio 1 368,320 8,944 40:1 2 591,200 9,956 60:1 3 223,232 7,476 30:1 4 289,984 6,516 44:1 In all cases, the virus peak was very sharp when high salt-treated feedstocks were used, with smaller and far broader peaks evident in the absence of this treatment. An illustrative example of a typical sucrose gradient profile, with and without treatment is given in FIG. 1. Example 5 High-Salt Treatment Greatly Increases Virus Yield in Sucrose Gradient-Purified Influenza B Virus Samples of influenza B virus allantoic fluid were treated as in the previous example for influenza A. Control samples were again clarified using a coarse glass fibre filter. Each of the allantoic preparations was fractionated on 6 mL sucrose step gradients gradients to achieve a 17:1 loading ratio. TABLE 7 Flu B/Hong Kong Gradient Loading Experiment Salt Treated HAU Control HAU Recovery Ratio 1 333,312 123,328 3:1 2 780,544 211,968 4:1 3 727,298 108,032 7:1 Example 6 High-Salt Treatment Does Not Degrade Virus Infectious Titre Gradient-purified influenza preparations with/without high-salt treatment were assayed by TCID50 to assess the effect of treatment on virus infectivity. Virus preparations were aliquoted, and one aliquot of each was mixed 1:1 with 3 M NaCl solution. Samples were incubated on ice for 1 hour, then clarified by centrifugation at 6,000 RPM for 5 minutes (Eppendorf Microcentrifuge). Supernatant was serially diluted in infection medium and applied to MDCK cells in 96 well assay plates. CPE and/or HA status of each well was used to score presence of infection. The method of Reed and Muench (Amer. Jour. Hygiene, 27: 493-497, 1938) was used to calculate infectious titres. TABLE 8 Infectious Titre Virus No Treatment High Salt Flu A/Victoria/3/75 1.38 × 108 PFU/mL 1.33 × 108 PFU/mL Flu A/PR/8/34 2.18 × 104 PFU/mL 2.18 × 104 PFU/mL Flu A/2/Japan/305/57 9.20 × 106 PFU/mL 5.17 × 106 PFU/mL Flu A/Hong Kong/8/68 2.18 × 109 PFU/mL 1.38 × 109 PFU/mL Flu A/X-31/Aichi/68 2.64 × 108 PFU/mL 4.35 × 107 PFU/mL Flu B/Lee/40 2.18 × 104 PFU/mL 2.18 × 104 PFU/mL Table 8 indicates that high-salt treatment did not adversely affect the live titre of the virus strains. Thus, high-salt treatment may be applied to allantoic or other viral feedstocks without destruction of virus particles. Example 7 Influenza Recovery Data From HA Assays, Infectious Titres and Immunoassays All Correlate Fractions of an influenza A/B pool, retrieved after sucrose gradient purification and titred by HA assay, were subjected to an optical immunoassay (OIA, Thermo BioStar). TABLE 9 Fraction Number HA End-point 9 32,768 10 131,072 11 524,288 12 1,048,576 Samples of each gradient fraction were diluted 1:10, 1:100, and 1:400 with PBS, then 100 μl aliquots were applied to BioStar sample tubes containing disruption agent. Assays were performed according to the Biostar kit instructions, and color intensity was graded (1-7) against a scale provided in the kit. TABLE 10 Gradient Pre-Dilution Fraction 1:10 1:100 1:400 9 5+ 4+ 1+ 10 7+ 6+ 2+ 11 7+ 6+ 4+ 12 Out of Range 6+ 4+ Hemagglutination assays are virus/strain sensitive, but are all related to the ratio of virus particles to red blood cells. As such, HA reflects the number of virus particles in a preparation. Thermo BioStar's Flu OIA test is a rapid immunoassay which reports the presence of influenza nucleoprotein, therefore inferring the presence of virus particles. OIA color intensity results correlated with the determined HA titres. Fractions of an influenza A/B pool, retrieved after sucrose gradient purification and titred by HA assay, were also subjected to TCID50 assay. TABLE 11 Comparison of HA titre and infectious titre in select gradient fractions TCID Fraction HA Titre HA Ratio TCID Titre Ratio 5 256 1 1.94 × 105 1 14 524288 2048 3.73 × 107 192 17 16384 64 1.50 × 107 77 There was a correlation between the assays, in that highest HA titre corresponded to highest infectious titre, and lowest HA titre similarly had the lowest infectious titre. To facilitate comparison, a ratio of HA titre and of TCID50 titre were calculated, relative to the lowest score measured. Example 8 Treated Influenza Virus Remains Intact Preliminary transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were performed comparing peak gradient fractions of salt-treated versus control preparations of influenza. Formvar-coated copper TEM specimen grids were floated on droplets (50 μl) of Influenza A/New Caledonia gradient fractions, and the samples adsorbed for 15 minutes at room temperature. Grids were washed twice with PBS, fixed with 0.1% glutaraldehyde in PBS (5 minutes), then washed twice using 0.2 μm-filtered WFI water and negative stained for 1 minute with 2% phosphotungstic acid. Specimens were air dried, then examined on a Hitachi H-7000 Transmission Electron Microscope using an accelerating voltage of 75 kV. Images were captured electronically in a 12-bit grayscale compressed TIF format using a Hamamatsu ORCA HR CCD camera (AMT XR-60 imaging system). Virus particles were observed in preparations that had been treated with high salt prior to gradient fractionation, and appeared to be morphologically intact and the same as untreated controls. Virions had an intact envelope, which negative stain failed to penetrate, and prominent surface spikes. Spherical and pleomorphic virion forms were observed in both treated and control preparations. Virions in Control preparations were often associated with debris and/or were attached to a mesh-like fibrous contaminate, which by negative stain seemed to condense around or encapsulate the virions. In contrast, virions in the salt-treated preparations were predominantly monodisperse. Moreover, in the salt-treated preparations, the nature of the contaminating fibrous matrix appeared to have changed and there was no obvious association of the fibrous matrix with the virions. Example 9 Gradient Peak Analysis by Refractometer Indicates Virus Density is Not Altered by Treatment Gradient fractions characterized by HA analysis were concomitantly analyzed by optical refractometer to determine density corresponding to HA peak activity. A Misco Palm Abbe model PA200 was used to measure refractive index for each gradient fraction, which were in turn converted to density values using standard look-up tables for sucrose solutions. TABLE 12 Refractive index corresponding to peak HA activity for sucrose gradient fractionation of Influenza A/Texas allantoic pools. Refractive Index of Virus Peak Experiment Salt-Treated Control Run A (FPD4.016) 1.4020-1.4072 1.4038-1.4089 Run B (FPD4.018) 1.4056-1.4078 1.4039-1.4068 Run C (FPD4.020) 1.4059-1.4081 1.4074-1.4096 TABLE 13 Refractive index corresponding to peak HA activity for sucrose gradient fractionation of Influenza B/Hong Kong allantoic pools. Refractive Index of Virus Peak Experiment Salt-Treated Control Run A (FPD4.016) 1.4068 1.4069-1.4093 Run B (FPD4.018) 1.4032-1.4086 1.4063 Run C (FPD4.020) 1.4079-1.4096 1.4079 Refractive index data for Influenza A/Texas and Influenza B/Hong Kong sucrose gradients are summarized in Table 12 and Table 13. For each experimental run and for both test viruses, there was close correlation of HA peak fraction density of salt-treated versus control allantoic specimens. Example 10 Diluting Virus-Containing Allantoic Fluid Prior to Treatment Virus Yield Each allantoic virus preparation (Influenza B/Yamanashi and Influenza A/Moscow) included four test samples (100 mL each) for gradient purification. Controls were unfiltered (Series A) or clarified through a glass fiber depth-type filter (Series B). Treated samples were prediluted by addition of 0.5 volume PBS, bringing the sample volume to 150 mL, then an equal volume (150 mL) of 20×PBS was added and incubated 1 hour overnight at 4° C. These treated samples were re-concentrated to 100 mL using a 500 kda-cutoff hollow fiber filter, and either not clarified (Series C) or clarified by low trifugation (Series D). All were subjected to sucrose gradient purification, fractionated, and assessed by HA assay. The results are summarized in Tables 14 and 15. TABLE 14 Influenza B/Yamanashi Gradient [A]: Gradient [D]: Filtered Gradient [B]: Gradient [C]: Salt-Treated Control Control Salt-Treated and Filtered Fraction Allantoic Allantoic Allantoic Allantoic Number Fluid Fluid Fluid Fluid 1 5,120 327,680 20,480 81,920 2 10,240 163,840 163,840 81,920 3 163,840 163,840 335,544,320 81,920 4 655,360 655,360 5,242,880 2,621,440 5 655,360 327,680 335,544,320 10,485,760 6 655,360 163,840 41,943,040 2,621,440 7 655,360 81,920 327,680 163,840 8 327,680 81,920 40,960 40,960 9 81,920 40,960 40,960 20,480 10 81,920 20,480 20,480 20,480 11 40,960 10,240 10,240 10,240 12 40,960 5,120 10,240 10,240 Total HA 3,374,080 2,042,880 718,909,440 16,240,640 TABLE 15 Influenza A/Moscow Gradient [A]: Gradient [D]: Filtered Gradient [B]: Gradient [C]: Salt-Treated Control Control Salt-Treated and Filtered Fraction Allantoic Allantoic Allantoic Allantoic Number Fluid Fluid Fluid Fluid 1 320 320 10,240 10,240 2 640 640 10,240 20,480 3 1,280 1,280 20,480 40,960 4 2,560 2,560 81,920 81,920 5 1,280 2,560 327,680 81,920 6 1,280 1,280 1,310,720 81,920 7 320 320 5,242,880 20,480 8 20 160 2,621,440 5,120 9 80 160 40,960 5,120 10 40 160 20,480 2,560 11 20 80 10,240 2,560 12 20 40 5,120 2,560 Total HA 7,860 9,560 9,702,400 355,840 Control samples yielded approximately the same amount of HA units for each test virus, regardless of whether they were clarified by filtration. The controls which were not filtered prior to gradient separation had large pellets. In contrast, the diluted then salt-treated preparations yielded much higher HA titres than the non-treated controls. Clarification was not necessary for virus banding, and give the highest yields. Virus removed by clarification following the salt treatment was not optimally reclaimed, hence yields are lower relative to the non-clarified samples. However, significant yield improvements relative to controls were still achieved by pre-dilution and salt treatment irrespective of clarification prior to gradient separation. Table 14 indicates that, for Influenza B/Yamanashi, yields relative to the filtered control (Series A) were increased 213-fold in the test sample that lacked clarification (Series C) and 5-fold in the clarified test sample (Series D), respectively. Table 15 indicates that, for Influenza A/Moscow, yields relative to the filtered control were increased 1,234-fold in the test sample that lacked clarification and 45-fold in the clarified test sample, respectively. It will be apparent from the prior illustrative examples of practice of the invention that recovery of virus from allantoic fluid through use of elevated salt treatment can readily be optimized by adjustments in volume/salt content so that the salt concentration will not be so high as to precipitate allantoic fluid proteins (and virus associated therewith) nor so low as to fail to optimally function in disassociation of virus from allantoic fluid debris. Such optimization procedures are readily carried out through making a preliminary analysis of the pooled allantoic fluid to be subject to salt treatment and adjusting the volume of the pooled fluid based on these initial tests. In this manner, batch-to-batch, and possibly even strain-to-strain, variations in allantoic fluid proteins are accounted for. All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent that certain agents which are both chemically and physiologically related may be substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Likewise, while the above illustrative examples all relate to improvement of yields from allantoic fluids in which various strains of influenza A and B virus have been grown, the methods of the invention are readily applied to other enveloped viruses typically grown in the allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. Indeed, the enhanced recoveries associated with practice of the present invention are likely to render use of egg-based viral growth a method of choice for viruses now grown in mammalian cell culture provided standard adaptions of virus to such growth are performed. The references cited herein throughout, to the extent that they provide exemplary procedural or other details supplementary to those set forth herein, are all specifically incorporated herein by reference. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Upon infection by a pathogen, the host's immune system recognizes antigens on or in the pathogen and directs an immune response against the antigen-containing pathogen. During this response, there is an increase in the number of immune cells specific to the antigens of the pathogen and some of these cells remain after the infection subsides. The presence of the remaining cells prevents the pathogen from establishing infection when the host is subjected to the pathogen at a later time. This is referred to as protective immunity. Vaccines provide protective immunity against pathogens by presenting a pathogen's antigens to the immune system without causing disease. Several methods have been developed to allow presentation of antigens without disease-causing infection by the pathogen. These include using a live but attenuated pathogen, an inactivated pathogen, or a fragment (subunit) of the pathogen. Because therapy for many viral infections remains elusive, it is preferred to prevent or moderate infection through vaccination rather than treat the infection after it occurs. Examples of particularly problematic infectious viruses are those of the orthomyxoviridae, especially influenza virus, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae families. Millions of people are vaccinated against one or more members of these virus families each year. While some viruses will propagate well in cell culture, others require propagation in embryonated chicken eggs with virus recovery from allantoic fluids. Influenza vaccine has been supplied to the populace for many years as a multi-strain combination product recovered from the allantoic fluids of embryonated chicken eggs. Three strains, selected annually from a large panel of strains, are grown, purified, and pooled to create a given vaccine. The growth of each selected strain of influenza can vary markedly, often leading to difficulties in efficiently meeting the annual market demand for such a trivalent vaccine. Various methods have been proposed to improve and/or simplify the recovery of virus or viral products from feedstock. U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,873 describes a process in which virus is extracted from concentrated allantoic fluid feedstock using diethyl ether and methylacetate. Still further yield improvements are said to have been obtained using multiple extractions with both butyl and ethylacetates according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,257. U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,153 describes a multi-step extraction process, aimed at separating virus particles from cellular debris and is assertedly applicable to feedstocks that derive from virus-infected chick allantoic fluid or from cell or tissue-culture fluids. In this method, virus adsorbed to precipitated calcium phosphate is dispersed in EDTA at pH 7.8-8.3, causing dissociation and an EDTA-based sequestering of the soluble calcium, thereby releasing the virus for recovery. The resulting virus-containing solution is dialyzed against water or preferably an aqueous glycine-sodium chloride solution to reduce the EDTA and phosphate content. U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,210 describes methods for purification of influenza using ion exchange chromatography. An influenza-containing solution, e.g. allantoic fluid, is passed through cellulose sulfate column wherein the virus is adhered to the column packing. The column is subsequently washed and virus eluted with a solution containing 1.0 M to 1.5 M sodium chloride. This is followed by a 4.99 M sodium chloride wash. In WO 02/067983, preparation of a split influenza vaccine is described as involving moderate-speed centrifugation to clarify allantoic fluid, adsorption of the clarified fluid on a CaHPO 4 gel, followed by resolublization with an EDTA-Na 2 solution. See also WO 02/08749 describing the same process. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,182, allantoic fluid feedstocks from the growth of influenza virus are subjected to a multi-stage extraction process aimed at recovering influenza subunits, haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The technique relies on a concentration step in which virus feedstock is present with detergent and a saline solution followed by successive filtration to remove non-viral particles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,421 describes a method for the disruption of influenza viruses. Allantoic fluid is subjected to high-speed centrifugation. The resulting pellet is resuspended in saline and ball-milled for 12-15 hours to create a virus suspension. The virus suspension is then treated with phosphate-ester to disrupt the virus particles into lipid-free particles (subunits) that carry the surface antigens of intact viruses. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,999, allantoic fluids containing influenza virus are centrifuged at low speeds to remove gross particles. The virus is then removed from the supernatant by high-speed centrifugation and resuspended in a phosphate buffer. Nonvirus proteins and lipids are removed by treatment of the suspension with 0.1-0.4 M magnesium sulfate at an alkaline pH for 16-18 hours at 4° C. The resultant suspension is clarified by low speed centrifugation and the virus is purified from the resulting supernatant. Of particular interest to the background of the invention are viral recovery manipulations involving the contact of non-allantoic fluid virus sources with solutions having elevated concentrations of one or more salts and studies of the effect of various salt concentrations on purified virus. Some processes assertedly provide for increased yields or greater purity of virus when infected cells are contacted or incubated with solution containing elevated salt concentrations followed by purification of the virus from the solution. In WO 99/07834, herpesvirus infected Vero cell cultures are incubated in a hypertonic aqueous salt solution (e.g., 0.8 to 0.9 M NaCl) for several hours. The solution is then removed and herpesvirus harvested from the solution. This method was asserted to be superior to methods wherein the cells are subjected to ultrasonic disruption. Others have addressed contacting virus-infected cultured cells with elevated salt concentrations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,129 reports increased yields of hepatitis A virus after growing infected BS-C-1 cells in growth medium containing ˜0.3 M NaCl. Karakuyumchan et al. ( Acta virol.: 155-158, 1981) reports that rabies virus obtained after shaking infected brain tissue in a 0.3 M NaCl containing buffered solution lacks neuroallergenic activity caused by residual brain tissue. Pauli and Ludwig ( Virus Research, 2:29-33, 1985) reports increased yields of Boma disease virus from a virus-infected cell lines grown in medium containing ˜0.3 M NaCl. Various groups have studied the effect of contacting purified viruses with elevated salt concentrations on the characteristics of the virus. In Breschkin et al. ( Virology, 80:441-444, 1977), a particular mutated measles virus lacking hemagglutination activity in isotonic saline has wild-type level hemagglutination activity in 0.8 M (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , whereas the high salt has no effect on the hemagglutination activity of a wild-type virus. Wallis and Melnick ( Virology, 16:504-506, 1962) report that, while high salt (1 M MgCl 2 , 1 M CaCl 2 , or 2 M NaCl) prevents heat inactivation of polio, coxsackie, and ECHO viruses, 1 M MgCl 2 enhances inactivation of adeno-, papova-, herpes-, myxo-, arbor, and poxviruses. In Willkommen et al. ( Acta virol., 27:407-411, 1983), purified lyophilized influenza virus is reconstituted in buffered saline containing increasing concentrations of NaCl (up to 1.15 M). Subsequently, the reconstituted virus is cleaved with detergent and a single-radial-immunodiffusion (SRD) test performed. With some strains of influenza virus, increasing the salt concentration in the reconstitution buffer shows no effect on the results of an SRD test to hemaggluinin (HA). However, other strains, when reconstituted in buffered saline containing 1.15 M NaCl, give a HA concentration in the SRD test that is twice that of the same strain reconstituted in buffered saline containing 0.15 M NaCl. The authors identify viral aggregation as possibly blocking detergent penetration and attenuated the SRD response. Molodkina et al. ( Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 98:1-9, 1995) report that increasing salt concentrations up to 0.3 M NaCl leads to dispersion of purified influenza virus aggregates. Sudnik et al. ( Vyestsi Akademii Navuk BSSR Syeryya Biyalahichnykh Navuk, 6:71-77, 1985) report high ionicity can partially offset the destruction of the influenza virus envelope at pH 2.2. Also of interest to the background of the invention are the results of studies by Makhov et al. ( Voprosy Virusologii, 34(2):274-279, 1989) on the proportion of filamentous influenza virions in allantoic fluids. In a context divorced from virus recovery, Makhov et al. report that presence of filamentous influenza virions in allantoic fluids is strain specific and ionic-strength dependent. Allantoic fluids were examined using electron microscopy to determine the presence of filamentous virions. The occurrence of filamentous virions in the allantoic fluid for one particular influenza strain was 7.1%. When the NaCl concentration was raised to 0.25 M or 1.0 M, the occurrence was reduced to 0.37% and 0.16%, respectively. Thus, there remains a need in the art for an improvement of the purity and yield of viruses from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention provides an improvement in a process for recovering virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos. As disclosed herein, a considerable portion of the virus within the allantoic fluid has now been found to be associated with granular or fibrous debris and is therefore lost when the allantoic fluid is clarified to remove the debris. By dissociating the virus from the debris prior to final separatory processing, viral yields are improved. Processes to recover virus from allantoic fluid often contain a step wherein the allantoic fluid is subjected to clarification, e.g., by centrifugation or filtration, to form a clarified liquid fraction and a debris-containing fraction. When the allantoic fluid is clarified by centrifugation, the debris-containing fraction is typically in the form of a pellet; when clarified by filtration, it is typically in the form of a retentate. By including the step of extracting virus from this debris-containing fraction, the invention provides an improvement over known processes of recovering virus from allantoic fluid of infected chick embryos. A preferred method of extracting virus the debris-containing allantoic fluid fraction is to dissociate the virus into a suspension having a non-isotonic concentration of one or more salts. In particular, virus is readily dissociated from the debris with solutions comprising one or more salts having a total salt concentration therein of about 0.5 M or greater or equivalent mole ratio of salt per ml of allantoic fluid. Particularly useful solutions are phosphate buffered solutions having a pH ranging from 3 to 10 and comprising a total salt concentration (e.g., total NaCl concentration) from about 1.0 M to about 3.5 M. Dissociated virus can be recovered from the suspension. Recovery can include a second clarification forming a second clarified liquid and a second debris-containing fraction. Preferred methods of recovering virus also include localization of the virus on a sucrose density gradient. In some aspects, the invention provides a process for recovering virus from allantoic fluid of virus-infected chick embryos by adding one or more salts to the allantoic fluid to generate a total salt concentration therein of about 0.5 M or greater followed by recovering virus from the resulting fluid. The salt can be added in the form of an aqueous solution, such as concentrated phosphate buffered saline (PBS). In one embodiment, the salt is added to the allantoic fluid prior to removing the allantoic fluid from an egg. After addition of the one or more salts, recovery of the virus can include a clarification step to form a debris-containing fraction. Any virus remaining in the debris-containing fraction can be extracted to optimize viral yields. Alternatively, the salt-treated allantoic fluid may be directly processed by, e.g., sucrose density gradient fractionation with or without removal of water to reduce the volume of fluid subjected to fractionation. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a solution of one or more salts is added to allantoic fluid to generate a total volume concentration therein of about 1.5 M or greater. The pH of the allantoic fluid also can be adjusted or maintained. Preferred ranges of pH include pH 3.0 to pH 6.8 or pH 6.8 to pH 9.8. After the salts are added to the allantoic fluid, it is clarified by centrifugation or filtration. The clarified allantoic fluid is then subjected to sucrose density gradient separation to localize virus. Subsequently, localized virus is isolated from the gradient. The methods of the present invention can be used to recover essentially any virus that replicates in virus-infected chick embryos and is present in the allantoic fluid. Particularly preferred viruses are the enveloped RNA viruses, including members of the orthomyxoviridae, paramyxoviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, rhabdoviridae, and coronaviridae families. As demonstrated in the Examples, methods of the present invention improve the recovery of both Influenza A and Influenza B virus considerably. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, because various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. | 20040618 | 20070918 | 20050825 | 92166.0 | 1 | HURT, SHARON L | VIRUS PRODUCTION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,824 | ACCEPTED | Dynamic stroke optimization in the self servo-write process | Systems and data storage devices in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can execute instructions to determine a width of a data stroke along a rotatable medium. In one embodiment, the width can be determined by measuring a distance from a marker zone edge of a template pattern on the rotatable medium to a ramp positioned adjacent to the rotatable medium or near the inner diameter of the rotatable medium, and measuring a distance from the marker zone edge to a crash stop. A track layout can be determined based on the width of the data stroke. | 1. A data storage device, comprising: a housing; an actuator rotatably connected with the housing; a head connected with the actuator; a ramp associated with the housing; a crash stop associated with the housing; a rotatable medium connected with the housing, said rotatable medium having a template pattern; a machine readable medium having instructions to: determine a width of a data stroke; and compare the width of the data stroke to one or more criteria; and a processor adapted to execute the instructions. 2. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to determine a width of a data stroke include instructions to: determine a location of a marker zone edge of said template pattern; determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge; determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge; and calculate the width of said data stroke based on the location of said ramp and the location of said crash stop. 3. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an outer edge of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 4. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an inner diameter of said rotatable medium; detect a severe change in the metric. 5. The data storage device of claim 3, wherein the metric is a bias force. 6. The data storage device of claim 3, wherein the metric is an AGC level. 7. The data storage device of claim 5, wherein the severe change is a severe drop. 8. The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 9. The data storage device of claim 7, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 10. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an inner diameter of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 11. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an outer edge of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 12. The data storage device of claim 10, wherein the metric is a bias force. 13. The data storage device of claim 12, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 14. The data storage device of claim 12, wherein the severe change is a severe drop. 15. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the instructions to calculate the width of said data stroke based on the location of said ramp and the location of said crash stop include instructions to: determine one or more portions of the data stroke within one or more radial zones; weigh the one or more portions by circumferential density; and sum the weighted one or more portions. 16. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the criterion is one of maximum track capacity and minimum track density. 17. A data storage device, comprising: a housing; an actuator rotatably connected with the housing; a head connected with the actuator; a ramp associated with the housing; a crash stop associated with the housing; a rotatable medium connected with the housing, said rotatable medium having a template pattern; a machine readable medium having instructions to: determine a width of a data stroke; and write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; and a processor adapted to execute the instructions. 18. The data storage device of claim 17, wherein the instructions to determine a width of a data stroke include instructions to: determine a location of marker zone edge of said template pattern; determine a location of said ramp relative to the marker zone edge; determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge; and calculate the width based on the location of said ramp and the location of said crash stop. 19. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an outer edge of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 20. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an inner diameter of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 21. The data storage device of claim 19, wherein the metric is a bias force. 22. The data storage device of claim 19, wherein the metric is an AGC level. 23. The data storage device of claim 21, wherein the severe change is a severe drop. 24. The data storage device of claim 21, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 25. The data storage device of claim 22, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 26. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an outer edge of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 27. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward an inner diameter of said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 28. The data storage device of claim 26, wherein the metric is a bias force. 29. The data storage device of claim 28, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 30. The data storage device of claim 28, wherein the severe change is a severe drop. 31. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to calculate the width based on the location of said ramp and the location of the inner diameter include instructions to: determine one or more portions of the data stroke within one or more radial zones; weigh the one or more portions by circumferential density; and sum the weighted one or more portions. 32. The data storage device of claim 17, wherein the instructions to write the final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width include instructions to: select a track density; select a capacity; and determine a first user track and a final user track based on the track density and the capacity; wherein a distance between said ramp and the first user track is at least a minimum outer guard band and a distance between said crash stop and the final user track is at least a minimum inner guard band. 33. The data storage device of claim 17, wherein the instructions to write the final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width includes instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a capacity; and determine a track density based on the capacity, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. 34. The data storage device of claim 17, wherein the instructions to write the final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width includes instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a track density; and determine a capacity based on the track density, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. 35. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: locate said marker zone edge using said head; move said actuator such that said head moves toward an outer edge of said rotatable medium; measure a plurality of cycles as said head moves from the marker zone edge toward the outer edge of said rotatable medium; and determine a position of said ramp by detecting a severe change in the metric. 36. The data storage device of claim 18, wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: locate said marker zone edge using said head; move said actuator such that said head moves toward an inner diameter of said rotatable medium; measure a plurality of cycles as said head moves from said marker zone edge toward the inner diameter of said rotatable medium; and determine a position of said crash stop by detecting a severe change in the metric. 37. The data storage device of claim 35, wherein the metric is a bias force. 38. The data storage device of claim 35, wherein the metric is an AGC level. 39. The data storage device of claim 37, wherein the severe change is a severe drop. 40. The data storage device of claim 37, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 41. The data storage device of claim 38, wherein the severe change is a sharp rise. 42. The data storage device of claim 17, wherein said template pattern is one of a media written pattern and a printed media pattern. 43. The data storage device of claim 32, wherein the instructions to write said final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width further includes instructions to write a set of tracks from the first user track to the final user track. 44. The data storage device of claim 33, wherein the instructions to write said final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width further includes instructions to write a set of tracks between said inner guard band and said outer guard band. 45. The data storage device of claim 34, wherein the instructions to write said final servo pattern on said rotatable medium based on the width further includes instructions to write a set of tracks between said inner guard band and said outer guard band. 46. A data storage device, comprising: a rotatable medium having a template pattern; a machine readable medium having instructions to: determine a width of a data stroke across the rotatable medium; and write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width of the data stroke; and a processor adapted to execute the instructions. 47. The data storage device of claim 46, further comprising: a ramp; a crash stop; wherein the instructions to determine a width of a data stroke include instructions to: determine a location of a marker zone edge of said template pattern; determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge; determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge; and calculate the width of said data stroke based on the location of said ramp and the location of said crash stop. 48. The data storage device of claim 47, further comprising: an actuator; a head connected with said actuator; wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward said ramp across said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 49. The data storage device of claim 48, wherein the metric is one of a bias force and an AGC level. 50. The data storage device of claim 47, further comprising: an actuator; a head connected with said actuator; wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward said crash stop across said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 51. The data storage device of claim 48, wherein the metric is a bias force. 52. The data storage device of claim 47, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select a track density; select a capacity; and determine a first user track and a final user track based on the track density and the capacity; wherein a distance between said ramp and the first user track is at least a minimum outer guard band and a distance between said crash stop and the final user track is at least a minimum inner guard band. 53. The data storage device of claim 47, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a capacity; and determine a track density based on the capacity, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. 54. The data storage device of claim 47, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a track density; and determine a capacity based on the track density, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. 55. A system to write a final servo pattern on a rotatable medium of a data storage device, the data storage device having an actuator, a head connected with the actuator, a ramp and a crash stop, and the rotatable medium having a template pattern, the system comprising: a machine readable medium having instructions to: determine a width of a data stroke across the rotatable medium; and write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width of the data stroke. 56. The system of claim 55, further comprising: wherein the instructions to determine a width of a data stroke include instructions to: determine a location of a marker zone edge of said template pattern; determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge; determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge; and calculate the width of said data stroke based on the location of said ramp and the location of said crash stop. 57. The system of claim 56, further comprising: wherein the instructions to determine a location of said ramp relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward said ramp across said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 58. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric is one of a bias force and an AGC level. 59. The system of claim 56, further comprising: wherein the instructions to determine a location of said crash stop relative to said marker zone edge include instructions to: position said head over said marker zone edge; read said template pattern with said head; measure a metric while reading said template pattern with said head; adjust said actuator such that said head moves toward said crash stop across said rotatable medium; and detect a severe change in the metric. 60. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric is a bias force. 61. The system of claim 56, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select a track density; select a capacity; and determine a first user track and a final user track based on the track density and the capacity; wherein a distance between said ramp and the first user track is at least a minimum outer guard band and a distance between said crash stop and the final user track is at least a minimum inner guard band. 62. The system of claim 56, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a capacity; and determine a track density based on the capacity, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. 63. The system of claim 56, wherein the instructions to write a final servo pattern on the rotatable medium based on the width; include instructions to: select an outer guard band; select an inner guard band; select a track density; and determine a capacity based on the track density, the outer guard band, the inner guard band, and the width. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS This U.S. patent application incorporates by reference all of the following co-pending applications: U.S. patent application No. ______ entitled “Method for Optimizing Dynamic Stroke in the Self Servo-Write Process,” by Calfee, et al., filed Jun. 17, 2004 (Docket No. PANA-01128US0). U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/533,292 entitled “Method for Optimizing Track Spacing Across a Stroke,” by Gururangan, et al., filed Dec. 30, 2003. U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/533,454 entitled “System for Optimizing Track Spacing Across a Stroke,” by Gururangan, et al., filed Dec. 30, 2003. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/733,131 entitled “Methods to Determine Gross and Fine Positioning on a Reference Surface of a Media,” by Richard M. Ehrlich et al., filed Dec. 10, 2003. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to methods to servowrite media for use in data storage devices, and systems for applying such methods. BACKGROUND A hard disk drive typically contains one or more disks clamped to a rotatable spindle motor, at least one head for reading data from and/or writing data to the surfaces of each disk, and an actuator utilizing linear or rotary motion for positioning the head(s) over selected data tracks on the disk(s). The actuator positions the read/write head over the surface of the disk as the spindle motor rotates and spins the disk. As the head is loaded onto a disk, for example from a ramp, the servo system determines the position of the head on the disk surface by reading servo wedges passing beneath the head. A first track identified by the servo system as the head unloads from the ramp is identified as an acquire track. A first user track can be assigned based on the position of the acquire track, and can define an outer boundary of a data region. The acquire track is some small distance from the ramp, and farther from the outer diameter of the disk than is optimal or desired, wasting otherwise usable space and requiring an increased track density for a given hard disk drive capacity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Details of embodiments of the present invention are explained with the help of the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an exemplary hard disk drive for applying embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a close-up view of a head suspension assembly used in the hard disk drive of FIG. 1, showing head, slider and suspension; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the motion of the rotary actuator of FIG. 1 unloading the head from the disk; FIG. 4 is a control schematic of a typical hard disk drive for applying a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data and servo format for a disk in the drive of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a partial detailed view of a disk from the hard disk drive shown in FIG. 1 having a final servo pattern; FIG. 7 is an illustration of a reference surface of a disk having a template pattern; FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of FIG. 7 including a portion of a marker-zone in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view of the head suspension assembly as the head is loaded onto the disk from the ramp; FIG. 10A is an exemplary plot of a measurement of average bias force as a function of track number; FIG. 10B is an exemplary plot of a measurement of automatic gain control value as a function of track number; FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to determine the position of a ramp relative to an actuator; FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to determine the position of a crash stop relative to an actuator; and FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to calculate a data region for a plurality of disks. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an exemplary hard disk drive 100 for applying a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The hard disk drive 100 includes a housing 102 comprising a housing base 104 and a housing cover 106. The housing base 104 illustrated is a base casting, but in other embodiments a housing base 104 can comprise separate components assembled prior to, or during assembly of the hard disk drive 100. A disk 108 is attached to a rotatable spindle motor 120, for example by clamping, and the spindle motor 120 is connected with the housing base 104. The disk 108 can be made of a light aluminum alloy, ceramic/glass or other suitable substrate, with magnetizable material deposited on one or both sides of the disk 108. The magnetic layer has tiny domains of magnetization for storing data transferred through heads 114. In one embodiment, each head 114 is a magnetic transducer adapted to read data from and write data to the disk 108. The disk 108 can be rotated at a constant or varying rate typically ranging from less than 3,600 to more than 15,000 RPM (speeds of 4,200 and 5,400 RPM are common in hard disk drives designed for mobile devices such as laptop computers). The invention described herein is equally applicable to technologies using other media, as for example, optical media. Further, the invention described herein is equally applicable to devices having any number of disks attached to the spindle motor 120. In other embodiments, the head 114 includes a separate read element and write element. For example, the separate read element can be a magneto-resistive head, also known as a MR head. It will be understood that multiple head 114 configurations can be used. A rotary actuator 110 is pivotally mounted to the housing base 104 by a bearing 112 and sweeps an arc between an inner diameter (ID) of the disk 108 and a ramp 130 positioned near an outer diameter (OD) of the disk 108. Attached to the housing 104 are upper and lower magnet return plates 118 and at least one magnet that together form the stationary portion of a voice coil motor (VCM). A voice coil 116 is mounted to the rotary actuator 110 and positioned in an air gap of the VCM. The rotary actuator 110 pivots about the bearing 112 when current is passed through the voice coil 116 and pivots in an opposite direction when the current is reversed, allowing for precise positioning of the head 114 along the radius of the disk 108. Each side of a disk 108 can have an associated head 114, and the heads 114 are collectively coupled to the rotary actuator 110 such that the heads 114 pivot in unison. The invention described herein is equally applicable to devices wherein the individual heads separately move some small distance relative to the actuator. This technology is referred to as dual-stage actuation (DSA). FIG. 2 details an example of a subassembly commonly referred to as a head suspension assembly (HSA) 222 comprising the head 114 formed on a slider 228, which is further connected with a flexible suspension member (a suspension) 226. The suspension 226 can be connected with an arm 224 which in one embodiment can be either integrally formed with a mount for a bearing 112 or separately attached to the mount. The head 114 can be formed on the slider 228 using a number of different techniques, for example the head 114 and slider 228 can be manufactured on a single die using semiconductor processing (e.g. photolithography and reactive ion etching). Spinning of the disk(s) 120 increases air pressure between the slider 228 and the surface of the disk, creating a thin air bearing that lifts the slider 228 (and consequently the head 114) off of the surface of the disk 108. A micro-gap of typically less than one micro-inch can be maintained between the disk 108 and the head 114 in one embodiment. The suspension 226 can be bent or shaped to act as a spring such that a force is applied to the disk 108 surface. The air bearing resists the spring force applied by the suspension 226, and the opposition of the spring force and the air bearing to one another allows the head 114 to trace the surface contour of the rotating disk 108—which is likely to have minute warpage—without “crashing” against the disk 108 surface. When a head 114 “crashes,” the head 114 collides with the disk 108 surface such that the head 114 and/or the disk 108 surface may be damaged. As is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, not all heads ride an air bearing as described above. Refinements in disk fabrication have enabled manufacturers to produce disks 108 having ultra-smooth surfaces. Electrostatic forces can cause stiction between the slider 228 and the surface. If the speed of rotation of the disk 108 slows such that the air bearing collapses, the slider 228 can contact and stick to the surface of the disk 108, causing catastrophic failure of the hard disk drive 100. Stiction can cause the disk 108 to abruptly lock in position or stiction can cause the slider 228 to forcibly disconnect from the suspension 226. Thus, when the hard disk drive 100 is not in use and before rotation of the disks 108 is slowed and stopped (i.e., the disks 108 are “spun down”), the heads 114 can be removed from close proximity to the disk 108 surface by positioning the suspension 226 on a ramp 130 located either adjacent to the disk 108 or just over the disk 108 surface. FIG. 3 illustrates motion of the actuator 110 as the slider 228 is unloaded from the disk 108 and as the suspension 226 is driven up the ramp 130. The actuator 110 pivots from location 1, where the slider 228 is positioned over the disk 108 surface, to location 2, where the slider 228 is positioned adjacent to the disk 108. The range of motion of the actuator 130 is commonly referred to as a stroke. The stroke can be limited at an inner diameter by an ID crash stop 131. The ID crash stop 131 limits the free travel of the rotary actuator by acting as a physical block to a voice coil holder 115 of the actuator 110. As shown, the ID crash stop 131 is a peg or protrusion which can be associated with the housing. However, in other embodiments the ID crash stop 131 can be arranged in some other fashion, and/or can include some other device for limiting the rotation of the actuator 110. For example, in one embodiment, a tab can extend from the voice coil holder 115 or and can contact a peg or protrusion associated with the housing. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different ways in which the stroke of the actuator 110 can be blocked or limited. The slider 228 is removed from close proximity with the disk 108 by pivoting the actuator 110 such that a lift tab 332 extending from the suspension 226 contacts the ramp surface and slides up the ramp 130. The position along the ramp 130 where the lift tab 332 first contacts the ramp 130 can be called the touch-point. As the lift tab 332 slides up the ramp 130 from the touch-point, the ramp 130 opposes the spring force of the suspension 226 and forces the slider 228 (and the head 114) away from the disk 108 surface. The HSA 222 can continue its motion along the stroke by traveling up the grade portion of the ramp 130 to a substantially flat portion that optionally can include a detent for cradling the lift tab 332. The slider 228 can be loaded back onto the disk 120 after the disk spins up to a safe speed. In other embodiments, the suspension 226 contacts the ramp 130 at a location along the suspension 226 between the slider 228 and the pivot point. Unloading the slider 228 from the disk 108 prevents sticking, and reduces a risk of damage from non-operating shock by suspending the slider 228 over a significantly wide gap between the slider 228 and an opposing slider or surface. In still other embodiments in accordance with the present invention, the hard disk drive 100 can include a ramp 130 positioned near the ID, rather than near the OD. In such embodiments, the slider 228 is removed from close proximity with the disk 108 by pivoting the actuator 110 toward the ID such that the lift tab 332 (or suspension 226) contacts the ramp surface and slides up the ramp 130. Such hard disk drives 100 can further include an OD crash stop which can be associated with the housing, and can limit or block a pivoting movement of the actuator 110 at the OD. Methods in accordance with the present invention are equally applicable to such hard disk drives 100 having a ramp 130 positioned near the ID, and optionally an OD crash stop. Systems and methods described below are described with reference to embodiments of hard disk drives 100 having a ramp 130 positioned near the OD and an ID crash stop; however, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that such embodiments can alternatively include a hard disk drive 100 having a ramp 130 positioned near the ID, and optionally an OD crash stop, and that such embodiments are within the scope of the present invention. It should be noted, the description herein of the disk surface passing under or beneath the slider is intended to mean that portion of the disk surface that is in close proximity to the slider. It will be understood that when referred to as “beneath” or “under” the slider, the disk surface can be over, or adjacent to the slider in actual physical relation to the slider. Likewise, it will be understood that when referred to as “over” the disk surface, the slider can be beneath, or adjacent to the disk surface in physical relation to the disk surface. By extension, where the slider is beneath the disk surface, the suspension travels down the ramp when the slider is separated from the disk surface. FIG. 4 is a control schematic for the exemplary hard disk drive 100 of FIG. 1. A servo system for positioning the head 114 can comprise a microprocessor 446 and a servo controller, the servo controller existing as circuitry within the hard disk drive 100 or as an algorithm resident in the microprocessor 446, or as a combination thereof. In other embodiments, an independent servo controller can be used. The servo system uses positioning data read by the head 114 from the disk 108 to determine the position of the head 114 over the disk 108. When the servo system receives a command to position a head 114 over a track, the servo system determines an appropriate current to drive through the voice coil 116 and commands a VCM driver 440 electrically connected with the voice coil 116 to drive the current. The servo system can further include a spindle motor driver 442 to drive current through the spindle motor 120 and rotate the disk(s) 108, and a disk controller 444 for receiving information from a host 452 and for controlling multiple disk functions. The host 452 can be any device, apparatus, or system capable of utilizing the hard disk drive 100, such as a personal computer, Web server, or consumer electronics device. An interface controller can be included for communicating with the host 452, or the interface controller can be included in the disk controller 444. In other embodiments, the servo controller, VCM driver 440, and spindle motor driver 442 can be integrated into a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different means for controlling the spindle motor 120 and the VCM. A flexible circuit (not shown) is connected with the rotary actuator 110 to supply current to the voice coil 116 and to provide electrical connections to the heads 114, allowing write signals to be provided to each head 114 and allowing electrical signals generated during reading to be delivered to pre-amplification circuitry (pre-amp) 448. Typically, the flexible circuit comprises a polyimide film carrying conductive circuit traces connected at a stationary end with the lower housing 104 and at a moving end to the rotary actuator 110. The disk controller 444 provides user data to a read/write channel 450, which sends signals to the pre-amp 448 to be written to the disk(s) 108. The disk controller 444 can also send servo signals to the microprocessor 446, or the disk controller 444 can control the VCM and spindle motor drivers directly, for example where multi-rate control is used. The disk controller 444 can include a memory controller for interfacing with buffer memory 456. In one embodiment, the buffer memory 456 can be dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The microprocessor 446 can include integrated memory (such as cache memory), or the microprocessor 446 can be electrically connected with external memory (for example, static random access memory (SRAM) 454 or alternatively DRAM). When a slider is loaded onto a disk from a ramp, the servo system must determine the position of the head along the stroke. The HSA is unstable when the slider is initially loaded due to suction forces and the transition from the graded ramp to the disk. Once the slider stabilizes and an air bearing is established between the disk and the slider, the head 114 can determine its position on the disk by reading servo wedges passing beneath the head 114. After some criteria is met—e.g., the track is measured on a predefined number of consecutive servo wedges—the head locks onto a track. The track on which the head locks is called an acquire track. The information stored on such a disk can be written in concentric tracks, extending from near the ID to near the OD, as shown in the exemplary disk of FIG. 5. In an embedded servo-type system, servo information can be written in servo wedges 560, and can be recorded on tracks 562 that can also contain data. Data tracks written to the disk surface can be formatted in radial zones. Radial zones radiating outward from the ID can be written at progressively increased data frequencies to take advantage of an increase in linear velocity of the disk surface directly under a head in the respective radial zones. Increasing the data frequencies increases the data stored on the disk surface over a disk formatted at a fixed frequency limited at the ID by a circumference of a track at the ID. In a system where the actuator arm rotates about a pivot point such as a bearing, the servo wedges may not extend linearly from the ID to the OD, but may be curved slightly in order to adjust for the trajectory of the head as it sweeps across the disk. FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of a servo pattern 670 within a servo wedge 560. The servo pattern 670 includes information stored as regions of magnetization. For example, where the servo pattern 670 is longitudinally magnetized, grey blocks are magnetized to the left and white spaces are magnetized to the right, or vice-versa. Alternatively, where the servo pattern 670 is perpendicularly magnetized, grey blocks are magnetized up and white spaces are magnetized down, or vice-versa. In other embodiments, information can be stored as indicia other than regions of magnetization (e.g., optical indicia). Servo patterns 670 contained in each servo wedge are read by the head as the surface of the spinning disk passes under the head. The servo patterns 670 can include information identifying a data field. For example, the servo pattern 670 can include a servo address mark (SAM), track identification, an index, etc. The exemplary final servo pattern is a simplification of a typical servo pattern. The servo information can be arranged in any order, and can include many more transition pairs than are illustrated (for example, the region containing track identification is truncated as shown, and commonly includes many more transition pairs than are illustrated). Further, additional information, such as partial or complete wedge number information, can be included in the final servo pattern. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the myriad different arrangements of information that can be contained in a servo pattern. Systems and method in accordance with embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as being limited in scope to those examples provided herein. Servo information often includes transition pairs called “servo bursts.” The servo bursts 672 can be positioned regularly about each track, such that when a data head reads the servo bursts 672, a relative position of the head can be determined that can be used to adjust the position of the head relative to the track. For each servo wedge, this relative position can be determined, in one example, as a function of the target location, a track number read from the servo wedge, and the amplitudes or phases of the bursts 672, or a subset of those bursts 672. The position of a head or element, relative to the center of a target track, will be referred to herein as a position-error signal (PES). For example, a centerline 676 for a given data track can be “defined” relative to a series of bursts, burst edges, or burst boundaries, such as a burst boundary defined by the lower edge of A-burst and the upper edge of B-burst. The centerline 676 can also be defined by, or offset relative to, any function or combination of bursts or burst patterns. This can include, for example, a location at which the PES value is a maximum, a minimum, or a fraction or percentage thereof. Any location relative to a function of the bursts can be selected to define track position. For example, if a read head evenly straddles an A-burst and a B-burst, or portions thereof, then servo demodulation circuitry in communication with the head can produce equal amplitude measurements for the two bursts, as the portion of the signal coming from the A-burst above the centerline 676 is approximately equal in amplitude to the portion coming from the B-burst below the centerline 676. The resulting computed PES can be zero if the radial location defined by the A-burst/B-burst (A/B) combination, or A/B boundary, is the center of a data track, or a track centerline 676. In such an embodiment, the radial location at which the PES value is zero can be referred to as a null-point. Null-points can be used in each servo wedge to define a relative position of a track. If the head is too far towards the outer diameter of the disk, or above the centerline, then there will be a greater contribution from the A-burst that results in a more “negative” PES. Using the negative PES, the servo controller could direct the voice coil motor to move the head toward the inner diameter of the disk and closer to its desired position relative to the centerline. This can be done for each set of burst edges defining the shape of that track about the disk. The PES scheme described above is one of many possible schemes for combining the track number read from a servo wedge and the phases or amplitudes of the servo bursts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,281 to Shrinkle et al. describes a PES scheme including a quad-servo burst pattern having first, second, third, and fourth servo bursts distributed in a series along the length of a portion of the data sector such that the center point of each servo burst is offset from adjacent bursts by a radial distance equivalent to one-half of the data track width. A quadrature-based track following algorithm applying a difference of sums of servo burst pair read voltages can minimize track following errors where servo bursts are mispositioned relative to one another. Such a scheme can benefit from embodiments of the present invention, as can many other track following schemes. The schemes described above are only a few of many possible schemes for positioning the head. Hard disk drives using most (if not all) possible PES schemes could benefit from the invention contained herein. Servo patterns can be written to the disks prior to assembly of the hard disk drive 100 using a media writer. A stack of disks is loaded onto the media writer and servo patterns are carefully written onto the surface of each disk, a time consuming and costly process. Alternatively, a commonly less time-consuming and less expensive method can include writing servo patterns or template patterns on a reference surface of a single blank disk to be used as a reference for self-servo writing unwritten (and written) surfaces of one or more disks of an assembled hard disk drive. In one such self-servo writing method, called printed-media self-servo writing (PM-SSW), a coarse magnetic template pattern can be transferred to a single disk surface (a reference surface) by magnetic printing. A magnetic printing station can be used to magnetically print or otherwise transfer a template pattern using a known transfer technique. One such transfer technique is described in “Printed Media Technology for an Effective and Inexpensive Servo Track Writing of HDDs” by Ishida, et al. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 37, No. 4, July 2001. A blank disk (the reference surface) is DC erased along the circumferential direction of the disk by rotating a permanent magnet block on the disk surface. A template, or “master”, disk is then aligned with the blank disk and the two disks are securely faced with each other by evacuating the air between the two disk surfaces through a center hole in the blank disk. An external DC field is applied again in the same manner as in the DC erasing process, but with an opposite polarity. A number of different transfer techniques exist, and one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different methods for transferring a template pattern to a reference surface. FIG. 7 illustrates a reference surface having a magnetically printed template pattern 780 usable for PM-SSW. The template pattern 780 can comprise clocking and, optionally, radial position information. The template pattern 780 can be divided into a number of pattern wedges equivalent to the number of servo wedges 560 intended for the final servo pattern 670, and printed such that the pattern wedges 560 trace an arc approximately matching the arcing sweep of the head 114 from the ID to the OD as described above. In other embodiments, the template pattern 780 can have fewer or more pattern wedges than intended servo wedges 560. Further, the pattern wedges need not be printed having arc. A completed and enclosed hard disk drive can be assembled with at least one disk 108 having a reference surface, and optionally one or more blank disks. The template pattern 780 is applied by the hard disk drive electronics to self-write highly resolved product embedded servo patterns 670 onto storage surfaces of each disk 108, including the reference surface having the template pattern 780. When the at least one disk 108 is removed from a magnetic printing station and connected with a spindle 120, a shift typically occurs between the axis of rotation and the center of tracks of the template pattern 780. The shift is attributable to machining tolerances of the spindle and magnetic printing station, as well as other variables. The track followed by the head 114 can be displaced laterally in a sinusoidal fashion relative to the head 114 as the disk 108 rotates. This sinusoidal displacement is typically referred to as eccentricity. Firmware executed by the hard disk drive 100 and the hard disk drive electronics enable the head 114 positioned over the reference surface to follow and read the template pattern 780 and enable each of the heads 114 to write precise final servo patterns 670 on each of the respective surfaces of each disk 108. The hard disk drive 100 can compensate for eccentricity, writing tracks that are nominally concentric with the center of rotation of the spindle, or alternatively, having some built-in eccentricity as defined by the firmware, for example. A final servo pattern 670 can be written to the reference surface in any sequence, i.e. prior to, subsequent to, or contemporaneously with writing final servo patterns on some or all of the other surfaces. The final servo patterns can be written contemporaneously to reduce servo write times, and the final servo patterns 670 can be written between pattern wedges of the template pattern 780. The template pattern 780 is overwritten either during the self-servo writing process or by user data. For example during hard disk drive 100 testing data is written to the data fields and read back to test the data fields. FIG. 8 illustrates a template pattern 780 including pairs of pulses 882, and chevrons (“zig-bursts” 884 and “zag-bursts” 886). The pulse pairs 882 provide timing information for writing servo patterns. For example, the pulse pairs 882 can describe a crude SAM or an index mark. The chevrons 884,886 are incorporated into the template pattern 780 to help identify radial positioning. As shown, the zig-bursts 884 incorporate a positive chevron angle relative to the radial line, and the zag-bursts 886 incorporate a negative chevron angle relative to the radial line. In other embodiments of the template pattern 780, the chevrons 884,886 can be inverted such that the zig-bursts 884 incorporate a negative chevron angle relative to the radial line, and the zag-bursts 886 incorporate a positive chevron angle relative to the radial line (such that the bursts shown in FIG. 8 form upside down “V”'s). A radial distance between two chevrons can be referred to as a chevron cycle. A portion of the chevron cycle passing beneath the head 114 is converted into radial positioning information. Each chevron cycle provides positioning information along the width of the chevron cycle wc, and cannot communicate absolute radial position. The pulse pairs 882 can be multiple, and as shown include six pulse pairs. In one embodiment, one or more of the pulse pairs 882 can be used as a marker-zone for gross positioning. For example, the fourth transition-pair (or “di-bit”—a combination of an up and a down) from left to right is written so that the di-bit abruptly disappears at some radius from the center of the disk 108. At a radius closer to the center of the disk 108, the di-bit can abruptly reappear so that the pulse pair 888 is continued. The interruption in the radial continuity of the magnetized pulse pair 888 can be any length. For example, in one embodiment the interruption can be 200 μm, while in other embodiments the switch in magnetization can occur once such that a single marker-zone edge can be encountered by the head 114 as in travels radially along the stroke. Traces 883 overlay the pulse pairs 882 in FIG. 8, and represent signals detected by the head 114 in the digital portion at different radial positions along the stroke as the disk 108 passes beneath the head 114. Where the head 114 traverses all six pulse pairs 882, for example the top portion of the pulse pairs 882 as illustrated, the digital detection circuitry detects a di-bit. Where the head 114 traverses five of the pulse pairs 882, for example along the bottom portion of the pulse pairs 882 as illustrated, the digital circuitry detects a missing di-bit. Where the head 114 straddles a marker-zone edge, moving radially from the pulse pair 882 to the marker-zone the probability of detecting the di-bit slowly decreases. Where the head 114 equally straddles the transition in the digital pattern, the probability of detecting the di-bit is roughly 50%. The template pattern, as shown in FIG. 8 and described in detail above, is encoded using di-bit encoding. However, it should be noted that the template pattern can be encoded using any of several possible schemes. For example, template patterns for use in methods and systems in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can be encoded using wide bi-phase digital encoding (also referred to herein as Manchester encoding). Wide bi-phase digital encoding is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,005 to Leis, et al., incorporated herein by reference. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the different schemes for encoding a template pattern on a reference surface. Most commonly-used servo demodulation systems determine the digital content of a servo wedge signal by detecting either the presence or absence of filtered signal pulses at specified times or by detecting the value of the filtered signal at specified times. The signal can be filtered through a low-pass filter, a high-pass filter, or a combination of the two (i.e., a band-pass filter). The amplitude of the filtered signal can be calculated and compared to a threshold. The threshold can vary with an average amplitude of the filtered signal in the vicinity. The location along the stroke where the amplitude no longer exceeds the threshold can be used as a crude position signal indicating a marker-zone edge. A radial position of the head 114 can be known within a distance that is smaller than the size of the read width of the head 114 by detecting the marker-zone edge. The read width of the head 114 is much smaller than the width of the chevron cycle wc. For example, in one embodiment the width of the chevron cycle is 3 μm. The width of the read head 114 is a small fraction of a micron. Therefore, the chevrons can provide fractional positioning of the head 114 relative to the gross positioning provided by the marker-zone edge. A chevron cycle located at the same radial position as the marker-zone edge can be assigned a designated cycle count from which the head 114 can determine radial positioning along the stroke by the cycle count of the chevron over which the head 114 passes relative to the marker zone edge. If the position of the head 114 is lost, the head 114 can locate the marker-zone edge and the radial position is known to be the designated cycle count. For example, if the designated cycle count is 1000, the radial position of the marker-zone edge is chevron cycle count 1000 (plus a fractional cycle count based on whatever fractional position is measured from the actual chevron angle). Use of this scheme can present a problem if the location of the marker-zone edge nearly coincides with an exact integer chevron cycle count. If one of the chevrons (either the zig-burst 884 or the zag-burst 886) has a phase of very nearly zero degrees at the edge of the marker-zone, then it can be difficult to decide whether to set the integer portion of the chevron cycle count to the designated cycle count or one count less than the designated cycle count. Using the example discussed above, the designated cycle count for the zig-burst 884 at the marker-zone edge is 1000, while the corresponding designated cycle count for the zag-burst 886 is −1000. If the measured phase of the zig-burst 884 at the marker-zone edge is very near zero degrees, for the servo wedge at which the chevron cycle counts are altered to account for the known location of the head 114, where the measured phase of the fractional cycle count is slightly more than zero degrees (i.e., a small positive phase) the integer portion of the zig-burst 884 cycle count can be set to 1000, while where the measured phase of the fractional cycle count is slightly less than 360 degrees (i.e., a small negative phase) the integer portion of the zig-burst 884 cycle count can be set to 999. Thus, a phase of a fractional cycle count near zero degrees (but slightly greater) will result in a total zig-burst 884 cycle count that is slightly greater than 1000, while a phase of a fractional cycle count near to 360 degrees (but slightly less) will result in a total zig-burst 884 cycle count that is slightly less than 1000. The same reasoning can be applied to determine the integer portion of the zag-burst 886 cycle count at the time that both the zig-burst 884 and zag-burst 886 cycle counts are altered to account for the known location of the head 114. The marker-zone can be positioned anywhere along the stroke. In one embodiment, the marker-zone can be positioned centrally along the data stroke (wherein the data stroke is that portion of the stroke traversing data tracks), bisecting the data stroke and minimizing the maximum distance from any location on the disk to the marker-zone, thereby improving nominal recovery time where the head 114 slips chevron cycles. In other embodiments, the marker-zone can span a defined distance and have a first edge, for example, near the OD and a second edge near the ID. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the myriad different arrangements of the marker-zone on the disk. Referring to FIG. 9, as a slider 228 is loaded onto a disk 108 from a ramp 130, the slider 228 can contact the disk 108 surface. Contact can cause damage to one or both of the disk 108 surface and the slider 228. Such damage can interfere with the ability of a head connected with the slider to read from or write data to the disk. For example, debris or damage on the disk surface can alter the surface so that an air gap formed between the slider and the surface is non-uniform, causing instability or an air gap height that results in a weakened measured or written signal. A first user track 992 typically (though not necessarily) contains critical system information and can be assigned to a track located some distance closer to the ID than the average acquire track. The distance between the first user track 992 and the average acquire track 990 is an outer guard band OG that acts as a buffer so that the head 114 can avoid reading or writing to the disk 108 while traversing a portion of the disk 108 surface possibly damaged by sporadic contact during frequent loading of the slider 228 from the ramp 130 to the disk 108. The average acquire track 990 estimates the location of the touch-point 934 of the lift tab 332 for purposes of setting the first user track 992. Ideally, the touch-point 934 is positioned in close proximity to the average acquire track 990 so that a maximum amount of the stroke is usable for storing user data. However, more likely the acquire track 990 is some small distance from the ramp 130, and farther from the OD than is optimal or desired. Therefore, the buffer is likely farther from the OD than is necessary to avoid defects. The data stroke traverses a portion of the disk surface between the first user track 992 and a final user track 994 offset from the ID crash stop 131 by an inner guard band IG. In low-cost designs, the mechanical tolerance of the ID crash stop 131 location and the touch-point 934 location is a significant portion of the data stroke. The location of the average acquire track 990 from the touch-point 934 includes a tolerance that can vary with the criteria for assigning an average acquire track 990; therefore, setting the first user track 992 based on the average acquire track 990 can further reduce the width of the data stroke (and increase the variability). Further, the first user track 992 is typically assigned to a track that is a conservative distance from the average acquire track 990. Typically, a manufacturer will increase the density of the tracks written to the disk 108 surface to produce a hard disk drive 100 having a targeted capacity. An increase in track density can negatively impact hard disk drive 100 performance, resulting, for example, in a reduction in manufacturing tolerance for the width of the head 114, or a degradation in the performance of the servo system. The touch-point 934 can be more accurately located for defining a first-user track 992 by detecting a dramatic change in an average bias force as the actuator 110 contacts the ramp 130. Electrical bias forces can result from voltage and current offsets in the electrical circuitry and can act on a rotary actuator 110 as a function of the radial position of the head 114 on the disk 108. An average bias force can be measured by the servo system as the head 114 reads servo wedges passing beneath the head 114. The servo system can seek the OD and measure the average control effort (i.e. bias force) required as the head 114 changes radial position. FIG. 1A is a sample plot of average bias force as a function of track number, where the origin represents the OD (rather than a first user track) and an increase in track number indicates nearness to the ID. As the head 114 is pivoted toward the OD from the ID (moving from right to left on the plot), the average bias force initially drops, and then gradually and steadily increases. Where the lift tab 332 contacts the ramp 130, a dramatic drop in average bias force can be measured. In other embodiments, the bias force can increase, rather than decrease. The measured bias is a function of the sum of multiple variables (e.g., flex circuit spring force, windage, etc.), and the multiple variables can be affected by hard disk drive component geometry, disk spin speed, etc. Therefore, the sum of the multiple variables can increase in some embodiments. Alternatively, the touch-point 934 can be located by detecting a dramatic change in a level of gain adjustment in an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit associated with the read/write channel 450. The AGC circuit adjusts the amplitude of a signal received from the current preamplifier 448 within desirable boundaries when converting an analog signal into digital form. FIG. 10B is a sample plot of AGC level as a function of track number, where the origin represents the OD (rather than a first user track) and an increase in track number indicates nearness to the ID. As the head 114 is pivoted toward the OD from the ID (moving from right to left on the plot), the AGC level increases. The sharp rise in AGC level corresponds roughly to a contact point between the lift tab 332 and the ramp 130, and can be attributed, at least in part, to loading force on the slider 228. As the lift tab 332 contacts the ramp 130, the lift tab 332 is raised and lifts the suspension 226, which applies a smaller loading force on the slider 228, which consequently flies higher to re-balance the reduced suspension loading with the air-bearing force. As described above, data tracks written to the disk surface can be formatted in radial zones. For example, the servo pattern of FIG. 5 includes two radial zones, a first radial zone extending from the ID to approximately the middle of the data stroke, and a second radial zone extending from the first radial zone to the OD and having a data frequency greater than the data frequency of the first radial zone. In other embodiments, a servo pattern in accordance with the present invention can include more radial zones. For example, in some embodiments the servo pattern can have twenty or more radial zones. The radial positions of these zones are preferably tightly controlled to maximize the robustness of the data format. Thus, the mechanical tolerances of the ID crash stop and ramp affect the layout of the final servo pattern relative to a fixed radial zone position. For example, where the data frequency of the second radial zone is 1.5× the data frequency of the first radial zone, a shift in the position of the first user track can affect the data storage capacity of the disk approximately 1.5× as much as a shift in the position of the final user track. A method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can include determining a final servo pattern to be written to one or more surfaces of a disk during a self-servo write process. The method can be applied to a reference surface having a template pattern, for example as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The position of a ramp relative to a marker zone, and the location of the ID crash stop relative to the marker zone can be found and applied to maximize a data stroke for a given guard band while maintaining superior absolute radial data zone placement. The template pattern can be printed to a reference surface, written to the reference surface by a media writer, or otherwise transferred to the reference surface, and can include determining a marker zone located at a known radial position. Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 11, if the HSA is positioned on the ramp, the slider can be positioned over the reference surface of the disk by loading the HSA from the ramp to the disk (Step 1100). Once the slider is positioned over the surface, a radial reference position of one or more of the pattern wedges is located as described above, by detecting a marker zone edge of the template pattern (Step 1102). Once the marker zone edge is located, the position of the ramp can be determined by pivoting the rotary actuator such that the slider moves toward the OD along the stroke. As the actuator pivots, the head measures the number of cycle counts between the marker zone edge and the ramp. As the lift tab (or some other portion of the HSA) contacts the ramp, the average bias force drops dramatically and detectably and/or the AGC level rises suddenly, locating the ramp relative to the marker zone edge (Step 1104). Alternatively, a sudden change in some other measurable metric known to result from contact between the HSA and the ramp, can indicate the location of the ramp. The ID crash stop can be identified in a similar fashion. Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 12, if the HSA is positioned on the ramp, the slider can be positioned over the reference surface of the disk by loading the HSA from the ramp to the disk (Step 1200). Once the slider is positioned over the surface, a radial reference position of one or more of the pattern wedges is located as described above, by detecting a marker zone edge of the template pattern (Step 1202). Once the marker zone edge is located, the position of the ID crash stop can be determined by pivoting the rotary actuator such that the slider moves toward the ID along the stroke. As the actuator pivots, the head measures the number of cycle counts between the marker zone edge and the ID crash stop. As rotary actuator contacts the ID crash stop, the average bias force rises dramatically and detectably, locating the ID crash stop relative to the marker zone edge (Step 1204). Alternatively, a sudden change in some other measurable metric known to result from contact actuator and the ID crash stop can indicate the location of the ID crash stop. Once the ramp interference point and the ID crash stop interference point have been determined, the mechanical deviation of the ramp and the ID crash stop from a nominal radial position can be calculated. The mechanical deviation of the ID crash stop and the ramp interference point can be used as manufacturing feedback data, and optionally used as failure criteria. In one embodiment, statistical methods are applied to calculate a distribution around a nominal value of radial position for the ID crash stop interference point and ramp interference point. For example, in one embodiment a Gaussian distribution can be calculated and a deviation, e.g. 3 sigma, can be assigned as a failure criteria. Alternatively, a fixed value for a radial position can be assigned as a failure criteria. Assembled hard disk drives that fail one or both of the failure criteria for the ID crash stop and ramp interference points can be binned as lower capacity drives, discarded, or otherwise dispositioned. In other embodiments, a total value of the data stroke is calculated from the ID crash stop and ramp interference points and compared with a failure criteria calculated or determined for the data stroke. Multiple different criteria can be applied to reject hard disk drives having data strokes too small to provide robust performance at the targeted radial density. If a hard disk drive falls within acceptable criteria, the radial positions of the ID crash stop and ramp interference points can be used to calculate the available data stroke. Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 13, a percentage of the data stroke within each of the radial zones can be determined based on the radial positions of the interference points (Step 1300). The radial zones can be weighted by the circumferential data capacity of the radial zone relative to the innermost radial zone (Step 1302). The track density can then be calculated (or defined) and a track layout determined based on the required capacity of the hard disk drive or the required track density of the hard disk drive (Step 1304). A final servo pattern can be written to the surface of the disk within the hard disk drive, taking advantage of the width of the data stroke (Step 1306). In one embodiment, the final servo pattern can be written so that a number of data tracks are accurately placed at the appropriate radial locations according to a single read/write format and radial density. This scheme assures accurate data frequency at the various radial data zones. The ID and OD guard-bands can be assured of a minimum width by the failure criteria for the radial positions of the interference points. An increase in the width of the data stroke results in increased guard-band width, resulting in improved servo robustness at the edges of the data region. In other embodiments, the final servo pattern can be written so that a variable number of data tracks are accurately placed at the appropriate radial locations, again, according to a single read/write format and radial density. This scheme also assures accurate data frequency at the various radial data zones, and a minimum ID and OD guard-width. However, an increase in the width of the data stroke results in an additional number of data tracks, increasing the capacity of the disk. In this way, hard disk drives can be binned and sold according to capacity, or alternatively customized, having only a minimum capacity and a variable maximum capacity. In still other embodiments, a minimum ID and OD guard width can be assigned, based on a slider width, or some other criteria, and the remaining data stroke is used to write data tracks having a variable radial density to maximize robustness of the written data for a given capacity. The density of the remaining data stroke is determined by the radial width of the remaining data stroke and the relative proportion of the remaining data stroke within the inner and outer radial zones. For example, where a data stroke of a disk in a first hard disk drive is shifted closer to the ID than a data stroke of a disk having the same radial width in a second hard disk drive, the disk from the first hard disk drive will have a higher radial density. This is because the radial positions of the radial zones are fixed; therefore the size of the inner radial zone, having a lower frequency than the outer radial zone, increases when the ID crash stop interference point shifts toward the ID, while the size of the outer radial zone, conversely having a higher frequency than the inner radial zone, increases when the crash stop interference point shifts away from the ID and toward the OD. Methods in accordance with the present invention can further be applied to self servo write a plurality of disks or a plurality of disk surfaces connected with a spindle motor. Where a plurality of heads are connected with the actuator, a position of the ramps can be determined relative to a marker zone edge by positioning the plurality of heads over the respective disk surfaces, locating the marker zone edge as described above, and pivoting the actuator toward the OD of the plurality of disks surfaces until the actuator contacts at least one of the ramps. A metric—e.g. an average bias force and/or AGC level—is measured by the heads as the actuator pivots until contact between at least one of a plurality of HSAs connected with the actuator and a corresponding ramp is detected. In one embodiment, the plurality of heads are tied together via the head stack and move together on the actuator. The head closest to a corresponding ramp determines the ramp interference point common to all heads. The bias force will change while servoing on any head when the head nearest a corresponding ramp comes into contact. Once the common ramp interference point is determined relative to the marker zone edge, the actuator can be pivoted toward the ID until the actuator contacts the ID crash stop. As described above, the number of cycles between the common ramp interference point and the marker zone edge, and between the marker zone edge and the crash stop interference point can be measured as the head travels across the reference surface. A final servo pattern can be determined and written to the one or more surfaces of the disk(s) as described above. In some embodiments, multiple surfaces can include printed reference patterns. In such embodiments, a ramp interference point can be determined for each surface and corresponding head by measuring a metric only from the head associated with the target surface. A final track layout can be determined for each of the multiple surfaces, and a final servo pattern can be written to each of the multiple surfaces in accordance with the final track layout. Such embodiments can provide an advantage in optimizing track layout across the entire drive, particularly where the mechanical tolerance between relative head position is large. The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims and their equivalence. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A hard disk drive typically contains one or more disks clamped to a rotatable spindle motor, at least one head for reading data from and/or writing data to the surfaces of each disk, and an actuator utilizing linear or rotary motion for positioning the head(s) over selected data tracks on the disk(s). The actuator positions the read/write head over the surface of the disk as the spindle motor rotates and spins the disk. As the head is loaded onto a disk, for example from a ramp, the servo system determines the position of the head on the disk surface by reading servo wedges passing beneath the head. A first track identified by the servo system as the head unloads from the ramp is identified as an acquire track. A first user track can be assigned based on the position of the acquire track, and can define an outer boundary of a data region. The acquire track is some small distance from the ramp, and farther from the outer diameter of the disk than is optimal or desired, wasting otherwise usable space and requiring an increased track density for a given hard disk drive capacity. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES <EOH>Details of embodiments of the present invention are explained with the help of the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an exemplary hard disk drive for applying embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a close-up view of a head suspension assembly used in the hard disk drive of FIG. 1 , showing head, slider and suspension; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the motion of the rotary actuator of FIG. 1 unloading the head from the disk; FIG. 4 is a control schematic of a typical hard disk drive for applying a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data and servo format for a disk in the drive of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 6 is a partial detailed view of a disk from the hard disk drive shown in FIG. 1 having a final servo pattern; FIG. 7 is an illustration of a reference surface of a disk having a template pattern; FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of FIG. 7 including a portion of a marker-zone in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view of the head suspension assembly as the head is loaded onto the disk from the ramp; FIG. 10A is an exemplary plot of a measurement of average bias force as a function of track number; FIG. 10B is an exemplary plot of a measurement of automatic gain control value as a function of track number; FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to determine the position of a ramp relative to an actuator; FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to determine the position of a crash stop relative to an actuator; and FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention to calculate a data region for a plurality of disks. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040618 | 20070508 | 20051222 | 58428.0 | 0 | WONG, KIN C | DYNAMIC STROKE OPTIMIZATION IN THE SELF SERVO-WRITE PROCESS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,871,887 | ACCEPTED | Radio communication system | A radio communication system has means for improving power control of a communication channel for the transmission of data after an interruption in the transmission. This is done by adjusting the transmission power immediately after the interruption by an offset from the power used before the interruption. The offset may be fixed or may be determined from the transmission power in the period before the interruption. This technique reduces, on average, the time taken for power control to be re-established, thereby addressing the problem that data transmissions immediately after the interruption are likely to be corrupted if the power level is too low, or to generate extra interference if the power level is too high. | 1. A radio communication system, comprising: a primary station; a plurality of secondary stations; a communication channel between the primary station and a first secondary station, the communication channel including an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data; power control means for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands; and means for setting an initial transmission power after an interruption in transmission to that before the interruption adjusted by an offset. 2. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: means for determining the offset from the difference between a last transmission power and a weighted average of the transmission power over a predetermined period before the interruption in transmission. 3. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of the power control commands applied before the interruption in transmission. 4. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of power control commands in accordance with an equation ΔP(t)=K1ΔP(t−1)−K2PC(t)PS(t), where ΔP(t) is the offset computed at a time t of a last power control command before the interruption, ΔP(t−1) is a previously-determined offset, PC(t) is the power control command applied at the time t, PS(t) is a size of the power control step applied at the time t, K1 and K2 are constants and ΔP(0) is set to zero at the start of the transmission, and in that means are provided for quantizing the offset to an integer multiple of a minimum power control step size supported by the station transmitting the channel. 5. A primary station for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, the channel including an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, the primary station comprising: power control means for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands; and means for setting an initial transmission power after an interruption in transmission to that before the interruption adjusted by an offset. 6. The primary station as claimed in claim 5, further comprising: means for determining the offset from the difference between an last transmission power and a weighted average of the transmission power over a predetermined period before the interruption in transmission. 7. The primary station as claimed in claim 5, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of the power control commands applied before the interruption in transmission. 8. The primary station as claimed in claim 5, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of power control commands in accordance with an equation ΔP(t)=K1ΔP(t−1)−K2PC(t)PS(t), where ΔP(t) is the offset computed at a time t of a last power control command before the interruption, ΔP(t−1) is a previously-determined offset, PC(t) is the power control command applied at the time t, PS(t) is a size of the power control step applied at the time t, K1 and K2 are constants and ΔP(0) is set to zero at the start of the transmission, and in that means are provided for quantizing the offset to an integer multiple of a minimum power control step size supported by the primary station. 9. A secondary station for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel between the secondary station and a primary station, the channel including an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, the secondary station comprising: power control means for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands; and means for setting an initial transmission power after an interruption in transmission to that before the interruption adjusted by an offset. 10. The secondary station as claimed in claim 9, wherein the offset is predetermined. 11. The secondary station as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: means for determining the offset from the difference between an last transmission power and a weighted average of the transmission power over a predetermined period before the interruption in transmission. 12. The secondary station as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of the power control commands applied before the interruption in transmission. 13. The secondary station as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: means for quantizing the offset to an available power control step size. 14. The secondary station as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: means for determining the offset from a weighted sum of power control commands in accordance with an equation ΔP(t)=K1ΔP(t−1)−K2PC(t)PS(t), where ΔP(t) is the offset computed at a time t of a last power control command before the interruption, ΔP(t−1) is a previously-determined offset, PC(t) is the power control command applied at the time t, PS(t) is the size of the power control step applied at the time t, K1 and K2 are constants and ΔP(0 ) is set to zero at the start of a transmission or immediately after a gap, and in that means are provided for quantizing the offset to an integer multiple of a minimum power control step size supported by the secondary station. 15. A method of operating a radio communication system comprising a primary station and a plurality of secondary stations, the system having a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, the channel comprising an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, and at least one of the primary and secondary stations having power control means for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands, the method comprising setting an initial transmission power after an interruption in transmission to that before the interruption adjusted by an offset. 16. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising: determining the offset from a weighted sum of power control commands in accordance with an equation ΔP(t)=K1ΔP(t−1)−K2PC(t)PS(t), where ΔP(t) is the offset computed at a time t of a last power control command before the interruption, ΔP(t−1) is an previously-determined offset, PC(t) is the power control command applied at the time t, PS(t) is a size of the power control step applied at the time t, K1 and K2 are constants and ΔP(0) is set to zero at the start of the transmission; and quantizing the offset to an integer multiple of a minimum power control step size supported by the station transmitting the channel. 17. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising: determining the offset from a weighted sum of the power control commands applied before the interruption in transmission. 18. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising: quantizing the offset to an available power control step size. 19. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: means for quantizing the offset to an available power control step size. 20. The primary station as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: means for quantizing the offset to an available power control step size. | The present invention relates to a radio communication system and further relates to primary and secondary stations for use in such a system and to a method of operating such a system. While the present specification describes a system with particular reference to the emerging Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), it is to be understood that such techniques are equally applicable to use in other mobile radio systems. There are two basic types of communication required between a Base Station (BS) and a Mobile Station (MS) in a radio communication system. The first is user traffic, for example speech or packet data. The second is control information, required to set and monitor various parameters of the transmission channel to enable the BS and MS to exchange the required user traffic. In many communication systems one of the functions of the control information is to enable power control. Power control of signals transmitted to the BS from a MS is required so that the BS receives signals from different MS at approximately the same power level, while minimising the transmission power required by each MS. Power control of signals transmitted by the BS to a MS is required so that the MS receives signals from the BS with a low error rate while minimising transmission power, to reduce interference with other cells and radio systems. In a two-way radio communication system power control is normally operated in a closed loop manner, whereby the MS determines the required changes in the power of transmissions from the BS and signals these changes to the BS, and vice versa. An example of a combined time and frequency division multiple access system employing power control is the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), where the transmission power of both BS and MS transmitters is controlled in steps of 2 dB. Similarly, implementation of power control in a system employing spread spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,109. A problem with these known techniques is that at the start of a transmission, or after the transmission is interrupted, the power control loops may take some time to converge satisfactorily. Until such convergence is achieved data transmissions are likely to be received in a corrupted state if their power level is too low, or to generate extra interference if their power level is too high. An object of the present invention is to address the above problem. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a radio communication system comprising a primary station and a plurality of secondary stations, the system having a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, the channel comprising an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, wherein power control means are provided for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands and means are provided for setting the initial transmission power after a pause in transmission to that before the pause adjusted by an offset. According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a primary station for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, the channel comprising an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, wherein power control means are provided for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands and means are provided for setting the initial transmission power after a pause in transmission to that before the pause adjusted by an offset. According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a secondary station for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel between the secondary station and a primary station, the channel comprising an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, wherein power control means are provided for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands and means are provided for setting the initial transmission power after a pause in transmission to that before the pause adjusted by an offset. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a radio communication system comprising a primary station and a plurality of secondary stations, the system having a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, the channel comprising an uplink and a downlink control channel for transmission of control information, including power control commands, and a data channel for the transmission of data, and at least one of the primary and secondary stations having power control means for adjusting the power of the control and data channels in response to the power control commands, the method comprising setting the initial transmission power after a pause in transmission to that before the pause adjusted by an offset. The offset may be predetermined. Alternatively it may be determined from the difference between the last transmission power and a weighted average of the transmission power over a period (possibly predetermined) before the pause in transmission, or may be determined from a weighted sum of the power control commands applied before the pause in transmission. In such cases the offset should be quantised to an available power control step size before it is applied. The use of more than one power control step size is known, for example from JP-A-10224294. However its use in this citation is limited to situations where power control is already established but propagation conditions are fluctuating rapidly. This citation does not address the problem of obtaining rapid convergence of power control at the start of, or after an interruption in, a transmission. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of a radio communication system; FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional scheme for establishing a communication link; FIG. 3 illustrates a scheme for establishing a communication link having a delayed start to data transmission; FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for performing power control operations having a variable step size; FIG. 5 is a graph of received signal power (P) in dB against time (T) in ms for different power control algorithms, the solid line indicating results with no power control, the chain dashed line indicating results with power control having a single step size, and the dashed line indicating results with power control having two step sizes; and FIG. 6 is a graph of received signal power (P) in dB against time (T) in ms for different power control algorithms, the solid line indicating results with no power control, the chain dashed line indicating results with power control having a single step size, and the dashed line indicating results with power control having three step sizes. In the drawings the same reference numerals have been used to indicate corresponding features. Referring to FIG. 1, a radio communication system which can operate in a frequency division duplex mode comprises a primary station (BS) 100 and a plurality of secondary stations (MS) 110. The BS 100 comprises a microcontroller (μC) 102, transceiver means (Tx/Rx) 104 connected to antenna means 106, power control means (PC) 107 for altering the transmitted power level, and connection means 108 for connection to the PSTN or other suitable network. Each MS 110 comprises a microcontroller (μC) 112, transceiver means (Tx/Rx) 114 connected to antenna means 116, and power control means (PC) 118 for altering the transmitted power level. Communication from BS 100 to MS 110 takes place on a downlink frequency channel 122, while communication from MS 110 to BS 100 takes place on an uplink frequency channel 124. One embodiment of a radio communication system uses a scheme illustrated in simplified form in FIG. 2 for establishing a communication link between MS 110 and BS 100. The link is initiated by the MS 110 transmitting a request 202 (REQ) for resources on the uplink channel 124. If it receives the request and has available resources, the BS 100 transmits an acknowledgement 204 (ACK) on the downlink channel 122 providing the necessary information for communication to be established. After the acknowledgement 204 has been sent, two control channels (CON) are established, an uplink control channel 206 and a downlink control channel 208, and an uplink data channel 210 is established for transmission of data from the MS 110 to the BS 100. In some UMTS embodiments there may be additional signalling between the acknowledgement 204 and the establishment of the control and data channels. In this scheme separate power control loops operate in both uplink 124 and downlink 122 channels, each comprising an inner and an outer loop. The inner loop adjusts the received power to match a target power, while the outer loop adjusts the target power to the minimum level that will maintain the required quality of service (i.e. bit error rate). However, this scheme has the problem that when transmissions start on the control channels 206, 208 and data channel 210 the initial power levels and quality target are derived from open loop measurements, which may not be sufficiently accurate as the channels on which the measurements were made are likely to have different characteristics from the newly initiated channels. The result of this is that data transmissions at the start of the data channel 210 are likely to be received in a corrupted state if they are transmitted at too low a power level, or to generate extra interference if they are transmitted at too high a power level. One known partial solution to this problem is for the BS 100 to measure the received power level of the request 202 and to instruct the MS 110, within the acknowledgement 204, an appropriate power level for the uplink data transmission 210. This improves matters, but there may still be errors introduced by the temporal separation between the request 202 and the start of the uplink data transmission 210. FIG. 3 illustrates a solution to the problem in which the start of the uplink data transmission 210 is delayed by a time 302 sufficient for the power control to have converged sufficiently to enable satisfactory reception of data transmissions by the BS 100. A delay of one or two frames (10 or 20 ms) is likely to be sufficient, although longer delays 302 may be permitted if necessary. The additional overhead in the transmission of extra control information on the control channels 206, 208 is balanced by a reduced Eb/No (energy per bit/noise density) for the user data received by the BS 100 over the data channel 210. The delay 302 could be predetermined or it could be determined dynamically, either by the MS 110 (which could detect convergence by monitoring downlink power control information) or the BS 100. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing another solution to the problem in which the power control step size is variable. Since the power control error is likely to be greatest at the start of a transmission or after an idle period, the optimum power control step size will be larger than that used for normal operation The method starts 402 with the beginning of the transmissions of the control channels 206, 208 and the data channel 210 (or the beginning of their retransmission after an interruption). The difference between the received power and target power is then determined at 404. Next the power control step size is tested at 406 to determine whether it is greater than the minimum. If it is the power control step size is adjusted at 408 before adjustment of the power at 410. The change in step size could be deterministic, or based on previous power control adjustments or on some quality measurement. The power control loop then repeats, starting at 404. In one embodiment it is preferred to set the power control step size initially to a large value, then reduce it progressively until it reaches the value set for normal operation (which may be cell or application specific). Preferably the ratio between successive step sizes is no more than two, to allow for the possibility of correcting errors in transmission or due to other factors. The power control step size could be changed in both uplink 124 and downlink 122 channels. As an example, consider an initial sequence of power control step sizes (in dB) of: 3.0, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, 0.75, 0.75, 0.5, 0.5, 0.25, where 0.25 dB is the minimum step size. Using this sequence with power control signals every 1 ms, an initial error of up to 10 dB could be corrected within half a frame (5 ms), compared with 2.5 frames using the minimum power control step size of 0.25 dB that is normally used. Although as described here the step sizes are symmetric (i.e. the same step sizes are applicable to increases or decreases in power), it is known (for example from U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,109) that this is not always appropriate. In a similar example, which would be simpler to implement, the initial step size (e.g. 2 dB) is used for a predetermined number of power control commands, after which the step size is reduced (e.g. to 1 dB). The selection of initial step size and the rate of change could be predetermined, or determined dynamically. For example, if the power level adjustment signalled in the acknowledgement 204 is large then the initial step size could be increased. As another example, if the MS 110 is able to determine by other means that it has a moderately high speed relative to the BS 100 a larger step size may be appropriate. A fixed power control adjustment could be applied at the start of the transmission. This could be done even before receipt of any valid power control command, but the size and direction might be predetermined or determined dynamically, for example, using information such as the rate of change of the channel attenuation derived from receiver measurements. Under some channel conditions this gives an improvement in performance. Increasing the power in this way is particularly suited to the case of re-starting a transmission after an interruption, where the state of the power control loop (e.g. current power level) may be retained from before the interruption. An interruption is a pause or gap in transmission during which time one or more of the control and data channels are either not transmitted or not received (or both), but the logical connection between the BS 100 and MS 110 is maintained. It could be either unintentional, caused by a temporary loss of signal, or deliberate, typically because the MS 110 or BS 100 has no data to transmit or wishes to perform some other function such as scanning alternative channels. In rapidly changing fading channels the channel attenuation following a pause in transmission is likely to be uncorrelated with that immediately before the pause. In such a case it may be argued that the optimum value of the initial transmission power after the gap will be equal to its average value (ignoring other slow fading effects like shadowing). This will then minimise the difference between the initial value and the optimum instantaneous value due to channel fluctuations. In practice, in one arrangement the transmission power after the gap is determined from a weighted average of the power over some extended period before the gap. A suitable averaging period would depend on particular conditions but could be of the order of 20 slots (i.e. 20 power control cycles). An additional offset or fixed power adjustment is optionally applied to this initial power level. Optimum values of such offsets for particular circumstances could be determined empirically. In an alternative arrangement the initial power is determined from a weighted sum of power control commands, rather than measurement of the transmitted power. In this arrangement the change in power (in dB) which would need to be applied after a transmission gap could, for example, be computed recursively in the following way: ΔP(t)=Poff+K1×(ΔP(t−1)−Poff)−K2×PC(t)×PS(t) where: ΔP(t) is the change in power which would be applied after a gap, computed recursively at time t, during active transmission; ΔP(0) could be initialised to zero; Poff is an additional power offset (which may be zero); K1 and K2 are empirically determined constants, which could be equal, preferably such that 0≦K≦1. The values of these constants can be chosen to reflect the effective averaging period used in calculating the power change; PC(t) is power control command applied at time t; and PS(t) is the power control step size used at time t. ΔP(t) is effectively the difference between the current power and a weighted average power, and should be quantised to an available power control step size before it is used. One example of an embodiment in which the selection of step size is determined dynamically uses the sign of the received power control bits to determine the step size. When the MS 110 starts to receive power control commands it uses the largest available step size, and continues to use this step size until a power control command of opposite sign is received when the step size is reduced. This next step size is used until the sign of the power control commands is reversed, when the step size is again reduced. This process continues until the minimum step size is reached. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the effect of this method in a system having two step sizes available. The graph shows how the received signal power (P) in dB, relative to a target power of 0 dB, varies with time (T). The solid line shows the received signal power without use of power control. The variation in received power could for example be due to the motion of the MS 110. The chain-dashed line shows the received power with use of power control having a single step size of 1 dB. The dashed line shows the received power with the use of power control in accordance with the above method. In this method, when use of power control begins, at about 4 ms, a larger step size of 2 dB is used. Initially the received power is less than the target power, so all the power control commands request an increase in power and the 2 dB step size continues to be used. Eventually, at about 6 ms, the received power exceeds the target power. Once this happens the sign of the power control command reverses, to request a decrease in power, which also has the effect of reducing the step size to the standard step size of 1 dB. This step size then continues to be used in response to subsequent power control commands. It is apparent from FIG. 5 that use of the described method enables the received power to reach its target more rapidly than is possible with a single step size. Once the target has been reached, the reduction in step size to the standard step size enables accurate power control to be maintained. Such a method enables cases where the initial error is large or the channel is rapidly changing to be handled effectively, as well as cases where convergence is achieved quickly. The method can also be used with a greater number of available step sizes. FIG. 6 shows the same example as FIG. 5 with the exception that the dashed line shows the received power with the use of power control having three step sizes, 4 dB, 2 dB and 1 dB, available. Initially a 4 dB step size is used, with the result that the power reaches the target much more rapidly than in the previous example. When the sign of the power control command reverses, to request a reduction in power, the step size is reduced to 2 dB. When the power control command reverses again, to request an increase in power, the step size reduces to the standard step size of 1 dB, where it remains. A variation of the above method is to continue using the larger step size for one slot after the change in sign of the power control command, which could help to correct any overshoot. However, this is unlikely to have a major impact on the average performance of the method. Combinations of the techniques described above can readily be used to provide improved results. Although the description above has examined data transmission on the uplink channel 124, the techniques are equally applicable to data transmission on the downlink channel 122 or to bidirectional transmissions. Embodiments of the present invention have been described using spread spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques, as used for example in UMTS embodiments. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to use in CDMA systems. Similarly, although embodiments of the present invention have been described assuming frequency division duplex, the invention is not limited to use in such systems. It may also be applied to other duplex methods, for example time division duplex (although the power control rate in such a system would normally be limited to once per transmission burst). From reading the present disclosure, other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. Such modifications may involve other features which are already known in radio communication systems and component parts thereof, and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein. In the present specification and claims the word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. Further, the word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed. | 20040617 | 20120605 | 20050127 | 90633.0 | 3 | AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE | RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,026 | ACCEPTED | Slit lamp for ophthalmic use | A slit lamp for illuminating an eye comprises several LEDs electrically coupled to an LED driver. A user input accepts input for a length, a width and an intensity of a shaped beam of light. An LED driver selectively drives a set of LEDs of an LED array to form a shaped light beam having a desired size across a beam cross-section. In some embodiments, several optical fibers at a first end of a fiber optic manifold are optically coupled to LEDs of an LED array, and an optic is placed near a second end of a fiber optic manifold. Several ends of optical fibers of the fiber optic manifold are optically coupled to the set of selectively driven LEDs, and are arranged so as to form the shaped light beam having a desired size across the beam cross-section. | 1. A lamp for selectively illuminating a region of an eye comprising: a plurality of LEDs; an LED driver selectively driving a first set of the plurality of LEDs to generate a shaped light beam illuminating the eye with a first size across a cross-section of the beam; and an input coupled to the driver, the LED driver driving a second set of the LEDs in response to a signal from the input to illuminate the eye with the shaped light beam having a second size across the cross-section of the beam, the second size being different than the first size. 2. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the first cross-sectional size is related to a first size across the first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is related to a second size across the second set of LEDs, the first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs being different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs. 3. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the first set of LEDs comprises LEDs from the second set of LEDs. 4. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the first set of LEDs comprises a first number of LEDs, and the second set of LEDs comprises a second number of LEDs, the first number of LEDs different than the second number of LEDs. 5. The lamp of claim 4 wherein the first cross-sectional size is greater than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs is greater than the second number of LEDs. 6. The lamp of claim 5 wherein the first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy, the first amount of light energy greater than the second amount of light energy. 7. The lamp of claim 4 wherein the first cross-sectional size is smaller than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs is smaller than the second number of LEDs. 8. The lamp of claim 7 wherein the first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy, the first amount of light energy smaller than the second amount of light energy. 9. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the lamp is a slit lamp and the shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section as the light beam illuminates the eye. 10. The lamp of claim 1, wherein the signal controls a width of the shaped light beam. 11. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the signal controls a length of the shaped light beam. 12. The lamp of claim 1 wherein the signal controls an intensity of the shaped light beam. 13. A slit lamp for illuminating an eye comprising: an array of LEDs; a LED driver having a first configuration driving a first set of LEDs and a second configuration driving a second set of LEDs; and at least one optic directing light generated by the array toward the eye, the light from the optic comprising a beam with an elongate cross-section having a first size across a cross-section of the beam when the LED driver is in the first configuration and a second size across a cross-section of the beam while the LED driver is in the second configuration, the second cross-sectional size being different than the first cross-sectional size. 14. The slit lamp of claim 13 wherein the first cross-sectional size is related to a first size across the first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is related to a second size across the second set of LEDs, the first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs being different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs. 15. The slit lamp of claim 13 further comprising a microscope providing a view of an anterior segment of the eye to a user while the light beam illuminates the eye. 16. The slit lamp of claim 13 further comprising an optic coupled to the LED array. 17 The slit lamp of claim 16 wherein the optic is selected from the group consisting of a micro-lens array, a diffractive optic and a lens. 18. The slit lamp of claim 13 further comprising at least one LED emitting white light. 19. The slit lamp of claim 13 further comprising at least one monolithic array of LEDs. 20. The slit lamp of claim 13 wherein the array of LEDs is a hybrid array of LEDs comprising LEDs from a monolithic array of LEDs and individual LEDs. 21. The slit lamp of claim 13 wherein the array of LEDs comprises multicolor LEDs. 22. The slit lamp of claim 13 wherein the LED driver drives a portion of the LED array in the second configuration and the second cross-sectional size is less than the first cross-sectional size. 23. The slit lamp of claim 22 further comprising a user input generating a signal, the LED driver driving the portion of the LED array in response to the signal. 24. The slit lamp of claim 22 wherein, the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver is disposed over an area, a size across the area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver corresponding to the second cross-sectional size of the elongate beam. 25. The slit lamp of claim 24 wherein the array of LEDs is disposed over an area, the area of the portion of LEDs driven by the LED driver being included within the area of the LED array. 26 The slit lamp of claim 25 wherein the area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver has an elongate shape. 27. The slit lamp of claim 22 further comprising a fiber optic manifold having several optical fibers, the manifold having a first end and a second end, several optical fibers of the first end of the manifold being coupled to several LEDs of the LED array, the second end of the manifold emitting light generated by the LED array, and the optical fibers at the second end of the manifold being arranged so as to form the beam having the elongate cross-section. 28. The slit lamp of claim 22 wherein an optic is placed at the second end of the manifold. 29. The slit lamp of claim 28 wherein the optic is selected from the group consisting of a lens, a microlens array and a diffractive optic. 30. The slit lamp of claim 27 wherein several ends of the several optical fibers at the second end of the manifold are optically coupled to the portion of the LED array and disposed over an area, a size across the area corresponding to the second cross-sectional size across the elongate beam. 31. A method of selectively illuminating a region of an eye with a shaped beam of light, the method comprising: driving a first set of LEDs from a plurality of LEDs to generate the shaped beam of light having a first size across a cross-section of the beam; generating a signal from a user input; and driving a second set of the plurality of LEDs in response to the signal from the user input to generate the shaped light beam having a second size across a cross-section of the beam, the second cross-sectional size being different from the first cross-sectional size. 32. The method of claim 31 wherein the first set of LEDs overlaps with the second set of LEDs. 33. The method of claim 31 wherein the signal effects a change a number of LEDs driven. 34. The method of claim 33 wherein the signal from the user input results in a reduction from the first cross-sectional size to the second cross-sectional size. 35. The method of claim 34 wherein the first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy, so that the signal produces a reduction from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. 36. The method of claim 33 wherein the first cross-sectional size is smaller than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs is smaller than the second number of LEDs. 37. The method of claim 36 wherein the first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy, so that the signal produces an increase from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. 38. The method of claim 31 wherein the plurality of LEDs comprises several sets of LEDs having a different number of LEDs, each set of LEDs being selectably energized by the drivers to as to provide varying beam characteristics. 39. The method of claim 31 wherein the second set of LEDs comprises a number of LEDs less than a total number of LEDs comprised within the plurality of LEDs. 40. The method of claim 31 wherein the plurality of LEDs comprises an array of LEDs. 41. The method of claim 31 wherein the shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section near the eye. 42. The method of claim 41 wherein the second cross-sectional size comprises a width across the beam cross-section. 43. The method of claim 41 wherein the second cross-sectional size comprises a length across the cross-section. 44. The method of claim 31 further comprising transmitting the shaped beam through a bundle of optical fibers. | CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a non-provisional patent application which claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/491,801 filed Aug. 1, 2003, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT NOT APPLICABLE REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING,” A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK. NOT APPLICABLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to surgical devices, systems, and methods, and more particularly to slit lamps used to illuminate and view an anterior segment of an eye during an ophthalmic examination. Slit lamps are used in ophthalmic applications to view an anterior segment of an eye with a beam of light. The anterior segment of an eye typically comprises a cornea, an iris, a sclera, an anterior lens capsule, a posterior lens capsule, and/or a lens nucleus. A beam of light is generated by the slit lamp to illuminate these tissues while a user views the illuminated area, often through a magnification optic such as a microscope. The beam of light can have a varying beam cross-section. For example, the beam of light will often be focused to form a narrow slit. Such a beam is desirable for examining layers of a cornea of an eye. In other instances, for example when viewing a large area of an eye, the user adjusts the beam to a wide beam cross-section. Slit lamps often pass light through a slot aperture. In many instances, the variation in the light beam is accomplished by mechanically changing a width across the slot aperture. During Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) eye surgery, surgeons evaluate quality and positioning of a LASIK incision and resulting flap of tissue with a slit lamp. The beam of light from the slit lamp is well suited for viewing debris under a LASIK flap and also for viewing wrinkles in a LASIK flap. Debris and flap wrinkles are appropriately treated and corrected upon detection with a slit lamp examination. While ophthalmic lamps proposed to date may be generally effective for patient examinations, further improvements would be desirable. In general, it would be desirable to provide slit lamps having decreased size and complexity. For example, slit lamps having fewer moving parts while providing a variable beam of light would be desirable. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides improved methods and systems for illuminating an eye during an ophthalmic examination. In one embodiment, the invention provides a lamp for selectively illuminating a region of an eye. An LED driver selectively drives a first set of a plurality of LEDs so as to generate a shaped light beam illuminating the eye with a first size across a cross-section of the beam. An input is coupled to a driver, and the driver drives a second set of the LEDs in response to a signal from the input so as to illuminate the eye with a second beam cross-section. A second cross-sectional size is different than a first cross-sectional size. In some embodiments, the first cross-sectional size is related to a first size across a first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is related to a second size across a second set of LEDs. The first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs is different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs, and the first set of LEDs comprises LEDs from the second set of LEDs. The first set of LEDs comprises a first number of LEDs, and the second set of LEDs comprises a second number of LEDs. The first number of LEDs is different than the second number of LEDs. In specific embodiments, the first cross-sectional size is greater than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs is greater than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy. The first amount of light energy is greater than the second amount of light energy. Alternatively, the first cross-sectional size is smaller than the second cross-sectional size, and the first number of LEDs is smaller than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs emits the first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits the second amount of light energy. The first amount of light energy is smaller than the second amount of light energy. In a specific embodiment, the lamp is a slit lamp, and the shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section as the light beam illuminates the eye. The signal controls a width of the shaped light beam, a length of the shaped light beam, and an intensity of the shaped light beam. In another embodiment, the invention provides a slit lamp for illuminating an eye. The slit lamp comprises an array of LEDs. An LED driver has a first configuration driving a first set of LEDs and a second configuration driving a second set of LEDs. At least one optic directs light generated by the array toward the eye. Light from the optic comprises a beam with an elongate cross-section having a first cross-sectional size when the LED driver is in the first configuration and a second cross-sectional size when the LED driver is in the second configuration. The second cross-sectional size is different than the first cross-sectional size. The first cross-sectional size is often related to a first size across the first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is often related to a second size across the second set of LEDs. The first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs is different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs. In specific embodiments, the microscope provides a view of an anterior segment of the eye to a user while the light beam illuminates the eye. A micro-lens optic is optically coupled to the LED array. The optic is selected from the group consisting of a lens, a micro-lens array and a diffractive optic. At least one LED emits white light. The slit lamp comprises at least one monolithic array of LEDs. The array of LEDs is a hybrid array of LEDs comprising LEDs from a monolithic array of LEDs and individual LEDs. Alternatively, the array of LEDs may comprise multicolor LEDs. The LED driver drives a portion of an LED array in the second configuration and the second cross-sectional size is less than the first cross-sectional size. A user input generates a signal. The LED driver drives the portion of the LED array in response to the signal. The portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver is disposed over an area. A size across the area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver corresponds to the second cross-sectional size of an elongate beam. The array of LEDs is disposed over an area, the area of the portion of LEDs driven by the LED driver is included within the area of the LED array. The area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver has an elongate shape. In specific embodiments, a fiber optic manifold comprises several optical fibers, and has a first end and a second end. Several optical fibers of the first end of the manifold are coupled to several LEDs of the LED array. The second end of the manifold emits light generated by the LED array, and optical fibers at the second end of the manifold are arranged so as to form the beam having the elongate cross-section. An optic is placed at the second end of the manifold. The optic is selected from the group consisting of a lens, a micro-lens array and a diffractive optic. Several ends of several optical fibers at the second end of the manifold are optically coupled to the portion of an LED array and disposed over an area. A size across the area corresponds to the second cross-sectional size across the elongate beam. In another aspect, the invention provides a method of selectively illuminating a region of an eye with a shaped beam of light. Driving a first set of LEDs from a plurality of LEDs generates the shaped beam of light having a first size across a cross-section of the shaped beam. A user input generates a signal. Driving a second set of the plurality of LEDs in response to the signal from the user input generates the shaped light beam having a second size across a cross-section of the shaped beam. The second cross-sectional size is different from the first cross-sectional size. In many embodiments, the first set of LEDs overlaps with the second set of LEDs. The signal effects a change in a number of driven LEDs. The signal from the user input can result in a reduction from the first cross-sectional size to the second cross-sectional size. The first set of LEDs can emit a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs can emit a second amount of light energy so that the signal provides a reduction from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. Alternatively, the first cross-sectional size can be smaller than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs can be smaller than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs can emit a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs can emit a second amount of light energy so that the signal provides an increase from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. In specific embodiments, a plurality of LEDs comprises several sets of LEDs. The several sets of LEDs have a different number of LEDs, each set of LEDs being selectably energized by the driver so as to provide varying beam characteristics. The second set of LEDs can comprise a number of LEDs that is less than a total number of LEDs. The plurality of LEDs comprises an array of LEDs. The shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section near the eye. The second cross-sectional size may comprise a width across the beam cross-section, and the second cross-sectional size may comprise a length across the beam cross-section. The shaped beam can be transmitted through a bundle of optical fibers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a slit lamp having a shaped beam of light illuminating an eye in which a width across a shaped beam is determined by a number of LEDs used to illuminate an eye in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1A. illustrates different sizes across a cross-section of a shaped beam in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a slit lamp using a fiber optic manifold to couple light energy from an LED array to a micro-lens array in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2A illustrates a second end of a optical fiber manifold comprising an array of several ends of optical fibers disposed over an area in accordance with an embodiment of the invention FIG. 2B illustrates a beam of light having a rectangular cross-section in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a slit lamp having an elongate cylindrical shape that can be held in a hand of a user and having external controls adjustable by a user in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 illustrates an LED driver circuit for driving several LEDs in response to a user input at a control in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4A illustrates an LED driver comprising a processor and display driver in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a lens imaging light emitted by an LED array in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to systems and methods of illuminating an eye with light, and more specifically to systems and methods of illuminating an anterior segment of an eye with slit lamp. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an eye 2 having a cornea 4 and an iris 6 is illuminated with a slit lamp 1 having a shaped beam of light 8 having a cross-section 9 with a size 10 across a cross-section 9 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. An LED array 12 is positioned near a micro-lens array 16. LED array 12 comprises a plurality of individual LEDs such as LEDs 13, 14 and 15. Micro-lens array 16 is positioned a focal length from individual LEDs to collimate light emitted from LEDs as the shaped light beam 8, which travels toward the eye 2. A portion of LED array 12 comprising LEDs 13 and 14 emits light. The size 10 across the cross-section 9 of the beam 8 is determined by a number of LEDs emitting light. An eye 24 of an operator is able to view the eye 2 through a microscope 22. An LED driver 18 selectively drives LEDs 12, 13 and 14 of LED array 12. A user input device 30 is operationally coupled to LED driver 18 with an electrical connection 19. The user input device 30 includes a first control 32 that adjusts the size 10 across the cross-section 9 of the shaped light beam 8. The first user control 32 sends an electrical signal to the LED driver 18. The LED driver 18 selectively drives LEDs of the LED array 12 in response to a signal from the first user control 32. A second control 34 of the user input 30 adjusts an intensity of the light beam 8. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the eye 2 having the cornea 4 and the iris 6 is illuminated with slit lamp 1 in accordance with the embodiment of the invention as in FIG. 1. The LED driver 18 selectively drives any combination of LEDs 13, 14 and 15 in response to a signal from control 30. In a first state the LED driver 18 drives a first set of LEDs comprising LEDs 13 and 14 so as to form the shaped light beam 8 having the size 10 across cross-section 9. A second state of LED driver 18 drives a second LED set comprising LED 13 so as to form shaped light beam 8 having a size 10A across cross-section 9. A third state of LED driver 18 drives a third set of LEDs comprising LEDs 13, 14 and 15 so as to form shaped light beam 8 having a size 10B across cross-section 9. Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of a slit lamp using a two dimensional array of LEDs and having an elongate beam adjustable along two sizes of a beam cross-section is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. An array of LEDs 50 comprises a plurality of LEDs, for example LEDs 52, 54, 56 and 58. LEDs of the array 50 are arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns. For example LEDs 52 and 58 are disposed in the same column as LEDs 54 and 56, and LEDs 52 and 54 are disposed in the same row as LEDs 56 and 58. An individual LED of an array is expressed in matrix notation as LED (Row, Column). For example, LEDs 52, 54, 56 and 58 are expressed as LED (1,1), LED (1,3), LED (15, 3) and LED (15,1) respectively. In an alternate embodiment an LED array comprises a linear array of LEDs coupled to optical fibers. An additional embodiment comprises an array of LEDs having variable spacing between LEDs. An LED preferably emits white light. Suitable LEDs include white light LEDs having a model number LW A67C, commercially available from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, San Jose, Calif. and Regensburg, Germany. Any LED can be used in LED array 50. For example, in some embodiments an LED array comprises a monolithic LED array commercially available as a custom order from PRP OPTOELECTRONICS of Northamptonshire, England. In some embodiments, any color of light is made by combining light from several LEDs in which each LED emits light having any one of the colors of red, blue and green. For example, white light is made by combining light from several LEDs in which each of the LEDs emits light having any one of the colors of red, blue and green. An optical fiber manifold 60 has a first end 66 and a second end 68. Individual LEDs of the LED array 50 are optically coupled to individual optical fibers of the first end 66 of the fiber optic manifold 60. Any number of known techniques and structures can be used to optically couple an LED with an optical fiber. For example, in a preferred embodiment, light from an LED is coupled to an optical fiber using direct proximity coupling, also referred to as butt coupling. In alternate embodiments an optic is used to couple light into an optical fiber. Any optic selected from the group consisting of a single lens, a lens array and a diffractive optic can be used to couple light into an optical fiber. The optic is placed at a suitable distance from the LED so that light is optimally coupled into the optical fiber. For example, a convergence angle of an emitted cone of light and a numerical aperture of the optical fiber are matched. In a preferred embodiment, an individual optical fiber 61 of the fiber optic manifold 60 has a first end 62 and a second end 72A. Any optical fiber can be used in the fiber optic manifold 60, for example a multimode fiber model F-MBB available from NEWPORT CORPORATION, Irvine, Calif., and an InfiniCor® SXI optical fiber available from CORNING INC., Corning, N.Y. In some embodiments, the fiber optic manifold 60 comprises an image preserving bundle of optical fibers, also referred to as a coherent bundle, such as a fiber optic bundle model number IG 163A available from Schott Fiber Optics, Southbridge Mass. A suitable fiber optic bundle is commercially available as a custom order from PAGE AUTOMATED TELECOMMUNICATION, INC., Mountain View, Calif. The first end 62 of optical fiber 61 may be optically coupled to any LED, for example LED 52. The second end 68 of the fiber optic manifold 60 is optically coupled to a micro-lens array 70. The micro-lens array 70 comprises 5 columns and 20 rows having a total number of 100 micro-lenses. The micro-lens array 70 comprises several individual micro-lenses, for example micro-lenses 72, 74, 76 and 78. A micro-lens array having a part number 0500-45-S is commercially available from ADAPTIVE OPTICS, INC. of Cambridge, Mass. Similar micro-lens arrays can be used. Preferably, each micro-lens is optically coupled to an end of an individual optical fiber so as to avoid cross talk. For example, the micro-lens 72 is optically coupled to the second end 72A of the optical fiber 61. The lenses of the micro-lens array 70 are preferably positioned a focal length away from an end of an optical fiber. Each LED is predominantly coupled to a micro-lens with a single optical fiber. For example LEDs 52, 54, 56 and 58 are optically coupled to the micro-lenses 72, 74, 76 and 78 respectively. Any number of known techniques and structures as described above can be used to optically couple optical fibers with optics at the second end 68 of the fiber optic manifold 60. For example, any optic selected from the group consisting of a single lens, a lens array, and a diffractive optic can be used. The fiber is placed at a position close to a focal length of the selected optic. In some embodiments, a mechanical aperture is placed at the second end 68 of the fiber optic manifold 60 to shape an emitted beam of light. Each micro-lens emits a beam of collimated light toward eye 2. In an alternate embodiment, a micro-lens array comprises a diffractive optical element having a repeating pattern of diffractive optical elements designed to minimize spherical aberration. User input device 30 as described above comprises a user input control 82. The control 82 accepts input from a user. Any input device can be used as user input device 30 including keyboards, joysticks, trackballs, mice keypads, push button pads, and any input device of the VISX STAR S4™, which is commercially available from VISX, INCORPORATED of Santa Clara, Calif. A first control 84 adjusts a length of shaped light beam 8 as described above. A second control 86 adjusts a width of shaped light beam 8 as described above, and a third control 88 adjusts an intensity of shaped light beam 8 as described above. In an alternate embodiment, an additional input adjusts a color of a light beam. An LED driver 90 is operationally coupled to the user input control 82 by an electrical connection 80 comprising a plurality of wires, for example wires 80A, 80B, and 80C. The wires 80A, 80B and 80C are interwoven among several optical fibers of manifold 60 to form a single cable 65. In an embodiment, wires 80A, 80B and 80C comprise a cable separate from fiber optic manifold 60. The LED driver 90 receives signals from the user input control 82 transmitted over the electrical connection 80 comprising the wires 80A, 80B and 80C. The LED driver 90 selects a set of LEDs from the array 50 in response to signals transmitted from the user input device 30. In an embodiment, the LED driver 90 controls each individual LED independently. By providing individual control of each LED, the width and the length of the light beam can be changed in very small increments. A minimum size of such an incremental change beam size is related to spacing between the LEDs and the optical fibers. Also, such individual control of LEDs permits any cross-sectional shape of light beam to made. For example, a set of LEDs can be selected to form a beam with a cross-section having crescent shape. Selected LEDs are driven and emit light. The intensity of light emitted from a set of selected LEDs is also adjusted by LED driver 90 in response to signals from the user input control 82. The LED driver 90 adjusts an electrical drive current passing through a selected LED. Hence, a user is able to adjust the intensity of light emitted from the set of selected LEDs. The LED driver 90 is electrically coupled to the LED array 50 with electrical wires 92. An electrical power supply cord 94 passes electrical current to the LED driver 90 and supplies the LED driver 90 with electrical energy. An LED module 98 comprises the LED array 50 and the LED driver 90. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the second end 68 of the optical fiber manifold 60 comprises an array 70A of several ends of optical fibers disposed over an area in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. For example, the second end 72A of the optical fiber 61 and ends 74A, 76A, and 78A of additional optical fibers are disposed over a generally rectangular area of the second end 68 of the optical fiber manifold 60. The array 70A of optical fibers ends having 5 columns and 20 rows comprises a total number of 100 optical fiber ends. The optical fiber ends 72A, 74A, 76A and 78A are optically coupled to the micro-lenses 72, 74, 76 and 78A respectively. To form a generally rectangular shaped beam of light, the LED driver selectively activates a set of LEDs comprising each LED within a rectangular area, for example an area bounded by the LEDs 52,54, 56 and 58. A first set of LEDs are optically coupled to each optical fiber end within a generally rectangular area bounded by the optical fiber ends 72A, 74A, 76A and 78A, and each diffractive optic within a generally rectangular area bounded by the micro-lenses 72, 74, 76 and 78. A portion of an array 70 optical fiber ends comprising 3 columns and 16 rows having a total number of 48 optical fibers are optically coupled to a portion of the array 50 comprising 48 LEDs disposed over a rectangular area of the LED array 50. The LED array 50 comprises 5 columns and 20 rows having a total number of 100 LEDs. A rectangular area of the LED array 50 comprising 3 columns and 16 rows is bounded on four corners by the LEDs 52, 54, 56 and 58. The LED driver 90 selects and drives LEDs within the rectangular region bounded by LEDs 52, 54, 56 and 58 to emit light from the rectangular region of the LED array 50. Light emitted from the rectangular region comprising a portion of LED array 50 is emitted from a rectangular region comprising a portion of fiber optic array 70A bounded by the optical fiber ends 72A, 74A, 76A and 78A as described above. Light from the fiber optic array 70 forms a beam of light having a rectangular cross-section. Referring to FIG. 2B, a beam of light 8A having a rectangular cross-section 9A is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Sizes across beam cross-section 9A include a width 11A across cross-section 9A and a length 11B across the cross-section 9A. Any size across a cross-section of beam 8A is determined by LEDs selectively driven by the LED driver. The width 11A across the cross-section of beam 8A is determined by a number of columns of LEDs driven by the LED driver. The length 11B across the cross-section 9A is determined by a number of rows driven by the LED driver. For example, a first set of LEDs comprising a portion of the LED array 50 is bounded by LED (1,1), LED (1,3), LED (15, 3) and LED (15,1) respectively as described above. A first configuration of the LED driver driving 45 LEDs comprises the first set of LEDs so as to produce a beam having a first width 11A across the cross-section 9A and a first length 11B across the cross-section 9A. A second set of LEDs comprising a portion of the LED array 50 is bounded by LED (1,1), LED (1,2), LED (15,2) and LED (15,1). A second configuration of the LED driver driving 30 LEDs comprises the second set of LEDs so as to produce a beam having a second width 11A across the cross-section 9A and the first length 11B across cross-section 9A. The second width 11A is less than the first width 11A across cross-section 9A. A third set of LEDs comprising a portion of LED array 50 is bounded by LED (1,1), LED (1,2), LED (10,2) and LED (10,1). A third configuration of the LED diver driving 20 LEDs comprises the third set of LEDs so as to produce a beam having the second width 11A across cross-section 9A and the second length 11B across the cross-section 9A. The second length 11B is less than the first length 11B across the cross-section 9A. Any length and width can be selected with any set of LEDs. Any LEDs of the LED array comprise a set of LEDs. For example, the following LEDs comprise a set of LEDs: LED(L,1), LED (2,2), LED (3,3), LED (4,4), LED (5,5), and LED (10, 4). Several sets of LEDs exist, and a number of usable sets of LEDs exceeds a number of LEDs in the array. An amount of light energy emitted by an LED is approximately the same for each LED driven by the LED driver having similar electrical parameters, e.g. current. A subsequent amount of light energy emitted by a set of LEDs is proportional to a total number of LEDs comprised within the set. Therefore, an amount of light energy emitted by a first set of 45 LEDs is greater than an amount of light energy emitted by a second set 30 LEDs, and the amount of light energy emitted by the second set of 30 LEDs is greater than an amount of light energy emitted by a third set of 20 LEDs. Referring to FIG. 3, a slit lamp having an elongate cylindrical shape that can be held in a hand of a user and having external controls adjustable by the user is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A single cable 65 comprises a fiber optic manifold and control wires as described above. The LED module 98 comprising the LED array 50 is optically coupled to the cable 65 as described above. The power supply cord 94 supplies electrical energy to the LED module 98 as described above. The user input control 82 transmits signals to the LED module 98 as described above. The micro-lens array 70 is optically coupled to the cable 65 as described above. Light emitted from the micro-lens array 70 forms the shaped beam as the light beam travels toward the eye as described above. Referring to FIG. 4, an LED driver 100 having a circuit for driving several LEDs in response to a user input at a control is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Signals from the user input control communicated along control wires 102, 104 and 106 control the length, the width and the intensity of the shaped light beam. A gate array 108 comprises a Stratix™ EP1S10 field programmable gate array having 426 user input/output pins, and is available from ALTERA CORPORATION located in San Jose, Calif. A digital to analog converter 112 is electrically coupled to the gate array 108 with electrical wires 110 attached to output pins 109A, 109B, 109C, 109D and 109E of the gate array 108. The digital to analog converter 112 is electrically coupled to an amplifier 116 with a wire 114. The digital to analog converter 112 outputs a voltage to the amplifier 116. The amplifier 116 is electrically connected in parallel to transistors 118, 120 and 122 with wires 115, 117 and 119. The amplifier 116 applies a voltage to the transistors 118, 120 and 122. Gate array outputs 128, 130 and 132 are electrically coupled to gates of the transistors 118, 120 and 122 with wires 129, 131 and 133, respectively. LEDs 148, 150 and 152 are electrically coupled to the transistors 118, 120 and 122 respectively with the wires 149, 151 and 153. The gate array outputs 128, 130 and 132 selectively turn on the LEDs 148, 150 and 152 respectively in response to the user inputs 102 and 104. An intensity of light output by the LEDs 148, 150 and 152 is determined by a voltage applied to the transistors 118, 120 and 122. The voltage applied to the transistors 118, 120 and 122 is determined by signals from the output pins 109A-109E in response to the user input 106. The gate array 108 is programmed to selectively activate LEDs of the LED array to control the length and the width across the beam of light illuminating the eye as described above. While three LEDs are shown in FIG. 4, several hundred LEDs can be driven by additional pins of the gate array. For example, each individual LED of LED array 50 comprising 100 LEDs as described above is readily driven by the LED driver scheme illustrated in FIG. 4. Any gate array can be used to drive any number of LEDs. For example, a Stratix™ EP1S80, available from ALTERA CORPORATION, has 1,203 input output pins, and can drive over one thousand LEDs. Referring to FIG. 4A, an LED driver 158 comprises a processor 162 and a display driver 166 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A cable 160 electrically connects the processor 162 to the input device as described above and passes electrical signals between the processor 162 and the input device. A processor comprises elements of a pc workstation including a central processing unit (CPU) such as an Intel Pentium® processor available from INTEL CORPORATION of Santa Clara, Calif. The processor 162 comprises a tangible medium 163. The tangible medium 163 comprises any data storage medium such as a floppy disk drive, CD ROM drive and erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). A bus 164 electrically connects the processor 162 with a display driver 166. Suitable display drivers are a MAX6953 available from MAXIM INTEGRATED PRODUCTS, INC., Sunnyvale Calif., and LM3354, LM3355 and FPD33684 display drivers available from NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR of Santa Clara, Calif. The display driver 166 is electrically connected to an LED array 170 using wires 168. A signal from an operator input is transmitted over the cable 160 and the processor 162 selects any set of LEDs and any intensity of driven LEDs in response. A computer program is stored on the tangible medium 163 and comprises instructions for selecting LEDs and intensities of LEDs in response to signals from an operator input device. A signal is transmitted from a computer 162 to a display driver 166 over a bus 164. The LED driver 166 drives LEDs of LED array 170 in response to signals from an operator input so as to control a shape and an intensity of a light beam as described above. Referring to FIG. 5, a lens 204 imaging light emitted by an LED array 200 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A set 202 of LEDs comprising a portion of the LED array 200 is disposed over an area and selected by the LED driver to emit light as described above. The Lens 204 images light emitted from LED array 200 to form a shaped light beam 8B comprising an image of the set 202 of driven LEDs near the eye 2. The light beam 8b has a rectangular cross-section 9B near eye 2. In an alternate embodiment, the lens 204 images light emitted by optical fibers disposed over an area as described above so as to from the shaped light beam having a rectangular cross-section. While exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in some detail, by way of example and for clarity of understanding, a variety of changes, modifications, and adaptations will be obvious to those of skill in the art. For example, embodiments of above described slit lamp may be integrated with any operating microscope and any refractive laser surgery system, for example a Star S4™ Excimer Laser System, available from VISX, INCORPORATED of Santa Clara, Calif. Further, any light source including lasers and incandescent lights can be selected and driven with electrical power to emit light and form a shaped beam. Also, while reference has been had to rectangular beams of light, systems and methods of the present invention can be used to make a light beam having a cross-section with any shape. Hence, the scope of the present invention is limited solely by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention generally relates to surgical devices, systems, and methods, and more particularly to slit lamps used to illuminate and view an anterior segment of an eye during an ophthalmic examination. Slit lamps are used in ophthalmic applications to view an anterior segment of an eye with a beam of light. The anterior segment of an eye typically comprises a cornea, an iris, a sclera, an anterior lens capsule, a posterior lens capsule, and/or a lens nucleus. A beam of light is generated by the slit lamp to illuminate these tissues while a user views the illuminated area, often through a magnification optic such as a microscope. The beam of light can have a varying beam cross-section. For example, the beam of light will often be focused to form a narrow slit. Such a beam is desirable for examining layers of a cornea of an eye. In other instances, for example when viewing a large area of an eye, the user adjusts the beam to a wide beam cross-section. Slit lamps often pass light through a slot aperture. In many instances, the variation in the light beam is accomplished by mechanically changing a width across the slot aperture. During Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) eye surgery, surgeons evaluate quality and positioning of a LASIK incision and resulting flap of tissue with a slit lamp. The beam of light from the slit lamp is well suited for viewing debris under a LASIK flap and also for viewing wrinkles in a LASIK flap. Debris and flap wrinkles are appropriately treated and corrected upon detection with a slit lamp examination. While ophthalmic lamps proposed to date may be generally effective for patient examinations, further improvements would be desirable. In general, it would be desirable to provide slit lamps having decreased size and complexity. For example, slit lamps having fewer moving parts while providing a variable beam of light would be desirable. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides improved methods and systems for illuminating an eye during an ophthalmic examination. In one embodiment, the invention provides a lamp for selectively illuminating a region of an eye. An LED driver selectively drives a first set of a plurality of LEDs so as to generate a shaped light beam illuminating the eye with a first size across a cross-section of the beam. An input is coupled to a driver, and the driver drives a second set of the LEDs in response to a signal from the input so as to illuminate the eye with a second beam cross-section. A second cross-sectional size is different than a first cross-sectional size. In some embodiments, the first cross-sectional size is related to a first size across a first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is related to a second size across a second set of LEDs. The first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs is different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs, and the first set of LEDs comprises LEDs from the second set of LEDs. The first set of LEDs comprises a first number of LEDs, and the second set of LEDs comprises a second number of LEDs. The first number of LEDs is different than the second number of LEDs. In specific embodiments, the first cross-sectional size is greater than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs is greater than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs emits a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits a second amount of light energy. The first amount of light energy is greater than the second amount of light energy. Alternatively, the first cross-sectional size is smaller than the second cross-sectional size, and the first number of LEDs is smaller than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs emits the first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs emits the second amount of light energy. The first amount of light energy is smaller than the second amount of light energy. In a specific embodiment, the lamp is a slit lamp, and the shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section as the light beam illuminates the eye. The signal controls a width of the shaped light beam, a length of the shaped light beam, and an intensity of the shaped light beam. In another embodiment, the invention provides a slit lamp for illuminating an eye. The slit lamp comprises an array of LEDs. An LED driver has a first configuration driving a first set of LEDs and a second configuration driving a second set of LEDs. At least one optic directs light generated by the array toward the eye. Light from the optic comprises a beam with an elongate cross-section having a first cross-sectional size when the LED driver is in the first configuration and a second cross-sectional size when the LED driver is in the second configuration. The second cross-sectional size is different than the first cross-sectional size. The first cross-sectional size is often related to a first size across the first set of LEDs, and the second cross-sectional size is often related to a second size across the second set of LEDs. The first cross-sectional size across the first set of LEDs is different than the second cross-sectional size across the second set of LEDs. In specific embodiments, the microscope provides a view of an anterior segment of the eye to a user while the light beam illuminates the eye. A micro-lens optic is optically coupled to the LED array. The optic is selected from the group consisting of a lens, a micro-lens array and a diffractive optic. At least one LED emits white light. The slit lamp comprises at least one monolithic array of LEDs. The array of LEDs is a hybrid array of LEDs comprising LEDs from a monolithic array of LEDs and individual LEDs. Alternatively, the array of LEDs may comprise multicolor LEDs. The LED driver drives a portion of an LED array in the second configuration and the second cross-sectional size is less than the first cross-sectional size. A user input generates a signal. The LED driver drives the portion of the LED array in response to the signal. The portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver is disposed over an area. A size across the area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver corresponds to the second cross-sectional size of an elongate beam. The array of LEDs is disposed over an area, the area of the portion of LEDs driven by the LED driver is included within the area of the LED array. The area of the portion of the LED array driven by the LED driver has an elongate shape. In specific embodiments, a fiber optic manifold comprises several optical fibers, and has a first end and a second end. Several optical fibers of the first end of the manifold are coupled to several LEDs of the LED array. The second end of the manifold emits light generated by the LED array, and optical fibers at the second end of the manifold are arranged so as to form the beam having the elongate cross-section. An optic is placed at the second end of the manifold. The optic is selected from the group consisting of a lens, a micro-lens array and a diffractive optic. Several ends of several optical fibers at the second end of the manifold are optically coupled to the portion of an LED array and disposed over an area. A size across the area corresponds to the second cross-sectional size across the elongate beam. In another aspect, the invention provides a method of selectively illuminating a region of an eye with a shaped beam of light. Driving a first set of LEDs from a plurality of LEDs generates the shaped beam of light having a first size across a cross-section of the shaped beam. A user input generates a signal. Driving a second set of the plurality of LEDs in response to the signal from the user input generates the shaped light beam having a second size across a cross-section of the shaped beam. The second cross-sectional size is different from the first cross-sectional size. In many embodiments, the first set of LEDs overlaps with the second set of LEDs. The signal effects a change in a number of driven LEDs. The signal from the user input can result in a reduction from the first cross-sectional size to the second cross-sectional size. The first set of LEDs can emit a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs can emit a second amount of light energy so that the signal provides a reduction from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. Alternatively, the first cross-sectional size can be smaller than the second cross-sectional size and the first number of LEDs can be smaller than the second number of LEDs. The first set of LEDs can emit a first amount of light energy and the second set of LEDs can emit a second amount of light energy so that the signal provides an increase from the first amount of light energy to the second amount of light energy. In specific embodiments, a plurality of LEDs comprises several sets of LEDs. The several sets of LEDs have a different number of LEDs, each set of LEDs being selectably energized by the driver so as to provide varying beam characteristics. The second set of LEDs can comprise a number of LEDs that is less than a total number of LEDs. The plurality of LEDs comprises an array of LEDs. The shaped light beam has an elongate cross-section near the eye. The second cross-sectional size may comprise a width across the beam cross-section, and the second cross-sectional size may comprise a length across the beam cross-section. The shaped beam can be transmitted through a bundle of optical fibers. | 20040617 | 20080304 | 20050203 | 60498.0 | 0 | HASAN, MOHAMMED A | SLIT LAMP FOR OPHTHALMIC USE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,034 | ACCEPTED | Face and eye covering device | A face and eye covering device includes a face cover configured for covering the nose and mouth of a wearer. The face cover is air permeable to allow the passage of air therethrough to facilitate breathing when worn over the wearer's nose or mouth. An eye shield is coupled to the face cover. The eye shield includes a lens and a lens protector releasably coupled to the lens. At least a portion of the lens and lens protector are transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. | 1. A face and eye covering device comprising: a face cover configured for covering the nose and mouth of a wearer, the face cover being air permeable to allow the passage of air therethrough to facilitate breathing when worn over the wearer's nose or mouth; an eye shield coupled to the face cover, the eye shield including a lens and a lens protector releasably coupled to the lens; and wherein at least a portion of the lens and lens protector are transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. 2. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protector is formed from a flexible material. 3. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protector is releasably coupled to the lens with at least one of a mechanical fastening device or a layer of adhesive. 4. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protector has a thickness of from about 0.01 mil to about 3 mils. 5. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens has a thickness of from about 3 mils to about 50 mils. 6. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens extends over the face cover and wherein the lens protector includes a face cover portion that extends over the face cover. 7. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protector includes at least two lens protector layers that are releasably coupled together and layered one over the other to allow the lens protector layers to be sequentially removed one at a time to expose the adjacent underlying lens protector layer. 8. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protector layers are coupled together with a layer of optically clear adhesive. 9. The device of claim 1, wherein: the lens protectors each have a projecting grasping portion to facilitate grasping and removing of the lens protector from the lens. 10. The device of claim 9, wherein: the grasping portion is provided with at least one of a textured surface or cutout to facilitate grasping and removing of the shield protector. 11. The device of claim 1, wherein: at least a portion of the lens protector is tinted. 12. A disposable face and eye covering device comprising: a face cover configured for covering the nose and mouth of a wearer, the face cover being formed from at least one of a woven or non-woven fiber material that allows the passage of air therethrough to facilitate breathing when worn over the wearer's nose or mouth; an eye shield coupled to the face cover, the eye shield including a lens having thickness of from about 3 mils to about 50 mils and a lens protector formed from a flexible material releasably coupled to the lens with a layer of adhesive, the lens protector including at least two lens protector layers that are releasably coupled together and layered one over the other so that the lens protector layers may be sequentially removed one at a time to expose the adjacent underlying lens protector layer, each lens protector layer having a thickness of from about 0.01 mil to about 3 mils; and wherein at least a portion of the lens and lens protector are transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. 13. The device of claim 12, wherein: at least a portion of transparent areas of at least one of the lens and lens protector are tinted. 14. The device of claim 12, wherein: the lens extends over the face cover and wherein the lens protector includes a face cover portion that extends over the face cover. 15. The device of claim 12, wherein: the lens protectors each have a projecting grasping portion to facilitate grasping and removing of the lens protector from the lens. 16. The device of claim 15, wherein: the grasping portion is provided with at least one of a textured surface or cutout to facilitate grasping and removing of the shield protector. 17. A disposable face and eye covering device comprising: a face cover configured for covering the nose and mouth of a wearer, the face cover being formed from at least one of a woven or non-woven fiber material that allows the passage of air therethrough to facilitate breathing when worn over the wearer's nose or mouth; an eye shield coupled to the face cover, the eye shield including a lens having a thickness of from about 3 mils to about 50 mils and a lens protector formed from a flexible material releasably coupled to the lens with a layer of adhesive, the lens protector including at least two lens protector layers that are releasably coupled together with at least one of a mechanical fastener or adhesive and layered one over the other so that the lens protector layers may be sequentially removed one at a time to expose the adjacent underlying lens protector layer, each lens protector layer having a thickness of from about 0.01 mil to about 3 mils, the lens protector layers each having a projecting grasping portion to facilitate grasping and removing of the lens protector layer from the lens; and wherein at least a portion of the lens and lens protector are transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. 18. The device of claim 17, wherein: at least a portion of transparent areas of at least one of the lens and lens protector are tinted. 19. The device of claim 17, wherein: the shield extends over the face cover and wherein the lens protector includes a face cover portion that extends over the face cover. 20. A protector device for a face mask and shield combination having a transparent lens that is coupled to the face mask, the protector device comprising; at least one lens protector layer having an adhesive layer of releasable, pressure sensitive adhesive on one side of the protector layer and a release liner overlaying the adhesive layer, the release liner being removable to expose the adhesive layer so that the at least one lens protector layer can be releasably coupled to the lens. | This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/479,652, filed Jun. 19, 2003. BACKGROUND The invention relates generally to protective coverings for the face and eyes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which: FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of an eye shield of the device of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a shield protector layer of the eye shield of FIG. 2, shown with a pull tab having a textured surface; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the eye shield of FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is front elevational view of a another embodiment of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of an eye shield of the face and eye covering device of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of still another embodiment of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 8 is a plan view of a protective film reel assembly for a shield of the device of FIG. 7; and FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of a partially tinted shield protector assembly, shown with a corner of a release liner of the shield protector assembly and an upper tinted film layer partially peeled away. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, a protective face covering device 10 is shown. The device 10 includes a face mask 12 for covering the mouth and face. The face mask 12 may be configured for covering a portion of the wearer's cheeks and chin, as well. The face mask 12 may be the same or similar to those used in surgical or medical environments or in clean room or other sterile environments. Additionally, the face mask 12 may be that such as used in industrial or non-medical applications or environments for preventing the inhalation of dust, debris or other airborne particles. The face mask 12 may be air permeable to facilitate breathing when worn over the wearer's nose or mouth. The face mask 12 may be formed from woven or non-woven fiber material that is air permeable to allow the passage of air therethrough. It may be in the form of a flexible fabric or paper material, which may be a single or multi-layer material. The mask 12 may also be formed with several overlapping or pleated layers of the flexible fabric or paper material. The face mask 12 may also be formed from a generally rigid material and formed into a suitable shape configured for covering the mouth and nose, such as a cup or cone shape. The mask 12 may constitute a filter or be provided with a filter portion (not shown) to prevent the passage of bacteria through the mask and to prevent or reduce fogging, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,993, which is herein incorporated by reference. A darkened area or strip 13 may be provided on the mask 12 to reduce glare from overhead light. Securing devices 14 may be coupled to the mask 12 for securing the device 10 to the face of the wearer. The securing devices 14 may be in the form of straps that are tied about the user's head. Alternatively, the devices may be elastic loops, straps or other members that loop over or secure to the wearer's ears or wrap about the wearer's head. Other securing devices that are known to those skilled in the art may also be used. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a neck flap 16 is coupled to the mask 12. The neck flap 16 may be formed from a flexible material that extends downward from the mask 12 when worn, and may be tucked into the wearer's shirt or clothing. In certain embodiments, the neck flap 16 may not be present or may be eliminated. An eye shield 17 of the device 10 is coupled to the mask 12. The shield 17 includes a lens 18 that may be permanently or removably coupled to the mask 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the lens 18 may be coupled to the mask 12 along the lower edge of the lens 18. In the embodiment shown, a lower extending portion 19 extends downward and overlaps a portion of the mask 12. The lower portion 19 may be coupled to the material of the mask through various means, such as ultrasonic welding, thermal bonding, permanent and repositionable adhesives, stapling, riveting, stitching, hook and loop fasteners (eg. Velcro®), snaps, slots and pegs, etc. The lens 18 may be a relatively thin sheet of liquid impervious material with all or a portion of the sheet being transparent. The lens may be of a polymeric material (eg. polyester, Mylar, etc.) and be relatively flexible, particular those of lower thickness, so that it may be easily bent, manipulated or otherwise flexed to facilitate creaseless wrapping or curving of the lens 18 around the wearer's head or face. The sheet may have a sufficient stiffness or rigidity, however, so that it stands upright without folding under its own weight and be of sufficient thickness so that it may serve as a protective barrier for shielding the eyes from flying particles or liquid spray or droplets. The lens 18 may be of varying thickness. A suitable range for the thickness of the lens 18 is from about 3 mils to 50 mils, more particularly from about 3 mils to about 10 mils, and still more particularly from about 4 mils to about 7 mils. The lens 18 may be of a variety of configurations and may be configured to extend across both the wearer's eyes, as well as to either side the wearer's head and forehead. As shown in FIG. 1, the lens has a central eye shield portion 20 that extends across the eyes of the wearer. Opposite side portions 22 extend from either side of the eye shield portion 20. The lens 18 may be provided with creases or bends 24, as shown, so that side portions 22 wrap around either side of the wearer's head. In certain embodiments, a nose cutout (not shown), which may also be provided with or without a separate nose piece (not shown), may be provided to facilitate placing of the device 10 on the wearer's face. An example of such a mask and eye shield combination is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,511, which is herein incorporated by reference. The lens 18 may also be provided with loops or straps (not shown) or other attachment devices, in addition to those of the mask 12, to facilitate attachment of the shield 17 to the wearer's head. A grasping portion or tab 25 may be provided with the lens. The portion 25 may be formed from a continuous and projecting portion of the lens 18. The lens 18 may be treated or coated with anti-fog and anti-glare coatings and also be tinted or shaded (eg. amber, smoke, etc.). Examples of commercially available material for the lens 18 are the 4 mil and 6.8 mil polyester films, available as 3M™ Anti-Fog Protective Optical Film from 3M Company. Releasably coupled to the lens 18 is a lens protector 26 of the eye shield 17. The lens protector 26 overlays all or a portion of the outer surface of the lens 18. In the embodiment shown, the lens protector 26 extends generally over the central eye portion 20 of the lens 18. All or a portion of the lens protector 26 may be transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. The lens protector 26 may be impervious to liquids and may be formed from an optically transparent polymeric material, such as polyester or polyethylene terephalate (PET). The lens protector 26 may be formed from one or more (eg. 2 to 6) lens protector film layers 27 (FIG. 2). The lens protector film layers 27 may have a thickness ranging from about 0.01 mils to about 3 mils, more particularly from about 0.05 mils to about 2 mils. The protector layers 27 may also be treated or coated with anti-fog and anti-glare coatings and also be tinted or shaded (eg. amber, smoke, etc.). One or more pull tabs 28 may be provided with each protector layer 27. The pull tab 28 may be located along one or more side edges of the lens protector layers 27 and may be formed from a continuous and projecting portion of the material forming the layer 27. Alternatively, the pull tab 28 may be a separate element or member that is coupled to the lens protector layer 27. All or a portion of each pull tab 28 or a portion of each protective layer 27 may be colored with different colors (eg. red, yellow, green, etc.) or provided with different indicia (eg. numerical indicia 1, 2, 3, etc.) to facilitate distinguishing of the different layers 27. The pull tab 28 formed from a projecting portion of the layer 27 may be provided with a cutout portion, such as the aperture 30, configured to facilitate grasping of the tab 28. The aperture 30 may be sized for the insertion of one or more fingers. Alternatively, the pull tab 28 may be provided with a roughened or textured surface, such as the plurality of small dimples or protuberances 31 formed on the surface of the tab 28, as shown in FIG. 3. The grasping portion 25 of the lens 18 may also be provided with a similar cutout or textured surface to facilitate grasping of the lens 18. The protective layers 27 may be releasably coupled to the lens 18 by means of a releasable adhesive. As shown in FIG. 4, adhesive layers 32A, 32B are used to secure protective layers 27A, 27B to the eye portion 20 of the lens 18. The adhesive 32A releasably couples the innermost layer 27A to the outer surface of the lens 18. Similarly, the adhesive layer 32B releasably couples the next adjacent outer layer 27B to the outer surface of the layer 27A. Additional layers lens protective layers can be releasably coupled in a similar manner. The shield 17 may be preformed by laminating the lens and protective layers together in a continuous, uncut length that is then cut to the desired shape. As shown in FIG. 4, the laminated layers may be scored along a line and the protective layers 27A, 27B removed from the laminate to form the portion 19 of the lens 18. The layers of the laminate may also be temporarily separated or split, scored or cut to the desired shape to form the grasping portions 25, pull tabs 30, side portions 22, cutouts 30, etc., as are described herein, in a similar manner. The adhesive 32 may be a low tack, pressure sensitive adhesive capable of holding the protective layers 27 in place upon the lens 18, while readily releasing from the lens 27 or underlying protective layer 27 during removal of the protective layer, as is described below. The adhesive may be a water or oil based adhesive. Acrylic adhesives are particularly suited for this application. The adhesive 32 may be optically clear when the protective layers 27 are laminated and applied to the lens 27 and should release cleanly without leaving any visible residue that would obscure vision. The adhesive 32 may be applied to the layers 27 as a uniform coating over generally entire surface of the layer 27. Alternatively, the adhesive 32 may be applied to only portions of the layers 27, such as strips or sections along the periphery or interior sections of the layers. The adhesive may be applied as continuous or non-continuous sections or strips. The adhesive layer 32 may have only a nominal thickness or a thickness sufficient to perform the releasable coupling function, as described herein. Alternatively, non-adhesive, releasable fasteners may be used to couple the protective layers 27 to the lens 18. This may include such things as snaps, hook and loop fasteners, hole and posts, etc. In use, the device 10 is worn with the face mask portion 12 positioned over the mouth and nose in a conventional manner. The device 10 is secured to the wearer's head by means of the straps or securing elements 14. The neck flap 16 may be tucked into the shirt or clothing of the wearer to protect the wearer's neck. When the mask 12 is properly positioned, the eye shield 17 will extend across and cover the wearer's eyes. As the device 10 is being worn, the eye shield 17 may become splattered with flying matter, such as blood, bone chips, water, paint, etc. This may obscure the wearer's vision through the shield 17. If so, the wearer or an assistant may remove the outermost protective layer 27 to clear the eye shield portion 20 of the shield 17. This may be done by grasping the pull tab 28 and peeling away the outermost layer 27. This effectively clears the splattered material from the lens 18. Because the lens 18 may be somewhat flexible, it may be beneficial to hold the lens 18 during removal of the protective layers 27. The user may grasp the lens 18 along the side portions 22 or the grasping portion 25, if such a grasping portion is provided. The pull tab 28 of the outermost protective layer 27 may then be grasped and the layer 27 may be removed from the shield 17. This removes any debris or splatters that may have covered the surface of the now removed protective layer 27 so that underlying eye shield portion 20 is cleared and the wearer's vision is no longer obscured. The layers 27 may be sequentially removed one at a time as needed to clear the shield portion 20. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, another embodiment of a face covering device 40 is shown. The device 40 includes a shield 42 coupled to a mask 44, as at sonic weld points 46. A darkened area or strip 45 may be provided on the shield 42 at a position generally corresponding to the bridge of the wearer's nose beneath the eyes to reduce glare from overhead light. In the embodiment shown, the shield 42 is coupled on the outward side of the mask 44. The mask 44 may be similar to the mask 12. A neck flap (not shown) may optionally be included. FIG. 6 shows the shield 42 removed from the mask 44. The shield 42 includes a lens or shield substrate 48. The substrate 48 includes an upper portion 50 that is configured to generally cover the wearer's eyes. At least a portion of the upper portion 50 that covers the wearer's eyes is optically transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. The upper portion 50 may be similar in configuration to the lens 18 of the device 10 and may include side portions 52 and creases or bends 54 that define a central eye shield portion 56. The substrate 48 includes lower face mask portion 58 that extends downward from the upper portion 50 and is generally configured to extend over and cover the mask 44 or lower portion of the wearer's face when the device 40 is worn. Releasably coupled to the central portion 56 of the substrate 48 is an upper shield protector 60. The shield protector 60 may be similar to the shield protector 24 of the device 10 and include one or more shield protector layers 62 releasably coupled to the susbstate 48 or an adjacent layer 62. A grasping portion or pull tab 64, which may have a cutout 65 or textured surface, may also be provided. A grasping portion or the side portion 52 may also be provided with a cutout or textured surface, such as the surface 66 to facilitate removal of the layers from the upper portion 50 of the substrate 48. All or a portion of the lower face mask portion 58 of the substrate 48 may be provided with a lower shield protector 68, which is separate from the shield protector 60. Alternatively, a single shield protector may be employed that covers both the upper portion 50 and lower portion 58 of the substrate 48. The lower shield protector 68 may be formed from one or more shield protector layers 70 releasably coupled to the lower portion 58 of the substrate 48 or an adjacent layer 70. A grasping portion or pull tab 72, which may have a cutout 74 or textured surface, may also be provided. Since the lower portion 58 and shield protector 68 do not cover the eyes, these areas may lack optical transparency, if desired. In use, the device 40 is positioned on the wearer's face. As splatters or other debris accumulate on the surface of either of the shield protectors 60, 68, the protective layers 62, 70 may be sequentially removed one at a time to clear the shield portions 56 and 58, respectively. Referring to FIG. 7, another embodiment of a face and eye covering device 80 is shown. The device 80 includes a hood 82 that may be formed of a woven or non-woven fiber material, such as flexible cloth or paper material. The hood 82 may also be formed of other materials, which may or may not be permeable to air. The hood 82 fits over the wearer's head and neck and constitutes a face cover. An opening 84 is formed in the hood and a face shield 86 is coupled to the hood 82 and positioned within the opening to thereby close off the opening 84. The shield 86 may be of varying thickness and formed from the same or similar materials as the shield and lenses previously described. All or a portion of the shield 86 may be optically transparent. The shield 86 may be flexible but have some degree of stiffness or rigidity to prevent it from collapsing, bending or folding during normal use of the device 80. Coupled to the hood 82 and positioned at either side of the opening 84 are opposite reel assemblies 88, 90. Each reel assembly 88, 90 may include a housing 92 that may be permanently or removably coupled to the hood 82 by various means such as ultrasonic welding, thermal bonding, permanent and repositionable adhesives or glues, stapling, riveting, stitching, hook and loop fasteners (eg. Velcro®), snaps, slots and pegs, etc. A film reel 94 for storing a continuous length of protective film 96 is housed within each housing 92. The film reels 94 are rotatably coupled to the housing 92 of each reel assembly 88, 90. As shown, the reel assembly 90 is a film feed assembly with a length of unused film being stored on the reel 94 of assembly 90. The film 96 may be the same or similar to the material forming the protective layers 27, previously described, and may be optically transparent to allow visual perception therethrough. The film 96 passes through openings 98 formed in each of the housings 92 of the assemblies 88, 90 and is oriented so that it extends across and covers all or a portion of the shield 86. The reel assembly 88 is provided with a dial 100 or other advancement mechanism for advancing the film 96 onto the reel 94 of assembly 88. A similar advancement mechanism (not shown) may be provided on reel assembly 90, if desired. One type of advancement mechanism that may be used is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,081, which is herein incorporated by reference. In use, the device 80 is positioned on the wearer's head so that the shield 86 is positioned generally over the wearer's face, with the hood 82 covering the wearer's head and neck. Initially, a clean area of the film 96 is positioned over the shield 86. As the film 96 becomes splattered or covered with debris so that the wearer's vision is obscured, the film may be advanced using the advancement mechanism 100 so that the reel 94 of assembly 88 takes up and stores the soiled film within the housing 92. A fresh or clean length of film is simultaneously advanced from assembly 90 and over the shield 86. This is repeated as necessary. In an alternate embodiment of the device 100, the reel assembly may be eliminated and one or more individual protective sheets or layers, which may include a grasping portion or pull tab, may be releasably coupled to the shield 86 and removed in a similar manner as described with respect to the embodiments of FIGS. 1-6. Referring to FIG. 9, a partially tinted shield protector assembly 102 that may be applied to an existing mask and shield combination of the type having a lens or transparent shield coupled to a mask, such as those previously described, is shown. The assembly 102 includes one or more shield protector film layers 104, each having a layer of releasable, pressure sensitive adhesive 106 applied to one side that may releasably couple adjacent layers 104 to one another. In the embodiment shown, the film layers 104 with the applied adhesive are optically clear. The film layers 104 and adhesive 106 may be the same or similar to that of the previously discussed embodiments. A removable release liner 108 may be applied to the adhesive of the bottom or lower layer to protect the adhesive of the bottom film layer 104. Each film layer 104 may have a projecting grasping portion or pull tab 110 having a textured surface 112. In the embodiment shown, the uppermost film layer 104 is partially tinted (smoke, amber, etc.) generally across the width of the upper half 114 of the film layer. The lower half 116 of the uppermost film layer 104 may be non-tinted. In use, the shield protector assembly 102 may be applied to the lens of a preexisting mask and shield combination. The protector assembly 102 may be configured and sized so that it may be applied to most existing mask and shield combinations. If necessary, the assembly 102 may also be cut to size or shape by the user using a scissors, razor or other commonly used cutting tool for fitting on any existing shields. The appropriately sized assembly 102 with the liner 108 removed may then be applied to the outer surface of the lens of the mask and shield. This is done by removing the release liner 108 of the bottom layer 104 to expose the adhesive 106 thereon. The layers 104 are then positioned on the lens of the mask and shield, with the adhesive layer 106 on the bottom layer 104 releasably coupling the assembly 102 to the outer surface of the lens. The assembly 102 has particular application for use in laser surgery operations or applications where there is a need for initially providing eye protection from bright light. Thus, during such operations, the wearer may look through the upper tinted portion to protect the wearer's eyes from laser or other bright light. The wearer may also look through the non-tinted lower portion 116, tilting or adjusting the orientation of their head if necessary, to see more clearly without the tinting. Upon completion of the activity where protection from bright light is necessary, the wearer or an assistant may remove the uppermost tinted layer 104 by pulling the pull tab 110 and peeling away the uppermost layer 104 to expose the remaining layers 104 or lens of the mask. The underlying layers 104 or lens of the mask and shield combination may be a non-tinted. If desired, however, the underlying layers 104 may be similarly tinted as well. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the partially tinted construction of the assembly 102, as described, could also be employed on the previously described embodiments as well. The covering devices described herein and components thereof may be disposable and manufactured for a single use or they may be reusable. In certain instances the shield portion may be manufactured and supplied separately from the mask or hood with which it is to be used. The devices may be sterile or sterilizable. Sterilization may be done through sterilization techniques that are well known in the art, such as chemical, radiation or heat sterilization methods. The devices may be packaged in a manner to maintain the sterile integrity of the device until they are needed. While the invention has been shown in only some of its forms, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The invention relates generally to protective coverings for the face and eyes. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which: FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of an eye shield of the device of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a shield protector layer of the eye shield of FIG. 2 , shown with a pull tab having a textured surface; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the eye shield of FIG. 2 ; FIG. 5 is front elevational view of a another embodiment of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of an eye shield of the face and eye covering device of FIG. 5 ; FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of still another embodiment of a face and eye covering device, constructed in accordance with the invention; FIG. 8 is a plan view of a protective film reel assembly for a shield of the device of FIG. 7 ; and FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of a partially tinted shield protector assembly, shown with a corner of a release liner of the shield protector assembly and an upper tinted film layer partially peeled away. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040618 | 20090602 | 20050127 | 59117.0 | 2 | DURHAM, NATHAN E | FACE AND EYE COVERING DEVICE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,039 | ACCEPTED | Output stage for an electric arc welder | An auxiliary OCV boost circuit for the power source of an electric arc welder to perform a welding process between an electrode and a workpiece, which power source has a main positive voltage output with a first voltage and a main negative voltage output with a second voltage. The boost circuit comprises a source of positive boost voltage substantially greater than the first voltage, a first switch to add the positive boost voltage to the main positive voltage, a source of negative boost voltage substantially greater than the second voltage, a second switch to add the negative boot voltage to the main negative voltage and a switch control device activated to selectively enable the first and second switches. This OCV boost circuit can be selectively operated in DC mode wherein only the main and boost voltages of one polarity is implemented. | 1. A converter for the output of an electric arc welder for welding at a gap between an electrode and a workpiece when a trigger switch is activated, said converter having a first input terminal with a positive voltage having a first magnitude and a first amperage range; a second input terminal with a negative voltage having a second magnitude and a second amperage range; an auxiliary positive voltage supply with a positive voltage substantially greater than said first voltage and a positive current drastically less than said first amperage; an auxiliary negative voltage supply with a negative voltage substantially greater than said second voltage and a negative current drastically less than said second amperage; a first switch connecting said first terminal across said gap; a second switch for connecting said second terminal across said gap; a polarity control device for alternately operating said first and second switches to produce an AC welding current across said gap; a third switch for adding said auxiliary positive voltage to said positive voltage; a fourth switch for adding said auxiliary negative voltage to said negative voltage; and, a switch control device activated to selectively enable said third and fourth switches for operation in unison with said first and second switches, respectively. 2. A converter as defined in claim 1 wherein said switch control device is activated when said trigger is activated. 3. A converter as defined in claim 2 including a time delay circuit for delaying activation of said switch control device after said trigger is activated. 4. A converter as defined in claim 3 wherein said delay is at least 1.0 ms. 5. A converter as defined in claim 1 wherein said switch control deice is activated when there is no welding current in said gap. 6. A converter as defined in claim 1 wherein said positive voltage and negative voltage is generated by first and second sections of a secondary winding of an input transformer. 7. A converter as defined in claim 6 wherein said auxiliary positive voltage supply is an auxiliary winding of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections and said auxiliary negative voltage supply is an auxiliary winding section of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections. 8. A converter as defined in claim 7 wherein said auxiliary sections both include the same winding section or sections. 9. A converter as defined in claim 2 wherein said positive voltage and negative voltage is generated by first and second sections of a secondary winding of an input transformer. 10. A converter as defined in claim 9 wherein said auxiliary positive voltage supply is an auxiliary winding of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections and said auxiliary negative voltage supply is an auxiliary winding section of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections. 11. A converter as defined in claim 10 wherein said auxiliary sections both include the same winding section or sections. 12. A converter as defined in claim 5 wherein said positive voltage and negative voltage is generated by first and second sections of a secondary winding of an input transformer. 13. A converter as defined in claim 12 wherein said auxiliary positive voltage supply is an auxiliary winding of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections and said auxiliary negative voltage supply is an auxiliary winding section of said secondary winding separate from said first and second sections. 14. A converter as defined in claim 13 wherein said auxiliary sections both include the same winding section or sections. 15. A converter as defined in claim 12 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 16. A converter as defined in claim 9 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 17. A converter as defined in claim 6 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 18. A converter as defined in claim 5 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 19. A converter as defined in claim 2 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 20. A converter as defined in claim 1 including a center tapped choke with a first section connected between said first input terminal and said gap and a second section connected between said second terminal and said gap. 21. A converter as defined in claim 12 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 22. A converter as defined in claim 9 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 23. A converter as defined in claim 6 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 24. A converter as defined in claim 5 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 25. A converter as defined in claim 2 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 26. A converter as defined in claim 1 including a choke in series between said gap and both of said first and second terminals. 27. A converter as defined in claim 1 wherein said positive current and negative current is controlled by a resistance to a level of less than 10 amperes. 28. A converter as defined in claim 1 wherein said positive current and negative current is controlled to a range of 1-5 amperes. 29. A circuit to boost the OCV of a power source for an electric arc welder for welding in a gap between an electrode and a workpiece when a trigger switch is activated, said welder having a positive OCV voltage of a first given magnitude and a negative OCV voltage of a second given magnitude, said circuit including an auxiliary voltage source of a third given magnitude, a selectively operable switch to connect said auxiliary voltage source in series with one of said OCV voltage and a switch control device activated to selectively operate said selectively operable switch. 30. A converter as defined in claim 29 wherein said switch control device is activated when said trigger is activated. 31. A converter as defined in claim 30 including a time delay circuit for delaying activation of said switch control device after said trigger is activated. 32. A converter as defined in claim 31 wherein said delay is at least 1.0 ms. 33. A converter as defined in claim 29 wherein said switch control deice is activated when there is no welding current in said gap. 34. A circuit as defined in claim 33 wherein said circuit includes a second auxiliary voltage source of a fourth given magnitude, and said selectively operable switch includes a switch to connect said second auxiliary source in series with the other of said OCV voltages. 35. A circuit as defined in claim 30 wherein said circuit includes a second auxiliary voltage source of a fourth given magnitude, and said selectively operable switch includes a switch to connect said second auxiliary source in series with the other of said OCV voltage. 36. A circuit as defined in claim 29 wherein said circuit includes a second auxiliary voltage source of a fourth given magnitude, and said selectively operable switch includes a switch to connect said second auxiliary source in series with the other of said OCV voltage. 37. A circuit as defined in claim 36 wherein said third and fourth given magnitudes are at least about 100 volts. 38. A circuit as defined in claim 35 wherein said third and fourth given magnitudes are at least about 100 volts. 39. A circuit as defined in claim 34 wherein said third and fourth given magnitudes are at least about 100 volts. 40. A circuit as defined in claim 33 wherein said third given magnitude is at least about 100 volts. 41. A circuit as defined in claim 32 wherein said third given magnitude is at least about 100 volts. 42. A circuit as defined in claim 31 wherein said third given magnitude is at least about 100 volts. 43. A circuit as defined in claim 30 wherein said third given magnitude is at least about 100 volts. 44. A circuit as defined in claim 29 wherein said third given magnitude is at least about 100 volts. 45. A circuit as defined in claim 44 wherein said power source is operated for AC welding and including a device to sense arc current in said gap, said device having an output with an arc signal where there is an arc in said gap and said switch control device being deactivated when there is an arc signal. 46. A circuit as defined in claim 33 wherein said power source is operated for AC welding and including a device to sense arc current in said gap, said device having an output with an arc signal where there is an arc in said gap and said switch control device being deactivated when there is an arc signal. 47. A circuit as defined in claim 30 wherein said power source is operated for AC welding and including a device to sense arc current in said gap, said device having an output with an arc signal where there is an arc in said gap and said switch control device being deactivated when there is an arc signal. 48. A circuit as defined in claim 29 wherein said power source is operated for AC welding and including a device to sense arc current in said gap, said device having an output with an arc signal where there is an arc in said gap and said switch control device being deactivated when there is an arc signal. 49. A circuit as defined in claim 48 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 50. A circuit as defined in claim 44 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 51. A circuit as defined in claim 33 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 52. A circuit as defined in claim 32 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 53. A circuit as defined in claim 31 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 54. A circuit as defined in claim 30 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 55. A circuit as defined in claim 29 wherein said first and second magnitudes are substantially the same. 56. An output stage for the power source of an electric arc welder for performing a welding process between an electrode and a workpiece, when a trigger switch is closed, said output stage comprising: a first polarity circuit in series with said electrode and workpiece, said first circuit including a first main power supply with a first main voltage and a first main switch operated by a first switch signal; a second polarity circuit in series with said electrode and said workpiece, said second circuit including second main power supply with a second main voltage and a second main switch operated by a second switch signal; an AC controller for alternately creating said first and second switch signals to perform an AC welding process between said electrode and said workpiece; an auxiliary first polarity circuit including a first auxiliary voltage source additive to said first main supply and a first auxiliary switch in series with said first main switch and operated by a first boost signal; an auxiliary second polarity circuit including a second auxiliary voltage source additive to said second main supply and a second auxiliary switch in series with said second main switch and operated by a second boost signal; and a boost controller for selectively creating said first boost signal at least during said first switch signal and said second boost signal at least during said second switch signal. 57. An output stage as defined in claim 56 including a circuit to enable said boost signals only when said trigger switch is closed. 58. An output stage as defined in claim 57 including a sensor to sense an arc between said electrode and said workpiece and a circuit to enable said boost signals only when said sensor senses an arc. 59. An output stage as defined in claim 56 including a sensor to sense an arc between said electrode and said workpiece and a circuit to enable said boost signals only when said sensor senses an arc. 60. An output stage as defined in claim 59 including a choke in said series with said electrode and workpiece. 61. An output stage as defined in claim 60 wherein said choke has a first section in said first polarity circuit and a second section in said second polarity sections with said first and second sections having a common core. 62. An output stage as defined in claim 58 including a choke in said series with said electrode and workpiece. 63. An output stage as defined in claim 62 wherein said choke has a first section in said first polarity circuit and a second section in said second polarity sections with said first and second sections having a common core. 64. An output stage as defined in claim 57 including a choke in said series with said electrode and workpiece. 65. An output stage as defined in claim 64 wherein said choke has a first section in said first polarity circuit and a second section in said second polarity sections with said first and second sections having a common core. 66. An output stage as defined in claim 56 including a choke in said series with said electrode and workpiece. 67. An output stage as defined in claim 66 wherein said choke has a first section in said first polarity circuit and a second section in said second polarity sections with said first and second sections having a common core. 68. An output stage as defined in claim 66 wherein said first and second auxiliary circuits include a resistor to limit current flow in said auxiliary circuits to a low level. 69. An output stage as defined in claim 68 wherein said low level is less than 10 amperes. 70. An output stage as defined in claim 68 wherein said resistor is adjustable. 71. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said first and second auxiliary circuits include a resistor to limit current flow in said auxiliary circuits to a low level. 72. An output stage as defined in claim 71 wherein said low level is less than 10 amperes. 73. An output stage as defined in claim 71 wherein said resistor is adjustable. 74. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said first and second auxiliary circuits include a resistor to limit current flow in said auxiliary circuits to a low level. 75. An output stage as defined in claim 74 wherein said low level is less than 10 amperes. 76. An output stage as defined in claim 74 wherein said resistor is adjustable. 77. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said first and second auxiliary circuits include a resistor to limit current flow in said auxiliary circuits to a low level. 78. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said low level is less than 10 amperes. 79. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said resistor is adjustable. 80. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said process is an AC TIG welding process. 81. An output stage as defined in claim 80 wherein said AC TIG welding process is performed at a current of less than about 10 amperes. 82. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said process is an AC TIG welding process. 83. An output stage as defined in claim 82 wherein said AC TIG welding process is performed at a current of less than about 10 amperes. 84. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said process is an AC TIG welding process. 85. An output stage as defined in claim 84 wherein said AC TIG welding process is performed at a current of less than about 10 amperes. 86. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said process is an AC TIG welding process. 87. An output stage as defined in claim 86 wherein said AC TIG welding process is performed at a current of less than about 10 amperes. 88. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said process is an AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process. 89. An output stage as defined in claim 88 wherein said AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process is performed at a current more than 10 amperes. 90. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said process is an AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process. 91. An output stage as defined in claim 90 wherein said AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process is performed at a current more than 10 amperes. 92. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said process is an AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process. 93. An output stage as defined in claim 92 wherein said AC MIG welding process is performed at a current more than 10 amperes. 94. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said process is an AC MIG or AC submerged arc welding process. 95. An output stage as defined in claim 94 wherein said AC MIG welding process is performed at a current more than 10 amperes. 96. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said first main power supply and said second main power supply are series sections of a secondary winding of an input transformer. 97. An output stage as defined in claim 96 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources include auxiliary winding or windings on said input transformer. 98. An output stage as defined in claim 96 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are each a battery. 99. An output stage as defined in claim 96 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are each secondary windings of an auxiliary transformer. 100. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are each a battery. 101. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are each a battery. 102. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are each a battery. 103. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said first main power supply is one portion of the voltage across the output DC terminals of an inverter, said second main power supply is the remaining portion of the voltage across the output of said DC terminals of said inverter. 104. An output stage as defined in claim 103 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are separate DC voltage supplies. 105. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said first main power supply is one portion of the voltage across the output DC terminals of an inverter, said second main power supply is the remaining portion of the voltage across the output of said DC terminals of said inverter. 106. An output stage as defined in claim 105 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are separate DC voltage supplies. 107. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said first main power supply is one portion of the voltage across the output DC terminals of an inverter, said second main power supply is the remaining portion of the voltage across the output of said DC terminals of said inverter. 108. An output stage as defined in claim 107 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are separate DC voltage supplies. 109. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said first main power supply is one portion of the voltage across the output DC terminals of an inverter, said second main power supply is the remaining portion of the voltage across the output of said DC terminals of said inverter. 110. An output stage as defined in claim 109 wherein said first and second auxiliary voltage sources are separate DC voltage supplies. 111. An output stage as defined in claim 77 wherein said first and second main power supplies are each a DC output of an inverter between a positive terminal and a negative terminal, said first auxiliary voltage source is a positive voltage power supply connected by said first auxiliary switch to said positive terminal and said second auxiliary voltage source is a negative voltage power supply connected by said second auxiliary switch to said negative terminal. 112. An output stage as defined in claim 59 wherein said first and second main power supplies are each a DC output of an inverter between a positive terminal and a negative terminal, said first auxiliary voltage source is a positive voltage power supply connected by said first auxiliary switch to said positive terminal and said second auxiliary voltage source is a negative voltage power supply connected by said second auxiliary switch to said negative terminal. 113. An output stage as defined in claim 57 wherein said first and second main power supplies are each a DC output of an inverter between a positive terminal and a negative terminal, said first auxiliary voltage source is a positive voltage power supply connected by said first auxiliary switch to said positive terminal and said second auxiliary voltage source is a negative voltage power supply connected by said second auxiliary switch to said negative terminal. 114. An output stage as defined in claim 56 wherein said first and second main power supplies are each a DC output of an inverter between a positive terminal and a negative terminal, said first auxiliary voltage source is a positive voltage power supply connected by said first auxiliary switch to said positive terminal and said second auxiliary voltage source is a negative voltage power supply connected by said second auxiliary switch to said negative terminal. 115. An output stage as defined in claim 114 wherein said inverter is a high switching speed inverter controlled by a number of control pulses with a frequency of at least 18 kHz. 116. A method of AC arc welding including: (a) applying a main positive voltage across an electrode and workpiece; (b) applying a main negative voltage across said electrode and said workpiece; (c) alternating said positive and negative voltages across said electrode and said workpiece; (d) selectively applying an auxiliary high positive voltage across said electrode and said workpiece concurrently with said main positive voltage; and, (e) selectively applying an auxiliary high negative voltage across said electrode and said workpiece concurrently with said main negative voltage. 117. The method as defined in claim 116 including limiting the current of said auxiliary voltages to less than 10 amperes. 118. The method as defined in claim 117 including adjusting the current of said auxiliary voltages. 119. The method as defined in claim 118 including providing said auxiliary voltages by a battery. 120. The method as defined in claim 117 including providing said auxiliary voltages by a battery. 121. The method as defined in claim 116 including providing said auxiliary voltages by a battery. 122. The method as defined in claim 118 including providing said main voltages from a single transformer. 123. The method as defined in claim 117 including providing said main voltages from a single transformer. 124. The method as defined in claim 116 including providing said main voltages from a single transformer. 125. The method as defined in claim 124 including providing said auxiliary voltages from said single transformer. 126. The method as defined in claim 123 including providing said auxiliary voltages from said single transformer. 127. The method as defined in claim 122 including providing said auxiliary voltages from said single transformer. 128. The method as defined in claim 127 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 129. The method as defined in claim 126 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 130. The method as defined in claim 125 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 131. The method as defined in claim 124 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 132. The method as defined in claim 123 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 133. The method as defined in claim 122 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 134. The method as defined in claim 121 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 135. The method as defined in claim 120 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 136. The method as defined in claim 119 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 137. The method as defined in claim 118 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 138. The method as defined in claim 117 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 139. The method as defined in claim 116 including closing a trigger switch when said method is started and preventing said auxiliary voltage until said trigger switch is closed. 140. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit for the output circuit of an electric arc welder to perform a welding process between an electrode and a workpiece, which power source has a main positive voltage output with a first voltage and a main negative voltage output with a second voltage, said boost circuit comprising: a source of positive boost voltage substantially greater than said first voltage, a first switch to add said positive boost voltage to said main positive voltage, a source of negative boost voltage substantially greater than said second voltage, a second switch to add said negative boost voltage to said main negative voltage and a switch control device activated to selectively enable said first and second switches. 141. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 wherein said first and second voltages are less than 100 volts and said positive and negative boost voltages are greater than 50 volts. 142. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 wherein said welder has a trigger switch closed when said welder is welding and wherein said control device is activated when said switch is closed. 143. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 including a sensor for sensing the weld current of said welder and wherein said control device is activated when there is a low level of sensed current. 144. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 where said positive and negative boost voltages are created by a battery. 145. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 where said positive and negative boost voltages are created by the secondary winding of a boost transformer. 146. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 wherein said welding process is an AC TIG process. 147. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 140 wherein said welding process is an AC MIG process or an AC submerged arc process. 148. An auxiliary OCV circuit as defined in claim 147 including a circuit to enable the main voltage and boost voltage either positive or negative. 149. An auxiliary OCV circuit as defined in claim 146 including a circuit to enable the main voltage and boost voltage either positive or negative. 150. An auxiliary OCV circuit as defined in claim 142 including a circuit to enable the main voltage and boost voltage either positive or negative. 151. An auxiliary OCV circuit as defined in claim 140 including a circuit to enable the main voltage and boost voltage either positive or negative. 152. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit for the output circuit of an electric arc welder to perform a DC welding process between an electrode and a workpiece, which power source has a main voltage output with a first OCV voltage, said boost circuit comprising: a source of boost voltage substantially greater than said first OCV voltage, a boost switch to add said boost voltage to said main voltage, and a switch control device activated to selectively enable said boost switch during said welding process. 153. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 152 wherein said main voltage is less than 100 volts and said positive and negative boost voltages are greater than 50 volts. 154. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 152 wherein said welder has a trigger switch closed when said welder is welding and wherein said control device is activated when said switch is closed. 155. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 152 where said boost voltages are created by a battery. 156. An auxiliary OCV boost circuit as defined in claim 152 where said boost voltages are created by the secondary winding of a boost transformer. | The present invention relates to the art of electric arc welding and more particularly to a novel output stage for an electric welder to boost the OCV of the power source, especially for AC welding, such as AC TIG, AC MIG and AC submerged arc. The invention can be used in DC welding also. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE The present invention is primarily directed to the output stage of an AC power source for an electric arc welder for performing an AC welding process, such as an AC TIG welding process or an AC MIG welding process and AC submerged arc welding. Power sources used for this type of welder have output stages that often involved a center tapped choke with alternating polarity switches on opposite sides of the choke where the electrode of the welding process is connected to the center tap of the choke. Prior patents showing this type of configuration are Stava U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,021; Bodewigs U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,963; Corrigall U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,093, and Holverson U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,957. These output stages using center tapped chokes are well known in the welding field and are incorporated by reference herein as background information relating to an AC welder of the type to which the present invention is particularly applicable. The output stage of a power source as described in the patents mentioned above is sometimes modified to place the choke in the common line between the center tap and the electrode. Both the positive and negative currents flow in opposite direction through the same choke, instead of flowing in only designated sections of a center tapped choke. The use of a common choke is shown in Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,874, which patent also describes the relationship between a common choke and a center tapped choke in several embodiments of AC output stages. This Stava patent is also incorporated herein as background information relating to relevant AC output stages for a generic inverter type power source. The invention involves the selective actuation of a positive and negative boost circuit to increase the open circuit voltage (OCV) at least when a polarity change occurs. This is especially helpful at low current welding. A relevant background patent to this general concept, is Bilczo U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,522 illustrating a center tapped choke together with a common choke and having a continuously operated boost winding in the output stage of a DC welder. This patent is incorporated by reference herein as background information although, it is limited to a DC welder instead of an AC welder constituting the primary use of the invention. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Increasing the circuit voltage of a power source used for arc welding greatly improves the welding performance and arc stability of the process. This is especially true for AC welding operations where output circuit is commanded to switch between positive and negative polarity. In this situation, it is important to reestablish the arc immediately upon polarity reversal, both positive and negative to positive, in order to maintain arc stability in the AC welding process whether it is AC TIG or AC MIG. This is also true in AC submerged arc welding. As described in prior patents, the background technology for AC welding often involves an output stage having a center tapped choke. The purpose of this choke is well known and operates well under most applications. The choke arrangement utilizes the stored energy in the core of the choke to maintain current flow in the same direction in both sections of the center tapped choke irrespective of the actual welding polarity. In theory, the center tapped choke develops whatever voltage is required to maintain the current flow in either the positive or negative direction. The limitation of this design is the amount of stored energy available to reignite the welding arc at the moment of polarity reversal. The stored energy is proportional to the square of the current through the sections of the center tapped choke multiplied by ½ the inductance of the choke. In most AC welding applications, this energy is more than adequate to reignite or reestablish the welding arc when there is a change in polarity. However, there are conditions where there is not enough energy to consistently reignite the arc; therefore, the center tapped choke must be quite large to accomplish more energy storage. Larger chokes are more costly and they also impede the welding performance of AC welding. In some instances, when the choke is on the common leg of the output circuit, energy must be dissipated during each polarity cycle of the AC welding process. In this situation, there is not enough energy to reestablish consistently the arc at polarity reversals. Thus, there is a need for an output stage or circuit to assure sufficient open circuit voltage to reignite the arc in opposite directions during polarity reversal and AC welding process without merely increasing the capacity of the power source during the output circuit. The main welding output of a standard power source used for electric arc welding (this phrase includes plasma arc cutting) usually develops an open circuit voltage of less than about 80 volts. The typical arc voltage is usually less than 30 volts. Thus, at reversal of polarity, there is only about 50 volts open circuit voltage to reestablish the arc. In addition to this 50 volts would be the voltage produced by the output choke. This total voltage, however, is sometimes insufficient to reestablish the welding arc. This is especially true at low current welding operations, such as welding at less than 10 amperes as is common in AC TIG welding. Low open circuit voltage for the power source creates high efficiency; however, the power source has difficulty maintaining the welding arc especially at longer arc lengths. For instance, in short arc welding, a low open circuit voltage is generally not enough to reignite consistently the arc at polarity reversals. Consequently, the output voltage for a power source, especially for AC MIG welding, must be high enough to maintain the arc during times of long arc lengths. Furthermore, higher voltage output from the power source inverter reduces the efficiency of the inverter. However, there is a need for a higher open circuit voltage, especially at polarity reversal in AC welding process. A solution would be to increase the open circuit voltage of the main output circuit of the power source. This is expensive and drastically reduces the efficiency of the power source. Consequently, the need for a high open circuit voltage for a standard AC welding presents a dilemma. Furthermore, a high open circuit voltage should not be available at the output terminals of the inverter used as the power source when the inverter is not driving a welding operation. There is a need for a circuit to provide high open circuit voltage for an AC welding process when high open circuit voltage for the power source itself is not sufficient. These needs are solved efficiently by the present invention relating to a novel output stage or output circuit for the power source of an electric arc welder capable of AC welding. THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, there is provided additional boost windings with rectifiers and current limiting resistors together with control switches that are enabled or activated as needed to increase the open circuit voltage at particular instances in the welding process. The term “enable” or “activated” means that the switches can be operated in accordance with commands to the main switches in the AC output circuit of the power source or are merely closed. A separate positive and negative auxiliary boost voltage source is selectively switched to be added to the main positive or main negative voltage of the power source. A resistor in the separate auxiliary boost voltage sources limit the current in the separate sources to less than 20 amperes and preferably less than about 5 amperes. The voltage of the auxiliary separate boost voltage sources is in the general range of at least 100 volts. Consequently, whenever the separate voltage sources are switched into the output circuit of the main power source the open circuit voltage is high; however, very little current is provided at the high voltage. The high open circuit voltage merely assures reignition of the arc at polarity reversals in an AC welding process. The added voltage is a factor in the process; but, the added current is insignificant. Of course, an auxiliary open circuit voltage boost is advantageous in a number of welding processes; therefore, the control switches in the auxiliary separate positive and negative voltage sources are enabled, i.e. activated, to be operated whenever it is necessary to have a higher or open circuit voltage than is available as the main output voltage terminals of the power source used for driving the welder. Consequently, the invention relates to a positive and negative auxiliary boost voltage source having a current limiting resistor and a switch which is enabled or activated for operation at the times when there is a need for higher open circuit voltage. In accordance with the present invention there is provided a converter or output stage for an electric arc welder used to weld at a gap between an electrode and a workpiece when a trigger switch is closed. This output stage has a first input terminal connected to an output terminal of a power source, with a positive voltage having a magnitude and a first amperage range. A second input terminal is connected to an output terminal of the power source, with a negative voltage having a second magnitude and a second amperage range. An auxiliary positive voltage supply with a positive voltage substantially greater than the main positive voltage and a positive current drastically less than the first amperage range, an auxiliary negative voltage supply with a negative voltage substantially greater than the main negative voltage and a negative current drastically less than the second amperage range, a first switch connecting the main positive voltage across the gap, a second switch for connecting the main negative voltage across a gap, and a polarity control device for alternately operating the first and second switches to produce an AC welding current across the gap. A third switch adds the auxiliary positive voltage to the main positive voltage. A fourth switch adds the auxiliary negative voltage to the main negative voltage. Then, a switch control device is activated to selectively enable the third and fourth switches for operation in unison with the first and second switches, respectively. The “enable” function can be actual closing of the third and fourth switches or merely conditioning the switches to be operated in unison with the first and second switches during AC the welding process. In one aspect of the invention, the switch control device is activated when the trigger switch is closed. In other words, when the welder is to be operated, the switch control device is enabled so that these third and fourth switches can be operated in unison with the first and second switches. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is a delay between the closing of the trigger switch and activation of the switch control device. This delay allows operation of the welder for a few cycles prior to activating the switch control device to allow operation of the auxiliary switches by themselves or in conjunction with the main switches. The term “enable” means that the switches can be or are operated. Indeed, in some instances when the switch control device is enabled the switches themselves are closed to apply the auxiliary voltage directly to the main switches of the output circuit or converter of the electric arc welder. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a resistor in series with the auxiliary boost voltage supplies limit the current to a level substantially less than 20 amperes and preferably less than about 5 amperes. The auxiliary voltage supplies have a voltage greater than 100 volts to increase the open circuit voltage to a level 100 volts higher than the open circuit voltage of the main output terminals of the power source. By providing low current in the auxiliary boost voltage circuits, the open circuit voltage is increased, but the current is low. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the two main positive and negative voltages are provided by secondary windings on the output transformer of a standard power source. The auxiliary voltage sources are preferably additional secondary windings or a secondary winding on the output transformer of the power source; however, the auxiliary voltages can be provided by separate transformers or even by an appropriate battery stack. The invention is primarily applicable to AC welding, such as AC TIG, AC MIG or AC submerged arc; however, the open circuit voltage increase obtainable by using the present invention is applicable to some welding operations where DC positive or DC negative is used by operating only the positive or the negative switches of an output stage. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the output converter or output stage of the present invention has an output center tapped choke with a first switch in series with one section of the choke and a second switch in series with the other, second section of the choke. Of course, a single common choke can be used in combination with a center tapped choke or as the only energy storing component in the output stage of the present invention. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit to boost the OCV of the power source for an electric arc welder for welding across a gap between an electrode and a workpiece, when a trigger switch is activated, i.e. closed. The welder has a positive open circuit voltage of a first magnitude and a negative open circuit voltage of a second magnitude. The circuit includes an auxiliary voltage source of a third magnitude with a selectively operated switch to connect the auxiliary voltage source in series with one of the open circuit voltages. A switch control device operates the selectively operable switch. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, there is a second auxiliary voltage source with a fourth given magnitude. The selectively operated switch includes a second switch to connect the second auxiliary source in series with another of the open circuit voltages. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the OCV of the main positive and negative voltage of another power source are increased by adding the auxiliary boost voltage to one or both of the main voltage sources. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided an output stage for power source of an electric arc welder for performing a welding process between an electrode and a workpiece when a trigger switch is closed. The output stage comprising a first polarity circuit in series with the electrode and workpiece, the first circuit includes a first main power source with a first voltage and a first main switch operated by a first switch signal. A second polarity circuit is provided in series with the electrode and the workpiece and includes a second main power supply with a second main voltage and a second main switch operated by a second switch signal. An AC controller alternately creates the first and second switch signals to perform an AC welding process between the electrode and workpiece. An auxiliary first polarity circuit includes a first auxiliary voltage source additive to the first main supply and a first auxiliary switch in series with the first main switch and operated by a first boost signal. A second polarity circuit is provided including a second auxiliary voltage source additive to the second main supply and a second auxiliary switch in series with the second main switch and operable by a second boost signal. A boost controller is used for selectively creating the first boost signal during operation of the first switch signal and the second boost signal during operation of the second switch signal. These boost signals may be used to enable the switches or to actually close the switches in accordance with various implementations of the present invention. Still a further aspect of the invention is the provision of a method of AC arc welding including applying a main positive voltage across an electrode and workpiece, applying a main negative voltage across the electrode and workpiece and alternating the positive and negative voltages across the electrode and workpiece. The method then applies a positive high voltage across the electrode and workpiece concurrently with the main positive voltage and an auxiliary high negative voltage across the electrode and workpiece concurrent with the main negative voltage. In accordance with this method, the current of the auxiliary voltages is less than about 20 amperes. The auxiliary voltages are substantially greater, than the main voltages and the current of the auxiliary power sources is drastically less than the main voltages. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided an auxiliary OCV boost circuit for the output circuit of an electric arc welder to perform a welding process between an electrode and a workpiece. The power source has a main voltage output with a first voltage and a main negative voltage output with the second voltage. The boost circuit comprises a source of positive voltage substantially greater than the first voltage, a first switch to add the positive boost voltage to the main positive voltage, a source of negative voltage substantially greater than the second voltage, a second switch to add the negative boost voltage to the main negative voltage and a switch control device to selectively enable the first and second switches. Again, the term “enable” is broadly used to operate and/or condition the operation of the first and second switches. The primary object of the present invention is the provision of an output converter or output stage for a power source used in an electric arc welder, which converter or output stage selectively increases the open circuit voltage of the power source in both the positive and negative directions, especially for the purpose of reigniting an arc during the polarity reversal in an AC welding process. The invention can also be used in DC welding. Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a converter or output stage, as defined above, which converter and output stage allows the use of a substantially smaller choke and can be used in various output circuits of an electric arc welder. Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a converter or output stage, as defined above, which converter or output stage increases the open circuit voltage of the power source selectively when required by the welding process being performed. A further object of the present invention is the provision of a method for electric arc welding, which method adds a voltage to the positive main voltage of a power source and adds a negative voltage to the main negative output voltage of the power source with switches for the purposes of adding the voltages at selected times during the welding process. These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a wiring diagram, combined with a block diagram, disclosing the preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1A is a partial wiring diagram illustrating a simplified description of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 1B is a block diagram of certain elements in the controller of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a transformer showing the secondary windings used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a wiring diagram illustrating still another embodiment of the invention utilizing external batteries; FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of a further embodiment of the invention utilizing separate transformers; FIG. 6 is a logic diagram of one scheme used to enable or activate the auxiliary boost switches in the present invention; FIGS. 7-9 are embodiments of the invention converting output circuits in Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,874 to circuits using the present invention; FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a simplified showing of the invention utilizing a standard inverter with a standard polarity switch to perform AC welding or DC welding; FIG. 11 is a wiring diagram showing a yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a wiring diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention wherein the boost windings are selectively activated and deactivated when there is a welding process being performed; FIG. 13 is a simplified, schematic block diagram illustrating a broad aspect of the present invention; and, FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C are logic diagrams showing operation of the broad aspect of the invention as shown schematically in FIG. 13. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is an improvement in an electric arc welder of the type normally used in AC TIG welding and AC MIG welding. Such a welder A is shown as welder A in FIGS. 1, 1A, 1B and 2. A high switching speed inverter 10 having an input rectifier 12 driven by a standard power supply 14 illustrated as a three phase line voltage input supply. In accordance with standard technology a power factor preregulator can be inserted between rectifier 12 and high switching speed inverter 10. Output transformer 20 has primary winding 22, core 24 and secondary main sections 26, 28 connected in series with a center ground tap 30. Winding sections 26 and 28 drive rectifier section 44 to provide a positive output voltage terminal 40 connected to output lead 42. The positive voltage has a given magnitude generally less than 100 volts at terminal 40. When welding, the main positive voltage is less than 50 volts and close to 30 volts. In a like manner, main transformer secondary sections 26 and 28 control the main negative voltage on terminal 50 connected to output lead 52. The main negative voltage is produced by rectifier section 54. The full wave rectifier of sections 44 and 54 is standard, as are main terminals 40, 50. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, sections 44, 54 are full wave rectifiers to provide positive and negative main voltage at terminals 40, 50. The current available at the terminals has a high range greater than 50-100 amperes as necessary for electric arc welding. In accordance with the preferred implementation of the present invention, output converter or output stage B is connected to terminals 40, 50 for the purpose of providing alternating current to center tapped choke 60 having a positive winding section 62 and a negative winding section 64 with a center tap 66 and standard core 68. Center tap choke 60 is connected to output lead 70 in series with electrode E and workpiece W connected to ground G. To pass a positive current across the gap between electrode E and workpiece W, main polarity switch 80 is connected between lead 42 and positive core section 62 so a gating signal on line 80a connects terminal 40 in series with section 62, electrode E and workpiece W as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. 1. Negative voltage is applied across electrode E and workpiece W by closing main polarity switch 82 upon receipt of a gate signal on line 82a. The flow of negative current is indicated by the dashed line arrow in FIG. 1. As so far described, circuit B at the output of the power source for welder A is standard technology used in AC welders. FIG. 1A is a general showing of the output stage or converter B without unnecessary details of the input side of the circuit. The invention operates with various types of input power sources. FIG. 1B schematically represents the control architecture used in controller 90 that creates alternating gating pulses in leads 80a, 82a as well as the feedback loop and control technique for inverter 10. Controller 90 include an internal gate generating circuit 92 schematically illustrated in FIG. 1A. This circuit creates alternating gating pulses in lines 80a, 82a at the desired frequency of the AC welding process. Furthermore, controller 90 receives feedback commands from a current shunt 100 used to create a voltage representative of the arc current in line 102. In a like manner, the voltage on electrode E is sensed on line 106 and read by converter 104 to create a voltage representative of the arc voltage in line 108. Lines 102 and 108 are directed to a selector switch 110 having a current terminal 112 and a voltage terminal 114. As shown in FIG. 1, the feedback signal is applied on line 116 by switch 110. In the illustrated position of switch 110, the control loop is a current feedback driven by shunt 100. If the control loop of controller 90 is to be used in a voltage mode, selector switch 110 is moved to terminal 114 for reading the voltage level on line 108. In this manner, the signal on line 116 is the electrode voltage, which voltage is compared to a reference voltage on line 118 by error amplifier 120 having an output 122. The preferred embodiment of the invention uses waveform technology pioneered by The Lincoln Electric Company of Cleveland, Ohio. This type of control involves a waveform generator 130 to generate an output profile signal in line 132 directed to the input of pulse width modulator 140 operated at a frequency controlled by oscillator 142 to produce a large number of small current pulses in line 150, which current pulses have a profile determined by the particular waveform set into generator 130. This control is standard waveform technology used routinely for controlling high switching speed inverters. Other architecture could be used for controlling inverter 10 to produce the desired waveforms during the positive and negative portions of the welding process. Controller 90 sets the polarity of current during the welding process by alternating the logic on lines 80a, 82a which lines are operated alternately by controller 90. Furthermore, an output signal on line 150 allows controller 90 to control the voltage level or output current at the terminals 40, 50 by controlling the phase shift or duty cycle of the alternately closed switches in inverter 10. These inverter switches operate at relatively high frequency which is normally the same frequency of oscillator 142 controlling the output of pulse width modulator 140. As shown in FIG. 2, core 24 which is used to support primary winding 22, not shown, has large conductors for secondary winding sections 26 and 28. High current, at relatively low voltage is produced at terminals 40, 50 and on leads 42, 52. As so far described, output stage or converter B shown in FIGS. 1, 1A, 1B and 2 is a standard circuit with the normal components used in converting low OCV voltages into an AC arc welding process. The voltage at terminals 40, 50 is generally less than 50 volts when welding and less than 100 volts when plasma cutting. A high current range is delivered by windings 26, 28. In practice the welding current can be over 200 amperes. In this manner, electric arc welding is performed at a low voltage and high current with polarity determined by the polarity gating circuit 92, shown in FIG. 1A. Operation of the common output stage, as so far described, can cause arc instability. Indeed, the arc can be extinguished as there is polarity reversal by output stage B. This problem is accentuated at lower current operations for both AC TIG welding and AC MIG welding. In accordance with the present invention converter or output stage B includes a positive and negative auxiliary OCV boost circuit for both the positive voltage terminal 40 and the negative voltage terminal 50. Positive auxiliary boost circuit 200 includes a high voltage source illustrated in the preferred embodiment as two additional sections 210, 212 of transformer 20. These windings have a greater number of turns to give an increased voltage and are reduced in size since a low current is provided by these windings. Windings 210, 212 are directed to a full wave rectifier section 214 connected to the positive terminal of capacitor 220 so that the voltage on capacitor 220 is a high voltage generally above 100 volts. Lead 216 is at a voltage substantially greater than the main power source voltage on terminal 40. The auxiliary boost voltage is determined by the output of the full wave rectifier driven by windings 210, 212. Of course, these two windings are shown as separate windings; however, they could be a single winding for driving circuit 200. The term secondary winding for providing a high voltage power source includes one or more secondary winding sections of transformer 20. The voltage across grounded capacitor 220 is added to the voltage at terminal 40 by an auxiliary boost switch 240 having a gate 240a created as the output of operating logic device 242, shown as an AND gate. The logic device has two inputs which must be a logic one or true to create a signal in gate 240a. Thus, one of the input leads 244 is considered to be an enable lead and the other lead 246 is an operating lead. These functions could be reversed. Of course, there could be a single operating lead that would more enable or cause an output logic device 242. Operating input 246 is the output of controller 90 which is logic one or true when positive switch 80 is gated by a signal on line 80a. The logic on lines 80a and 246 are the same in this embodiment of the invention. To limit the current in auxiliary boost circuit 200 to a level less than 200 amperes and preferably less than about 5 amperes, there is a resistor 250 in series with auxiliary boost switch 240. When device 242 is enabled by a signal on line 244, switches 80, 240 operate in series and in unison to add the high voltage on grounded capacitor 220 with the relatively low voltage on the main output terminal 40. Thus, when there is a signal on line 244 enabling device 242, a signal on line 246 closes auxiliary boost switch 240 for adding a high boost voltage to the normal low voltage from the power source. Negative auxiliary OCV boost circuit 202 is essentially the same as circuit 200. An high negative voltage, low current is created by a winding on transformer 20 indicated to be two sections 210, 212 in the preferred embodiment. These winding sections provide a high voltage, low current that is a voltage at terminal 50 that is negative as controlled by rectifier section 258. Thus, a high negative voltage is applied across capacitor 260 between terminal 50 and lead 262. The voltage on grounded capacitor 260 is essentially the same as the voltage on grounded capacitor 220, as previously described. Thus, auxiliary boost switch 270 is closed by a gating signal in line 270a from operating logic device 272 having an enabling input 274 and an operating input 276. This operating input is coordinated with the signal on gate line 82a of main negative switch 82. Gate leads 80a and 246 are normally the same logic and are activated when circuit B is in positive polarity. In a like manner, lines 82a and 276 are essentially the same lead and are operative when circuit B is shifted to negative polarity. Resistor 280 in circuit 202 limits the already low current in circuit 202 to a level less than 20 amperes and preferably less than about 5 amperes. Winding sections 210, 212 produce high voltage and low current. Resistors 250, 280 limit the low current to even a reduced controlled level. Circuit B can operate with boost switches 240, 270 operated at all times so that there is always an added open circuit voltage during a welding process. However, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, switches 240, 270 are employed to assure that an arc is reignited at polarity reversals. Thus, if there is current flow through shunt 100 there is an arc and, in the preferred embodiment, there is no need for closing auxiliary boost switches 240, 270. To effect this operating scheme, logic inverter 290 has an input 292 that determines when there is a certain level of current in shunt 100. This level is near or at zero. When there is no current flow or little current flow, there is no arc and switches 240, 270 are activated or closed. The logic on line 292 is inverted to an opposite logic on line 294. A signal on line 294 indicates that there is no arc. Thus, a logic on line 294 enables lines 244, 274 to show there is no arc across electrode E and workpiece W. The preferred embodiment of the present invention causes lines 244, 272 to enable devices 242, 272 when there is no arc. This event applies a high voltage from grounded capacitors 220, 260 in series with the relatively low welding voltage at terminals 40, 50. The arc is relit. The arc is stabilized, even during low current operation. The invention is the concept of selectively adding a high voltage, low current boost during the positive and/or negative polarity portion of a welding operation by the main power source. FIG. 1 shows inverter output stage or circuit B used for welder A using an inverter controlled by waveform technology as pioneered by The Lincoln Electric Company. Various other power sources can be used to drive primary winding 22 of transformer 20 such as an SCR input. Indeed, as will be shown later, the main power source can be defined as a power generating device to provide low voltage high current at terminals 40, 50. Furthermore, several changes can be made in circuit B without departing from the basic inventive concept. Some minor changes are illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein converter, output stage or circuit B′ is functionally the same as circuit B; however, positive auxiliary boost circuit 200′ has a half wave rectifier in the form of a single diode 300. In a like manner, auxiliary negative boost circuit 202′ includes a half wave rectifier in the form of diode 302. The voltage across capacitor 222 is obtained from single secondary winding 210, while the voltage across capacitor 260 is obtained by single winding 212. Thus, the use of the secondary winding of transformer 20 can involve use of a single winding or two separate winding sections, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The input to primary 22 is a generic power source; consequently, the output of controller 90 is a line 150′ merely tailored to the type of input power source providing high positive and negative voltages. In the preferred embodiment, the control architecture is shown in FIG. 1B since the preferred power source is a high switching speed inverter where the signal on line 150 or generic control line 150′ is a series of short current pulses having a frequency greater than 18 kHz and a profile controlled by a waveform generator. Circuit B′ does not use the preferred center tapped choke 60. To store energy for the arc in a given polarity, choke 310 is located in the common lead 70 in series with electrode E. When this concept is employed, current tends to maintain flow in the reverse direction at polarity reversal and, therefore, increases the desirability of using the present invention. FIG. 3 is merely added to the disclosure to show certain equivalent structures where circuit B′ can be slightly modified to use half wave rectifiers and a common choke while still practicing the inventive concept. The output stage or circuit B or circuit B′ can be operated for DC welding by using only one of the main power switches 80 or 82 and its corresponding auxiliary boost switch 240, 270, respectively. The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 is slightly modified as shown in FIG. 4 where the positive auxiliary boost circuit 200 is replaced by circuit 310 where the high voltage supplemental power supply is in the form of a battery or battery stack 312 connected to winding section 26 of transformer 20. The negative auxiliary boost circuit 320 is substantially the same as circuit 310 and includes a battery stack 322 connected to the negative end of winding 28 by lead 324. There is no need for a grounded capacitor in the boost circuit. Converter, output stage or circuit C operates substantially the same as circuit B′ in FIG. 3 and circuit B in FIG. 1. Another slight modification of the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 5, where circuit D is substantially the same as circuits B and C. Circuit D includes a positive auxiliary boost circuit 330 employing a separate transformer 332 having a primary 336 and a secondary 334 in series with line 216 to charge grounded capacitor 222 through diode 300. Otherwise, the auxiliary boost circuit is the same as previously described. The negative auxiliary boost circuit 340 includes a separate transformer 342 having a primary 344 and secondary 346 to charge grounded capacitor 260 by diode 302. Secondary windings of transformers 332, 342 are in series with diodes 300, 302, respectively, to provide a high voltage selectively added to the voltage of output terminals 40, 50 for increasing the open circuit voltage during positive and negative polarities of the welding process. Another modification of the preferred embodiment involves a slight change in the operating logic devices for creating the auxiliary boost switch gate signals in lines 240a, 270a. Modified logic devices are illustrated in FIG. 6 where logic devices 350, 352 create the positive and negative switching gate signals in lines 240a, 270a, as previously described. The logic devices are enabled or operated by a number of signals which must all be true to close switches 240, 270. This feature will be described later. But, as a general proposition, the invention can use a single input signal to close the switches. Then an input to the logic devices merely gates or closes the auxiliary boost switches. This is standard logic technology. In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, switches 240, 270 can not operate unless the operator or machine is initiating a welding process. Initiation of a welding process involves a closing of a trigger switch. Until this switch is closed, the inverter or power source can operate to create a voltage across terminals 40, 50; however, the auxiliary boost circuit are not operable. These general uses are background to the detail logic control as shown in FIG. 6. Turning now to the detail logic scheme in FIG. 6 switch 360 is closed when there is a welding process to direct true logic from line 362 to lines 364, 366. Line 364 forms one input to AND gate 380. The other input is the arc existence logic on line 292, as previously described. If there is an arc, a logic 1 or true logic appears on line 292. By closing trigger switch 360 the welding process is started. Current then is caused to flow to create a logic 1 or true logic on line 292. A true logic appears on output 382 of gate 380. This true logic starts time delay device 384 having a time delay of 1-5 ms. When device 384 times out, a logic 1 or true logic appears in output line 386, which line is connected to SET terminal 392 of flip flop 390. This sets the flip flop to a logic 1 producing a logic 1 or true logic in output line 396. Thus, the output of AND gate 370 is true or a logic 1. This logic in line 372 is directed to enable terminals 350a, 352a of logic devices 350, 352. Thus, gates 350 and 352 are enabled to operate, as described in connection with the output stage or circuits of FIGS. 1-5. The logic control aspect of the invention as shown in FIG. 6 assures that the auxiliary boost switches do not operate until there is a commanded welding operation. Then the control operates switches 240, 270 with switches 80, 82 when there is no arc. By providing inverter gate 400 in line 366, trigger switch 360 is opened to place a logic 0 or not true logic on line 366. Inverter gate 400 then produces a logic 1 or true logic on output line 402 connected to RESET terminal 394 of flip flop 390. This resets the flip flop to a logic 0 or not true logic on line 396. This deactivates gate 370 and disables gates 350, 352. Thus, when trigger switch 360 is closed, there is a slight delay and then the auxiliary switches 240, 270 can be used. This assures that the auxiliary boost circuits are not used, except during a welding process. The invention of adding an open circuit voltage auxiliary boost circuit to an AC output stage has universal application. To illustrate the fact, reference is made to Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,874 wherein the AC output circuits shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are illustrated generically. A DC power source 420 has positive voltage and negative voltage output terminals 422, 424, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The main output circuit includes diodes 422a, 422b and diodes 423a, 423b connected by series capacitors 421, 423 attached to grounded workpiece W. An auxiliary boost high voltage supply 426 is added to the positive side of the main output circuit using the same components of the present invention, as previously discussed. High voltage source 428 is added to the negative side of the output stage or circuit. Thus, the present invention is conveniently added to existing AC output circuits driven by generic DC power sources, such as source 420. In FIG. 9, a power source, such as shown in FIG. 1, is used with a generic output circuit disclosed in Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,874 to perform an AC welding process. This known AC output circuit includes free wheeling diodes 450, 452 with control gate 450a, 452a, respectively. These gates are operated during the positive and negative polarity operation of the output circuit. In the positive half cycle or positive current portion, switch 450a is conductive. This inserts free wheeling diode 450 into the circuit. During a negative half cycle or negative current portion, switch 452a is conductive to insert free wheeling diode 452 into the circuit. Power source 440 has a positive voltage terminal 442, negative voltage terminal 444 and ground terminal 446, as explained in connection with the power source driving welder A in FIG. 1. This known circuit is provided with positive high voltage source 426 and the negative high voltage source 428 to incorporate the novel concept of the present invention into the known output AC circuit of the prior art. FIGS. 7-9 are illustrative in nature and illustrate how and why the present invention can be applied to various types of AC output circuits for increasing, selectively, the open circuit voltage to stabilize the arc, especially during low current operation. Universal application of the present invention is schematically illustrated in FIG. 10. A standard inverter 500 has output voltage terminals 502, 504 directed to a standard polarity switch 510 having an output line 512. When the polarity switch is shifted to the positive DC position, electrode E is electrode positive during the DC welding operation. Switch 510 can be shifted to the negative polarity position where a negative polarity is applied to output line 512 so electrode E remains electrode negative. By using a controller, such as controller 90 shown in FIG. 1, polarity switch 510 can be alternated between positive and negative to create an AC welding operation in line 512. This generic inverter type power source with an output polarity switch for AC and DC operation can be easily retrofilled to use the invention. Positive voltage source 520 and a negative voltage source 522 are selectively added to the voltages on terminals 502, 504, respectively, by closing auxiliary boost switches 240, 270 as previously described. These auxiliary switches are coordinated with polarity signal on line 512 by the logic on lines 246, 276. The invention can be use of only boost switch 240 when polarity switch 510 is set for a DC positive welding mode. In a like manner, boost switch 270 is used when polarity switch 510 is set for a DC negative welding mode. Indeed, the positive auxiliary boost circuit can be added to a standard chopper based welder to boost the OCV available for welding in the normal DC positive chopper mode. In the use of a chopper for DC negative welding the negative auxiliary boost circuit is added to use the present invention. As can be appreciated when considering the showings of FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10, the present invention can be used with any number of output circuits for AC and/or DC welding by a power source having a positive voltage level and a negative voltage level. In the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5 and 9, the invention is particularly applicable to center grounded output circuits. These various illustrations are representative in nature and do not limit the extent of the universal use of the present invention. Yet another slight modification of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 11 wherein output stage, converter or circuit F is essentially the same as the prior output stage embodiments B, B′, C and D. In this embodiment, logic devices 242, 252 are controlled only by trigger switch 360. When this switch is closed, the logic devices are enabled. When it is open, the logic devices are disabled. Thus, the auxiliary boost circuits are selectively energized during the positive and negative portions of the AC welding process, irrespective of the existence or non-existence of an arc. This selective operation is applicable to the DC welding mode. Furthermore, circuit F provides adjusting mechanisms 550, 552 for current controlling resistors 250, 280, respectively. In this manner, either manually or by a program in control 90, the low magnitude of the current available from the auxiliary boost circuit is optimized. This feature is advantageous in certain welding processes. Indeed, the amount of current during the positive and negative polarity operation of circuit F can be different by changing the adjustment of the current limiting resistors. Circuit F operates in accordance with the operating procedure explained for the various components labeled with the same numbers throughout this disclosure. Circuit F in FIG. 11 is further modified in a manner schematically represented in FIG. 12. Output stage or circuit F′ includes logic device 242a and a logic device 272a which devices are energized upon closing of trigger switch 360. Thus, the closing of the trigger switch 360 immediately closes auxiliary boost switches 240, 270. These switches remain closed during the operation of welder A. There is a minor modification of circuit F shown in FIG. 11 wherein the switches are closed only when the appropriate polarity is being processed by the output stage or output circuit. The invention is broadly the addition of a voltage boost, schematically represented as auxiliary source 600 in FIG. 13, to the positive and negative sides of an output control circuit used in electric arc welding. Auxiliary voltage source 600, which in practice is greater than 100 volts and is illustrated in FIG. 12 as being 150 volts, is connected through a series resistor 607 and a switch 604 to the positive output of the standard power source. The same addition is made to the negative output of a standard power source. In accordance with the invention, the current of the voltage source is limited by resistor 602 and is selectively activated by controller 606. Various control schemes for use in the boost source 600 are illustrated in FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C. In FIG. 14A, switch 604 is closed during the positive polarity of the output circuit when there is no arc and the trigger switch is closed as discussed in FIG. 10. In FIG. 14B, switch 604 is closed whenever there is no arc during the welding process. In FIG. 14C, whenever the trigger switch is closed, switch 604 is activated or closed. FIGS. 12, 13, 14A, 14B and 14C illustrate several control mechanisms for gating switches 240, 270. The auxiliary boost circuits of the invention are selective and are not passive for merely increasing the OCV of the main power source. The various modifications can be combined in a variety of architectures to employ the invention in many environments obvious from the general description of the invention. The control and controllers are normally digital and software operated with the controllers being generally microprocessor based. Other analog and digital control and controller technology can be used. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF INVENTION <EOH>Increasing the circuit voltage of a power source used for arc welding greatly improves the welding performance and arc stability of the process. This is especially true for AC welding operations where output circuit is commanded to switch between positive and negative polarity. In this situation, it is important to reestablish the arc immediately upon polarity reversal, both positive and negative to positive, in order to maintain arc stability in the AC welding process whether it is AC TIG or AC MIG. This is also true in AC submerged arc welding. As described in prior patents, the background technology for AC welding often involves an output stage having a center tapped choke. The purpose of this choke is well known and operates well under most applications. The choke arrangement utilizes the stored energy in the core of the choke to maintain current flow in the same direction in both sections of the center tapped choke irrespective of the actual welding polarity. In theory, the center tapped choke develops whatever voltage is required to maintain the current flow in either the positive or negative direction. The limitation of this design is the amount of stored energy available to reignite the welding arc at the moment of polarity reversal. The stored energy is proportional to the square of the current through the sections of the center tapped choke multiplied by ½ the inductance of the choke. In most AC welding applications, this energy is more than adequate to reignite or reestablish the welding arc when there is a change in polarity. However, there are conditions where there is not enough energy to consistently reignite the arc; therefore, the center tapped choke must be quite large to accomplish more energy storage. Larger chokes are more costly and they also impede the welding performance of AC welding. In some instances, when the choke is on the common leg of the output circuit, energy must be dissipated during each polarity cycle of the AC welding process. In this situation, there is not enough energy to reestablish consistently the arc at polarity reversals. Thus, there is a need for an output stage or circuit to assure sufficient open circuit voltage to reignite the arc in opposite directions during polarity reversal and AC welding process without merely increasing the capacity of the power source during the output circuit. The main welding output of a standard power source used for electric arc welding (this phrase includes plasma arc cutting) usually develops an open circuit voltage of less than about 80 volts. The typical arc voltage is usually less than 30 volts. Thus, at reversal of polarity, there is only about 50 volts open circuit voltage to reestablish the arc. In addition to this 50 volts would be the voltage produced by the output choke. This total voltage, however, is sometimes insufficient to reestablish the welding arc. This is especially true at low current welding operations, such as welding at less than 10 amperes as is common in AC TIG welding. Low open circuit voltage for the power source creates high efficiency; however, the power source has difficulty maintaining the welding arc especially at longer arc lengths. For instance, in short arc welding, a low open circuit voltage is generally not enough to reignite consistently the arc at polarity reversals. Consequently, the output voltage for a power source, especially for AC MIG welding, must be high enough to maintain the arc during times of long arc lengths. Furthermore, higher voltage output from the power source inverter reduces the efficiency of the inverter. However, there is a need for a higher open circuit voltage, especially at polarity reversal in AC welding process. A solution would be to increase the open circuit voltage of the main output circuit of the power source. This is expensive and drastically reduces the efficiency of the power source. Consequently, the need for a high open circuit voltage for a standard AC welding presents a dilemma. Furthermore, a high open circuit voltage should not be available at the output terminals of the inverter used as the power source when the inverter is not driving a welding operation. There is a need for a circuit to provide high open circuit voltage for an AC welding process when high open circuit voltage for the power source itself is not sufficient. These needs are solved efficiently by the present invention relating to a novel output stage or output circuit for the power source of an electric arc welder capable of AC welding. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a wiring diagram, combined with a block diagram, disclosing the preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1A is a partial wiring diagram illustrating a simplified description of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 1B is a block diagram of certain elements in the controller of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a transformer showing the secondary windings used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a wiring diagram illustrating still another embodiment of the invention utilizing external batteries; FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of a further embodiment of the invention utilizing separate transformers; FIG. 6 is a logic diagram of one scheme used to enable or activate the auxiliary boost switches in the present invention; FIGS. 7-9 are embodiments of the invention converting output circuits in Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,874 to circuits using the present invention; FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a simplified showing of the invention utilizing a standard inverter with a standard polarity switch to perform AC welding or DC welding; FIG. 11 is a wiring diagram showing a yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a wiring diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention wherein the boost windings are selectively activated and deactivated when there is a welding process being performed; FIG. 13 is a simplified, schematic block diagram illustrating a broad aspect of the present invention; and, FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14 C are logic diagrams showing operation of the broad aspect of the invention as shown schematically in FIG. 13 . detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040621 | 20080610 | 20051222 | 68571.0 | 0 | SHAW, CLIFFORD C | OUTPUT STAGE FOR AN ELECTRIC ARC WELDER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,178 | ACCEPTED | Store security device with advertising cover | A store security device with advertising cover includes a store security system for detecting magnetic tags attached to merchandise. The security device includes a magnetic sensor mounted in a frame attached to a base. A cover having first and second side panels joined together at their side and/or top edges is sized and shaped to fit slidably over the frame. The cover includes an aperture for the sensor or is fabricated from material that does not interfere with its operation. Advertising or promotional material is affixed to at least one of the first and second side panels. The side panels may include one or more pockets for dispensing promotional materials. The side panels may include one or more receptacles having a transparent outer wall. These receptacles are sized and shaped to hold removable printed advertising or promotional sheets. The receptacles have an open top or side and a closed bottom. | 1. A store security device with advertising cover, comprising: a store security device, said device having a sensor, a base, a frame portion extending vertically from said base, and an upper surface; a cover, said cover having a first side panel and a second side panel; said cover being sized and shaped to fit slidably over said frame portion; and advertising material, said advertising material being disposed upon at least one of said first and second side panels. 2. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, wherein said side panels are joined at side edges thereof and thereby forming a sleeve. 3. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, wherein said first and second side panels are joined at top edges thereof, thereby forming a closed top, said top having an upper surface and a lower surface. 4. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 3, wherein said lower surface of said top is disposed upon said upper surface of said store security device. 5. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 4, wherein said first and second side panels are sized such that said cover is suspended above said base. 6. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, further comprising an aperture, said aperture penetrating at least one of said first and second side panels and being sized, shaped, and disposed to align with said sensor. 7. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, further comprising at least one pocket, said pocket being disposed upon at least one of said first and second side panels and being sized and shaped to contain either of promotional items and materials. 8. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, further comprising: at least one receptacle having a transparent outer wall, either of an open top and and open side and having a closed bottom; and removable advertising media; said media being sized and shaped to fit slidably within said receptacle. 9. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 1, wherein said cover is fabricated from material selected from the group consisting of: paper, paperboard, plastic and wood. 10. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 2 wherein said first and second side panels are joined at edges thereof using a method selected from the group consisting of: sewing, gluing, stapling and buttoning. 11. The store security device with advertising cover, as described in claim 3 wherein said first and second side panels are joined at edges thereof using a method selected from the group consisting of: sewing, gluing, stapling and buttoning. | FIELD OF INVENTION The invention pertains to in-store advertising. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of store security devices in combination with fitted covers that include promotional material, advertising and visual displays. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Store security systems are used in conjunction with magnetic tagging devices affixed to merchandise. The tagging devices are removed or deactivated at the checkout counter at the time of purchase. The security system is typically positioned at a store exit and will detect the passage of any tagging device that has not bee deactivated or removed. The security system may emit an alerting sound or provide remote notification to security personnel. The detecting portion of the security system is typically housed in a vertically oriented framework near the store exit and can have an off putting effect on customers. The presence of the devices says, in effect, “this store assumes its customers may attempt to steal merchandise.” Being relatively large (approximately 4 feet high and 2 feet wide), the security devices are easily noticed. For this reason, the instant invention contemplates using this easily noticed store fixture to provide a medium for promotional messages and advertising. In most store locations the security devices are noticeable upon entrance into the store as well as upon exit. Thus any advertisement for goods sold within the store would be visible to the customer just as he enters the store. Various frames and fixtures have been developed to hold advertising displays, however, none have been designed to work in conjunction with store security devices or systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,857, issued to Pettersson et al., discloses an advertising display. The disclosed device is an advertising display that is easily erected and may be used as a freestanding display or as a hanging display. The device is not specifically designed for use with store security devices. The display includes sub-assemblies can slip over one another to be easily replaced with new sub-assemblies containing different advertising. U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,621, issued to Leskell, is directed to a display stand. This stand is described as being used with bases and, alternatively, without the provided bases. The display units or sub-assemblies described mount around and atop the base and then rest either on the base or upon each other. The display units are stacked on support columns. The lower edges of an upper section of the support connectors come to rest on an upper end of a display stand. The display portion extends below the upper section of the support connectors such that the display portion of the header surrounds the upper end of the display stand. A lower section of the support connectors is sized similar to the connector cards and is similarly received between flaps and free edges of the top of the upper support column. U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,237, issued to Johnson, discloses a sleeve sign and stand. The sign stand includes a frame and a base. The frame comprises a top, a first vertical column, and a second vertical column. A first or outer vertical edge section of a vertical column and a second outer vertical edge surface of a second vertical column supports a sleeve when the sleeve is stretched over the frame. The outer surface of the column comprises a plurality of raised portions and recessed portions. Recessed portions serve to receive and support the sleeve in the installed condition. The raised portions serve to retain the sleeve on vertical surface by requiring the sleeve to stretch further in order to move up or down on the vertical surface. The raised portions form a smooth wave. The vertical surface comprises similar raised portions and recessed portions. The plurality of raised portions and recessed portions of sign stand allows different numbers and heights of sleeves to be used with the same sign stand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,971, issued to McLaughlin, is directed to automobile “sun visor slip covers”. The slip cover has a shape that generally matches that of the sun visor, and thus is elongate and includes two longitudinal side edges and two end edges, all bordering the central body having a first surface and a second surface. The sun visor will have a prescribed width and length, and thus, the cover has a length as measured between the two end edges and a prescribed width as measured between the two side edges. The slipcover is monolithic and is formed of a material that is stretchable, such as a rubberized or plastic type material. The cover includes an opening that extends from the side edge to a location that is spaced from a side edge. The opening has an undeformed axial extent that is shorter than the width of the sun visor; however, the stretchable nature of the cover permits the opening to be sufficiently enlarged to permit the sun visor to be inserted into the cover via the opening. The slipcover also includes an area on the outer surface thereof on which suitable indicia, such as advertising logos or the like, can be placed. U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0108279, by Hubbard, II et al., is directed to an advertising cover for insulated beverage box. The box cover has a plurality of clear windows that allow advertising graphics to show through so that when a person is waiting to be served by a server, he or she can view the advertising. The advertising graphics are removable and replaceable so that they can be customized to a particular sporting or entertainment event. The box cover simply slips over the ice chest body and cover. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a means cover store security devices and provide a more customer-friendly environment. It is a further objective to provide a location for the display of advertising and promotional materials at the entrance of a store. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide such advertising locations without interfering with the operation of the security devices. Finally, it is an objective to provide easily interchangeable covers for security devices that can be manufactured and installed inexpensively. While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention addresses all of the deficiencies of prior art display devices and satisfies all of the objectives described above. (1) A store security device with advertising cover can be constructed from the following components. A store security device is provided. The device has a sensor, a base, a frame portion extending vertically from the base, and an upper surface. A cover is provided. The cover has a first side panel and a second side panel. The cover is sized and shaped to fit slidably over the frame portion. Advertising material is provided. The advertising material is located on at least one of the first and second side panels. (2) In a variant of the invention, the side panels are joined at their side edges to form a sleeve. (3) In a further variant, the first and second side panels are joined at their top edges to form a closed top. The top has an upper surface and a lower surface. (4) In still a further variant, the lower surface of the top is located on the upper surface of the store security device. (5) In yet another variant, the first and second side panels are sized such that the cover is suspended above the base. (6) In yet a further variant of the invention, the advertising cover includes an aperture. The aperture penetrates at least one of the first and second side panels and is sized, shaped, and located to align with the sensor. (7) In another variant, the advertising cover includes at least one pocket. The pocket is located on at least one of the first and second side panels and is sized and shaped to contain either promotional items or materials. (8) In still another variant, the advertising cover includes at least one receptacle. The receptacle has a transparent outer wall, either an open top or open side and a closed bottom. Removable advertising media is provided. The media is sized and shaped to fit slidably within the receptacle. (9) In yet another variant, the cover is fabricated from material selected from the group consisting of paper, paperboard, plastic and wood. (10) In a final variant, the first and second side panels are joined at their edges using a method selected from the group consisting of sewing, gluing, stapling and buttoning. An appreciation of the other aims and objectives of the present invention and an understanding of it may be achieved by referring to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of a preferred embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention including a store security device with removable advertising cover; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two of the FIG. 1 embodiment disposed in front of a store exit; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention in which the side panels are joined at their side edges; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention in which the side panels are joined at their top edges; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the FIG. 1 embodiment of the invention in which the side panels are suspended above the security device base; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention in which the side panels are joined at their top edges and side edges with apertures provided for the sensors; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the FIG. 1 embodiment of the invention further including a pocket for promotional materials; FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the FIG. 1 embodiment of the invention further including a receptacle for removable promotional or advertising materials with a side opening; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the FIG. 1 embodiment of the invention further including a receptacle for removable promotional or advertising materials with a top opening; and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention in which the advertising cover includes an aperture at the top of the cover to accommodate a sensor located at the top of the security device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (1) FIGS. 1-10 illustrate a store security device with advertising cover 10 that can be constructed from the following components. A store security device 15 is provided. The device 15 has a sensor 20, a base 25, a frame portion 30 extending vertically from the base 25, and an upper surface 35. A cover 40 is provided. The cover 40 has a first side panel 45 and a second side panel 50. The cover 40 is sized and shaped to fit slidably over the frame portion 30. Advertising material 55 is provided. The advertising material 55 is located on at least one of the first 45 and second 50 side panels. (2) In a variant of the invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the side panels 45, 50 are joined at their side edges 60 to form a sleeve 65. (3) In a further variant, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the first 45 and second 50 side panels are joined at their top edges 70 to form a closed top 75. The top 75 has an upper surface 80 and a lower surface 85. (4) In still a further variant, the lower surface 85 of the top 75 is located on the upper surface 35 of the store security device 15. (5) In yet another variant, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the first 45 and second 50 side panels are sized such that the cover 40 is suspended above the base 25. (6) In yet a further variant of the invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 10, the advertising cover 40 includes an aperture 90. The aperture 90 penetrates at least one of the first 45 and second 50 side panels and is sized, shaped, and located to align with the sensor 20. (7) In another variant, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the advertising cover 40 includes at least one pocket 95. The pocket 95 is located on at least one of the first 45 and second 50 side panels and is sized and shaped to contain either promotional items 100 or materials 105. (8) In still another variant, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the advertising cover 40 includes at least one receptacle 110. The receptacle 110 has a transparent outer wall 115, either an open top 120 or open side 125 and a closed bottom 130. Removable advertising media 135 is provided. The media 135 is sized and shaped to fit slidably within the receptacle 110. (9) In yet another variant, the cover 40 is fabricated from material selected from the group consisting of paper, paperboard, plastic and wood. (10) In a final variant, the first 45 and second 50 side panels are joined at their edges 60, 70 using a method selected from the group consisting of sewing, gluing, stapling and buttoning. The store security device with advertising cover 10 has been described with reference to particular embodiments. Other modifications and enhancements can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims that follow. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Store security systems are used in conjunction with magnetic tagging devices affixed to merchandise. The tagging devices are removed or deactivated at the checkout counter at the time of purchase. The security system is typically positioned at a store exit and will detect the passage of any tagging device that has not bee deactivated or removed. The security system may emit an alerting sound or provide remote notification to security personnel. The detecting portion of the security system is typically housed in a vertically oriented framework near the store exit and can have an off putting effect on customers. The presence of the devices says, in effect, “this store assumes its customers may attempt to steal merchandise.” Being relatively large (approximately 4 feet high and 2 feet wide), the security devices are easily noticed. For this reason, the instant invention contemplates using this easily noticed store fixture to provide a medium for promotional messages and advertising. In most store locations the security devices are noticeable upon entrance into the store as well as upon exit. Thus any advertisement for goods sold within the store would be visible to the customer just as he enters the store. Various frames and fixtures have been developed to hold advertising displays, however, none have been designed to work in conjunction with store security devices or systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,857, issued to Pettersson et al., discloses an advertising display. The disclosed device is an advertising display that is easily erected and may be used as a freestanding display or as a hanging display. The device is not specifically designed for use with store security devices. The display includes sub-assemblies can slip over one another to be easily replaced with new sub-assemblies containing different advertising. U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,621, issued to Leskell, is directed to a display stand. This stand is described as being used with bases and, alternatively, without the provided bases. The display units or sub-assemblies described mount around and atop the base and then rest either on the base or upon each other. The display units are stacked on support columns. The lower edges of an upper section of the support connectors come to rest on an upper end of a display stand. The display portion extends below the upper section of the support connectors such that the display portion of the header surrounds the upper end of the display stand. A lower section of the support connectors is sized similar to the connector cards and is similarly received between flaps and free edges of the top of the upper support column. U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,237, issued to Johnson, discloses a sleeve sign and stand. The sign stand includes a frame and a base. The frame comprises a top, a first vertical column, and a second vertical column. A first or outer vertical edge section of a vertical column and a second outer vertical edge surface of a second vertical column supports a sleeve when the sleeve is stretched over the frame. The outer surface of the column comprises a plurality of raised portions and recessed portions. Recessed portions serve to receive and support the sleeve in the installed condition. The raised portions serve to retain the sleeve on vertical surface by requiring the sleeve to stretch further in order to move up or down on the vertical surface. The raised portions form a smooth wave. The vertical surface comprises similar raised portions and recessed portions. The plurality of raised portions and recessed portions of sign stand allows different numbers and heights of sleeves to be used with the same sign stand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,971, issued to McLaughlin, is directed to automobile “sun visor slip covers”. The slip cover has a shape that generally matches that of the sun visor, and thus is elongate and includes two longitudinal side edges and two end edges, all bordering the central body having a first surface and a second surface. The sun visor will have a prescribed width and length, and thus, the cover has a length as measured between the two end edges and a prescribed width as measured between the two side edges. The slipcover is monolithic and is formed of a material that is stretchable, such as a rubberized or plastic type material. The cover includes an opening that extends from the side edge to a location that is spaced from a side edge. The opening has an undeformed axial extent that is shorter than the width of the sun visor; however, the stretchable nature of the cover permits the opening to be sufficiently enlarged to permit the sun visor to be inserted into the cover via the opening. The slipcover also includes an area on the outer surface thereof on which suitable indicia, such as advertising logos or the like, can be placed. U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0108279, by Hubbard, II et al., is directed to an advertising cover for insulated beverage box. The box cover has a plurality of clear windows that allow advertising graphics to show through so that when a person is waiting to be served by a server, he or she can view the advertising. The advertising graphics are removable and replaceable so that they can be customized to a particular sporting or entertainment event. The box cover simply slips over the ice chest body and cover. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a means cover store security devices and provide a more customer-friendly environment. It is a further objective to provide a location for the display of advertising and promotional materials at the entrance of a store. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide such advertising locations without interfering with the operation of the security devices. Finally, it is an objective to provide easily interchangeable covers for security devices that can be manufactured and installed inexpensively. While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention addresses all of the deficiencies of prior art display devices and satisfies all of the objectives described above. (1) A store security device with advertising cover can be constructed from the following components. A store security device is provided. The device has a sensor, a base, a frame portion extending vertically from the base, and an upper surface. A cover is provided. The cover has a first side panel and a second side panel. The cover is sized and shaped to fit slidably over the frame portion. Advertising material is provided. The advertising material is located on at least one of the first and second side panels. (2) In a variant of the invention, the side panels are joined at their side edges to form a sleeve. (3) In a further variant, the first and second side panels are joined at their top edges to form a closed top. The top has an upper surface and a lower surface. (4) In still a further variant, the lower surface of the top is located on the upper surface of the store security device. (5) In yet another variant, the first and second side panels are sized such that the cover is suspended above the base. (6) In yet a further variant of the invention, the advertising cover includes an aperture. The aperture penetrates at least one of the first and second side panels and is sized, shaped, and located to align with the sensor. (7) In another variant, the advertising cover includes at least one pocket. The pocket is located on at least one of the first and second side panels and is sized and shaped to contain either promotional items or materials. (8) In still another variant, the advertising cover includes at least one receptacle. The receptacle has a transparent outer wall, either an open top or open side and a closed bottom. Removable advertising media is provided. The media is sized and shaped to fit slidably within the receptacle. (9) In yet another variant, the cover is fabricated from material selected from the group consisting of paper, paperboard, plastic and wood. (10) In a final variant, the first and second side panels are joined at their edges using a method selected from the group consisting of sewing, gluing, stapling and buttoning. An appreciation of the other aims and objectives of the present invention and an understanding of it may be achieved by referring to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of a preferred embodiment. | 20040618 | 20071127 | 20051222 | 59588.0 | 2 | SILBERMANN, JOANNE | STORE SECURITY DEVICE WITH ADVERTISING COVER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,260 | ACCEPTED | Portable sound system, apparatus, and method | A portable sound unit is shown having a central case and one or more speakers. Each speaker has tongue rails around a portion of its circumference. The central case includes an openable lid permitting access to sound equipment contained within the central case. The central case has openings at either end when the lid is closed and grooves inside a portion of the central case near each opening. The grooves receive the tongue rails on the speaker when the lid is open. Upon positioning a speaker in the grooves in the central body, the lid may be closed, thereby securing the speakers to the central case. When the speakers are separated from the central case and electronically coupled to the sound equipment, the opened lid may serve as a lectern. | 1. A portable sound unit, comprising: one or more speakers, each having tongue rails around a portion of the circumference of the speaker; a central case with a openable lid, the central case having openings at either end when the lid is in a closed position and the lid configured to maintain the acute angle when in an open position; electronic audio manipulation equipment contained in the central case having one or more inputs and outputs; one or more grooves inside a portion of the central case near each of the openings for receipt of the tongue rails of the one or more speakers when the lid is in an open position such that the one or more speakers may be secured to the central case when the lid is closed; and an edge fashioned along at least a portion of the width of the outer surface of the lid, the edge configured to hold items against the outer surface of the lid when the lid maintains an open position. 2. The portable sound unit of claim 1, wherein tongue rails of the one or more speakers are configured completely around the outer circumference of the one or more speakers, and wherein the grooves near each of the openings extend completely around the interior of the case so that the tongue rails on each side of the outer circumference of the one or more speakers is positioned in a groove when the lid is in a closed position thereby preventing each of the one or more speakers from separating from the central case when the lid is in the closed position. 3. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: means for connecting electronic signals between the electronic audio manipulation equipment and each speaker when the speaker is distally positioned from the central case. 4. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: a lip configured on the outer portion of the central case at each of the openings to prevent the one or more speakers from separating from the central case when the lid is in a closed position and the tongue rails of the one or more speakers are positioned in the grooves at one of the openings, wherein the grooves inside the central case near each of the openings do not extend completely around each of the openings. 5. The portable sound unit of claim 1, wherein the one or more speakers lack securing agents that vibrate when the one or more speakers produce sound. 6. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: a supporting member coupled to the inner surface of the lid to hold the lid at an acute angle relative to the central case. 7. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: a supporting member coupled to an interior portion of the central case and adjustable to support the lid at an acute angle relative to the central case. 8. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: one or more hinges coupled to the central case and the lid, the hinges configured to hold the lid at an acute angle relative to the central case when the lid is in an open position. 9. The portable sound unit of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the lid comprises a lectern when in the open position. 10. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: a handle coupled to the central case. 11. The portable sound unit of claim 1, further comprising: one or more storage compartments within the central case. 12. The portable sound unit of claim 1, wherein the electronic audio manipulation equipment is coupled to one or more signal input devices. 13. The portable sound unit of claim 12, wherein the signal generating device is a compact disc player. 14. A portable powered audio mixer, comprising: a central carrying case having a lid; a mixer contained in the carrying case, the mixer configured to mix and amplify electronic signals; one or more speakers electrically coupled with the mixer having means for securing the one or more speakers within an opening of the carrying case when the lid is in a closed position, wherein the one or more speakers lack exterior components that vibrate during operation; and means for holding items on the outer surface of the lid when the lid is positioned in an open position. 15. The portable sound unit of claim 14, wherein the outer surface of the lid operates a lectern when the lid is positioned in the open position. 16. A portable sound unit, comprising: one or more speakers, each having grooves around a portion of the circumference of the speaker; a central case with an openable lid permitting access to sound manipulation equipment contained within the central case, the central case having openings at either end when the lid is in a closed position and tongue rails inside a portion of the central case near each of the openings for receipt of the grooves of the one or more speakers when the lid is in an open position such that the one or more speakers may be secured to the central case when the lid is closed; the lid having a stop for holding items against the lid when the lid is opened forming a lectern. 17. The portable sound unit of claim 16, wherein the outer surface of the lid operates a lectern when the lid is positioned in the open position. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to audio systems, more specifically to a system and method for configuring a portable sound system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Before the advent of electronic sound amplification, public speaking and performing was typically accomplished by vocal projection in an effort to communicate to, by today's standards, small crowds and audiences. In rural areas, speakers have historically been, and to some extent still are, limited in clearly communicating their messages to large numbers of people at one time. Indeed, politicians have been known to stand on tree stumps and plead for constituent's votes. However, “stumping,” as it is called, has always limited the communicator to reaching just the people within the sound of the communicator's unamplified voice. Yet, with the invention of sound amplification devices, speakers at churches, civic organizations and even outdoor arenas are able to communicate their message to a greater number of people through electronic microphones, amplifiers and speakers placed within the facility or arena. Indeed, many such facilities are electronically prewired with sound amplification equipment so that speakers and other performing artists can speak to or perform before a greater number of people. However, a problem exists where people attempt to communicate to groups, crowds, etc. at facilities that are not necessarily prewired for sound amplification. Even today, many speakers and other performing artists are limited by either the number of people who can hear their unamplified voice or by venues having sound systems, as many venues are not electronically wired for sound amplification. Speakers, such as preachers and politicians, and other performing artists commonly travel to areas that are not equipped with sound amplification equipment. As a result, the message or performed art cannot generally be viewed or heard by a large number of people. For that reason, speakers and other performing artists sometimes bring their own sound amplification equipment in an attempt to communicate with larger audiences. Because of the size of such equipment and the number of requisite components, this oftentimes results in the speaker or other performing artist having to arrange for special transportation (i.e., a separate truck or trailer) for the sound amplification equipment. Indeed, in this instance, assistance in unloading and assembling the equipment prior to the event is common due to the size and number of components. Likewise, disassembly of the equipment and reloading of the truck or trailer after the event typically involves assistance. Plus, in each case, planning and supervision are typically required. In many instances, this is impractical for individuals who merely desire to deliver a speech to a school, a church, a civic organization, or to some other small venue where it is impractical to also bring a large amount of sound amplification equipment. For example, many politicians attempt to get their message out to as many people as possible in as short a period of time as possible; therefore, continually erecting and taking down sound amplification equipment is not practical for a politician who may have a number of speaking engagements in one day. Thus, in this nonlimiting example, the politician typically either utilizes venues previously equipped with appropriate sound amplification equipment, which may be too expensive to obtain or otherwise be unavailable, or they use their unamplified voice and hope to reach as many people as possible. At least one attempt to solve these problems is found in devices where an amplifier mixer, speakers, and microphones are prepackaged together as a single unit. In such devices, the speakers are latched to the amplifier so that the unit is relatively small and capable of being transported by one or a small number of people. Upon arrival at the desired location, which may not have adequate sound amplification equipment, the speakers can be unlatched and electrically connected to the amplifier mixer, which itself may be connected to, for example, a microphone. However, the problem with these types of units is that, because the speakers are commonly one of the larger components of the unit, insuring secure transport of the device is difficult. Securing the speakers to these types of units for transport in a way that allows safe handling of the unit and protection of the equipment must be considered. For if the speakers become unattached from the unit during transport, damage to the equipment and/or injury to the handler could result. Consequently, some such systems include latches or other coupling components to secure the speakers to the unit during non-use and/or transportation between events. When the components are unpacked and prepared for use, the latches or other metal coupling components on the speakers vibrate during performances, thereby introducing undesirable sound effects into the speech or other performed art. For these reasons then, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. In fact, no particular emphasis is placed on any ornamental aspect shown in the drawings. Indeed, one or ordinary skill in the art would know that other ornamentally different embodiments may be configured that still illustrate the principles of the invention described herein. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. FIG. 1 is a perspective view diagram of the portable sound unit of the present invention, as shown in a closed position with two speakers attached. FIG. 2 is a perspective view diagram of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1 with the lid shown in an open position exposing the speakers and mixer panel. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a speaker of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1 with the speakers unattached and electronically coupled to the mixer of FIG. 2 and also with the lid in an open position. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1, with the lid shown in an open position and one of the speakers separated from the main unit, exposing the mixer, of FIG. 2 and exemplary signal generation devices. FIG. 6 is a diagram of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1 with a speaker shown detached from the main body and electrically coupled to the mixer of FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a front and side diagram of an alternative embodiment of the speaker of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram of an alternative embodiment of the portable sound unit of FIG. 1, which also depicts the lid as a lectern. FIG. 9 is a diagram of yet another alternate embodiment of the portable sound unit of FIGS. 1 and 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A portable sound unit with a central case and one or more speakers is described and shown herein. In one nonlimiting example, each speaker has “tongue” rails around all of, or a portion of, its circumference. The central case includes an openable lid permitting access to sound equipment contained within the central case. The central case has openings at either end when the lid is closed and grooves inside a portion of the central case near each opening. The grooves receive the “tongue” rails on the speaker when the lid is open. Upon positioning a speaker in the grooves of the central body, the lid containing grooves similar to the central case may be closed, thereby securing the speakers around the entire periphery of the speaker to the central case. When the speakers are separated from the central case and electronically coupled to the sound equipment, the opened lid may serve as a lectern. The drawings referenced herein are showings for the purposes of illustrating embodiments of the invention and not for purposes of limiting same. In fact, this description of each preferred and alternative embodiment comprises but select embodiments among others, which one of ordinary skill in the art would know upon review of this disclosure. FIG. 1 is a diagram of the portable sound unit 10. In this embodiment, the portable sound unit 10 includes central body 12 and speakers 14, 16. Central body 12 is shown herein with lid 17 in a closed position. Attached on either side of the central body 12 are speakers 14 and 16, which are shown as being captured by the central body 12 and the lid 17. As discussed in more detail below, lid 17 of central body 12 may be removable by several methods, as one skilled in the art would know. As nonlimiting examples, hinges, clips, latches, etc. may be used to secure lid 17 to central body 12. In this nonlimiting example, lid 17 is securable to central body 12 by latch 20 and hinges 60 (FIG. 4). Attached to lid 17 is edge 19, which as described in more detail below, enables lid 17 to operate as a lectern for holding papers and other items in place when lid 17 is held in an open position by a support bar 24 or some other auto-open method. One of ordinary skill in the art should know that edge 19 may be configured in different arrangements in addition to as shown herein. For example, edge 19 may indeed be molded into the lid 17 so as to not extend beyond the surface plane of lid 17. Stated another way, the surface of lid 17 may actually indent into the lid 17 so as to create edge 19 for holding papers or other items in place on lid 17. Also shown in FIG. 1 is handle 18 attached to central body 12. One of ordinary skill in the art would know that any type of handle or handling mechanism could be implementing in addition to handle 18, which is merely a nonlimiting example. As portable sound unit 10 is shown in a closed position, speakers 14 and 16 are held in place by the closing of the grooved lid 17 such that a portion of speakers 14 and 16, as more thoroughly described below, is trapped or captured within the interior of central body 12 and the lid 17. Thus, when speakers 14 and 16 are attached to central body 12, the portable sound unit 10 may be transported by an individual by being carried by handle 18. As an additional nonlimiting example, portable sound unit 10 may be rolled by wheels attached to the underside of central body 12 (not shown) in similar fashion to rollable luggable. In this nonlimiting example, handle 18 may be configured such that it telescopes to an extended position to enable a user to roll the portable sound unit 10 to its desired location. FIG. 2 is a diagram of portable sound unit 10 shown with lid 17 in an open position. Shown attached to the inside surface of lid 17 is support 24. In this nonlimiting example, support 24 hinges from the inside surface of lid 17 for supporting lid 17 in an angled position relative to the plane of central body 12. In this way and as more thoroughly described below, the outer surface of lid 17 operates as lectern while portable sound unit 10 is in use. One of ordinary skill in the art would know that support 24 may be likewise coupled to central body 12 or may be an entirely separate member that may be used to hold lid 17 open and at a predetermined angle relative to central body 12. In addition, two or more supports 24 may be implemented on lid 17, central body 12, or otherwise as described herein to provide additional support to hold lid 17 at a predetermined angle, which will generally be acute, as shown in FIG. 4. Instead of support 24 holding lid 17 in an angled position, hinges 60 (FIG. 4) may be tensionally configured to support lid 17 at a predetermined angle wherein lid 17 may be used as a lectern. Thus, support 24 and hinges 60 are two of many methods, as known in the art, for enabling lid 17 to operate as a lectern. Speakers 14 and 16 are shown in FIG. 2 as resting in a groove that secures speakers 14 and 16 in place. As shown on lid 17, groove portions 27 and 29 are configured on each lateral side of lid 17. Groove portion 27 is comprised of wall sections 31 and 33 separated by a predetermined space to therefore create groove 34. Likewise, groove portion 29 is formed by wall section 36 and 38, thereby creating groove 39. As shown in this nonlimiting example, the groove portions 27 and 29 on lid 17 are also continued on the base and sides of central body 12. Speakers 14 and 16 each have a tongue rail 41 (on speaker 16) and 43 (on speaker 14), which comprise the male portions that fit into grooves 34 and 39. Furthermore, tongue rails 41 and 43 are shown resting in grooves 27 and 29 respectively, created on central body 12. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of speaker 14 of FIG. 2. In this nonlimiting example, speaker 14 is comprised of a rear section 45 that couples to a front section 47. Also shown in front section 14 is wide range driver 51, tweeter 52, and wide range driver 53. In this nonlimiting example, tongue rail 43 is shown positioned between rear section 45 and front section 47 extending completely around the outer circumference of speaker 14. Although, not separately shown is FIG. 3, speaker 16 is configured similarly to speaker 14, as shown and described herein. Tongue rail 43 is shown rising by a predetermined amount beyond the outer surface of speaker 14 to thereby create a tongue rail, which operates as a male portion for integration with groove 39 or 34 of FIG. 2, which operates as the female portion of the “tongue-and-groove” fastening method. Upon separation from the central body 12, speaker 14 in FIG. 3 or speaker 16 in FIG. 2 may be electrically coupled to power mixer 22 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram of the portable sound unit 10 shown in a separated format wherein speakers 14 and 16 are detached from central body 12. In this nonlimiting example, support 24 is shown in an extended position extending between the inside surface of lid 17 and a supporting point in central body 12. In this nonlimiting example, lid 17 is coupled to central body 12 by hinge 60, which permits lid 17 to swing open and close. As discussed above, one of ordinary skill in the art would know that support 24 may be positioned at different points to create different angles of rise of lid 17 relative to central body 12. As a nonlimiting example, support 24 may also be positioned on ledge 55, which forms a portion of central body 12. This placement and positioning results in lid 17 being at a greater angle relative to the plane of central body 12. In the nonlimiting example wherein the surface of lid 17 is used as a lectern, the angle between lid 17 and central body 12 is acute. Shown attached to powered mixer 22 in central body 12 are a number of input/output jacks 61. Input/output jacks 61 may comprise various inputs or outputs to mixer 22 which may be inputs from signal sources and/or outputs for signal connection to speakers 14, 16. In this nonlimiting example, cable 58 is shown coupled between output 61 and rear input 59 of speaker 16. Likewise, cable 56 is shown coupled between a second output 61 and rear input 57 of speaker 14. One of ordinary skill in the art would know that rear speaker inputs 57, 59 may be positioned at any point on speaker 14, 16. As speaker 16 is separated from central body 12, groove 34 of central body 12 is displayed extending around the interior surface of central body 12. One of ordinary skill would know that speakers 14, 16 may be positioned distally (wired or wirelessly) from central body 12. Indeed, if the portable sound unit 10 is used for, as a nonlimiting example, for a speech, etc., the speakers 14, 16 may be positioned in the arena, or other facility, to output the amplified voice of the speaker. Additionally, lid 17, as supported by support 24 or tensioned hinges 60, may operate as a lectern for the speaker to position items such as papers, notecards, etc., as held or stopped by edge 19. FIG. 5 is another diagram of portable sound unit 10 with lid 17 shown in an open position with speaker 14 separated from central body 12 and with speaker 16 shown positioned in groove 34 of central body 12. More specifically, the tongue rail 41 of speaker 16 is shown positioned in groove 34 of central body 12. Likewise, speaker 14 is detached from central body 12 such that tongue rail 43 is separated from groove 39, which, in this nonlimiting example, extends around the interior surface of central body 12 and lid 17. In this nonlimiting example, mixer 22 includes a cassette player 68 and a compact disc player 69 as signal generation sources for producing sound output through speakers 14 and 16. One of ordinary skill in the art would know, however, that other integral or external sound generation sources could be implemented in addition to tape cassette 68 and compact disc player 69 for producing audio output through mixer 22 and speakers 14 and 16. In addition and as nonlimiting examples, additional signal generation sources, such as an MP3 player or other computer may be electronically coupled to mixer 22 via one or more inputs 61, as shown in FIG. 4. It should be noted that mixer 22 may be configured as any type of electronic audio manipulation equipment, as known in the art. As a nonlimiting example, mixer 22 may include an amplifier for driving speakers 14, 16. It should be understood from FIG. 5 that when tongue rail 43 of speaker 14 and tongue rail 41 of 16 are positioned within grooves 39 or 34, respectively, and when lid 17 is in closed position on central body 12, speaker 14 and 16 are secured to central body 12. In this situation, neither speaker 14, 16 can become separated from central body 12 during transport or storage. It should be noted that speaker 14 and 16 lack any type of vibrating devices, such as latches, buckles, or other securing mechanisms to secure speaker 14 and 16 to central body 12. It is known that devices such as latches or other buckles on speakers commonly create undesired vibration noise during operation, which deteriorates overall sound quality produced by speakers 14 and 16. Thus, by the incorporation of tongue rails 41 and 43 for coupling with grooves 34 and 39, speakers 14, 16 and cannot be removed from central body 12 when lid 17 is in a closed position (FIG. 1) and do not introduce undesired sounds (rattles) during operation. FIG. 6 is a diagram of the portable sound unit 10 of FIG. 1 with lid 17 shown in an open position and speaker 16 shown detached from central body 12 and electrically coupled to mixer 22. In this diagram, speaker 14 is shown with tongue rail 43 positioned in groove 39 of central body 12. Groove 39 of lid 17 is shown removed from the top portion of tongue rail 43. When speaker 14 is coupled to central body 12 via tongue rail 43 and groove 39, speaker 14 essentially becomes an integral part of central body 12. Likewise, in this nonlimiting example, speaker 16 is shown separated from central body 12 and coupled via cable 58 to output 61 of mixer 22. Compartments 77 and 78 in central body 12 are shown as storage areas for items such as cables 58 and 56 (FIG. 4), microphones (not shown), speaker stands for placing speakers 14 and/or 16 above the ground (not shown), or any other similar item, which one of ordinary skill in the art would know may be found in and/or transported with portable sound equipment 10. FIG. 7 is a diagram of speaker 80, which is an alternative embodiment of speakers 14 and 16 described above. In this alternative embodiment, speaker 80 lacks a tongue rail extending completely around the outer perimeter of the speaker 80, as described above in regard to tongue rail 43 on speaker 14 and tongue rail 41 on speaker 16. In this alternative embodiment, speaker 80 includes tongue rail 82, which, as a nonlimiting example, is placed near a top portion of speaker 80 extending along the top side of speaker 80. Likewise, speaker 80 also includes tongue rail 84 along a bottom portion of speaker 80. As shown in FIG. 7, neither tongue rail 82 nor tongue rail 84 substantially extend along the vertical sides of speaker 8. Instead, tongue rails 82 and 84 are positioned on the top and bottom portions in this nonlimiting example. FIG. 8 displays portable sound unit 90 with the speaker 80 of FIG. 7. Central body 12 is configured with groove rails appropriately positioned for securing speaker 80 to central body 12. As stated above, speaker 80 includes tongue rails 82 and 84 at the top and bottom sections of speaker 80. Likewise, central body 12 is configured with groove 95 along with the vertical walls of central body 12. More specifically, groove 95 is surrounded by wall sections 92 and 94 to create groove 95. Likewise, wall section 97 is also placed near an additional inner wall section (not shown), but similar to wall section 92. In this fashion, speaker 80 may be positioned within groove 95 and the corresponding groove proximate to wall 97 for securing speaker 80 to central body 12. It should be noted that similar wall sections and grooves are located at the other opening in central body 12. One of ordinary skill in the art would also know that the tongue rail and groove system as described in this alternative embodiment may be configured in a multitude of fashions such that the tongue rails 82 and 84 are placed on different portions of speaker 80, such as in one nonlimiting example on the vertical side portions of speaker 80 for mating with central body 12. Another such alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 9. Here, inside wall sections 102, 104 on lid 17 couple to inside wall sections 106, 108 on central body 12 to secure tongue rails 82 and 84 to central body 12. In this nonlimiting example, tongue rails 82, 84 do not extend completely around speaker 80, and grooves 102, 104, 106, 108 do not extend completely around the interior of central body 12. Yet, when lid 17 is in a closed position and latch 20 is locked, speaker 80 is secured to central body 12 and cannot become unattached. In yet another embodiment, the tongue rails and the corresponding grooves may be configured in reverse fashion as described above. More specifically, the grooves of the previously described tongue-and-groove configuration may also be configured on the speakers 14, 16. Likewise, the tongue rails may also be configured on central body 12 (in the position of the grooves in, for example, FIG. 6). This alternative embodiment shows that the male and female portions of the tongue and groove assembly may be on either the central body or the speakers, respectively, to the extent that the speakers 14, 16 may slidably couple to the central body by the tongue-and-groove assembly. It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of this disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles this disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Before the advent of electronic sound amplification, public speaking and performing was typically accomplished by vocal projection in an effort to communicate to, by today's standards, small crowds and audiences. In rural areas, speakers have historically been, and to some extent still are, limited in clearly communicating their messages to large numbers of people at one time. Indeed, politicians have been known to stand on tree stumps and plead for constituent's votes. However, “stumping,” as it is called, has always limited the communicator to reaching just the people within the sound of the communicator's unamplified voice. Yet, with the invention of sound amplification devices, speakers at churches, civic organizations and even outdoor arenas are able to communicate their message to a greater number of people through electronic microphones, amplifiers and speakers placed within the facility or arena. Indeed, many such facilities are electronically prewired with sound amplification equipment so that speakers and other performing artists can speak to or perform before a greater number of people. However, a problem exists where people attempt to communicate to groups, crowds, etc. at facilities that are not necessarily prewired for sound amplification. Even today, many speakers and other performing artists are limited by either the number of people who can hear their unamplified voice or by venues having sound systems, as many venues are not electronically wired for sound amplification. Speakers, such as preachers and politicians, and other performing artists commonly travel to areas that are not equipped with sound amplification equipment. As a result, the message or performed art cannot generally be viewed or heard by a large number of people. For that reason, speakers and other performing artists sometimes bring their own sound amplification equipment in an attempt to communicate with larger audiences. Because of the size of such equipment and the number of requisite components, this oftentimes results in the speaker or other performing artist having to arrange for special transportation (i.e., a separate truck or trailer) for the sound amplification equipment. Indeed, in this instance, assistance in unloading and assembling the equipment prior to the event is common due to the size and number of components. Likewise, disassembly of the equipment and reloading of the truck or trailer after the event typically involves assistance. Plus, in each case, planning and supervision are typically required. In many instances, this is impractical for individuals who merely desire to deliver a speech to a school, a church, a civic organization, or to some other small venue where it is impractical to also bring a large amount of sound amplification equipment. For example, many politicians attempt to get their message out to as many people as possible in as short a period of time as possible; therefore, continually erecting and taking down sound amplification equipment is not practical for a politician who may have a number of speaking engagements in one day. Thus, in this nonlimiting example, the politician typically either utilizes venues previously equipped with appropriate sound amplification equipment, which may be too expensive to obtain or otherwise be unavailable, or they use their unamplified voice and hope to reach as many people as possible. At least one attempt to solve these problems is found in devices where an amplifier mixer, speakers, and microphones are prepackaged together as a single unit. In such devices, the speakers are latched to the amplifier so that the unit is relatively small and capable of being transported by one or a small number of people. Upon arrival at the desired location, which may not have adequate sound amplification equipment, the speakers can be unlatched and electrically connected to the amplifier mixer, which itself may be connected to, for example, a microphone. However, the problem with these types of units is that, because the speakers are commonly one of the larger components of the unit, insuring secure transport of the device is difficult. Securing the speakers to these types of units for transport in a way that allows safe handling of the unit and protection of the equipment must be considered. For if the speakers become unattached from the unit during transport, damage to the equipment and/or injury to the handler could result. Consequently, some such systems include latches or other coupling components to secure the speakers to the unit during non-use and/or transportation between events. When the components are unpacked and prepared for use, the latches or other metal coupling components on the speakers vibrate during performances, thereby introducing undesirable sound effects into the speech or other performed art. For these reasons then, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies. | 20040618 | 20081223 | 20051222 | 65344.0 | 1 | BLAIR, KILE O | PORTABLE SOUND SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND METHOD | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,289 | ACCEPTED | Natural language for programming a specialized computing system | A method for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language is provided. The method comprises parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. | 1. A method for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language, the method comprising: parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein application software executed on the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a first level of complexity. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein application software executed on a network server connected to the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a second level of complexity. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein application software executed on a distributed environment, comprising the mobile communication device and a network server connected to the mobile communication device, performs the parsing and determining steps. 5. The method of claim 3 further comprising: transmitting the high-level code to the network server to produce the executable code after the network server performs the parsing and determining steps. 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: transmitting the executable code to the mobile communication device to be executed by the microcontroller of the mobile communication device. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one sentence comprises one or more keywords. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first context comprises a natural language context. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the high-level code is contained in a script. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the script is written by a user of the mobile communication device. 11. A system for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language, the system comprising: means for parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; means for determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; means for determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and means for producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein application software executed on the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a first level of complexity. 13. The system of claim 11, wherein application software executed on a network server connected to the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a second level of complexity. 14. The system of claim 11, wherein application software executed on a distributed environment, comprising the mobile communication device and a network server connected to the mobile communication device, performs the parsing and determining steps. 15. The system of claim 13 further comprising: means for transmitting the high-level code to the network server to produce the executable code after the network server performs the parsing and determining steps. 16. The system of claim 15 further comprising: means for transmitting the executable code to the mobile communication device to be executed by the microcontroller of the mobile communication device. 17. The system of claim 11, wherein said at least one sentence comprises one or more keywords. 18. The system of claim 11, wherein the first context is a natural language context. 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the high-level code is contained in a script. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the script is written by a user of the mobile communication device. | BACKGROUND Field of Invention The present invention relates generally to specialized computing systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for programming a mobile communication device using a high-level natural language. Copyright & Trademark Notices A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. Certain marks referenced herein may be common law or registered trademarks of third parties affiliated or unaffiliated with the applicant or the assignee. Use of these marks is for providing an enabling disclosure by way of example and shall not be construed to limit the scope of this invention to material associated with such marks. Related Art Computing systems continue to dramatically enhance our quality of life. Many specialized computing systems, such as mobile communication devices (e.g., cellular phones) and data organizers (e.g., personal digital assistants (PDAs)) are particularly popular these days. The technically savvy consumers can operate these specialized devices to perform many operational features for which the devices are configured. For example, some cellular phones have special features that allow a consumer to program the phone to produce a special tone, if a call is received from a designated phone number (i.e., audio caller identification). Other programming features may include voice-activated dialing, voice mail management, or other functions that may be configured in accordance with occurrence of particular conditions and events. Unfortunately for the less technically inclined consumer, most of said operational features are hardly usable, because the consumer either does not possess the skill or cannot learn the requisite steps to properly program the device to perform various functions. Generally, most consumers find it tedious to program the device to perform the special features, and therefore forgo using said features altogether. Thus, a more natural method for programming specialized computing systems is desirable to promote use and enhance the user's level of enjoyment. SUMMARY The present disclosure is directed to a system and corresponding methods that facilitate programming a mobile communication device or other specialized computing device using a natural language. For purposes of summarizing, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. In one embodiment, a method for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language comprises parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. In one embodiment, application software is executed on the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a first level of complexity. In another embodiment, application software executed on a network server connected to the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a second level of complexity. In yet another embodiment, application software executed on a distributed environment, comprising the mobile communication device and a network server connected to the mobile communication device, performs the parsing and determining steps. The high-level code is transmitted to the network server to produce the executable code after the network server performs the parsing and determining steps. The executable code is transmitted to the mobile communication device to be executed by the microcontroller of the mobile communication device. In one embodiment, at least one sentence comprises one or more keywords and the first context is a natural language context. The high-level code may be contained in a script. The script is written by a user of the mobile communication device. In accordance with another embodiment, a system for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language is provided. The system comprises means for parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; means for determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; means for determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and means for producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. These and other embodiments of the present invention will also become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular embodiments disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention are understood by referring to the figures in the attached drawings, as provided below. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communications environment, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for providing a natural programming language for a specialized computing device, in accordance with one or more embodiments; and FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams of hardware and software environments in which a system of the present invention may operate, in accordance with one or more embodiments. Features, elements, and aspects of the invention that are referenced by the same numerals in different figures represent the same, equivalent, or similar features, elements, or aspects, in accordance with one or more embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION An electronic system and corresponding methods, according to an embodiment of the present invention, facilitate and provide a method and system for programming a specialized computing device. The terms electronic services, services, and online services are used interchangeably herein. The services provided by the system of this invention, in one or more embodiments, are provided by a service provider. A service provider is an entity that operates and maintains the computing systems and environment, such as server systems and infrastructures that enable the delivery of information. Typically, server architecture includes components (e.g., hardware, software, and communication lines) that store and offer electronic or online services. In the following, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough description of various embodiments of the invention. Certain embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details or with some variations in detail. In some instances, features not pertinent to the novelty of the system are described in less detail so as not to obscure other aspects of the invention. Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communications environment in which the system of the present invention may operate. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system environment comprises a network server 100, a communication network 110, and a mobile device 120. The network server 100 and mobile device 120 are connected by way of the communication network 110. The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variant thereof, mean any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements. The coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, communication network 110 provides the medium and infrastructure for transmitting digital or analog signals between network server 100 and mobile device 120. In certain embodiments, mobile device 120 is a cellular telephone and communication network 110 is a wireless telephone network, for example. Mobile device 120, network server 100 and communication network 110, however, may be implemented over any type of mobile, fixed, wired or wireless communication technology (e.g., landline telephony, cellular, radio, radar, infrared, etc.). One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that communication network 110 may advantageously be comprised of one or a combination of various types of networks without detracting from the scope of the invention. Such networks can, for example, comprise personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), public, private or secure networks, value-added networks, interactive television networks, wireless communications networks, two-way cable networks, satellite networks, interactive kiosk networks, cellular networks, personal mobile gateways (PMGs) and/or any other suitable communications networks that can provide a means of communication between mobile device 120 and network server 100. In some embodiments, communication network 110 can be a part of the world wide web (i.e., the Internet). The Internet, in a well-known manner, connects millions of computers world wide through standard common addressing systems and communications protocols (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), HyperText Transport Protocol) creating a vast communications network. In either context, mobile device 120 can communicate with network server 100 to send and receive electronic packets of information, in form of electronic requests and responses. In a particular embodiment, a high-level code 150 written by a user and stored in mobile device 120's memory, for example, may be transmitted over communication network 110 from mobile device 120 to network server 100 for processing. High-level code 150, in a preferred embodiment, comprises text formatted in the context of a natural language (e.g., English, French, Spanish, Japanese, etc.). High-level code 150 may comprise one or more sentences, wherein each sentence comprises at least one operative language (i.e. keyword) defining an instruction for a function or an operation to be performed. In one embodiment, the sentences also comprise keywords defining conditions or relationships based on which an operation is performed. To illustrate, an exemplary script written by a user in a natural language may include a sentence such as “Transfer call to voice mail if call is from Bob”. The operative language (i.e., keyword or instruction) in the sentence is “transfer”. The condition is “if call is from Bob”. Keywords such as “if” or the like are used to indicate a condition or relationship. Application software 1122 can process sentences written in natural language to recognize the included keywords. In one or more embodiments, the operations that can be performed by mobile device 120 are limited because mobile device 120 is a specialized computing system developed and manufactured to perform particular functions or operations (e.g., related to making and receiving telephone calls). Therefore, the corresponding conditions and relationships associated with the particular functions fall within a finite set for each operation. For example, the conditions associated with an operation to receive a call may include answering the call, transferring the call to voice mail, or disconnecting the call. Accordingly, application software 1122 can act as a natural language compiler to processes high-level code 150 to control the operation of mobile device 120 based a defined set of conditions. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, depending on the level of sophistication and complexity, high-level code 150 may be processed by application software 1122 to produce executable code 160. Thus, if high-level code 150 comprises a complex set of instructions, then high-level code 150 is transmitted to network server 100, so that a more powerful system is utilized to process and compile high-level code 150. Therefore, in one embodiment, application software 1122 or a portion thereof is installed and executed on network server 100 to process high-level code 150 and to produce executable code 160. Executable code 160 is then transmitted over communication network 110 to mobile device 120. Alternatively, if high-level code 150 comprises a less complex structure, then application software 1122 or a portion thereof is installed and executed on mobile device 120 to process high-level code 150 to produce executable code 160, without the need for transferring high-level code 150 to a more powerful processing environment implemented on network server 100. As such, simple instructions implemented in a natural language context can be processed more efficiently by a locally executed version of application software 1122. In some embodiments, depending on implementation, a first part of high-level code 150 is processed by application software 1122 executed on mobile device 120 and a second part of high-level code 150 is processed by application software 1122 executed on network server 100. Executable code 160, according to one embodiment, comprises binary or hex code that can be processed by a microcontroller or processor embedded in mobile device 120 to cause mobile device 120 to perform the requisite operations according to the operational language included in high-level code 150. Exemplary operational language may include an instruction to turn mobile device 120 on or off at a certain time, to set an alarm with a particular tune, to display a particular image when a call from an identifiable party is received, to automatically place a call to a designated destination, to forward received text messages from an identifiable source to a designated email account, and numerous other telephony related operations. In accordance with one embodiment, in addition to mobile device 120 or network server 100, application software 1122 may be installed or executed on at least one of a third party portal, a service provider or a combination of said systems. As used herein, the terms mobile device, third party portal, service provider and communication network are to be viewed as designations of one or more computing environments that comprise application, client or server software for servicing requests submitted by respective software included in devices or other computing systems connected there to. These terms are not to be otherwise limiting in any manner. Application software 1122, for example, may be comprised of one or more modules that execute on one or more computing systems. Referring to FIG. 2, once a user has edited and stored a high-level code written in a natural language (e.g., “Transfer all text messages from Mary to my Yahoo account”), by way of interacting with mobile device 120's user interface, for example, application software 1122 processes the high-level code 150 (S210). Thus, application software 1122 pareses high-level code 150 for keywords in an attempt to recognize any operative language included in high-level code 150 (S220). For example, application software 1122 may determine that “transfer” as used in the above example is the operative language for performing a function, namely transferring a certain content received by mobile device 120 to a destination. Application software 1122 is also be implemented to parse high-level code 150 for keywords in an attempt to recognize any data sources (S230). For example, application software 1122 may search mobile device 120's internal memory to determine if a data source (e.g., a contacts database) stores information associated with the name “Mary”, so that when a text message is received from “Mary” the corresponding function or operation defined in high-level code 150 is performed. Once application software 1122 parses high-level code 150 for the particular keywords, then application software 1122 determines the requested operation that is to be performed in accordance with the recognized keywords (S240). As noted above, for example, the keyword “transfer” would indicate that a transfer operation is to be performed. Furthermore, application software 1122 determines the relationships and conditions that are to be taken into account for the operation to be performed (S250). That is, the “transfer” operation is, for example, to be performed when a particular condition, namely “receipt of a text message from Mary”, is satisfied. Once the operations, conditions, and relationships are recognized, then application software 1122 produces executable code 160 (S260). A processor of mobile device 120 executes executable code 260 in order to accomplish the results contemplated according to instructions in high-level code 150. Thus, for example, mobile device 120 will operate to monitor text messages received from various sources in order to determine if a message is from “Mary”, for example, and transfers such messages to a designated destination, such as a Yahoo email account, for example, instead of storing the messages in mobile device 120's memory. As such, a user can manipulate the operation of mobile device 120 by writing a high-level code 150 in a natural language (e.g., “if Eugene calls on Saturday morning, forward call to voice mail” or “if Bob calls anytime then show picture bob.jpg and play ring tone ring1.wav”). Application software 1122 may be implemented stalled or executed on a device or a system other than mobile device 120. For example, application software 1122 or its components may be implemented, installed, and executed either in a singular or in a distributed environment. That is, certain components of the application software may be installed and executed on mobile device 120, while other components may be executed and installed on a third party portal, one or more network servers 100, a PMG server or other systems attached thereto. In one or more embodiments of the system, network server 100, communication network 110, and mobile device 120 comprise a controlled computing system environment that can be presented largely in terms of hardware components and software code executed to perform processes that achieve the results contemplated by the system of the present invention. A more detailed description of such system environment is provided below with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B. As shown, a computing system environment is composed of two environments, a hardware environment 1110 and a software environment 1120. The hardware environment 1110 comprises the machinery and equipment that provide an execution environment for the software. The software provides the execution instructions for the hardware. It should be noted that certain hardware and software components may be interchangeably implemented in either form, in accordance with different embodiments. Software environment 1120 is divided into two major classes comprising system software 1121 and application software 1122. System software 1121 comprises control programs, such as the operating system (OS) and information management systems that instruct the hardware how to function and process information. Application software 1122 is a program that performs a specific task. In embodiments of the invention, system and application software are implemented and executed on one or more hardware environments to program a mobile device using a high-level code. Referring to FIG. 3A, an embodiment of application software 1122 can be implemented as computer software in the form of computer readable code executed on a general purpose hardware environment 1110 that comprises a central processor unit (CPU) 1101, a main memory 1102, an input/output controller 1103, optional cache memory 1104, a user interface 1105 (e.g., keypad, pointing device, etc.), storage media 1106 (e.g., hard drive, memory, etc.), a display screen 1107, a communication interface 1108 (e.g., a network card, a modem, or an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, etc.), and a system synchronizer (e.g., a clock). Processor 1101 may or may not include cache memory 1104 utilized for storing frequently accessed information. A communication mechanism, such as a bi-directional data bus 1100, can be utilized to provide for means of communication between system components. Hardware Environment 1110 is capable of communicating with local or remotes systems connected to a communications network (e.g., a PAN or a WAN) through communication interface 1108. In one or more embodiments, hardware environment 1110 may not include all the above components, or may include additional components for additional functionality or utility. For example, hardware environment 1110 can be a laptop computer or other portable computing device that can send messages and receive data through communication interface 1108. Hardware environment 1110 may also be embodied in an embedded system such as a set-top box, a personal data assistant (PDA), a wireless communication unit (e.g., cellular phone), or other similar hardware platforms that have information processing and/or data storage and communication capabilities. For example, in embodiments of the system mobile device 120 may be a PMG phone or equivalent. In embodiments of the system, communication interface 1108 can send and receive electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information including program code. If communication is established via the Internet, hardware environment 1110 may transmit program code through an Internet connection. Central processor unit 1101 or stored in storage media 1106 or other non-volatile storage for later execution can execute the program code. Program code may be transmitted via a carrier wave or may be embodied in any other form of computer program product. A computer program product comprises a medium configured to store or transport computer readable code or a medium in which computer readable code may be embedded. Some examples of computer program products are CD-ROM disks, ROM cards, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, computer hard drives, and network server systems. In one or more embodiments of the invention, processor 1101 is a microprocessor manufactured by Motorola, Qualcomm, Intel, Texas Instruments, or Sun Microsystems Corporations. The named processors are for the purpose of example only. Any other suitable microprocessor, microcontroller, or microcomputer may be utilized. Referring to FIG. 3B, software environment 1120 is stored in storage media 1106 and is loaded into memory 1102 prior to execution. Software environment 1120 comprises system software 1121 and application software 1122. Depending on system implementation, certain aspects of software environment 1120 can be loaded on one or more hardware environments 1110. System software 1121 comprises control software such as an operating system that controls the low-level operations of hardware environment 1110. Low-level operations comprise the management of the system's resources such as memory allocation, file swapping, and other core computing tasks. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the operating system comprises at least one of Symbian, Nucleus, Microsoft Windows, Palm, or Macintosh operating systems. However, any other suitable operating system may be utilized. Application software 1122 can comprise one or more computer programs that are executed on top of system software 1121 after being loaded from storage media 1106 into memory 1102. In a client-server architecture, application software 1122 may comprise client software and server software. Referring to FIG. 1, for example, in one embodiment of the invention, client software is executed on mobile device 120 and server software is executed on network server 100. Software environment 1120 may also comprise web browser software 1126 for communicating with the Internet. Further, software environment 1120 may comprise a user interface 1124 (e.g., a Graphical User Interface (GUI)) for receiving user commands and data. The commands and data received are processed by the software applications that run on the hardware environment 1110. The hardware and software architectures and environments described above are for purposes of example. Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in any type of system architecture or processing environment. Embodiments of the invention are described by way of example as applicable to systems and corresponding methods that facilitate optimizing power consumption in a mobile device. In this exemplary embodiment, logic code for performing these methods is implemented in the form of, for example, application software 1122. The logic code, in one embodiment, may be comprised of one or more modules that execute on one or more processors in a distributed or non-distributed communication model. It should also be understood that the programs, modules, processes, methods, and the like, described herein are but an exemplary implementation and are not related, or limited, to any particular computer, apparatus, or computer programming language. Rather, various types of general-purpose computing machines or devices may be used with logic code implemented in accordance with the teachings provided, herein. Further, the order in which the steps of the present method are performed is purely illustrative in nature. In fact, the steps can be performed in any order or in parallel, unless indicated otherwise in the present disclosure. The method of the present invention may be performed in either hardware, software, or any combination thereof. In particular, the present method may be carried out by software, firmware, or macrocode operating on a computer or computers of any type. Additionally, software embodying the present invention may comprise computer instructions and be stored in a recording medium (e.g., memory stick, ROM, RAM, magnetic media, punched tape or card, compact disk (CD), DVD, etc.). Furthermore, such software may be transmitted in the form of a computer signal embodied in a carrier wave, and through communication networks by way of Internet portals or websites, for example. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to any particular platform, unless specifically stated otherwise in the present disclosure. The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications may be made in these preferred embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. The embodiments described above are to be considered in all aspects as illustrative only and not restrictive in any manner. Thus, other system architectures, platforms, and implementations that can support various aspects of the invention may be utilized without departing from the essential characteristics as described herein. These and various other adaptations and combinations of features of the embodiments disclosed are within the scope of the invention. The invention is defined by the claims and their full scope of equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH> | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The present disclosure is directed to a system and corresponding methods that facilitate programming a mobile communication device or other specialized computing device using a natural language. For purposes of summarizing, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. In one embodiment, a method for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language comprises parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. In one embodiment, application software is executed on the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a first level of complexity. In another embodiment, application software executed on a network server connected to the mobile communication device performs the parsing and determining steps, when the high-level code comprises a second level of complexity. In yet another embodiment, application software executed on a distributed environment, comprising the mobile communication device and a network server connected to the mobile communication device, performs the parsing and determining steps. The high-level code is transmitted to the network server to produce the executable code after the network server performs the parsing and determining steps. The executable code is transmitted to the mobile communication device to be executed by the microcontroller of the mobile communication device. In one embodiment, at least one sentence comprises one or more keywords and the first context is a natural language context. The high-level code may be contained in a script. The script is written by a user of the mobile communication device. In accordance with another embodiment, a system for programming a mobile communication device based on a high-level code comprising operative language is provided. The system comprises means for parsing the high-level code for keywords to recognize the operative language; means for determining at least one operation associated with the operative language; means for determining whether high-level code comprises keywords defining one or more relationships and conditions corresponding to the operative language; and means for producing an executable code that can be executed by a microcontroller of the mobile communication device to perform the respective operation associated with the operative language, wherein the high-level code comprises at least one sentence formatted in accordance with a first context. These and other embodiments of the present invention will also become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular embodiments disclosed. | 20040617 | 20090623 | 20051222 | 67350.0 | 5 | OMOSEWO, OLUBUSOLA | NATURAL LANGUAGE FOR PROGRAMMING A SPECIALIZED COMPUTING SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,423 | ACCEPTED | Container for disposable needle or cannula | The present invention relates to a container for a disposable needle or cannula, intended to facilitate needle or cannula placement for the infusion of a liquid drug under a patient's skin, the container including a cylindrical housing (1; 101) in which there are defined a cap (1a; 101a) and a sleeve (1b; 101b) provided with a resting base (1c; 101c), the cap (1a; 101a) being axially slidable relative to the sleeve (1b; 101b) when a sufficient pressure is exerted on the cap (1a; 101a); a needle (21; 121) or cannula, which is located inside the housing so as to be directed towards the resting base (1c; 101c) for the infusion of the drug; a retaining member (9; 109), which is located within the housing (1; 101) between said cap (1a; 101a) and the sleeve (1b; 101b) and to which the needle (21; 121) or cannula is secured; the container being equipped with a releasing member for releasing the needle (21; 121) or cannula when the cap (1a; 101a) is made to slide on the sleeve (1b; 101b), | 1. A container for a disposable needle or cannula, intended to facilitate needle or cannula placement through a patient's skin, the container comprising: a cylindrical housing (1; 101) in which there are defined a cap (1a; 101a) and a sleeve (1b; 101b) equipped with a resting base (1c; 101c), said cap (1a; 101a) being axially slidable relative to said sleeve (1b; 101b) when a sufficient pressure is exerted on said cap (1a; 101a); a needle (21; 121) or cannula, located inside said housing so as to be directed towards said resting base (1c; 101c) for the infusion of the drug; a retaining member (9; 109), which is located within said housing (1; 101) and to which said needle (21; 121) or cannula is secured; a releasing member (33; 151) for releasing said needle (21; 121) or cannula from said retaining member (9; 109) when said cap (1a; 101a) is made to slide on said sleeve (1b; 101b), thereby allowing the placement of said needle or cannula under the patient's skin and the subsequent removal of said container; wherein, the container is disposable and upon exertion of said pressure on said cap the force resulting from said pressure is transferred to said needle (21; 121) or cannula so that said needle (21; 121) or cannula is placed through the patient's skin by means of said pressure exerted on said cap (1a; 101a). 2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base (1c; 101c) has, on its outer face, a gauze (5) weakly adhering to said base (1c; 101c) and of which the other face is adhesive and is protected by a removable protection film (3). 3. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein said gauze (5) is weakly joined to said base in correspondence of a set of circular portions (7). 4. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sleeve (1b; 101b) has an axial slit (63; 163) through which said hose (11; 111) extends radially and along which said hose (11; 111) is slidable when said cap (1a; 101a) is made to slide on said sleeve (1b; 101b). 5. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein said needle (21; 121) or cannula is an L-shaped needle or cannula and has a drug inlet branch (21a; 121a) transversally arranged within said housing and an axially arranged drug outlet branch (21a; 121a), said inlet branch being connected to said hose (11; 111) radially extending from said container. 6. A container as claimed in claim 5, wherein said retaining member (9) includes a securing portion (9a) directed towards said cap (1a) and a retaining portion (9b) directed towards said sleeve (1b), said securing portion (9a) being firmly held inside an axial cylindrical hub (10) extending within the cap (1a) and integral therewith, and said retaining portion (9b) axially extending within the housing (1) and ending, at its end remote from said securing portion (9a), with a plate (13) transversally arranged relative to the axis of the retaining member (9), said plate (13) being engaged against said sleeve (1b) so as to allow sliding of said cap (1a) on said sleeve (1b) when said plate is released from said sleeve (1b). 7. A container as claimed in claim 6, wherein said plate (13) has a substantially circular shape and comprises a pair of diametrically opposite radial grooves (15) for the passage of corresponding axial projections (17) formed within the sleeve (1b) and arranged to guide the axial sliding of the plate (13), and consequently of the retaining member (9), when said cap (1a) is depressed. 8. A container as claimed in claim 7, wherein said plate (13) comprises a groove (19), diametrically crossing the whole plane of the plate (13) and retaining the inlet branch (21a) of the L-shaped needle (21) for the infusion of the drug, said groove (19) being arranged perpendicularly to said radial grooves (15). 9. A container as claimed in claim 8, wherein said groove (19) retaining the needle (21) or cannula axially extends inside the plate (13) and the retaining member (9) and widens at its end, into a radial hollow (23), thereby to define two diametrically opposite portions of said plate (13), which portions are deformable to release the needle (21) or cannula retained in said groove (19). 10. A container as claimed in claim 9, wherein a pair of circumferential rims (25, 27) are formed on the internal wall of said sleeve (1b) to keep the plate (13) in engagement with said sleeve (1b), and wherein the internal wall of said sleeve (1b) comprises an axial groove (31) through which the outlet branch (21b) of the L-shaped needle (21) or cannula passes. 11. A container as claimed in claim 10, wherein said releasing member for releasing said needle (21) or cannula from said retaining member (9) comprises a pair of diametrically opposite fins (33), which are formed in the retaining portion (9b) of said retaining member and which project upwardly from the plate (13) and diverge towards the cap (1a), said fins (33) ending with a convex portion (35) interfering with said axial projections (17) when the cap (1a) is depressed and the retaining member (9) is made to slide along the sleeve (1b) for releasing the plate (13) from the circumferential rims (25, 27), so that, when the cap (1a) is completely lowered against the sleeve (1b), the retaining member (9) is arranged with the plate (13) against the gauze (5) and the branch (21b) of the L-shaped needle (21) is completely placed through the patient's skin after having passed through the gauze (5) in correspondence of an opening (37) provided therein. 12. A container as claimed in claim 5, wherein said retaining member (9; 109) comprises two coupled half-shells (109c) and includes a securing portion (109a) directed towards said cap (101a) and a retaining portion (109b) directed towards said sleeve (101b), said retaining portion (109b) including a cavity (161) between said half-shells (109c) for receiving said needle (121), and said securing portion (109a) comprising two shoulders (157, 159), which are received into corresponding recesses (165, 167) formed in the edge of the sleeve (101b) remote from said base (101c), and an axial recess (155) extending up to said cavity (161). 13. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein said sleeve (101b) comprises means for resiliently retaining said half-shells (109c) against each other. 14. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein respective radial projections (166, 168) are provided on the inner surface of said sleeve (101b) in correspondence with the recesses (165, 167), which projections co-operate with said shoulders (157, 159) and with respective teeth (158, 160) formed in the securing portion (109a) of said retaining member (109) to axially join said retaining member (109) to said sleeve (101b). 15. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein one of said half-shells (109c) comprises one or more pins (173) engaging corresponding holes (175) in the other half-shell when said half-shells are coupled to each other. 16. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein the inlet branch (121a) of said needle (121) or cannula is retained inside said cavity (161) thanks to the co-operation between one or more support projections (177, 178) and one or more tongues (181) provided on one of said half-shells (109c) and received in respective seats (179) provided in the other half-shell. 17. A container as claimed in claim 16, wherein one of said support projections (178) is arranged in correspondence of the bend between the inlet and outlet branches of said needle (121) and it prevents transversal movements of said needle (121) relative to said sleeve (101b). 18. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein the half-shells (109c) are divided, in correspondence of said retaining portion (109b), into first sections (109d) and second sections (109e) connected by a flexible connecting member (183), said first sections (109d) being so shaped that, when said half-shells (109c) are joined to each other, they define therebetween a passage for the outlet branch (121b) of said needle (121) or cannula. 19. A container as claimed in claim 18, wherein said sleeve (101b) comprises two facing L-shaped axial projections (169) forming a seat for said first sections (109d). 20. A container as claimed in claim 19, wherein said releasing member for releasing said needle (121) or cannula from said retaining member (109) comprise a projection (151) provided inside said cap (101a) and received within said recess (155), so that, when the cap (101a) is made to slide on the sleeve (101b), said projection (151) forces apart said second sections (109e) of the half-shells (109c) of said retaining member (109) and pushes the inlet branch (121a) of said needle (121) or cannula towards the container base (101c), until the complete placement of the outlet branch (121b) of said needle (121) or cannula through the patient's skin. 21. A container as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a second gauze (39), protected by a respective removable adhesive film and joined with said first gauze (5), the second gauze being foldable on the first gauze (5) when the needle (21; 121) or cannula has been inserted and the container (1; 101) has been removed, whereby the first gauze (5) and the inlet branch (21a; 121a) of the needle (21; 121) or cannula can be covered leaving only said second gauze (39) exposed. 22. A container as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a second gauze (39), protected by a respective removable adhesive film and joined with said first gauze (5), the second gauze being foldable on the first gauze (5) when the needle (21; 121) or cannula has been inserted and the container (1; 101) has been removed, whereby the first gauze (5) and the inlet branch (21a; 121a) of the needle (21; 121) or cannula can be covered leaving only said second gauze (39) exposed. | The present invention relates to a container for a disposable needle. More particularly, the invention refers to a container for a disposable needle for drug infusion, which container makes needle placement through a patient's skin easier. As known, several medical treatments exploit subcutaneous infusion of liquid drugs: the drug flows through a hose connected to a needle placed through the patient's skin and it is directly delivered under the skin through said needle. Alternatively, insertion needles are employed for placement through the patient's skin of a soft and relatively flexible tubular cannula, followed by insertion needle removal and subsequent infusion of medical fluid to the patient directly through the cannula. In some cases, the patient himself/herself is to administer the drug. For instance, many diabetic patients self-administer insulin, in the form of controlled and prolonged infusion. Clearly, many patients have no medical knowledge and therefore they may be reluctant to place the needle or cannula through their skin or inexpert in doing so. Thus, it is necessary to provide means allowing automatic placement, so as to prevent the patient's lack of skill or hesitation from resulting in an incorrect needle or cannula placement, with possible dangerous consequences. Devices of this kind, which can be employed for the subcutaneous infusion of a liquid drug either through a needle or through a soft cannula, already exist and one of them is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,172. According to the teaching of the above mentioned patent, a device for needle placement comprises a cylinder, the lower portion of which can receive the outward-directed needle and related hose, ready for placement through the patient's skin. Said cylinder internally includes a spring that can be brought into a loaded condition and, on its upper portion, a trigger that is to release said spring. By depressing the trigger, the spring is released so as to outward project, more particularly through the patient's skin, the needle located in the lower portion of the device. Once the needle is placed through the skin, a slight traction is sufficient to retract the device and leave the needle in place, in the correct position. A problem with such kind of devices is that the patient is to provide for the correct introduction of the infusion set into the lower portion of the cylinder, to ensure a correct needle positioning. It is a main object of the present invention to provide a container within which a needle and the related hose or, alternatively, a cannula, are already correctly positioned, so that the patient only has to place said container against his/her skin and to release the needle or cannula through a simple movement. Another drawback of such known devices is that, while the needle is being placed inside the device, the user risks to prickle himself/herself while handling the needle. Moreover, at such step, the needle is exposed to the outside environment and in particular to germs and bacteria. Thus, it is another object of the present invention to provide a container for a disposable needle or cannula that does not result in the risk for the user to prickle himself/herself during use and that allows maintaining hygiene and safety in respect of possible contamination by external agents. A container for a disposable needle according to the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,172. The above and other objects of the invention are achieved by a container as defined in the appended claims. The container according to the invention has the appearance of a small housing of plastic material, already containing the needle connected with the related hose or, alternatively, the end of the cannula connected with the related insertion needle, and protected from the surrounding environment by means of a protecting film. After said film has been removed and the container base has been placed against the skin, a simple push is sufficient to release the needle and pierce the skin. Once the needle has been placed through the skin, the container can be removed by slightly pulling it, without risks of displacing the needle from the correct position. If the drug is to be delivered to the patient directly through a soft cannula, the insertion needle of said cannula can be removed together with the container, without displacing the cannula. Advantageously, the construction of a disposable device affords maximum simplicity of use and maximum hygiene. A number of embodiments of the invention will be disclosed in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the container according to the invention is employed for the insertion of a needle through a patient's skin. However, as already mentioned, the container according to the invention can be similarly used for the insertion of a soft cannula through a patient's skin. In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a side view of the container according to a first embodiment of the invention, shown before use; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, after needle insertion; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a top view of the container according to said first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is an overall perspective view of the container according to a second embodiment of the invention, shown before use; FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the container shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 9 is a plan view of the needle-retaining member in the container shown in FIG. 7, shown before assembling; FIG. 10 is a side view of the needle-retaining member shown in FIG. 9; and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line D-D, of the needle-retaining member shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 1, the container according to a first embodiment of the present invention comprises a cylindrical housing 1, in which there is defined a cap 1a axially slidable relative to a sleeve 1b when a sufficient pressure is exerted on said cap 1a. Said cap 1a moreover has an inner diameter slightly exceeding the outer diameter of sleeve 1b, so as to allow sleeve 1b to be received within cap 1a when the latter has been wholly depressed. Sleeve 1b is integral with a base 1c intended for placing the container against the patient's skin, in the area where a L-shaped needle is to be inserted. A hose 11, intended to supply the needle located within housing 1 with the drug, as it will be better disclosed hereinafter, radially comes out from sleeve 1b through an axial slit 63. It is to be noted that said L-shaped needle with its related hose can be replaced by a soft cannula provided with an insertion needle of the type shown above captioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,172. Said cannula is a hollow tube made from a soft and flexible material, which can be bent into a desired configuration. In order to insert the cannula through a patient's skin, an insertion needle is introduced in the free end of the cannula and used for piercing the patient's skin and driving through the patient's skin said end of said cannula. The insertion needle is then removed, the cannula is bent into a L-shaped configuration for purpose of practicalness so as to adhere to the patient's skin and the drug is infused through the cannula. It is evident that, within the scope of the invention, the above disclosed cannula, together with the associated insertion needle, is equivalent to the aforesaid L-shaped needle and, for this reason, it will not be further described. Outside housing 1, a removable film 3 is applied onto base 1c, to protect an adhesive gauze 5 placed between said film and base 1c and weakly adhering to base 1c in correspondence of a set of circular portions 7. Referring now to FIG. 2, the container according to said first embodiment of the invention comprises, within said housing 1, a retaining member 9 comprising a securing portion 9a directed towards cap 1a and a retaining portion 9b directed towards sleeve 1b. Securing portion 9a is firmly held inside an axial cylindrical hub 10 extending within cap 1a and integral therewith. Retaining portion 9b axially extends inside the container and ends, at its end remote from said securing portion 9a, with a plate 13 transversally arranged relative to the axis of retaining member 9. As better shown in FIG. 4, said plate 13 has a substantially circular shape and has a pair of diametrically opposite radial grooves 15, through which corresponding axial projections 17 formed within sleeve 1b pass. Said projections are arranged to guide the axial sliding of plate 13, and consequently of member 9, when cap 1a is pressed against sleeve 1b. Still with reference to FIG. 4, said plate 13 further comprises a groove 19, diametrically crossing the whole plane of plate 13, perpendicularly to radial grooves 15. Groove 19 retains inlet branch 21a of an L-shaped needle 21 for the infusion of the drug, housed inside the container. Turning back to FIG. 2, said groove 19 axially extends inside plate 13 and retaining element 9b and widens, at its end, into a radial hollow 23, thereby to define two diametrically opposite portions of said plate 13. As it will be explained thereinafter, said portions can be deformed to release needle 21 once cap 1a has been depressed. Two circumferential rims 25 and 27, respectively, are formed on the internal wall of sleeve 1b to keep plate 13 in engagement against sleeve 1b, thereby preventing cap 1a from sliding until a force sufficient to overcome the resistance of outermost rim 25 relative to said cap 1a is exerted against said cap. With reference to FIG. 5, the internal wall of sleeve 1b comprises an axial groove 31 housing outlet branch 21b of L-shaped needle 21. Said sleeve 1b further has, at the end of said axial groove 31, a widened portion 41 in correspondence of base 1c, to prevent branch 21b of needle 21 from sticking into the wall of sleeve 1b while advancing towards the outside through opening 37 provided in gauze 5. Cap 1a has a corresponding widening 43 to receive the outer projection defined by said widened portion 41 when sleeve 1b is completely received within cap 1a. Turning back to FIG. 2, retaining portion 9b further comprises a pair of diametrically opposite fins 33 upward projecting from plate 13 and diverging towards cap 1a. Said fins 33 end with a convex portion 35, interfering with axial projections 17 when cap 1a is depressed and retaining member 9 is made to slide along sleeve 1b, thereby disengaging plate 13 from rim 25 and bringing the container to the position shown in FIG. 3. Referring now to FIG. 3, when cap 1a is completely lowered against sleeve 1b, retaining member 9 is arranged with plate 13 against the inner face of gauze 5, and branch 21b of L-shaped needle 21 will be completely placed through the patient's skin after having passed through opening 37 in gauze 5. Referring now to FIG. 6, gauze 5 is joined to a second adhesive gauze 39, which in turn is protected by a respective removable adhesive film. The border of second gauze 39 can be folded on gauze 5 when needle 21 has been inserted and the container has been removed. Thus, the patient can advantageously cover the area of gauze 5 and branch 21a of L-shaped needle 21 by said second gauze 39, whereby only the border of gauze 39 is externally visible and the area occupied by the needle is thus protected. The operation of the container according to said first embodiment is as follows: starting from the configuration shown in FIG. 2, protecting film 3 is removed and adhesive gauze 5 is made to adhere to the patient's skin in the area where needle 21 is to be inserted. Pushing cap 1a towards base 1c results, once the resistance of rim 25 has been overcome, in the release of plate 13 and the sliding of cap 1a on sleeve 1b. During this step, needle 21 is placed through the patient's skin and, at the same time, is released from retaining member 9 because of the deformation of plate 13 due to the pressure radially exerted by projections 17 onto fins 33. The container has thus taken the configuration shown in FIG. 3 and it can be removed, while leaving the needle in place thanks to the weak adhesion between base 1c and gauze 5 if compared with the adhesion between gauze 5 and the patient's skin. Subsequently, the protecting film of second gauze 39 can be removed therefrom and gauze 39 can be folded on and made to adhere to gauze 5. Referring now to FIGS. 7 to 11, a second embodiment of the invention is shown, which differs from the first embodiment in particular in respect of the structure of the needle-retaining member. In this second embodiment, the container comprises a cylindrical housing 101, in which a cap 101a and a sleeve 101b are defined. The sleeve has a slightly smaller diameter, so that, when a sufficient pressure is exerted on cap 101a, the latter is axially slidable relative to sleeve 101b and can internally receive the sleeve. Said sleeve 101b is integral with a base 101c intended for placing the container against the patient's skin. Slightly projecting circumferential rims could be provided on the inner surface of the base of cap 101a and on the outer surface of the edge of sleeve 101b remote from base 101c, respectively. Thanks to the co-operation between said circumferential rims, when housing 101 is assembled, said cap 101a is axially slidable on sleeve 101b but it cannot be accidentally separated therefrom. Moreover, an annular band, e.g. of plastic material, could be applied around sleeve 101b to prevent cap 101a from accidentally sliding relative to sleeve 101b. Said band can be easily removed by the user before use. A hose 111 radially comes out from sleeve 101b through an axial slit 163. Said hose is intended to deliver the drug to an L-shaped needle 121, located within housing 101 and comprising an inlet branch 121a, onto which the hose is fitted, and an outlet branch 121b, intended to be at least partly placed through the patient's skin. Said L-shaped needle 121 is housed within a retaining member 109, contained within housing 101. Said retaining member 109 comprises a securing portion 109a and a retaining portion 109b and consists of two coupled half-shells 109c, shaped so as to define therebetween a cavity 161 capable of receiving said needle 121. Securing portion 109a comprises two shoulders 157, 159, which are received into corresponding recesses 165, 167 formed in the edge of sleeve 101b remote from base 101c. More particularly, recess 165 formed in correspondence with slit 163 is so sized that its edges resiliently press against shoulder 157 of retaining member 109, whereas the opposite recess 167 is oversized with respect to the corresponding shoulder 159 in said member 109, so that a clearance is left. In the alternative, a pair of facing resilient members could be formed on the internal surface of said sleeve 101b, which members radially project towards the centre of said sleeve to such an extent that they press against half-shells 109c of said member 109. Advantageously, radial projections 166, 168 are provided on the inner surface of sleeve 101b in correspondence with recesses 165, 167 and are firmly held between said shoulders 157, 159 and corresponding teeth 158, 160 formed in securing portion 109a of said retaining member 109. In such manner, retaining member 109 is axially joined to sleeve 101b. Furthermore, a recess 155, extending up to cavity 161, is defined in securing portion 109a, to receive a projection 151 centrally provided inside cap 101a. Preferably, end 153 of said projection 151 is so shaped that it conforms to the curved profile of hose 111. Two facing L-shaped axial projections 169, diametrically opposed and parallel to slit 163, are provided inside sleeve 101b and they form a seat for the portion of said retaining member 109 receiving outlet branch 121b of needle 121. FIGS. 9 to 11 show in detail retaining member 109. Advantageously, said retaining member 109 consists of two facing half-shells 109c, whereby positioning of needle 121 is particularly easy: indeed, it will be sufficient to place said needle between said half-shells 109c and then to join them, thereby blocking the needle therebetween. Said half-shells 109c are preferably formed by moulding into a single element, and therefore they are advantageously joined by a flexible member 171 making their assembling easier. One of said half-shells 109c comprises three pins 173 engaging corresponding holes 175 in the other half-shell 109c, thereby assisting in correctly aligning both half-shells 109c at the assembling and, subsequently, in keeping them joined. Both half-shells 109c have a groove 161a, 161b defining cavity 161 when half-shells 109c are joined. Inlet branch 121a of needle 121, on which hose 111 is fitted, is retained inside cavity 161 thanks to the co-operation between a pair of support projections 177, 178 and a pair of rigid tongues 181 provided on one of half-shells 109c and housed in respective seats 179 in the other half-shell. One of said support projections, 178, is suitably arranged on one half-shell 109c in correspondence of the bend between inlet and outlet branches 121a, 121b of needle 121. When the retaining member 109 is assembled, said projection 178 prevents, by co-operating with the surface of the facing half-shell 109, needle removal from housing 101. As shown in FIG. 11, retaining portion 109b of each half-shell 109c is divided into two sections 109d, 109e connected by a flexible connecting member 183 allowing limited relative displacements of said sections. When half-shells 109c are joined together, sections 109e in the respective half-shells adhere to each other, whereas a passage for outlet branch 121b of needle 121 is defined between sections 109d. In this second embodiment, insertion and release of the needle take place as follows. When pushing cap 101a with sufficient force towards container base 101c, projection 151 presses against hose 111 and, by overcoming the resistance of pins 173 and the elastic resistance of sleeve 101b, said projection forces half-shells 109c apart. Sections 109d of said half-shells 109c cannot be separated, since they are rigidly retained by L-shaped projections of sleeve 101b, so that the passage for outlet branch 121b of needle 121 defined therebetween keeps unchanged. On the contrary, sections 109e of said half-shells can be spaced apart, by overcoming the elastic resistance of the edges of recess 165 in sleeve 101b. In such manner, hose 111 can pass through half-shells 109c along slit 163, while needle 121 is guided between facing sections 109d of half-shells 109c, until its outlet branch 121b becomes completely placed through the patient's skin. Similarly to what described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention, also in this second embodiment the container can comprise, outside housing 101 and against base 101c, an adhesive gauze 5 weakly adhering to base 101c in correspondence of a set of circular portions. Thus, gauze 5 can remain adhering to the patient's skin after needle 121 has been placed through the patient's skin and the container has been removed. Said adhesive gauze 5 could be possibly joined with a second, protecting adhesive gauze which could be folded onto said first gauze after container removal. It is clear that the above description has been given only by way of non-limiting example and that changes and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, as already mentioned, even if the above description has been given with reference to the insertion of a needle through which the drug coming from a related hose is delivered to a patient, the container according to the invention can also be used for the insertion through a patient's skin of a cannula provided with an insertion needle when the drug is to be delivered to the patient directly through said cannula. | 20040622 | 20080805 | 20050217 | 94941.0 | 1 | REYNOLDS, STEVEN ALAN | CONTAINER FOR DISPOSABLE NEEDLE OR CANNULA | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,450 | ACCEPTED | Process for high temperature peroxide bleaching of pulp with cool discharge | A process for high temperature peroxide bleaching of pulp in which pulp is retained at high temperature and pressure to increase bleaching activity but in which the pulp is cooled prior to discharge from the pressure vessel below the flash point thereby resulting in lower energy, nonviolent discharge. Through the use of a heat exchanger, the cooling of the pulp can be performed using recycled filtrate containing residual peroxide, which encourages further bleaching during atmospheric retention. The heat exchanger is also used to heat a water stream, which can be used earlier in the pulping process, resulting in cost savings because energy within the system is retained to a greater degree. | 1. A process for bleaching cellulosic pulp, comprising: providing a stream of cellulosic pulp; adding to the stream of cellulosic pulp at least one composition for bleaching; bleaching the stream of cellulosic pulp at a temperature at or above the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp to form a stream of bleached cellulosic pulp; separating the stream of bleached cellulosic pulp into a residue stream and a filtrate stream; cooling the filtrate stream; adding cooled filtrate to the bleached stream of cellulosic pulp and cooling the bleached stream of cellulosic pulp to a temperature below the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is chosen from at least one of chemical pulps and mechanical pulps. 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is chosen from at least one of hardwood pulps and softwood pulps. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is chosen from at least one of primary fibers, and secondary fibers. 5. The process of claim 1, wherein providing the cellulosic pulp is preceded by pretreating the cellulosic pulp. 6. The process of claim 5, wherein the pretreating step is deinking and wherein the bleaching occurs following deinking. 7. The process of claim 1, wherein said cellulosic pulp is thickened prior to bleaching. 8. The process of claim 6, wherein the cellulosic pulp is thickened using a disk thickener. 9. The process of claim 6, wherein the cellulosic pulp is thickened prior to bleaching to a solids content above about 10%. 10. The process of claim 1, wherein a chelant is added to the cellulosic pulp. 11. The process of claim 10, wherein the chelant is chosen from at least one of diethylenetriaminepentamethylenephosphonic acid (DTMPA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid pentasodium salt (DTPA), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt (EDTA). 12. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is a heated wood pulp. 13. The process of claim 1, wherein providing a cellulosic pulp is followed by heating the cellulosic pulp. 14. The process of claim 12, wherein the cellulosic pulp is heated to above about 212° F. 15. The process of claim 12, wherein steam is used to heat the cellulosic pulp. 16. The process of claim 15, wherein the heating step is comprised of the steps of: injecting low pressure steam at atmospheric pressure; increasing the pressure of the cellulosic pulp to above atmospheric pressure; and injecting high pressure steam at raised pressure. 17. The process of claim 16, wherein the injection of low pressure steam raises the cellulosic pulp temperature to above about 180° F. 18. The process of claim 16, wherein the pressure is increased using a medium consistency pump. 19. The process of claim 16, wherein the injection of high pressure steam raises the cellulosic pulp temperature to above about 230° F. 20. The process of claim 1, wherein said at least one composition for bleaching comprises in addition to hydrogen peroxide, at least one of the following: gaseous oxygen, alkali hydroxide, ozone, and peroxygen compounds. 21. The process of claim 20, wherein said at least one composition for bleaching comprises gaseous oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hydroxide. 22. The process of claim 1, wherein the adding is followed by mixing the chemicals and cellulosic pulp. 23. The process of claim 1, wherein the pH of the cellulosic pulp after the addition of the at least one composition for bleaching is from about 10.0 to about 11.0. 24. The process of claim 1, wherein adding at least one composition for bleaching is followed by retaining the cellulosic pulp. 25. The process of claim 24, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained in a pressurized vessel operationally connected to a discharge valve. 26. The process of claim 24, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at a temperature above the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp. 27. The process of claim 26, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at a temperature above about 230° F. 28. The process of claim 24, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at a pressure sufficient to prevent flashing. 29. The process of claim 28, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at a pressure above about 12 p.s.i.g. 30. The process of claim 29, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at a pressure above about 50 p.s.i.g. 31. The process of claim 24, wherein the pH of the cellulosic pulp after the retention is between about 8 and about 10.0. 32. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is cooled using a cooled filtrate. 33. The process of claim 32, wherein the cooled filtrate stream is obtained by dewatering hot bleached cellulosic pulp to recover a hot filtrate, and using a heat exchanger to obtain a cooled filtrate. 34. The process of claim 1, wherein the cellulosic pulp is cooled to below about 210° F. 35. The process of claim 1, wherein the cooling is followed by discharging the cooled cellulosic pulp to atmospheric pressure. 36. The process of claim 35, wherein the cellulosic pulp is discharged through a first discharge valve. 37. The process of claim 36, wherein subsequent to the discharge through said first discharge valve, the cellulosic pulp passes through a second discharge valve and cyclone. 38. The process of claim 35, wherein discharging the cellulosic pulp to atmospheric pressure is followed by retaining the cooled cellulosic pulp at atmospheric pressure. 39. The process of claim 38, wherein the cellulosic pulp is retained at atmospheric pressure for less than about two hours. 40. The process of claim 38, wherein the residual hydrogen peroxide after atmospheric retention is at or above about 1% the original charge. 41. The process of claim 1, wherein the cooling is followed by dewatering the cooled cellulosic pulp to obtain a dewatered cellulosic pulp and a hot filtrate. 42. The process of claim 41, wherein prior to the dewatering, the cellulosic pulp is diluted to below about 5% solids. 43. The process of claim 42, wherein the cellulosic pulp is diluted prior to dewatering using cooled filtrate. 44. The process of claim 41, wherein the cellulosic pulp is dewatered to a consistency above about 35% discharge solids. 45. The process of claim 41, wherein the cellulosic pulp is dewatered using a mechanical thickener. 46. The process of claim 41, wherein the dewatering is followed by clarifying the hot filtrate. 47. The process of claim 41, further comprising the steps of: after the dewatering, clarifying the hot filtrate, cooling the clarified hot filtrate to obtain a cooled filtrate; and recycling the cooled filtrate for use in cooling the cellulosic pulp. 48. The process of claim 47, wherein cooling the hot filtrate reduces the temperature of the filtrate below about 140° F. 49. The process of claim 47, wherein cooling the hot filtrate is carried out using a heat exchanger. 50. The process of claim 49, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a non-contact type heat exchanger. 51. The process of claim 49, further comprising the steps of: heating a process water stream with heat obtained from the heat exchanger; recycling the heated process water stream. 52. The process of claim 41, further comprising the steps of: after providing a cellulosic pulp, thickening the cellulosic pulp; after thickening the cellulosic pulp, diluting and heating the cellulosic pulp using hot filtrate; and after dewatering the cooled cellulosic pulp, recycling a portion of the hot filtrate for use in diluting and heating the cellulosic pulp. 53. The process of claim 52, wherein the cellulosic pulp is thickened to a solids content of at least about 35%. 54. The process of claim 52, wherein the solids content of the cellulosic pulp after dilution is above about 10%. 55. The process of claim 52, wherein the cellulosic pulp is heated using hot filtrate to a temperature of up to about 150° F. 56. A process for bleaching cellulosic pulp, comprising: providing a cellulosic pulp; heating the cellulosic pulp, wherein the heating comprises the steps of: injecting steam at atmospheric pressure; increasing the pressure of the cellulosic pulp to above atmospheric pressure; and injecting high pressure steam at raised pressure; adding to the cellulosic pulp at least one composition for bleaching comprising at least hydrogen peroxide; mixing the at least one composition and cellulosic pulp; retaining the cellulosic pulp in a pressurized state at or above the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp; cooling the cellulosic pulp to a temperature below the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp using a cooled filtrate; discharging the cellulosic pulp to a substantially reduced pressure; retaining the cellulosic pulp at said reduced pressure; further diluting the cellulosic pulp using a cooled filtrate; dewatering the cellulosic pulp with a press to obtain a dewatered cellulosic pulp and a hot filtrate; clarifying the hot filtrate; cooling the hot filtrate using a heat exchanger to obtain a cooled filtrate; recycling the cooled filtrate for use in cooling and diluting the cellulosic pulp; heating a process water stream with heat obtained from the heat exchanger; and recycling the heated process water stream. 57. A process for bleaching cellulosic pulp, comprising: providing a cellulosic pulp; thickening the cellulosic pulp using a using a disk thickener; further thickening the cellulosic pulp using a press; after thickening the cellulosic pulp, diluting and heating the cellulosic pulp using a recycled hot filtrate; further heating the cellulosic pulp, wherein the heating comprises the steps of: injecting low pressure steam at atmospheric pressure; increasing the pressure of the cellulosic pulp to above atmospheric pressure; and injecting high pressure steam at raised pressure; adding to the cellulosic pulp at least one composition for bleaching comprising hydrogen peroxide; mixing the at least one composition and the cellulosic pulp; retaining the cellulosic pulp in a pressurized state; bleaching the cellulosic pulp in the pressurized state at a temperature at or above the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp; cooling the cellulosic pulp to a temperature below the atmospheric flash point of the cellulosic pulp using a cooled filtrate; discharging the cellulosic pulp to atmospheric pressure; retaining the cellulosic pulp at atmospheric pressure; further diluting the cellulosic pulp using a cooled filtrate; dewatering the cellulosic pulp with a press to obtain a dewatered cellulosic pulp and a hot filtrate; clarifying the hot filtrate; recycling a portion of the hot filtrate for use in diluting and heating the cellulosic pulp; cooling the non-recycled hot filtrate using a heat exchanger to obtain a cooled filtrate; recycling the cooled filtrate for use in cooling and diluting the cellulosic pulp; heating a process water stream with heat obtained from the heat exchanger; and recycling the heated process water stream. 58. A system for use in bleaching of wood cellulosic pulp, comprising: a pressure vessel; a discharge valve on said pressure vessel for discharging cellulosic pulp from said tower; an inlet on said pressure vessel for introducing recycled cooled filtrate; and a heat exchanger connected to said inlet which cools hot filtrate obtained from dewatering hot bleached cellulosic pulp. 59. The system of claim 58 comprising an additional valve separately connected to the discharge valve and a cyclone connected thereto. 60. The system of claim 58 further comprising an atmospheric retention tank connected to said discharge valve for retaining discharged pulp. 61. The system of claim 58 further comprising at least one dewaterer or thickener connected to said discharge valve for dewatering or thickening discharged pulp. 62. The system of claim 61 wherein said at least one dewaterer or thickener is selected from disk thickeners, disk filters, drum decker/thickeners, presses, and pulp washers. 63. The system of claim 58 further comprising a heating apparatus connected to said pressure vessel for heating unbleached pulp prior to introduction into the tower. 64. The system of claim 63 wherein said heating apparatus comprises: a first steam addition vessel in which steam heats cellulosic pulp at atmospheric pressure; a medium consistency pump; and a second steam addition vessel in which high pressure steam heats wood pulp at pressure above atmospheric pressure. 65. The system of claim 58 further comprising at least one mixer connected to said pressure vessel for mixing unbleached pulp with compositions for bleaching. 66. The system of claim 65 wherein said mixer is selected from high shear mixers, medium consistency pumps, pressurizable kneaders, and disk dispergers or refiners. 67. The system of claim 58 further comprising a clarifier connected to said heat exchanger for clarifying hot filtrate prior to cooling with said heat exchanger. 68. The system of claim 67 wherein said clarifier is selected from dissolved air type clarifiers, settling clarifiers, or mechanical filtering devices. 69. The process of claims 16, 56, or 57 wherein the high pressure steam is injected at a pressure of about 100 p.s.i.g. 70. The process of claims 16, 56, or 57 wherein the high pressure steam is injected at a pressure of about 140 p.s.i.g. 71. The process of claims 16, 56, or 57 wherein the high pressure steam is injected at a pressure greater than the discharge pressure of the pump. | DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a process for the bleaching of wood pulp. More specifically, the present invention relates to high temperature peroxide bleaching of pulp. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to the high temperature peroxide bleaching of pulp in which the heated pulp is cooled below the flash point using recycled cooled filtrate prior to discharge. During processing, wood pulp is routinely bleached in order to remove compounds that color the pulp and therefore increase the whiteness of the end product. Various bleaching agents have been used in these procedures, with varying levels of success. Traditionally, chlorine-based bleaching agents have been used, but they have recently fallen into disfavor due to environmental concerns. As a replacement for chlorine-based bleaching agents, hydrogen peroxide has been used. However, bleaching with hydrogen peroxide has its drawbacks, because the bleaching effect is not as strong as with chlorine-based bleaches. To counter the decreased bleaching effect of hydrogen peroxide, various solutions have been proposed. Activating agents have been added to the hydrogen peroxide/pulp slurry in order to increase the bleaching action; however, activating agents, like chlorine based bleaches, may have environmental consequences as well. Simply using greater amounts of hydrogen peroxide in the bleaching process does not solve the problem since merely increasing the amount of hydrogen peroxide results in large amounts of hydrogen peroxide remaining unreacted and therefore wasted. As an alternative approach to merely increasing the hydrogen peroxide amounts, two-stage or even three-stage bleaching processes have been proposed in an effort to expose the pulp to a greater amount of hydrogen peroxide. Such systems are necessarily more costly and more complex to operate than single-stage bleaching systems. Hydrogen peroxide efficiency can also be improved by increasing the temperature and pressure of the pulp during its contact with the hydrogen peroxide; however, processing becomes more difficult at higher temperatures. As the temperature of the pulp is increased, the pressure within the pressure vessel is generally also increased in order to prevent the pulp from flashing. In order to discharge the highly pressurized and heated pulp from the pressure vessel, a blow off discharge valve is used which results in flashing. The present invention overcomes one or more of the difficulties associated with the prior art. Specifically, the present invention is a novel process for bleaching pulp at temperatures at or above the atmospheric flash point. Bleaching at these temperatures improves the bleaching effect and allows more thorough use of peroxide. Further, through the recycling of filtrate containing residual peroxide, more complete use of the peroxide is obtained. According to one embodiment, through the use of a heat exchanger and a cooled recycle filtrate stream from the bleaching process, the present invention may increase one or more of the efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of high temperature peroxide bleaching procedures. By using a heat exchanger, the press filtrate exiting the system may be cooled and recycled for introduction into the system. This cooled filtrate stream may be used to cool the pulp present in the pressure vessel to below its flash point just prior to discharge. Furthermore, the heat exchanger simultaneously heats a water stream, which can then be used in this process or in an associated process to improve energy efficiency. This heat exchange system reduces the loss of heat in the system, therefore improving overall system efficiency. According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a process for the peroxide bleaching of wood pulp at temperatures at or above the atmospheric flash point. According to another embodiment, the present invention cools the pulp below the flash point while at the same time maintaining peroxide concentration through the use of cooled recycled filtrate. According to still another embodiment, the present invention retains heat within the bleaching system through the use of a heat exchanger to cool the recycled filtrate. The heat obtained from the heat exchanger may be used to heat a water stream for use in heating unbleached pulp, or in other manners. According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a bleaching process that is safer than traditional processes, and is more environmentally friendly than chlorine-based processes. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a process for high temperature peroxide bleaching of wood pulp including, providing a wood pulp; adding to the pulp compositions for bleaching; and cooling the retained pulp to a temperature below the flash point of the pulp using a cooled, recycled filtrate. Cooling the retained pulp before discharge may prevent flashing or violent discharge from the retention tank, thereby improving the resulting fiber quality. The lack of a flashing discharge coupled with no need for heavy-duty discharge valves can increase the safety of the bleaching operation. According to one embodiment of the invention, the brightness of the bleached pulp may be increased due to the higher retention temperature. According to another embodiment, the chemical consumption of the process can be decreased because of the recycling of unreacted peroxide in the filtrate. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic of one embodiment of the disclosed process in which the filtrate is recycled after being cooled in a heat exchanger. FIG. 2 is a schematic of another embodiment of the disclosed process in which some of the filtrate is recycled prior to being cooled, while the remainder of the filtrate is cooled and then recycled. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the embodiment described in FIG. 1, pulp (1) is introduced to the system and is first passed through a disk thickener (2). The disk thickener increases the solids content of the pulp. According to one embodiment, the solids content of the pulp is increased to greater than about 10%. According to another embodiment, the solids content of the pulp is increased to greater than about 12%. According to yet another embodiment, the solids content of the pulp is increased to range of from about 14% to about 16%. Low pressure steam (3), at or above about 15 p.s.i.g., is then added in a steam addition step (4) to raise the temperature of the pulp to a range of about 180° F. to about 212° F. A medium consistency pump (5) then is used to raise the pressure of the pulp. The discharge pressure of the pump (5) may be from about 100 p.s.i.g. to about 125 p.s.i.g., and the pulp may have a consistency of about 6% to about 20%. A second steam addition step (6) adds high pressure steam (7), at or above about 100 p.s.i.g., to further raise the temperature of the pulp. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the high pressure steam is introduced in the second steam addition step at an appropriate pressure, for example, about 140 p.s.i.g. Moreover, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the second steam addition raises the temperature of the pulp to at or above about 212° F. According to another embodiment, the temperature is raised to above about 220° F. According to yet another embodiment, the temperature is raised to above about 230° F. The pulp is then passed through a chemical mixer (8), which adds compositions for bleaching (9) to raise the pH of the pulp to above about 10. According to another embodiment, the pH is raised into the range of about 10.0 to about 11.0. According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the pH is raised into the range of about 10.4 to about 10.6. In still another embodiment, the pH is raised to about 10.5. The point of addition of hydrogen peroxide may be selected by the skilled artisan and is generally selected to forestall loss of peroxide. The pulp is then retained in a pressurized retention tower (10) for a time sufficient to permit bleaching and at a pressure sufficient to prevent flashing. Prior to discharge from the pressure vessel, the pH of the pulp is reduced to between about 8 and about 10; and the pulp is mixed with cool clarified filtrate and cooled to a temperature below the atmospheric flash point. The pulp can then be discharged from the pressure vessel using discharge valves (12). According to one embodiment of the present invention, the pulp is cooled primarily using a cool clarified filtrate (11). According to one embodiment of the invention, after discharge, additional cool clarified filtrate (11) can be introduced to further cool and dilute the pulp (14). The cooled clarified filtrate may reintroduce residual bleaching compositions to the pulp, thereby resulting in further bleaching. According to one embodiment of the invention, if additional bleaching compositions are introduced, either from a cooled clarified filtrate or from stock, the solids content of the pulp is retained as high as possible to ensure maximum benefit from the available bleaching compositions. When appropriate, the pulp may optionally be retained further at atmospheric pressure (13). After dilution, the pulp will have a consistency selected, as appropriate, to address issues associated with further processing of the pulp. For example, the pulp may be diluted to levels appropriate for processing through other apparatus, including but not limited to, a pump or press. According to one embodiment, the pulp may have a consistency of less than about 10% solids content. According to another embodiment, the pulp will have a consistency less than about 8% solids. In yet another embodiment, the pulp will have a consistency of less than about 5% solids. According to another embodiment of the invention, the pulp will have a consistency less than about 2% solids. The cooled, diluted pulp may then be dewatered using a press (15) to obtain a pulp (16) which can then be further bleached or otherwise processed. A filtrate (17) is also obtained from the press. The filtrate may then be clarified. Clarifying may be carried out using any art recognized method, for example, through the use of a dissolved air type clarifier (18). The hot clarified filtrate is then passed through a heat exchanger (19) to remove heat and produce a cool clarified filtrate (11) which can then be recycled for further use in the system. The heat removed from the filtrate can be used to heat a cool process water stream (20), producing a warm process water stream (21) which can be used in further pulping operations, e.g., washing, bleaching, etc. An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of FIG. 2. Pulp (22) is introduced to the system and is first passed through a disk thickener (23) and then a press (24) in order to raise the solids content of the pulp to a range of about 35% to about 50%. The pulp is then heated and diluted (25) using hot clarified filtrate (42), which reduces the solids content, but not below about 10%. According to another embodiment, the hot clarified filtrate reduces the solids content to not less than about 12%. According to yet another embodiment, the hot clarified filtrate reduces the solids content into the range of about 14% to about 16%. The addition of hot clarified filtrate also raises the temperature of the pulp to above about 150° F. Low pressure steam (26), at or above about 15 p.s.i.g., is then added in a steam addition step (27) to raise the temperature of the pulp to a range of about 180° F. to about 212° F. A medium consistency pump (28) then is used to raise the pressure of the pulp. The discharge pressure of the pump (28) may be from about 100 p.s.i.g. to about 125 p.s.i.g., and the pulp may have a consistency of about 6% to about 20%. A second steam addition step (29) adds high-pressure steam (30) to further raise the temperature of the pulp. According to one embodiment of the invention, the second steam addition raises the temperature of the pulp to at or above about 212° F. According to this embodiment, the temperature may be raised by the second steam addition to at or above about 220° F. According to another embodiment of the invention, the second steam addition can raise the temperature to at or above about 230° F. The pulp is then passed through a chemical mixer (31) which adds compositions for bleaching (32) to raise the pH of the pulp above about 10. According to another embodiment, the pH is raised into the range of about 10.0 to about 11.0. According to another embodiment of the invention, the pH is raised into the range of about 10.4 to about 10.6. In yet another embodiment, the pH is raised to about 10.5. The pulp is then retained in a pressurized retention tower (33) for a time sufficient to permit bleaching and at a pressure sufficient to prevent flashing. Prior to discharge from the pressure vessel, the pulp is cooled. The pulp is cooled to a temperature below the atmospheric flash point and the pH is reduced. According to one embodiment, the pH is reduced to at or below about 9.5. The pulp can then be discharged from the pressure vessel using discharge valves (35). According to one embodiment of the present invention, the pulp is cooled using a cool clarified filtrate (34). According to one embodiment of the invention, after discharge, additional cool clarified filtrate (34) can be introduced to further cool and dilute the pulp (37). The cooled clarified filtrate may reintroduce residual bleaching compositions to the pulp, thereby resulting in further bleaching. According to one embodiment of the invention, if additional bleaching compositions are introduced, either from a cooled clarified filtrate or from stock, the solids content of the pulp is retained as high as possible to ensure maximum benefit from the available bleaching compositions. When appropriate, the pulp may optionally be retained further at atmospheric pressure (36). After dilution, the pulp will have a consistency selected, as appropriate, to address issues associated with further processing of the pulp. For example, the pulp may be diluted to levels appropriate for processing through other apparatus, including but not limited to, a pump or press. According to one embodiment, the pulp may have a consistency of less than about 10% solids content. According to another embodiment, the pulp will have a consistency less than about 8% solids. In yet another embodiment, the pulp will have a consistency of less than about 5% solids. According to another embodiment of the invention, the pulp will have a consistency less than about 2% solids. The cooled, diluted pulp is then dewatered using a press (38) to obtain a pulp (39) which can then be further bleached or otherwise processed. A filtrate (40) is also obtained from the press. The filtrate may then be clarified, for example through the use of a dissolved air type clarifier (41). A portion of the hot clarified filtrate (42) is then passed through a heat exchanger (43) to remove heat and produce a cool clarified filtrate (34) which can then be recycled for further use in the system. The heat removed from the filtrate can be used to heat a cool process water stream (44), producing a warm process water stream (45) which can be used in further pulping operations, e.g., washing, bleaching, etc. Pulps for use according to the present invention include any art recognized pulps, including, but not limited to, chemical pulps and/or mechanical (lignin containing) pulps. Pulps may be selected from the pulps of softwoods and/or hardwoods, and may include primary (virgin) fibers, secondary (recycled) fibers, or mixtures thereof. Typically the pulp for use in the present invention has previously undergone deinking and pulping. However, other pretreatments may also be applied, including, but not limited to, mechanical kneading or dispersion of the inks, screening, cleaning, and chemical treatments with surfactants or enzymes. While the bleaching process of the present invention may be incorporated at any point in the pulping process, according to one embodiment, the bleaching is carried out immediately after deinking of the pulp. Removal of contaminants that interfere with the bleaching process result in higher bleaching efficiencies. The pulp entering the bleaching process is typically at a consistency unsuitable for bleaching. The entering pulp consistency can be as low as 1%. Any art recognized process for increasing pulp consistency can be used in the present invention. Appropriate processes for increasing consistency will be readily apparent to the skilled artisan. In one embodiment according to the present invention, a thickener may be used to increase the pulp thickness to a level suitable for bleaching. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the pulp may be thickened mechanically using any type of commercial thickening device. In one embodiment, a disk thickener is used to increase the solids content of the pulp, however disk filters, drum decker/thickeners, or presses (screw, roll, or belt type) may also be used. The thickening device may also be a pulp washer with discharge consistency above about 10% solids. Regardless of the method of thickening, the solids content of the pulp is, according to one embodiment, raised to a solids content above about 10%. According to another embodiment, the solids content is raised to above about 12%. In yet another embodiment, the solids content is raised into the range of about 14% to about 16%. In one embodiment, at any point before addition of compositions for bleaching, a chelant may be added to the pulp to prevent scaling (depositing of solid inorganic solutes onto surfaces) in subsequent steps and reduce peroxide decomposition. Suitable chelants can be selected from any art recognized chelant. Chelants include any art recognized sequestering agent including, but not limited to, diethylenetriaminepentamethylenephosphonic acid (DTMPA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid pentasodium salt (DTPA) and/or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt (EDTA). According to one embodiment of the invention, the pulp may be heated to a suitable temperature prior to bleaching. Alternatively, the pulp entering the bleaching process may have been pre-heated during other processing steps. According to one embodiment, the pulp is heated to a temperature at or above about 180° F. According to another embodiment, the pulp is heated to a temperature at or above about 212° F. According to yet another embodiment, the pulp is heated to a temperature at or above about 220° F. In still another embodiment, the pulp is heated to a temperature at or above about 230° F. Heating may be carried out using any art-recognized heating means. In one embodiment according to the present invention, steam may be used to heat the pulp, since it can be used without substantially diluting the pulp. Heating may be carried out in a single stage or in multiple stages, but is typically performed in a variety of stages at increasing pressure levels in order to prevent flashing. By way of example, the pulp may first be heated to about 180° F. at atmospheric pressure using low pressure steam, then pressurized using a medium consistency pump followed by heating to about 230° F. using high pressure steam. In order to bleach the pulp, art-recognized bleaching compositions are added to the wood pulp either before, after, or during heating. Compositions which may be introduced to the pulp for bleaching include hydrogen peroxide, and may include other bleaching agents including but not limited to, one or more of alkali hydroxide, gaseous oxygen, ozone, and peroxygen compounds (including, but not limited to, peracetic and peroxymonosulfuric acid). The bleaching agents may further include reductive agents (including, but not limited to, formadmidine sulfinic acid (FAS), hydroxymethane sulfinic acid (HAS), sodium borohydride, and sodium hydrosulfite), and mixtures thereof. In one embodiment according to the present invention, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, and gaseous oxygen are all added to the pulp for bleaching. Optionally, catalyzing or activating agents may be added. The compositions and pulp are mixed together to provide sufficient contact. According to one embodiment of the present invention, mixing is carried out until substantial homogeneity is reached. Mixing may be accomplished using any art recognized mixer. Appropriate mixers include devices such as high shear mixers, medium consistency pumps, pressurizable kneaders, and disk dispergers or refiners. In one embodiment, the pH of the pulp after the addition of the bleaching compositions is maintained at a level sufficient to maintain the presence of the perhydroxyl anion (OOH−) in the pulp. According to another embodiment, the pH is greater than about 10. According to another embodiment, the pH is from about 10.0 to about 11.0. According to another embodiment of the invention, the pH is in the range of about 10.4 to about 10.6. In yet another embodiment, the pH is about 10.5. The pulp is then retained in contact with the bleaching compositions for a period sufficient to allow substantial reaction between the chemicals and the pulp. Retention may be performed in any art recognized pressure vessel. Retention may be carried out in, for example, an upflow-type retention tower. According to another embodiment, retention is performed in a pressure vessel having a discharge valve. The discharge valve may be a blow valve, but a blow valve is not required. According to one embodiment of the invention, the temperature of the pulp during retention is maintained above the atmospheric flash point of the pulp. According to another embodiment, the temperature is maintained at or above about 212° F. In yet another embodiment, the temperature is maintained at or above about 230° F. The pressure during retention is maintained at a level sufficient to prevent flashing and formation of oxygen bubbles. According to one embodiment, the minimum pressure during retention is maintained at or above about 12 p.s.i.g. According to another embodiment, the pressure during retention is maintained at or above about 50 p.s.i.g. Other specific temperature and pressure combinations, which may be maintained during retention, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. According to one embodiment of the invention, the pulp contacts the compositions for a period of time sufficient to bleach the pulp to the degree of brightness desired. It is readily apparent to the skilled artisan that retention time is a function of temperature. The higher the temperature, the shorter the retention time may be to achieve the same result. In one embodiment, a 10-30 point improvement in brightness may be obtained, depending on the starting brightness of the pulp. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the retention time is less than about 15 minutes. According to another embodiment of the invention, the retention time is less than 5 minutes. According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the retention time is less than about one minute. According to still another embodiment, the retention time is from 0.1 to about 20 seconds. In an alternative embodiment, the basicity of the pulp can be monitored to determine when to end retention of the pulp. The pH of the pulp mixture will decrease as the bleaching chemicals react. According to one embodiment, at the end of the bleaching the pH is from about 8 to about 10. According to still another embodiment, the pH at the end of bleaching is from about 9 to about 10. According to one embodiment, the makeup of the bleaching composition is controlled so that at the end of the bleaching, the pH will be between about 8 and 10 and from about 95 to 99% of the hydrogen peroxide will have been consumed. According to yet another embodiment, the pH will be between about 9 and 10 and between 95 and 97% of the hydrogen peroxide will have been consumed. Prior to discharge from the pressure vessel, the pulp temperature is decreased. According to one embodiment the pulp temperature is decreased by using cooled filtrate recovered from the dewatering step and cooled in the heat exchanger. Alternatively, non-recycled water may be added to cool the pulp. According to one embodiment, the pulp is cooled below the atmospheric flash point of the pulp. The temperature may be reduced to below about 210° F. In an alternative embodiment, the temperature of the pulp is reduced to below about 200° F. In yet another embodiment, the temperature is reduced to below about 180° F. The addition of the cooled filtrate also acts to dilute the pulp mixture. The consistency of the pulp may be reduced, however, the consistency of the pulp should be maintained at or above about 1% solids content. According to another embodiment, the pulp consistency is reduced to at or above about 5%. According to yet another embodiment, the pulp consistency is reduced to at or above about 8%. According to yet another embodiment, the pulp consistency is reduced to at or above about 10%. Using recycled filtrate to dilute the pulp allows the concentration of bleaching compositions to be maintained at a level sufficient to allow further bleaching of the pulp. Once sufficiently cooled, the pulp can then be discharged to atmospheric pressure. Because the temperature of the pulp is below the atmospheric flash point, this can be performed with a lightweight or light duty discharge valve system. According to one embodiment, a double valve or a cyclone may be used. Other suitable pressure release valves will be readily apparent to the skilled artisan and include, for example butterfly valves, ball port valves, V-port valves, and/or rotary port valves. The discharged pulp may then be fed into an atmospheric retention tank sized to provide up to two hours of additional retention time, if desired. Retention at atmospheric pressure can allow further bleaching of the wood pulp. According to one embodiment, the recycled filtrate that was used to cool the pulp below the flash point allows the peroxide density during the atmospheric retention to be maintained at a higher level and increases the effectiveness of further bleaching. The period of time at which the pulp may be retained at atmospheric pressure will be apparent to those of skill in the art. In one embodiment, the pulp may be retained at atmospheric pressure for approximately an additional two hours. Appropriate retention times will be readily apparent to the skilled artisan. Retention times may be selected so that there is minimal residual hydrogen peroxide present in the pulp at release, but still a sufficient amount to minimize brightness reversion. Appropriate times and amounts are within the purview of the skilled artisan. According to one embodiment, the residual hydrogen peroxide at release is at or above about 1% of the original charge. According to another embodiment, the residual hydrogen peroxide at release is between about 3% and about 5% of the original charge. The desired amount of residual hydrogen peroxide may be derived as a proportion of residual sodium hydroxide. The ratio of residual hydrogen peroxide to residual sodium hydroxide may be in the range of 10:1 to 1:10. According to another embodiment, the ratio is about 1:1. In one embodiment, further cooled recycled press filtrate can be added to further dilute the pulp prior to dewatering. According to another embodiment, the pulp is diluted to below about 5% solids content to allow the pulp to be pumped to a dewatering or washing device. Additionally, such dilution allows more efficient removal of residual chemicals during later dewatering. The pulp is then dewatered to a level sufficient to prevent carryover of peroxide to any subsequent stage of processing. According to one embodiment, the pulp is dewatered to at least about 35% discharge solids. According to yet another embodiment, the pulp is dewatered to at least about 50% solids. Dewatering may be accomplished with any chemical or mechanical thickener or washer known to those in the art, including but not limited to those previously mentioned. In one embodiment, a standard twin wire or screw type press is used to dewater and thicken the pulp. Further processing steps may be performed on the pulp after completing the bleaching process described in the present invention. For example, the pulp may be further bleached in a reductive bleaching stage using compounds such as FAS or sodium hydrosulfite to decolorize dyes present in the pulp. The filtrate recovered during the dewatering step can be clarified prior to recycling. Clarification may be performed to remove excess solids or ash in the filtrate stream. In another embodiment, a dissolved air type clarifier is used to remove unwanted impurities from the filtrate. Alternatively, a settling clarifier or mechanical filtering device may be used. The filtrate may be cooled prior to recycling. According to one embodiment, the filtrate is cooled to a temperature sufficient to cool heated retained pulp below the atmospheric flash point when reintroduced to the retention vessel. The filtrate may be cooled to below about 140° F. According to another embodiment, the filtrate is cooled to below about 130° F. According to yet another embodiment, the filtrate is cooled to below about 120° F. The filtrate may be cooled using any art-recognized method including contact with the atmosphere or with a heat exchanger. According to one embodiment, the filtrate is cooled using the heat exchanger, which is a non-contact type heat exchanger. According to another embodiment, the heat exchanger simultaneously heats a separate process water stream using the heat recovered while cooling the filtrate. The heated process water stream from the heat exchanger may be used for further pulping operations. For example, the water stream can be used to dilute and/or pre-heat pulp wastepaper prior to bleaching. Reusing the heated water reduces the amount of energy used in the pulping process, thereby reducing the amount of energy consumed by the system and making the system more efficient. This also results in a cost savings. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a portion of the hot filtrate from the dewatering step is not passed through the heat exchanger in order to cool the filtrate. Instead, the hot filtrate is recycled and used to heat the pulp prior to bleaching. The use of hot filtrate to heat the pulp also dilutes the pulp. Unless the pulp is substantially thickened prior to hot filtrate addition, the resulting pulp mixture will be a consistency below that expected for optimum bleaching. Therefore, in the alternative embodiment, after the pulp is introduced into the system and thickened with a disk thickener, an added step using a press (such as a screw or belt type press) further thickens the pulp. Alternatively, the pulp may be thickened after addition of the hot filtrate. The pulp is thickened to a level such that the addition of hot filtrate dilutes the pulp to a level suitable for bleaching. According to one embodiment of the invention, the pulp is thickened to a consistency of at least about 35%. According to another embodiment, the pulp is thickened to a consistency of at least about 50%. Due to the thickening, the addition of the hot filtrate therefore does not dilute the pulp below a solids content of about 10%. The addition of the hot clarified filtrate can be used to heat the pulp to a temperature of up to about 150° F. prior to the addition of steam. Because the pulp is already at a high temperature, less steam can be used resulting in additional cost savings. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a schematic of one embodiment of the disclosed process in which the filtrate is recycled after being cooled in a heat exchanger. FIG. 2 is a schematic of another embodiment of the disclosed process in which some of the filtrate is recycled prior to being cooled, while the remainder of the filtrate is cooled and then recycled. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040622 | 20071120 | 20051222 | 60281.0 | 0 | HUG, JOHN ERIC | PROCESS FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE PEROXIDE BLEACHING OF PULP WITH COOL DISCHARGE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,467 | ACCEPTED | Warm-up circuit for CCFLs | A warm-up circuit adjusts the brightness of a CCFL through using PWM technique for a scanner. The warm-up circuit has an inverter connected to the CCFL for supplying power, and a PWM controller connected to the inverter for outputting a first control signal to the inverter in a warm-up time and outputting a second control signal to the inverter to control the inverter supplying power to the CCFL in a scan time. | 1. A warm-up circuit for CCFLs disposed in a scanner for controlling the brightness of a CCFL according to a reference voltage, said warm-up circuit comprising: an inverter connected to said CCFL and providing a drive power to said CCFL; and a PWM control unit connected to said inverter and outputting a first control signal to said inverter in a warm-up time and outputting a second control signal to said inverter to control said inverter supplying power to said CCFL in a scan time. 2. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said first control signal to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 3. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said second control signal to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 4. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said first control signal and said second control signal in order to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 5. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first control signal and said second control signal control said inverter to provide a first lamp current and a second lamp current of said drive power for said CCFL, respectively. 6. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an RC circuit connected to said PWM control unit and adjusting said warm-up time by adjusting resistance and capacitance values of said RC circuit. 7. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 5, wherein a duty cycle of said first control signal is longer than that of said second control signal. 8. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 5, wherein said first lamp current is higher than said second lamp current. 9. A warm-up circuit for CCFLs disposed in a scanner for controlling the brightness of said CCFL according to a reference voltage, said warm-up circuit comprising: an inverter connected to said CCFL and providing a drive power for said CCFL; and a PWM control unit connected to said inverter and outputting a first control signal and a second control signal to said inverter to control said inverter supplying power to said CCFL. 10. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 9, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said first control signal to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 11. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 9, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said second control signal to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 12. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 9, wherein said inverter comprises: a transformer connected to said CCFL via a secondary side coil for conversion of said drive power; and at least a transfer switch connected to said PWM control unit, said reference voltage and a primary side coil of said transformer, said transfer switch being controlled by said first control signal and said second control signal in order to perform on/off switching actions and transfer said reference voltage to the primary side coil of said transformer in an alternating way. 13. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 9, wherein said first control signal and said second control signal control said inverter to provide a first lamp current and a second lamp current of said drive power to said CCFL, respectively. 14. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 9, further comprising an RC circuit connected to said PWM control unit for adjusting a time for said PWM control unit to output said first control signal by adjusting the resistance value and capacitance value of said RC circuit. 15. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 13, wherein a duty cycle of said first control signal is longer than that of said second control signal. 16. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs as claimed in claim 13, wherein said first lamp current is higher than said second lamp current. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a warm-up circuit for CCFLs and, more particularly, to a circuit disposed in a scanner to warm up and control the brightness of a CCFL according to a reference voltage. 2. Description of Related Art Scanners are popular products in a fast developing industry. They can convert images like common photographs, texts and pictures into digital format that can be displayed, edited, stored and printed by a computer. Scanners still use cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) as their primary light sources. The CCFL generally needs a period of time to generate light of stable brightness after it is turned on. This period of time is referred to a warm-up time. That is, before a scanner starts a scanning operation, a warm-up time of about several minutes is required to let the CCFL have a uniform brightness after the power is turned on. The scanning operation can then be carried out. As shown in FIG. 1, the y-axis represents the brightness of the CCFL in units of cd/m2, while the x-axis represents time t. Under a constant lamp current I of the CCFL, the brightness of the lamp will rise with the time t. When a warm-up time ts is reached, the brightness of the lamp will reach a stable state. For the above adjustment of the brightness of the lamp, the required constant lamp current is provided by an analog voltage controller. That is, an analog voltage is used to adjust the brightness. After a user turns on the power of a scanner from the off state, it is necessary to wait for a warm-up time of several minutes before scanning. Moreover, when the scanner is used for continuous scanning, the constant lamp current continually flowing to the lamp will produce a lot of heat, which would cause structural deformation and would have negative effect on scanning quality. In other words, the warm-up time will have negative effect on the operation efficiency of a scanner by slowing the scanning speed, and heat produced by the lamp will have negative effect on the scanning quality. Therefore, shortening the warm-up time and controlling the constant lamp current will enhance the operation efficiency of the scanner and reduce heat produced by the lamp to avoid structural deformation and also improve the scanning quality. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is to provide a warm-up circuit for CCFLs. The warm-up circuit adjusts the brightness of a CCFL through using a pulse width modulation (PWM) technique for a scanner. The warm-up circuit provides a first lamp current to the CCFL for fast achieving a stable brightness of the CCFL after the scanner is turned on. After the stable brightness of the CCFL is achieved, the scanner can start to scan. At the moment when the scanner starts to scan, the warm-up circuit will provide a second lamp current to the CCFL for maintaining the stable brightness thereof. When the scanner scans, the warm-up circuit will momentarily get a feedback signal of the emission status of the CCFL and a feedback signal of the heating status of the CCFL. After comparison and processing, the second lamp current for the CCFL can be changed in real time for adjusting the brightness and the dissipated-heat of the CCFL. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention comprises an inverter connected to the CCFL for supplying power, and a PWM controller connected to the inverter. The PWM controller outputs a first control signal to the inverter in a warm-up time and then outputs a second control signal to the inverter to control the inverter supplying the power to the CCFL in a scan time. The first control signal and the second control signal control the inverter for producing a first lamp current and a second lamp current for the CCFL, respectively. An RC circuit connected to the PWM control unit is further used to adjust the warm-up time of the CCLF by adjusting the resistance value and capacitance value of the RC circuit. Moreover, the duty ratio of the first control signal is larger than that of the second control signal. This design will control the inverter to provide a larger first lamp current and a smaller second lamp current. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which: FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the warm-up curve of a constant lamp current of a conventional CCFL; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the warm-up curve of two different constant lamp currents of a conventional CCFL; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention; FIG. 4 is another block diagram of a warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram of a first control signal and a second control signal of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a warm-up diagram of a lamp current of a CCFL of the present invention; and FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 2, the y-axis represents the brightness of a CCFL in cd/m2, while the x-axis represents time t. When a constant lamp current I1 is used to warm up the CCFL, the brightness B1 of the CCFL will reach a stable state at time t1. When a constant lamp current I2 is used to warm up the CCFL, the brightness B2 of the CCFL will reach a stable state at time t2. From FIG. 2, it can be seen that providing an enlarged lamp current to the CCFL can effectively shorten the warm-up time and have a higher stable brightness value. Reference is made to FIG. 3, in which a warm-up circuit 1 of CCFLs of the present invention is disposed in a scanner (not shown) for controlling the brightness of a CCFL 3 according to a reference voltage 2. The warm-up circuit 1 comprises an inverter 14, a PWM control unit 12 and an RC circuit. The circuit diagram of the warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7. The PWM control unit 12 is a control IC manufactured by Highland Electronic Co., Ltd. (a DC/DC control IC with a part No. 34063). A DC voltage of 12V is used as the reference voltage 2. The inverter 14 adopts the Royal Type inverter circuit architecture. Reference is made to FIG. 3 again. The present invention makes use of the PWM control unit 12 connected to the inverter 14 and used for outputting a control signal for the inverter 14. Therefore, the inverter 14 supplies, under the control of the PWM control unit 12, a drive power to the CCFL 3 according to the reference voltage 2. Moreover, the PWM control unit 12 is further connected to an RC circuit. By adjusting the resistance value and capacitance value of the RC circuit, the output time of the control signal can be adjusted. Reference is made to FIG. 4 as well as FIG. 3. The inverter 14 in FIG. 3 comprises a transformer 144 and at least a transfer switch 142. The transformer 144 is connected to the CCFL 3 via a secondary side coil for conversion of the drive power. The transfer switch 142 is connected to the PWM control unit 12, the reference voltage 2 and a primary side coil of the transformer 144. The transfer switch 142 is controlled, by the control signal that is output from the PWM control unit 12, to perform on/off switching actions and transfers the reference voltage 2 to the primary side coil of the transformer 144 in an alternating way. Reference is made to FIG. 5 as well as FIG. 4. The y-axis represents voltage v, while the x-axis represents time t. The control signal output by the PWM control unit 12 is based on an optimum warm-up time for an optimum scan time predetermined in the scanner. The lamp current supplied by the inverter 14 to the CCFL 3 can be divided into a first control signal S1 and a second control signal S2. The duty cycle of the first control signal S1 is longer than that of the second control signal S2. When the scanner (not shown) is in the warm-up time, the PWM control unit 12 will output the first control signal S1 to the inverter 14 for controlling on/off switching actions of the transfer switch 142 and transferring the reference voltage 2 to the CCFL 3 via the transformer 144 in an alternating way. At this time, the lamp current supplied to the CCFL 3 is a first lamp current. Furthermore, after the brightness of the CCFL 3 of the scanner (not shown) reaches a stable state, the PWM control unit 12 will output the second control signal S2 to the inverter 14 for supplying a second lamp current to the CCFL 3. The first lamp current is higher than the second lamp current. Reference is made to FIG. 6 as well as FIG. 4. The y-axis represents the brightness of the CCFL 3 in cd/m2, while the x-axis represents time t. During time t0 to t3, the lamp current I3 supplied to the CCFL 3 is the first lamp current. The PWM control unit 12 outputs the first control signal S1 to control the inverter 14 to obtain the first lamp current. At this time, the first lamp current lets the CCFL enter a quick warm-up state, i.e., a warm-up time. During time t3 to t4, the lamp current I3 supplied to the CCFL 3 is the second lamp current. The PWM control unit 12 outputs the second control signal S2 to control the inverter 14 for obtaining the second lamp current. At this time, the lamp current flowing into the CCFL 3 changes from the larger first lamp current to the smaller second lamp current to enter into a scan state. At the time t3, the lamp current I3 changes from the first lamp current to the second lamp current. Next, the brightness B3 of the CCFL 3 will reach a stable state after a short period of time (t3 to t4). After the time t4, the scanner (not shown) enters the scan state. Reference is made to FIG. 6 as well as FIGS. 3 and 5. The first control signal S1 and the second control signal S2, both of which are output by the PWM control unit 12 in this order, control the inverter 14 to supply the first lamp current and the second lamp current of the drive power to the CCFL 3. An RC circuit 16 connected to the PWM control unit 12 is further made use of in the present invention to adjust the warm-up time (i.e., the time from t0 to t3) by adjusting the resistance value and capacitance value of the RC circuit 16. Moreover, the duty cycle of the first control signal S1 is longer than that of the second control signal S2. This design will control the inverter 14 to provide a larger first lamp current and a smaller second lamp current. Reference is made to FIG. 6 again. After the time t4, the brightness of the CCFL 3 will be kept stable so that the scanner (not shown) can start scanning. This stable brightness B3 depends on the value of the second lamp current. Moreover, when the scanner (not shown) scans, the warm-up circuit of the present invention will momentarily get a feedback signal of the emission status of the CCFL 3 and a feedback signal of the heating status of the CCFL 3. After comparison and processing, the second lamp current supplied to the CCFL 3 can be changed in real time for adjusting the brightness and the dissipated-heat of the CCFL 3. To sum up, the present invention proposes a warm-up circuit for CCFLs for adjusting the brightness of a CCFL through using PWM technique in a scanner. When the scanner is turned on, a first lamp current is supplied to the CCFL to reach the brightness of the CCFL quickly. Next, a second lamp current is supplied to the CCFL for keeping the brightness of the CCFL stable. Moreover, when the scanner scans, the warm-up circuit of the present invention will momentarily get a feedback signal of the emission status of the CCFL and a feedback signal of the heating status of the CCFL. After comparison and processing, the second lamp current supplied to the CCFL can be changed in real time for adjusting the brightness and the dissipated heat of the CCFL. Therefore, the present invention can effectively shorten the warm-up time of a scanner and can control the constant lamp current to enhance the operation efficiency of the scanner and reduce heat produced by the lamp to avoid structural deformation and also improve the scanning quality. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and other will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a warm-up circuit for CCFLs and, more particularly, to a circuit disposed in a scanner to warm up and control the brightness of a CCFL according to a reference voltage. 2. Description of Related Art Scanners are popular products in a fast developing industry. They can convert images like common photographs, texts and pictures into digital format that can be displayed, edited, stored and printed by a computer. Scanners still use cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) as their primary light sources. The CCFL generally needs a period of time to generate light of stable brightness after it is turned on. This period of time is referred to a warm-up time. That is, before a scanner starts a scanning operation, a warm-up time of about several minutes is required to let the CCFL have a uniform brightness after the power is turned on. The scanning operation can then be carried out. As shown in FIG. 1 , the y-axis represents the brightness of the CCFL in units of cd/m 2 , while the x-axis represents time t. Under a constant lamp current I of the CCFL, the brightness of the lamp will rise with the time t. When a warm-up time ts is reached, the brightness of the lamp will reach a stable state. For the above adjustment of the brightness of the lamp, the required constant lamp current is provided by an analog voltage controller. That is, an analog voltage is used to adjust the brightness. After a user turns on the power of a scanner from the off state, it is necessary to wait for a warm-up time of several minutes before scanning. Moreover, when the scanner is used for continuous scanning, the constant lamp current continually flowing to the lamp will produce a lot of heat, which would cause structural deformation and would have negative effect on scanning quality. In other words, the warm-up time will have negative effect on the operation efficiency of a scanner by slowing the scanning speed, and heat produced by the lamp will have negative effect on the scanning quality. Therefore, shortening the warm-up time and controlling the constant lamp current will enhance the operation efficiency of the scanner and reduce heat produced by the lamp to avoid structural deformation and also improve the scanning quality. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>One object of the present invention is to provide a warm-up circuit for CCFLs. The warm-up circuit adjusts the brightness of a CCFL through using a pulse width modulation (PWM) technique for a scanner. The warm-up circuit provides a first lamp current to the CCFL for fast achieving a stable brightness of the CCFL after the scanner is turned on. After the stable brightness of the CCFL is achieved, the scanner can start to scan. At the moment when the scanner starts to scan, the warm-up circuit will provide a second lamp current to the CCFL for maintaining the stable brightness thereof. When the scanner scans, the warm-up circuit will momentarily get a feedback signal of the emission status of the CCFL and a feedback signal of the heating status of the CCFL. After comparison and processing, the second lamp current for the CCFL can be changed in real time for adjusting the brightness and the dissipated-heat of the CCFL. The warm-up circuit for CCFLs of the present invention comprises an inverter connected to the CCFL for supplying power, and a PWM controller connected to the inverter. The PWM controller outputs a first control signal to the inverter in a warm-up time and then outputs a second control signal to the inverter to control the inverter supplying the power to the CCFL in a scan time. The first control signal and the second control signal control the inverter for producing a first lamp current and a second lamp current for the CCFL, respectively. An RC circuit connected to the PWM control unit is further used to adjust the warm-up time of the CCLF by adjusting the resistance value and capacitance value of the RC circuit. Moreover, the duty ratio of the first control signal is larger than that of the second control signal. This design will control the inverter to provide a larger first lamp current and a smaller second lamp current. | 20040622 | 20081230 | 20060105 | 61668.0 | H04N140 | 0 | SAFAIPOUR, HOUSHANG | WARM-UP CIRCUIT FOR CCFLS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04N | 2,004 |
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10,872,544 | ACCEPTED | Optical disk drive | An optical disk drive includes: a tray having first and second loading portions for respectively loading a first disk and a second disk of a smaller diameter than the first disk, the first and second loading portions having different heights, first and second inclined portions formed obliquely outward and inward on edges of the first and second loading portions, respectively. The optical disk drive further includes: a spindle motor having a turntable supporting the disks on a plane thereof, the motor rotating the disks and approaching/departing from the disks; and a clamp rotatably supporting the disks on the other plane thereof, wherein the clamp can approach the disks due to a magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable as the spindle motor approaches the disks. | 1. An optical disk drive comprising: a tray including first and second loading portions respectively loading a first disk and a second disk of a smaller diameter than the first disk, the first and second loading portions having different heights, first and second inclined portions formed obliquely outward and inward on edges of the first and second loading portions, and a separation preventing portion extending over the first loading portion to prevent the first disk from separating from the first loading portion; a spindle motor having a turntable supporting the disks on one plane thereof and rotating the disks, said spindle motor approaching/separating from the disks; and a clamp rotatably supporting the disks on the other plane thereof, wherein the clamp approaches the disks due to a magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable as the spindle motor approaches the disks. 2. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the clamp comprises: a first member; a second member installed in the first member and approaching the disks due to the magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable; and an elastic member for elastically biasing the first member in a direction in which the second member is detached from the disk. 3. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second disks have diameters of 120 mm and 80 mm, respectively. 4. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the turntable is formed wholly or partly of a magnetic material. 5. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a magnet located on the turntable and an iron piece located on the clamp. 6. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a magnet located on the clamp and an iron piece located on the turntable. 7. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein magnets of different polarities provided on the turntable and the clamp. 8. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second member is configured to support a top surface of the disks, while facing the turntable. 9. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the disk drive further includes an optical pickup. 10. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 9, wherein a hollow window is formed on the tray allowing the optical pickup to access the disk. 11. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the separation preventing portion is placed at various locations of the first loading portion. 12. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, further including a first frame and a second frame facing the first frame. 13. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 12, wherein the tray is slidably installed in the first frame. 14. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first inclined portion extends from the first loading portion to a top surface of the tray. 15. The optical disk drive as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second inclined portion extends from the second loading portion to the first loading portion. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 200348653, filed on Jul. 16, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical disk drive and, more particularly, to an optical disk drive which can be installed horizontally or vertically. 2. Description of the Related Art An optical disk drive is a device for writing or reading information by irradiating light onto a disk-shaped optical medium (hereinafter called a disk) such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD). FIG. 1 is a plan view of one example of a conventional optical disk drive and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the conventional optical disk drive of FIG. 1 taken along line I-I′. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tray 20 is slidably installed in a frame 10. The frame 10 includes a spindle motor 31 for rotating a disk 50, and a deck 30 having an optical pickup 32 for accessing the disk while sliding above the disk. The deck 30 is installed under the tray 20 and is able to ascend or descend. A loading motor 13 for loading or unloading the tray 20 is also installed in the frame 10. A cover 40 with a clamp 41 is provided above the frame 10. When the disk 50 is mounted on a first loading surface 21 of the tray 20 and then the loading motor 13 is rotated, the tray 20 slides in the direction A shown in FIG. 1. When the loading of the tray 20 is completed, the deck 30 is lifted. A bottom 51 of the disk 50 comes into contact with a turntable 34 on the rotation shaft of the spindle motor 31, and the disk 50 is lifted with the deck 30. When the clamp 41 makes contact with a top surface 52 of the disk 50, the turntable 34 and the clamp 41 support the disk 50. Here, the disk 50 is slightly moved upward from the first loading surface 21, as shown in FIG. 2. In this situation, as the spindle motor 31 rotates the disk 50, the optical pickup 32 slides in a radial direction of the disk 50 and accesses the disk 50 so as to write and/or read information. The procedure of unloading the disk 50 is carried out in the reverse order of its loading. The optical disk drive is usually installed horizontally as shown in FIG. 1. However, recently, the optical disk dive is frequently installed vertically as shown in FIG. 3. If the optical disk drive is vertically installed, a catch 23 extending slightly upward from the first loading surface 21 is provided as also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to prevent the disk 50 from falling or separating from the first loading surface 21 after being loaded. Since the disk 50 contacts only the turntable 34 in the ascending section (D1 of FIG. 2) from the moment when the bottom 51 of the disk 50 comes into contact with the turntable 34 to the moment when the top surface 52 of the disk 50 comes into contact with the clamp 41, the disk 50 may be possibly detached from the turntable 34 when vertically installed. Usually, the disk 50 has a diameter of 120 mm. However, recently a disk 60 with a diameter of 80 mm has been largely used. As shown in FIG. 4, in order to load the disk 60, the tray 20 has a second loading surface 22 lower than the first loading surface 21. When the disk 60 is loaded in a vertically installed optical disk drive, the disk 60 may fall or separate from the second loading surface 22 during loading of the tray 20. Since the second loading surface 22 is lower than the first loading surface 21, the ascending section D2, from the moment when a bottom 61 of the disk 60 contacts the turntable 34 to the moment when a top surface 62 of the disk 60 comes into contact with the clamp 41, is longer than the ascending section D1 of the disk 50 having a diameter of 120 mm. For this reason, it is highly possible that the disk 60 separates from the turntable 34 before coming into contact with the clamp 41. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an optical disk drive into which a disk can be stably loaded even when the optical disk drive is installed vertically. Furthermore, the present invention provides an optical disk drive into which two disks having different diameters can be stably loaded even when the optical disk drive is installed vertically. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk drive having a tray including first and second loading portions for respectively loading a first disk and a second disk of a smaller diameter than the first disk, the first and second loading portions having different heights, first and second inclined portions formed obliquely outward and inward on edges of the first and second loading portions, respectively, and a separation preventing portion extending over the first loading portion to prevent the first disk from departing from the first loading portion; a spindle motor having a turntable supporting the disks on one plane thereof and rotating the disks and approaching/departing from the disks; and a clamp rotatably supporting the disks on the other plane thereof, wherein the clamp can approach the disks due to a magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable as the spindle motor approaches the disks. The clamp may include: a first member; a second member installed in the first member and approaching the disks due to the magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable; and an elastic member elastically-biasing the first member in a direction in which the second member is detached from the disks. Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an example of a conventional optical disk drive; FIG. 2 is a sectional view the conventional optical disk drive of FIG. 1 taken along line I-I′; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the conventional optical disk drive installed vertically; FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a case where an 80 mm disk is loaded into the optical disk drive shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of an optical disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a tray shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the optical disk drive of FIG. 5 taken along line II-II′; FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are sectional views for explaining a loading procedure of a first disk; and FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C are sectional views for explaining a loading procedure of a second disk. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. Referring to FIG. 5, an optical disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first frame 110, a second frame 120 facing the first frame 110, and a tray 300. The optical disk drive further includes an optical pickup 150 for writing and/or reading information while accessing a disk 200, and a spindle motor 160 for rotating the disk 200. Reference numeral 170 indicates a loading motor for loading/unloading the tray 300. Reference numeral 171 indicates a pinion rotated by the loading motor 170, and reference numeral 400 indicates a clamp. The loading motor 170 and the pinion 171 are installed in the first framel 10. A cam member 180 is slidably installed in the first frame 110 in directions C1 and C2. The cam member 180 has a pair of first cam grooves 181, and a first rack gear 182 selectively connected to the pinion 171. A boss 183 is formed in the cam member 180. A deck 140 is installed in the first frame 110. The spindle motor 160 and the optical pickup 150 are installed in the deck 140. A turntable 161, on which the disk 200 is placed, is coupled to the spindle motor 160. A magnet (not shown) is provided in the turntable 161. The turntable 161 may be formed wholly or partly of a magnetic material. The optical pickup 150 is installed to be able to slide along a guide shaft 143. The deck 140 is coupled rotatably to a pivot 112 placed in the first frame 110. Two shafts 142 are provided in the front 141 of the deck 140. The two shafts 142 are inserted into the first cam groove 181. The tray 300 is installed slidably in the first frame 110. A plurality of guide members 113 and 114 are positioned on both or each of the sides of the first frame 110. The guide members 113 and 114 are spaced vertically so as to allow the tray 300 to slide. A hollow window 301 is formed in the tray 300 so that the optical pickup 150 is able to access the disk 200. A rail 302, interposed between the guide members 113 and 114, is formed on both sides of the tray 300. As indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 5, on the bottom of the tray 300 are provided a second rack gear 303 connected to the pinion 171 and a second cam groove 304 interfering with the boss 183 of the cam member 180 when the tray 300 is loaded. The tray 300 has a first loading portion 310 for the first disk 210 and a second loading portion 320 for the second disk 220. In this embodiment, the first disk 210 is a 120 mm-diameter disk, and the second disk 220 is a 80 mm-diameter disk. The second loading portion 320 is formed lower than the first loading portion 310. Referring to FIG. 6, the first and second inclined portions 340 and 350 are tilted outside and inside, respectively, and are formed on the edges of the first and second loading portions 310 and 320. The first inclined portion 340 extends to the top surface 305 of the tray 300 from the first loading portion 310, while the second inclined portion 350 extends from the second loading portion 320 to the first loading portion 310. When the optical disk drive is installed vertically, a single or multiple separation preventing portions 330 may be formed in the tray 300 so that the first disk 210 is prevented from falling or separating from the first loading portion 310. The separation preventing portion or portions 330 may be formed to extend slightly over the first loading portion 310 from the top surface 305 of the tray 300. The separation preventing portion or portions 330, as shown in FIG. 5, are desirably presented in at least four symmetrical places at the reference of the direction where the tray 300 slides. The clamp 400 is installed movably in the second frame 120. Turning to FIG. 7, the clamp 400, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes a first member 410, a second member 420, and an elastic member 430. The elastic member 430 elastically connects the first and second members 410 and 420 with each other. The second member 420 is configured to support the top surface of the disk 200, while facing the turntable 161. An iron piece 421 is provided in the second member 420 so as to attract the magnet (not shown) placed in the turntable 161. The elastic member 430 makes the second member 420 elastically bias in the opposite direction to that of the magnetic force exerted between the turntable 161 and the second member 420 with respect to the first member 410. In this embodiment, a tensile coil spring is used as the elastic member 430, as shown in FIG. 7. The clamp 400 is installed movably with respect to the second frame 120 by the edge 411 of the first member 410 put on a support 121 of the second frame 120. In order not to cause the tray 300 to interfere with the second member 420 when the tray 300 is loaded or unloaded, the bottom of the second member 420 is desirably placed slightly over the top surface 305 of the tray 300. The clamp 400 shown in FIG. 7 may have various forms. Hereinafter the procedure of loading the first and second disks 210 and 220 into a vertically installed optical disk drive will be described. First, the procedure of loading the first disk 210 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 5, the first disk 210 is mounted on the first loading portion 310. When the loading motor 170 rotates, the pinion 171 connected to the second rack gear 303 is rotated. The tray 300 slides in the direction B1 shown in FIG. 5. Here, the cam member 180 does not move because the first rack gear 182 is detached from the pinion 171. The tray 300 continues to slide so that the boss 183 of the cam member 180 is inserted into the second cam groove 304 placed in the tray 300. From this moment, the cam member 180 moves in the direction C1 of FIG. 5 due to the interference between the second cam groove 304 and the boss 183, and the first rack gear 182 is connected to the pinion 171. When the tray 300 is completely loaded, the connection between the pinion 171 and the second rack gear 304 is finished so that the tray 300 stops sliding. When the optical disk drive is vertically installed, it is more likely that the first disk 210 slides down to a position indicated by solid lines from a position indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 8A so that the first disk 210 stands obliquely and is hooked by the separation preventing portion 330. As a result, the first disk 210 does not separate from the first loading portion 310 due to the separation preventing portion 330. When the loading motor 170 rotates, the cam member 180 slides in the direction C1 of FIG. 5, and the deck 140 turns on the pivot 112 due to the interference between the shaft 142 and the first cam groove 181. Therefore, the spindle motor 160 moves toward the first disk 210. When the turntable 161 comes near the first disk 210, the elastic member 430 extends due to the magnetic force exerted between the magnet (not shown) and the iron piece 421 placed in the second member 420, and then the second member 420 approaches the first disk 210. The second member 420 comes into contact with the top surface 211 of the first disk 210 and pushes the first disk 210 toward the first loading portion 310. The first disk 210 moves along the first inclined portion 310 so that the bottom surface 211 comes into contact with the first loading portion 310 as shown in FIG. 8B. When the turntable 161 comes into contact with the bottom surface 212 of the first disk 210 and the spindle motor 160 continues to move towards the disk, the second member 420 is pushed toward the second frame 120 while in contact with the top surface 212 of the first disk 210. When the spindle motor 160 stops moving, the edge 411 of the first member 410 is slightly detached from the support 121 as shown in FIG. 8C. In this situation, the turntable 161 supports the bottom surface 212 of the first disk 210, and the second member 420 supports the top surface 211 of the first disk 210 due to the magnetic force of the magnet (not shown). When the spindle motor 160 rotates, the clamp 400 is rotated while supporting the first disk 210. The procedure of unloading the first disk 210 is performed in the reverse order of the above-explained process. When the loading motor 170 is rotated backward, the cam member 180 moves in the direction C2 of FIG. 5. The deck 140 is moved away from the disk due to the interference between the first cam groove 181 and the shaft 142. As the spindle motor 160 moves away from the disk, the clamp 400 moves away from the disk as well. When the edge 411 of the first member 410 comes into contact with the support 121, the elastic member 430 extends to move only the second member 310. The first disk 210 comes into contact with the first loading portion 310 as shown in FIG. 8B. At the moment when the spindle motor 160 continues to move away from the disk and the elastic force of the elastic member 430 becomes larger than that of the magnet (not shown), the second member 420 is detached from the top surface 211 of the first disk 210 and then returns to the original location due to the elastic force of the elastic member 430. While the deck 140 moves towards its original position, the pinion 171 and the second rack gear 303 are detached from each other so that the tray 300 does not move. If the tray 300 is slightly pushed in the direction B2 of FIG. 5 due to the interference between the boss 183 and the second cam groove 304 as the cam member 180 moves in the direction B2 of FIG. 5, the pinion 171 and the second rack gear 303 are connected with each other. Here, the connection between the pinion 171 and the first rack gear 182 is finished and the deck 140 returns to its original position. As the loading motor 170 rotates, the tray 300 slides outwards to be unloaded in the direction B2 of FIG. 5. The procedure of loading the second disk 220 will now be described. The procedure prior to the deck moving upwards is the same as the procedure of loading the first disk 210. When the optical disk drive is vertically installed, it is more likely that the second disk 220 slides down to a position indicated by solid lines from a position indicated by dashed lines as illustrated in FIG. 9A so that the second disk 220 stands obliquely and is hooked by the second inclined portion 350. As a result, the second disk 220 does not depart from the second loading portion 210 while the tray 300 is loaded, due to the second inclined portion 350. When the deck 140 starts to move, the turntable 161 approaches the bottom surface 222 of the second disk 220. As the spindle motor 160 moves towards the disk, the turntable 161 comes into contact with the bottom surface 222 of the second disk 220 so as to push the second disk 220. Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, the second disk 220 moves along the second inclined portion 350. Here, the second member 420 moves toward the disk while attracted by the magnetic force of the magnet (not shown) provided in the turntable 161. The second member 420 is moved as far as the first loading portion 310. Alternatively, the second member 420 may come into contact with the top surface 221 of the second disk 220 when the turntable 161 comes into contact with the bottom surface 222 of the second disk 220. The movement of the second member 420 can be adjusted by properly controlling the magnitude of the magnetic force of the magnet (not shown) and the elasticity of the elastic member 430. When the spindle motor 160 is completely separated from the disk, the edge 411 of the first member 410 is slightly detached from the support 121 as shown in FIG. 9C. In this situation, the turntable 161 supports the bottom surface 222 of the first disk 220, and the second member 420 supports the top surface 221 of the second disk 220 due to the magnetic force of the magnet (not shown). When the spindle motor 160 rotates, the clamp 400 is rotated while supporting the second disk 220. The procedure of unloading the second disk 220 is carried out in the reverse order of the above-explained loading process. As the spindle motor 160 is moved away from the disk, the second member 420 moves as well so that the second disk 220 is guided to the second loading portion 320. Then, at the moment when the elasticity of the elastic force 430 becomes larger than that of the magnet (not shown), the second member 420 is detached from the top surface 221 of the second disk 220 and returns to the original position due to the elasticity of the elastic member 430. According to the embodiment of the present invention explained above, even when the optical disk drive is vertically installed, the first and second disks 210 and 220 of different diameters may be stably loaded. An embodiment of the optical disk drive of the present invention having the clamp 400 is especially effective in loading the second disk 220 while the drive is vertically installed. In the conventional optical disk drive shown in FIG. 1, the clamp 41 cannot support the top surface 62 of the disk 60 when the turntable 34 pushes the disk 60 upwards, thereby causing a loading error since the disk 60 may be separated from the turntable 34 as mentioned before. In an embodiment of the present invention, the second member 420 supports the top surface 221 of the second disk 220 so that the second disk 220 does not separate from the turntable 161 while the turntable 161 is moved to come into contact with the bottom surface 222 of the second disk 220. Therefore, even in case of vertical installation of the optical disk drive, the second disk 220 may be stably loaded. During loading, the first disk 210 moves along the first inclined portion 340 while being pushed by the turntable 161, and the second disk 220 moves along the second inclined portion 350 while being pushed by the second member 420. This minimizes the deviation between the turntable 161 and a clamping hole 201 of the first disk 210 or the second disk 220, and accordingly allows more stable loading of the first or second disk 210 or 220. The above embodiment is explained with a configuration where the magnet is provided in the turntable 161 and the iron piece in the clamp 400. However, the scope of the present invention is not confined to the above. Conversely to the above embodiment, it is possible that the magnet is provided in the clamp 400, and the iron piece is provided in the turntable 161 or the turntable is made of a material attracting the magnet. In another case, magnets of different polarities may be provided respectively in the turntable 161 and the clamp 400. As described above, the embodiments of the present invention are configured in such a manner that one plane of a disk is supported by a clamp on the opposite side of a turntable to thereby enable stable loading/unloading the disk. Furthermore, in case of the vertical installation of the optical disk drive, such a small disk as 80 mm in diameter can be stably loaded/unloaded including a usually used 120 mm disk. The first and second inclined portions minimize the deviation between the turntable and the clamp hole of the first or second disk, and thereby enable it to be loaded more stably. While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical disk drive and, more particularly, to an optical disk drive which can be installed horizontally or vertically. 2. Description of the Related Art An optical disk drive is a device for writing or reading information by irradiating light onto a disk-shaped optical medium (hereinafter called a disk) such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD). FIG. 1 is a plan view of one example of a conventional optical disk drive and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the conventional optical disk drive of FIG. 1 taken along line I-I′. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a tray 20 is slidably installed in a frame 10 . The frame 10 includes a spindle motor 31 for rotating a disk 50 , and a deck 30 having an optical pickup 32 for accessing the disk while sliding above the disk. The deck 30 is installed under the tray 20 and is able to ascend or descend. A loading motor 13 for loading or unloading the tray 20 is also installed in the frame 10 . A cover 40 with a clamp 41 is provided above the frame 10 . When the disk 50 is mounted on a first loading surface 21 of the tray 20 and then the loading motor 13 is rotated, the tray 20 slides in the direction A shown in FIG. 1 . When the loading of the tray 20 is completed, the deck 30 is lifted. A bottom 51 of the disk 50 comes into contact with a turntable 34 on the rotation shaft of the spindle motor 31 , and the disk 50 is lifted with the deck 30 . When the clamp 41 makes contact with a top surface 52 of the disk 50 , the turntable 34 and the clamp 41 support the disk 50 . Here, the disk 50 is slightly moved upward from the first loading surface 21 , as shown in FIG. 2 . In this situation, as the spindle motor 31 rotates the disk 50 , the optical pickup 32 slides in a radial direction of the disk 50 and accesses the disk 50 so as to write and/or read information. The procedure of unloading the disk 50 is carried out in the reverse order of its loading. The optical disk drive is usually installed horizontally as shown in FIG. 1 . However, recently, the optical disk dive is frequently installed vertically as shown in FIG. 3 . If the optical disk drive is vertically installed, a catch 23 extending slightly upward from the first loading surface 21 is provided as also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , to prevent the disk 50 from falling or separating from the first loading surface 21 after being loaded. Since the disk 50 contacts only the turntable 34 in the ascending section (D 1 of FIG. 2 ) from the moment when the bottom 51 of the disk 50 comes into contact with the turntable 34 to the moment when the top surface 52 of the disk 50 comes into contact with the clamp 41 , the disk 50 may be possibly detached from the turntable 34 when vertically installed. Usually, the disk 50 has a diameter of 120 mm. However, recently a disk 60 with a diameter of 80 mm has been largely used. As shown in FIG. 4 , in order to load the disk 60 , the tray 20 has a second loading surface 22 lower than the first loading surface 21 . When the disk 60 is loaded in a vertically installed optical disk drive, the disk 60 may fall or separate from the second loading surface 22 during loading of the tray 20 . Since the second loading surface 22 is lower than the first loading surface 21 , the ascending section D 2 , from the moment when a bottom 61 of the disk 60 contacts the turntable 34 to the moment when a top surface 62 of the disk 60 comes into contact with the clamp 41 , is longer than the ascending section D 1 of the disk 50 having a diameter of 120 mm. For this reason, it is highly possible that the disk 60 separates from the turntable 34 before coming into contact with the clamp 41 . | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an optical disk drive into which a disk can be stably loaded even when the optical disk drive is installed vertically. Furthermore, the present invention provides an optical disk drive into which two disks having different diameters can be stably loaded even when the optical disk drive is installed vertically. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk drive having a tray including first and second loading portions for respectively loading a first disk and a second disk of a smaller diameter than the first disk, the first and second loading portions having different heights, first and second inclined portions formed obliquely outward and inward on edges of the first and second loading portions, respectively, and a separation preventing portion extending over the first loading portion to prevent the first disk from departing from the first loading portion; a spindle motor having a turntable supporting the disks on one plane thereof and rotating the disks and approaching/departing from the disks; and a clamp rotatably supporting the disks on the other plane thereof, wherein the clamp can approach the disks due to a magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable as the spindle motor approaches the disks. The clamp may include: a first member; a second member installed in the first member and approaching the disks due to the magnetic force exerted between the clamp and the turntable; and an elastic member elastically-biasing the first member in a direction in which the second member is detached from the disks. Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. | 20040622 | 20070717 | 20050120 | 63026.0 | 0 | DANIELSEN, NATHAN ANDREW | OPTICAL DISK DRIVE ALLOWING FOR HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL INSTALLATION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,573 | ACCEPTED | Processes of producing glutamic acid compounds and production intermediates therefore and novel intermediate for the processes | The present invention relates to processes of producing glutamic acid compounds, for example, monatin, which are useful as, for example, production intermediates for sweetener or pharmaceutical products. | 1. A process for producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the formula (7) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 represents a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups, wherein R1 may have at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and an amino group, comprising: cross aldol reacting a pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) or a salt thereof and an oxalacetic acid represented by the formula (2) or a salt thereof and decarboxylating: wherein R1 is as defined above, or cross aldol reacting the pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) or a salt thereof (except for pyruvic acid) and a pyruvic acid represented by the formula (2′): wherein R1 is as defined above, to obtain a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 is as defined above, and converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to an amino group. 2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to an amino group comprises reacting an amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) or a salt thereof, and reducing the resulting glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof: wherein R1 is defined in claim 1; R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups. 3. A process according to claim 1, wherein said converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to an amino group comprises a step of treating the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof by a reductive amination reaction. 4. A process of according to claim 1, wherein the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. 5. A process for producing a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 represents a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups, wherein R1 may have at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and an amino group, comprising: cross aldol reacting a pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) and an oxalacetic acid represented by the formula (2) and decarboxylating: wherein R1 is as defined above, or cross aldol reacting the pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) (except for pyruvic acid) or a salt thereof and a pyruvic acid represented by the formula (2′) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 is as defined above. 6. A process according to claim 5, wherein the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. 7. A process for producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the formula (7) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 represents a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups, wherein R1 may have at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and an amino group, comprising: reacting a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 is as defined above, and R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 and R2 are as defined above, and reducing the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6). 8. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the formula (7) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 represents a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups, wherein R1 may have at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and an amino group, comprising: reductively aminating a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof: wherein R1 is as defined above. 9. A process of producing monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof: comprising: aldol reacting an indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the formula (1′) or a salt thereof and an oxalacetic acid represented by the formula (2) or a salt thereof and decarboxylating: or cross aldol reacting an indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the formula (1′) or a salt thereof and a pyruvic acid represented by the formula (2′) or a salt thereof: to obtain a 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof: and converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to an amino group. 10. A process according to claim 9, said converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to an amino group comprises reacting an amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof, and reducing the glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof: wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups. 11. A process according to claim 9, wherein the step of converting the carbonyl group of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to an amino group comprises reductively aminating the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof. 12. A process according to claim 9, wherein the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. 13. A process of producing a 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof: comprising: cross aldol reacting an indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the formula (1′) re a salt thereof and oxalacetic acid represented by the formula (2) or a salt thereof and decarboxylating: or aldol reacting an indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the formula (1′) or a salt thereof and a pyruvic acid represented by the formula (2′) or a salt thereof: 14. A process according to claim 13, wherein the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. 15. A process of producing monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof: comprising: reacting 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethy)-2-ketogluraric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a salt thereof: wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof: wherein R2 is as defined above, and reducing the the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′). 16. A process of producing monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof: comprising reductively aminating a 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof: 17. A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof: wherein each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R- or S-configuration, comprising: (a) reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (9) wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, and the bond marked with wavey line denotes that carbon atom to which it is attached may be in the R-configuration or the S-configuration, with an optically active amine represented by the formula (10): wherein R3, R4, R1R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; * denotes an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt, and separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization, to obtain an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11): wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, and R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, and * are as defined above; (b) dissociating the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)): wherein R2 and * are as defined above, and converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group of the optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) to an amino group, to produce a monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof: wherein * and the bond marked with the wavy line are as defined above; and (c) crystallizing the monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an alcohol to obtain the optically active monatin represented by the formula (8). 18. A process for producing an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof: wherein each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, comprising: (b) comprising dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11): wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, R3, R4, R5 R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms, and * is as defined above; or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, to produce an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)): wherein R2 and * are as defined above, and converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group of the optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) to an amino group, to produce a monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof: wherein * is as defined above; and (c) crystallizing the monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof with a mixed solvent of water and an alcohol to produce the optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof. 19. A process for producing an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof: wherein each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, comprising: crystallizing a monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and alcohol: wherein * denotes an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, and the bond marked with wavy line denotes that carbon atom to which it is attached may be in the R-configuration or the S-configuration. 20. A process for producing an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11): wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, R3, R4, R5 R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms, and * denotes an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, comprising: reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (9): wherein R2 is as defined above, and the bond marked with wavey line denotes that carbon atom to which it is attached may be in the R-configuration or the S-configuration; with an optically active amine represented by the formula (10): wherein R1, R4, R5, R6, R7, and * are as defined above, to form a diastereomer salt, and separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization. 21. A process of producing an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)): wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, and * denotes an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, comprising: dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11): wherein R2 is as defined above, R3, R4, R5 R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms, and each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt. 22. A process of producing monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof: wherein * denotes an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, comprising: dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11): wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, aryl groups, and aralkyl groups, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms, and each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration, or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)): wherein R2 and * are as defined above, and converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group of the optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) to an amino group. 23. A compound represented by the formula (4′), (6′), (7″), (11), (12), (14), (15), (16) or (17) or a salt thereof: wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R3, R4, R5 R6 and R7, independently, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and each * denotes, independently, an asymmetric center in the R-configuration or S-configuration. 24. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof. 25. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof. 26. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (7″) or a salt thereof. 27. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (11) or a salt thereof. 28. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (12) or a salt thereof. 29. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (14) or a salt thereof. 30. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (15) or a salt thereof. 31. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (16) or a salt thereof. 32. A compound of claim 23, which is represented by the formula (17) or a salt thereof. | CONTINUING APPLICATION INFORMATION The present application is a Continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP02/12473, filed on Nov. 29, 2002, and incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to processes of producing glutamic acid compounds such as monatin, useful as production intermediates for sweetener or pharmaceutical products, as well as production intermediates therefore, and a novel important intermediate included in them. More specifically, the invention relates to a process of industrially efficiently producing the glutamic acid compounds, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel intermediate included in them, and a process of producing optically active monatin, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore, including a novel intermediate. 2. Description of the Background Glutamic acid compounds such as monatin are compounds that are promising for use as sweetener or production intermediates for pharmaceutical products and the like. For example, it has been known that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (3-(1-amino-1,3-dicarboxy-3-hydroxybutan-4-yl)indole, sometimes referred to as “monatin” hereinbelow) represented by the following formula (7′) in the (2S,4S) form is contained in the root of a plant Schlerochiton ilicifolius and has sweetness at a level several hundreds-fold that of sucrose (see JP-A-64-25757 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,298)). In the specification, the term “monatin” is not limited to the (2S,4S) form naturally occurring but is used as the generic name of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (3-(1-amino-1,3-dicarboxy-3-hydroxybutan-4-yl)indole) including the individual isomers in the forms of (2S,4S), (2S,4R), (2R,4S), and (2R,4R). The following reports have been issued about processes of producing monatin (the following examples (2) to (5)) and protected monatin (the following example (1)). (1) Process described in Tetrahedron Letters, 2001, Vol. 42, No. 39, pp. 6793-6796; (2) Process described in Organic Letters, 2000, Vol. 2, No. 19, pp. 2967-2970; (3) Process described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,559; (4) Process described in Synthetic Communications, 1994, Vol. 24, No. 22, pp. 3197-3211; and (5) Process described in Synthetic Communications, 1993, Vol. 23, No. 18, pp. 2511-2526 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,298 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,164; Because any of the processes requires multiple steps, however, the industrial practice of the processes actually involves much difficulty. Some of the references shown above or other references (see T. Kitahara, et al., Japanese Agrochemical Association, the 2000-th Conference, Abstracts of Proceedings, 3B128β (p.221)) describe about the examination of processes of producing optically active monatin. However, disadvantageously, the processes require multiple steps and involve very tough steps for industrial practice. Thus, it has been desired to develop an industrial process of efficiently producing glutamic acid compounds typically including monatin, particularly an industrial process of efficiently producing optically active monatin. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problems to be solved by the present invention are to provide processes of industrially and efficiently producing glutamic acid compounds such as monatin and production intermediates therefore (including salt forms of them) and to provide important intermediates therefore. More specifically, the invention provides a process of industrially efficiently producing the glutamic acid compounds, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel important intermediate included in them, and a process of producing optically active monatin, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel important intermediate included in them. The inventors have made investigations so as to solve the problems described above. The inventors have found that glutamic acid compounds such as monatin (including salt forms thereof) can be efficiently produced by condensing a specific pyruvic acid compound and oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid together with cross aldol reaction to produce ketoglutaric acid compounds as precursors of the intended glutamic acid compounds and then converting the carbonyl group in the resulting ketoglutaric acid compounds to amino group. In an aldol reaction using carbonyl compounds of different types as in the present invention, generally, four types of products are produced in mixture through the self aldol reaction of the same types of compounds and the cross aldol reaction of different types of compounds. Although the self aldol condensation reaction of oxalacetic acid (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1973, Vol. 38, No. 20, pp.3582-3585) or pyruvic acid (Journal of American Chemical Society, 1964, Vol. 86, pp. 2805-2810; Analytical Chemistry, 1986, Vol. 58, No. 12, pp. 2504-2510) or the cross aldol reaction in a system where one of carbonyl compounds such as glyoxylic acid or oxalacetic acid is never condensed with itself so a single product can relatively readily be obtained (Tetrahedron Letters, 1987, Vol. 28, pp. 1277-1280) has been known so far, no report has described any example of selectively obtaining a single cross aldol reaction product between oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid and pyruvic acid compounds. Additionally, the inventors have found that an optically active monatin can be obtained by reacting a glutaric acid compound of the following formula (9) with a specific optically active amine to form a diasteromer salt, then crystallizing and separating the resulting diastereomer salt, further dissociating the diastereomer salt or exchanging the diastereomer salt with a different salt to obtain an optically active glutaric acid compound, then converting the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) of the diastereomer salt or the optically active glutaric acid compound to amino group, crystallizing the resulting monatin represented by the following formula (13) (racemate at the 2-position) in a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent. Based on their findings described above, the invention has been achieved. Thus, the invention includes inventions relating to the following production processes described below and the novel substance described below in their individual various embodiments. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a pyruvic acid compound represented by the following formula (1) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction or treating the pyruvic acid compound (except for pyruvic acid) and a pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, to obtain a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof, and a step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof to amino group, where the pyruvic acid compound, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: in the above formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above in where the step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of reacting an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the resulting glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the above formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; R2 represents hydrogen atom or a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups; and R1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above in where the step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of treating the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a pyruvic acid compound represented by the following formula (1) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating the pyruvic acid compound (except for pyruvic acid) and a pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, where the pyruvic acid compound, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: in the above formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of reacting a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the resulting glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the above formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; R2 represents hydrogen atom or a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups; and R1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction: in the above formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, to obtain 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof, and a step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to amino group, where indole-3-pyruvic acid, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: A process described above where the step of converting the carbonyl group of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of reacting an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6′) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, or a substituent selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups. A process described above where the step of converting the carbonyl group of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of treating the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, where indole-3-pyruvic acid, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of reacting 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethy)-2-ketogluraric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6′) or a salt thereof, and a step of subsequently treating the glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom and a substituent selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction: A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof including the following steps a to c: in the formula, * denotes an asymmyetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration: step a: a step of obtaining an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 represent the same meanings as described below; in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents R- or S-configuration by reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (9) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and the bond marked with wavy line expresses that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included with an optically active amine represented by the following formula (10) in the formula, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R-configuration or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt, and a step of separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization; step b: a step of generating monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, by dissociating the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, as necessary, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration, and a step of converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group to amino group; step c: a step of obtaining an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof by crystallizing monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent. A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof, including the following steps b and c: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration step b: a step of generating monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, by dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, as necessary, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration, and by treating the optically active glutaric acid compound by a reaction to convert the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group thereof to amino group and step c: a step of obtaining an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof by crystallizing the monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an alcohol. A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of crystallizing the salt of monatin represented by the following formula (13) using a mixed solvent of water and alcohol: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included. A process of producing an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (9) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and S-configuration are included with an optically active amine represented by the following formula (10) in the formula, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt, and a step of separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization. A process of producing an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration; the bond marked with wavy line expresses that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, including a step of dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R1, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt on a needed basis, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration and a step of treating the resulting optically active glutaric acid compound by a reaction to convert the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group thereof to amino group. A process of producing monatin represented by the following structural formula (7′) (including salt forms thereof), the process passing through a process described above: A compound represented by the following formulas or the formula (4′), (6′), (7″), (11), (12), (14), (15), (16) or (17) (including salt forms thereof), where in the formulas, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration: In an embodiment that such a compound is used or prepared in an appropriate salt form in accordance with the invention, the salt form is with no specific limitation. Such salt form includes for example sodium salt, potassium salt, lithium salt, magnesium salt, calcium salt, ammonium salt, and dicyclohexylammonium salt. By salt formation process, desalting process, salt exchange process and the like for routine use so far, the intended salt can be produced. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The more-detailed procedures for carrying out the invention is now described below. Production of ketoglutaric acid compound by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction between pyruvic acid compound and oxalacetic acid and derivative preparation as glutamic acid compound. The pyruvic acid compound represented by the following formula (1) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) are treated by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction or the pyruvic acid compound (excluding pyruvic acid) and pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) are treated by cross aldol reaction, to obtain a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof, and then, the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof is converted to amino group, to produce a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof. In this case, the pyruvic acid compound, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms. In the formulas, R1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups. These groups may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms (iodine atom, bromine atom, chlorine atom, fluorine atom, etc.), hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. As R1, alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups with one to 11 carbon atoms (never including the carbon number in substituents if these groups contain the substituents) are preferable. For example, R1 includes alkyl groups such as isopropyl group, isobutyl group and 1-methylpropyl group, aryl groups such as phenyl group and 3-indolyl group, aralkyl groups such as benzyl group, 2-phenylethyl group and 2-naphthylmethyl group and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups such as 3-indolylmethyl group and 3-(6-methylindolyl)methyl group. For the aldol reaction between the pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) and the pyruvic acid represented by the formula (2′), herein, the case that the pyruvic acid compound represented by the formula (1) is pyruvic acid, namely the case that R1 is methyl group (the alkyl group with one carbon atom) is never included. Examples of R1 with substituents include R1 having an aromatic ring or heterocyclic ring, provided that the aromatic ring or heterocyclic ring contains at least one substituent selected from alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and amino groups. When a benzyl group or 3-indolylmethyl group for example is selected as R1 in the formula, specifically, the benzene ring or indole ring contained in the group may contain at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms (iodine atom, bromine atom, chlorine atom, fluorine atom, etc.), hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, and amino group. In an embodiment where R1 is 3-indolylmethyl group, in other words, in case that indole-3-pyruvic acid (formula 1′) is used as the pyruvic acid compound, 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid (formula 4′) or a salt thereof as an intermediate important for monatin production can be obtained. Subsequently by converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to amino group, monatin (formula 7′) or a salt thereof can be produced. Cross Aldol Reaction The cross aldol reaction is preferably carried out under alkaline conditions. The pyruvic acid compound and oxalacetic acid, or the pyruvic acid compound (excluding pyruvic acid) and pyruvic acid may be present in an appropriate solvent for the reaction. As the reaction solvent, polar solvents such as water, methanol, ethanol, propanol, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide or mixed solvents thereof are preferable. Particularly, water and a mixed solvent (hydrous organic solvent) of water and polar solvents are preferable. The pH of the solvent is within a range of preferably 10 to 14, more preferably 10.5 to 14, still more preferably 11 to 13. When the pH is too high, the yield is likely to decrease. When the pH is too low, secondary reactions are likely to take place during the cross aldol reaction. Bases may satisfactorily be used to achieve such pH under alkaline conditions, and include, for example, inorganic bases such as alkali metal salts and alkali earth metal salts including alkali earth metal hydroxides and carbonates, e.g., lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and calcium carbonate, and organic bases such as triethylamine. The amount of oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid to be used to the amount of the pyruvic acid compound has no specific limitation. When oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid is used in excess, the reaction yield is likely to be improved. Generally, one to 10 equivalents of oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid are used to one equivalent of the pyruvic acid compound. Preferably, pyruvic acid can be used within a range of 3 to 6 equivalents. The reaction can be carried at a reaction temperature within a range of preferably −10 to 70° C., more preferably 10 to 50° C. When the reaction temperature is too low, the intended reaction progresses so slowly that secondary reactions are likely to occur. When the reaction temperature is high, the intended ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) is likely to be decomposed. The reaction time has no specific limitation, and is generally one to 72 hours, preferably 3 to 24 hours. Decarboxylation Reaction The reaction with oxalacetic acid is then progressed to decarboxylation reaction, to subsequently obtain the intended ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof). The reaction for decarboxylating the condensate from the aldol reaction between oxalacetic acid and the pyruvic acid compound can be achieved by spontaneous decarboxylation reaction. However, the decarboxylation reaction can be effectively progressed by adding an acid or a metal ion or both to the reaction solution. The acid for use then includes for example hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, acetic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, solid acids such as ion exchange resins, while the metal ion includes for example transition metal ions such as nickel ion, copper ion, and iron ion. As the reaction temperature, preferably about −10 to 100° C., more preferably about 0 to 60° C. can be selected. The reaction solution after the cross aldol reaction or after the cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction may satisfactorily be used for the subsequent step as it is. From the reaction solution the ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) represented by the formula (4) is isolated and purified, for use in the subsequent step. When the subsequent amination step is continuously carried out, generally, the ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) need not be isolated. After the completion of the reaction, the reaction solution is concentrated or distilled off, if necessary, for the amination step. By using the same solvent as used in the cross aldol reaction step for the amination step, the following step can be carried out with no distillation or solvent substitution of reaction solvent or the like. In case that the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) is obtained as a salt, the salt is prepared in a free form by a method known to a person skilled in the art, for use in the amination step. However, generally, it is not necessary to do so. The salt can be used in its salt form. In the cross aldol reaction (and decarboxylation reaction if necessary) in accordance with the invention where R1 is 3-indolylmethyl group, i.e. where indole-3-pyruvic acid (formula 1′) is used as the pyruvic acid compound, 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid (formula 4′), as an intermediate important for monatin production, or a salt thereof can be produced. Conversion of the Carbonyl Group to an Amino Group After the cross aldol reaction is carried out (and subsequently the decarboxylation reaction is carried out if necessary), the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof is converted to amino group, to produce a glutamic acid compound represented by the formula (7). The reaction to convert carbonyl group to amino group is with no specific limitation and is carried out for example by the following methods. Conversion Example 1 of a Carbonyl Group to an Amino Group After the cross aldol reaction is carried out (and subsequently the decarboxylation reaction is carried out if necessary), an amine compound (which may be in a salt form) represented by the following formula (5) is reacted with the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof, to produce a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) or a salt thereof, which is then treated by reducing reaction to produce a glutamic acid compound represented by the formula (7). In the formula, R1 is as described above. In the case where R1 is a 3-indolylmethyl group, i.e. in case that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid (formula 4′) is used as the ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof, herein, a glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof is once produced, which is then treated by reduction reaction to produce monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof. In the formula, R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups and the like. R2 is preferably selected from hydrogen atom and alkyl groups and aralkyl groups with 7 or less carbon atoms. Specifically, R2 is preferably a hydrogen atom, methyl group or benzyl group, particularly preferably hydrogen atom. In other words, specific examples of the amine compound represented by the formula (5) preferably include hydroxylamine, methoxyamine and benzyloxyamine, particularly preferably include hydroxylamine. The salt of the amine compound represented by the formula (5) includes salt forms of the amine compound with organic acids or inorganic acids and specifically includes for example hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt, hydroxylamine sulfate salt and methoxyamine hydrochloride salt. In case that hydroxylamine hydrochloride reacts with 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid represented by the formula (4′), for example, the corresponding 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminogluratic acid (the compound of formula (6′) where R2 is hydrogen atom) is obtained in good yield. For the reaction of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof with the amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a salt thereof, the reaction temperature can be set at preferably about −10 to 100° C., more preferably about 0 to 60° C. Further, the reaction time can be set at preferably about one to 100 hours, more preferably about 1 to 24 hours. For the reaction of the amine compound or a salt thereof, the pH of the reaction solution is preferably 2 or more because the reaction progresses slowly when the pH is too low. The reaction can be progressed more preferably at about pH 2 to 13, still more preferably at about pH 4 to 12. The ratio of the amine compound or a salt thereof to be used is with not particularly limited. However, the amine compound (or a salt thereof) is used preferably at about one to 7 moles, more preferably at about one to 2 moles per one mole of the ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) represented by the formula (4). As the reaction solvent, polar solvents such as water, methanol, ethanol, propanol, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide, or mixed solvents thereof are preferable. Particularly, water and a mixed solvent of water with polar solvents (hydrous organic solvents) are preferable. As thus obtained, the reaction solution thus obtained, containing the glutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) represented by the formula (6), may satisfactorily be used as it is for the subsequent step. Otherwise, the glutaric acid compound may be isolated and purified from the reaction solution, prior to use in the next step. When the isolation and purification is carried out, methods known to a person skilled in the art such as extraction and crystallization can appropriately be used. For example, the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) may be obtained as follows. That is, by acidifying the reaction solution by adjusting the pH of the reaction solution with acids such as hydrochloric acid, extracting the glutaric acid compound in organic solvents such as ethyl acetate, concentrating the resulting organic layer and crystallizing the residue in a mixed solvent of aqueous ammonia and alcohol, the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) can be obtained as the diammonium salt thereof in crystals. Using ion exchange resins or adsorption resins or the like, the compound in the free form can be isolated from the reaction solution. The glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof as obtained in such manner is generally a racemate, from which the optically active form can be obtained by a method described below. Then, the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) (or a salt thereof) is treated by reduction reaction, to produce a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7). Through the reaction, the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) at the 2-position in the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) can be converted to amino group. In the formulas, R1 and R2 are as described above. The reduction of the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) to amino group can preferably be carried out by hydrogenation reaction using a catalyst for hydrogenation. As the catalyst for hydrogenation, there can be used palladium-type catalysts (palladium carbon, etc.), platinum-type catalysts (platinum carbon, etc.), rhodium-type catalysts (rhodium carbon, etc.), ruthenium-type catalysts (ruthenium carbon, etc.), nickel-type catalysts (Raney-nickel, etc.) and the like. These catalysts are used within a range of preferably 0.1 to 20 mol %, more preferably 0.5 mol % to 5 mol % of the substrate. As the reaction solvent, polar solvents such as water, methanol, ethanol, propanol, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide or mixed solvents thereof are preferable. Particularly, water and a mixed solvent (hydrous organic solvent) of water with polar solvents are preferable. The reaction of this step is preferably carried out under alkaline conditions, generally within a range of pH 7 to 14, preferably within a range of pH 8 to 12. In the case of using rhodium-type catalysts (rhodium carbon, etc.), in particular, the reaction is carried out generally within a range of pH 7.5 to 11, preferably within a range of pH 8 to 10. In the case of using nickel-type catalysts (Raney nickel, etc.), however, the reaction preferably progresses under neutral conditions, generally within a range of pH 5 to 9, preferably within a range of pH 6.5 to 7.5. If pH is too high, the reaction of this step is likely to give rise to an increase of by-products. If pH is too low, the reaction is likely to progress slowly. In case that the reaction is carried out under alkaline conditions, the type of an alkali for use in pH adjustment is not specifically limited. For the reduction reaction using rhodium-type catalysts and palladium-type catalysts, especially, aqueous ammonia is preferably used for the reaction, because of the increase of the yield and low by-products. The hydrogenation reaction is preferably carried out in a hydrogen atmosphere. As the hydrogen pressure, a range of preferably 0.5 to 100 atmospheres, more preferably 3 to 70 atmospheres, is desirable for the reaction. The reaction temperature is within a range of preferably −20 to 100° C., more preferably 0 to 70° C. The reaction time can be 6 to 24 hours. Conversion Example 2 of the Carbonyl Group to an Amino Group By converting the carbonyl group at the 2-position in the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) (or a salt thereof) by reductive amination reaction using amines such as ammonia, benzylamine and 1-phenylethylamine, a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) can be obtained. In the formulas, R1 is as described above. In case that R1 is 3-indolylmethyl group, i.e. in case that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid (formula 4′) is used as the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof, herein, monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof can be produced. Amine can be used within a range of preferably one to 10 equivalents to the ketoglutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof). When ammonia is to be used as the amine, herein, a large excess of ammonia is preferably used. As the reducing catalyst, hydride catalysts such as NaBH4 in addition to the hydrogenation catalysts described above can be used. In the case of a hydride catalyst, the catalyst can be used at an amount generally within a range of 0.5 to 2 equivalents. In the case of a hydrogenation catalyst, the catalyst at an amount similar to the amount used for contact hydrogenation of the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6) can be used. The reaction can preferably be progressed at a reaction temperature within a range of preferably 0 to 50° C., more preferably 20 to 35° C. The reaction time is within a range of preferably 1 to 72 hours. In case of using a catalyst for hydrogenation, the reaction can be carried out at a hydrogen pressure within 1 to 15 atmospheric pressures. As the reaction solvent, polar solvents such as water, methanol, ethanol, propanol, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide or mixed solvents thereof are preferable. Particularly, water and a mixed solvent (hydrous organic solvent) of water with polar solvents are preferable. The glutaric acid compound (or a salt thereof) represented by the formula (7) as obtained by the processes in the two examples can be isolated and purified, using methods known to a person skilled in the art, such as extraction and crystallization. In case that R1 is 3-indolylmethyl group, i.e. in case that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid (formula 4′) is used as the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof, herein, monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof can be produced. Monatin represented by the formula (7′) or a salt thereof can be isolated and purified by a method for producing optically active monatin as described below, to obtain the optically active form. Production of Optically Active Monatin Monatin has asymmetric carbon atoms at the 2- and 4-positions, so the following four types of optical isomers exist. In case that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketogluratic acid (formula 4′) is used as the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof as described above, reaction with an amine compound represented by the formula (5) or a reagent generating the compound can produce the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (6′) or a salt thereof, which is generally a racemate. The racemate or the glutaric acid compound containing the R-form and S-form at an appropriate ratio (these are included in the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (9)) is treated by the following steps a to c, to obtain optically active forms of monatin or a salt thereof. step a: a step of obtaining an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 represent the same meanings as described below; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents R- or S-configuration, by reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (9) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and the bond marked with wavy line expresses that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included with an optically active amine represented by the following formula (10) in the formula, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R-configuration or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt and then separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization; step b: a step of generating monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wave line means that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, by dissociating the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, as necessary, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration, and subsequently converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group to amino group; step c: a step of obtaining an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof by crystallizing monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent. Step a is described below. So as to allow the glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (9) to form a diastereomer salt together with the optically active amine represented by the formula (10), for example, such compounds or salts thereof are dissolved in a solvent for the reaction. In case that the glutaric acid compound is in a salt form thereof, the salt is converted to the free form by neutralizing the salt with an acid as necessary and subsequently extracting the free form into an organic solvent, and then, the free form reacts with an optically active amine to form the salt. Additionally, an acid may satisfactorily be added to a solvent containing the glutaric acid compound salt dissolved therein to neutralize the salt, and then, an optically active amine may be added for the reaction to form the diastereomer salt. In case that the glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) is formed by a salt exchange reaction with an optically active amine represented by the formula (10) in a solvent, the salt form can even be used as is to react with the optically active amine represented by the formula (10). In this case, the optically active amine represented by the formula (10) is preferably used in a salt form such as hydrochloride salt or sulfate salt. Particularly preferable examples of the optically active amine represented by the formula (10) include (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine and (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine, where R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 in the formula are hydrogen atoms. The optically active amine is used at an amount of preferably about 0.1 to 1-fold mole, more preferably about 0.3 to 0.6-fold that of the glutaric acid compound. The reaction temperature is set within a range of preferably about −20 to 100° C., more preferably about 0 to 60° C. The reaction time is not particularly limited but is short enough for rapid formation of the salt. The reaction solvent includes a single solvent selected from water, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, toluene and ethyl acetate, and an appropriate mixed solvent of two or more thereof. Particularly, water or a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent miscible with water (for example, polar solvents such as methanol, ethanol and acetonitrile) is preferably used. Of these, a single solvent of water is more preferable. After the completion of the reaction, for example, the reaction solution is concentrated if necessary, and water is added to crystallize the diastereomer salt. The reaction solution may be cooled as necessary. Because water is a poor solvent for the resulting diastereomer salt, water or a mixed solvent of water with an organic solvent miscible with water is used as the reaction solvent for forming the diasteromer salt, so that the crystal can be deposited and crystallized, concurrently with the progress of the reaction (salt formation). The crystals obtained by crystallization are separated from the reaction solution by filtration and the like, to obtain the diastereomer salt represented by the formula (11). The diastereomer salt obtained as crystals in case of using water as the poor solvent varies depending on the steric configuration of the optically active amine used. In the case of using (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine as the optically active amine represented by the formula (10) for the 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid (a compound of the formula (9) where R is hydrogen atom), for example, the diastereomer salt represented by the following formula (14) can be obtained. In the case of using (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine, the diasteromer salt represented by the following formula (15) can be obtained. In the case of using (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine, in other words, a crystal of the diasteromer salt can be obtained, where the glutaric acid compound in the S-configuration at the 4-position forms the salt together with (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine. In the case of using (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine, a crystal of the diasteromer salt can be obtained, where the glutaric acid compound in the R-configuration at the 4-position forms the salt together with (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine. A person skilled in the art can select an optically active amine suitable for the intended compound, to form and crystallize such diasteromer salt, so that a diastereomer salt with a desired steric configuration can be obtained. Further, after the separation of these diastereomer salts in crystals, the mother liquor contains a glutaric acid compound in a steric configuration opposite to the glutaric acid compound separated as crystals, as its main component. Thus, by adding an optically active amine with a steric configuration opposite to that of the optically active amine used to form the salt in the mother liquor, to form and crystallize the diasteromer salt in the same manner as described above, one additional diasteromer salt crystal can be separated from the mother liquor. In other words, the step a in accordance with the invention can be applied to the mother liquor to obtain another diasteromer salt by crystallization as described above. Step b is described below. The optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) as obtained in the step a is dissociated to form an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12), if necessary. Alternatively, the salt can be replaced by a different salt (salt exchange), if necessary. In case of such dissociation and replacement with a different salt (salt exchange), methods known to a person skilled in the art can be used. The dissociation method is for example a method including a step of dissolving or suspending the salt in water, alcohol or a mixed solvent thereof, a step of neutralizing the resulting solution or suspension with acids such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid, and an extraction step into organic solvents, a method including a step of dissolving the salt in water, and separating the free form represented by the formula (12) with ion exchange resins or adsorption resins. For isolation of the free form, the intended isolation can readily be carried out by a known method, for example distillation of a resin eluent solution, or of an extract solution containing the free form under reduced pressure. In case of the substitution with a different salt, for example, the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) can be dissolved in aqueous alkali metal solutions of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide and aqueous ammonia solution, from which the free optically active amine is extracted in an organic solvent, so that the salt can be exchanged. Using a known method such as the distillation under reduced pressure of the aqueous solution after extraction or crystallization, additionally, the salt of the optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) can be isolated. Monatin represented by the formula (13) can be produced from the optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the formula (12) thus obtained or from a salt thereof by treating the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) thereof with a reaction to convert the group to amino group. Further, monatin represented by the formula (13) can be produced by treating the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) of the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) with a reaction to convert the group to amino group in the same manner as described above. As described above, the conversion of the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) to amino group can be carried out by hydrogenation reaction using a catalytic hydrogenation reagent, under reaction conditions as described above. After the completion of the reaction, the catalyst is removed by filtration and the like and the filtrate is concentrated, if necessary, from which monatin represented by the formula (13) can be obtained by isolation methods known to a person skilled in the art (for example, crystallization, HPLC, etc.). In an embodiment where the next step c is to be continuously carried out, additionally, monatin represented by the formula (13) need not be isolated, in general. After the completion of the reaction, the catalyst is removed from the reaction solution by filtration and the like. Then, the reaction solution is concentrated or distilled off, if necessary, to carry out the crystallization according to the step c. By using the same solvent as used as the crystallization solvent for the hydrogenation reaction, the next step c can be carried out without distillation of the reaction solvent or solvent replacement or the like. In case that base is used for the hydrogenation reaction, monatin in the reaction solution exists in a salt form thereof. By treating the reaction solution after the removal of the catalyst with an ion exchange resin and the like, for example, monatin can be prepared as the free form or can be converted to a different salt (salt exchange including for example the conversion of ammonium salt to sodium salt or potassium salt or the like). Then, the resulting product can be crystallized. For carrying out the next step c, preferably, the resulting monatin is used in the salt form thereof as it is. Step c is described below. Although the monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof as obtained at the step b can retain the optical activity at the 4-position, the resulting monatin can be recovered as a mixture of the S form and R form at the 2-position. The monatin and a salt thereof can be optically resolved by crystallization according to the step c described next, so that optically active monatin or a salt thereof, optically active at both the 2- and 4-positions, can be obtained. The monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof is treated by a crystallization step using a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent, to obtain optically active monatin (crystal) represented by the formula (8). In case that a base is used for the hydrogenation reaction at the step (b), generally, monatin can be obtained generally in a salt form thereof, which is preferably treated at a crystallization step, as it is in the salt form. In this case, water is a good solvent for the monatin salt. The crystallization method is not particularly limited, and includes for example methods known to a person skilled in the art, such as crystallization under cooling and concentration prior to crystallization. For crystallizing the monatin salt, for example, the monatin crystal in the free form can be obtained by adding an acid to an aqueous solution containing the monatin salt dissolved therein to neutralize the solution and by adding an organic solvent to the resulting solution. Because monatin is likely to be decomposed by an acid, however, the invention can preferably be used particularly in case that monatin is to be obtained in a salt form. As the organic solvent, an organic solvent miscible with water can be used. Particularly, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol and isopropanol are preferable. A mixed solvent of different two types or more organic solvents may satisfactorily be used as the organic solvent. The ratio of an organic solvent and water in the mixed solvent with water may satisfactorily be set preferably within a range of an organic solvent: water=about 1:0.1 to 1:1 in volume ratio, more preferably within a range of an organic solvent: water=about 1:0.3 to 1:0.9 in volume ratio. The crystallization temperature may satisfactorily be set within a range of preferably about −20 to 100° C., more preferably about 0 to 60° C. As shown below in the following schemes, the steric configuration of the monatin crystal obtained at the step c is as follows. In case of using monatin represented by the formula (13) in the R form at the 4-position and in the S form at the 4-position, the monatin crystals (2R,4R) and (2S,4S) are obtained, respectively. Additionally, the mother liquor after crystal separation individually contain (2S,4R) monatin and (2R,4S) monatin as the main component. By treating the mother solutions with adsorption resins and the like, (2S,4R) monatin or (2R,4S) monatin can be isolated. If desired, the optically active monatin obtained in the free form can be prepared as a salt form. By methods known to a person skilled in the art (salt formation), the monatin can be prepared in salt forms, for example as a sodium salt or potassium salt. Further, even the optically active monatin obtained in a salt form thereof can be obtained similarly in the free form if desired or can be converted to a different salt. By utilizing methods known to a person skilled in the art, for example, the salt can be converted to the free form by a method for converting salts to free forms via dissociation and the like. Alternatively, the salt can be converted to the intended different salt by exchanging the resulting salt with a different salt (salt exchange). EXAMPLES The invention is now described in detail in the following Examples. However, the invention is not limited to the Examples. In the Examples, further, the optical purity was assayed by HPLC under the following conditions. Column for Separating Optical Isomers SUMICHIRAL OA-7100 manufactured by Sumika Chemical Analysis Service Eluent 20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 2.8: acetonitrile=7:3 Column temperature 10° C.; and Flow rate 0.6 m/min. Example 1 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid; NO. 1 After 8.28 g of potassium hydroxide (having a purity of 85% by weight) was dissolved in 27 ml of water, 3.0 g (14.76 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid and 5.85 g (44.29 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to the resulting solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 72 hours (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). An ion exchange resin (Amberlite IR 120B H AG) was added to the reaction solution to adjust the solution to pH 3.0, for extraction into 200 ml of ethyl acetate at 0° C. 100 ml of saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate was added to the resulting ethyl acetate layer, and ethyl acetate in the ethyl acetate layer was distilled off, and pH of the solution was re-adjusted to 7.9 with an ion exchange resin (IRA4000H AG manufactured by Organo Corporation). The resulting solution was freeze-dried as it was. 4-Hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutarate sodium salt was obtained as a crude product. Further, 40 ml of water and 200 ml of ethanol were added to the resulting residue, in which the solid was filtered off. The resulting mother solution was concentrated to dryness, to obtain 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutarate sodium salt of 1.5 g as a crude product. Example 2 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid; NO. 2 After 18.91 g (286.5 mmol) of potassium hydroxide (at a content of 85% by 5 weight) was dissolved in 64.45 ml of water, 7.50 g (35.8 mmol at a content of 97.0% by weight) of indole-3-pyruvic acid and 14.18 g (107.4 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to and dissolved in the resulting solution (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). The mixed solution was stirred at 35° C. for 24 hours. Further, 40.0 ml of 3N hydrochloric acid was added for neutralization (pH=7.0), to obtain 153.5 g of a neutralized reaction solution. The neutralized reaction solution contained 5.55 g of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid at a yield of 53.5% (vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid). Water was added to the neutralized reaction solution to make up 168 ml, and the solution passed through a resin column (diameter of 4.8 cm) packed with a synthetic adsorbent (DIAION-SP207 manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) of 840 ml. Further, pure water was passed through the column at a flow rate of 23.5 ml per minute. 1.73 to 2.55 (L/L-R) were collected, to obtain an aqueous solution of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid of 3.04 g at a yield of 54.7% (to the charged amount in the resin). (NMR Measurement) 1H-NMR (400 MHz, D2O): δ 3.03 (d, 1H, J=14.6 Hz), 3.11 (d, 1H, J=14.6 Hz), 3.21 (d, 1H, J=18.1 Hz), 3.40 (d, 1H, J=18.1 Hz), 7.06-7.15 (m, 3H), 7.39 (d, 1H, J=7.8 Hz), 7.66 (d, 1H, J=7.8 Hz). 13C-NMR (400 MHz, D2O): δ 35.43, 47.91, 77.28, 109.49, 112.05, 119.44, 119.67, 121.91, 125.42, 128.41, 136.21, 169.78, 181.43, 203.58. (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H13NO6=291.07 Analytical value=290.02 (M−H)− Example 3 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid; NO. 3 After 3.70 g (56.0 mmol) of potassium hydroxide (at a content of 85% by weight) was dissolved in 72.1 ml of water, 0.81 g (4.0 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid and 3.17 g (24.0 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to and dissolved in the resulting solution (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). The mixed solution was stirred at 35° C. for 24 hours. A part of the reaction solution was treated with hydroxylamine to prepare 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid, which was analyzed by HPLC. Consequently, it was found that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid was generated at a yield of 76.6% (vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid). Example 4 Synthesis of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-ketoglutaric acid After 16.23 g of potassium hydroxide (having a purity of 85% by weight) was dissolved in 48 ml of water, 5.0 g (30.5 mmol) of phenylpyruvic acid and 12.1 g (91.4 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to the resulting solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 72 hours (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). Using conc. hydrochloric acid, the reaction solution was adjusted to pH 2.2, and extracted in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed in aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and concentrated to obtain the residue. The residue was recrystallized in ethyl acetate and toluene, to obtain 2.8 g (11.3 mmol) of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-ketoglutaric acid in crystal form. (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (D2O) δ: 2.48 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 0.18H), 2.60 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 0.18H), 2.85-3.30 (m, 3.64H), 7.17-7.36 (m, 5H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C12H12O6=252.23 Analytical value=251.22 (M−H)− Example 5 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid; NO. 1 After 13.8 g of potassium hydroxide (having a purity of 85% by weight) was dissolved in 50 ml of water, 5.0 g (24.6 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid and 9.8 g (73.8 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to the resulting solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 72 hours (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). To the reaction solution was added 6.8 g (98.4 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt. Then, the reaction solution was adjusted to pH 7.5 with aqueous 4N sodium hydroxide solution. After the reaction solution had been stirred for 24 hours at ambient temperature, the reaction solution was adjusted to pH 2.6 with 6N hydrochloric acid. After extraction using ethyl acetate, the organic layer was rinsed in aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and concentrated to dryness. The resulting residue was dissolved in 10 ml of aqueous 14% ammonia, followed by gradual dropwise addition of 70 ml of ethanol, and stirred at ambient temperature for 3 hours. The resulting slurry was filtered. The resulting crystals was dried to obtain 2.7 g (7.9 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid in the form of an ammonium salt. (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 2.66 (s, 2H), 2.89 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 3.04 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 6.89-6.94 (m, 1H), 6.97-7.03 (m, 1H), 7.11 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 10.71 (br s, 1H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H14N2O6=306.28 Analytical value=305.17 (M−H)− Example 6 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-methoxyiminoglutaric acid After 9.12 g (138.1 mmol) of potassium hydroxide (at a content of 85% by weight) was dissolved in 23 ml of water, 2.55 g (12.2 mmol at a content of 97.0% by weight) of indole-3-pyruvic acid and 7.46 g (56.5 mmol) of oxaloacetic acid were added to and dissolved in the resulting solution (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). The solution was stirred at 35° C. for 24 hours. To the reaction solution was gradually added 5.76 g (69 mmol) of methoxyamine hydrochloride salt while the reaction solution was adjusted to around pH 10 with aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution. After the reaction had continued at ambient temperature for 14 hours, the reaction solution was adjusted to pH 2.23, using 6N hydrochloric acid, and was then extracted in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. After the magnesium sulfate had been filtered off, the resulting solution was concentrated to obtain 4.66 g of residue. The resulting residue was approximately purified by silica gel column chromatography, and further coarsely purified by preparative thin layer chromatography (PTLC; ethyl acetate/hexane/acetic acid=5/5/1), to obtain 0.93 g of the title compound 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-methoxyiminoglutaric acid (2.92 mmol; yield, 24% (vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid)). (NMR Measurement) 1H-NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ2.89 (d, J=14.9 Hz, 1H), 3.04 (s, 2H), 3.15 (d, J=14.9 Hz, 1H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 6.91-6.96 (m, 1H), 6.98-7.04 (m, 1H), 7.09-7.12 (m, 1H), 7.29 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 7.50 (d, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 10.80 (br s, 1H). Example 7 Synthesis of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid After 16.23 g (having a purity of 85% by weight) of potassium hydroxide was dissolved in 45 ml of water, 5.0 g (30.5 mmol) of phenylpyruvic acid and 12.1 g (91.4 mmol) of oxalacetic acid were added to the resulting solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 24 hours (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). To the reaction solution was added 8.5 g (121.8 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt, for reaction at ambient temperature for 72 hours. The reaction solution was adjusted to pH 2.6, using 6N hydrochloric acid, and was then extracted in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and concentrated to dryness. The resulting residue was recrystallized in 20 ml of ethyl acetate and 80 ml of toluene, to obtain 4.0 g (15.1 mmol) of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid. (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 2.80 (d, J=13.9 Hz, 1H), 2.99 (d, J=12.7 Hz, 1H), 3.01 (d, J=13.9 Hz, 1H), 3.03 (d, J=12.7 Hz, 1H), 7.13-7.25 (m, 5H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C12H13NO6=267.24 Analytical value=266.12 (M−H)− Example 8 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin); NO. 1 0.13 g (0.38 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid ammonium salt was dissolved in 5 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia, to which 0.09 g of 5% rhodium carbon was added, for reaction at ambient temperature and a hydrogen pressure of 7.5 atmospheres. 14 hours later, the catalyst was filtered off, and the resulting solution was concentrated to dryness, to obtain a mixture of 0.075 g (0.23 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin) and 0.036 g (0.11 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4R)/(2R,4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin). (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (D2O) δ: 2.05 (dd, J=12.2, 15.1 Hz, 0.67H), 2.21 (dd, J=9.9, 15.6 Hz, 0.33H), 2.48 (dd, J=3.2, 15.6 Hz, 0.33H), 2.68 (dd, J=2.2, 15.1 Hz, 0.67H), 3.08 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 0.67H), 3.17-3.25 (m, 0.66H), 3.28 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 0.67H), 3.63 (dd, J=2.2, 12.2 Hz, 0.67H1), 3.98 (dd, J=3.2, 9.9 Hz, 0.33H), 7.12-7.18 (m, 1H1), 7.19-7.26 (m, 2H), 7.45-7.51 (m, 1H), 7.70-7.76 (m, 1H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H16N2O5=292.29 Analytical value=291.28 (M−H)− Example 9 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin); NO. 2 0.264 g (0.824 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-methoxyiminoglutaric acid was dissolved in 10 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia. 0.18 g of 5% rhodium carbon (dry product) was added and the mixture stirred at a hydrogen pressure of 7.5 atmospheres for 18 hours. The catalyst was filtered off and the solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure, to obtain the residue. The resulting residue was analyzed by NMR, and a mixture of 0.115 g (0.395 mmol; yield, 48%) of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin) and 0.065 g (0.223 mmol; yield, 27%) of (2S,4R)/(2R,4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid was found to have been generated. Example 10 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin); NO. 3 1.0 g (2.94 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutarate ammonium salt was dissolved in 10 ml of water, to which 1 ml of a Raney-nickel catalyst (manufactured by Kawaken Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd.; developed nickel catalyst NDHT-90) was added with a syringe, and the mixture stirred at a hydrogen pressure of 20 atmospheres for 10 hours. The catalyst was filtered off and the resulting solution was concentrated to obtain the residue. The residue was analyzed by NMR. It was shown that 0.29 g (0.89 mmol; yield, 30%) of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (monatin) and 0.29 g (0.89 mmol; yield, 30%) of (2S,4R)/(2R,4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid were generated. Example 11 Synthesis of 2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid; NO.1 0.25 g (0.94 mmol) of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was dissolved in 10 ml of aqueous 50% methanol solution, to which 0.5 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia was added. 1.0 g of 5% palladium-carbon (50% hydrous product) was added, for reaction at ambient temperature and a hydrogen pressure of 7.7 atmospheres. 72 hours later, the catalyst was filtered off, and the reaction solution was concentrated to dryness, to obtain 0.10 g (0.35 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid and 0.10 g (0.35 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2R,4S)/(2S,4R)-2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid as a mixture. (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (D2 0) δ: 1.94 (dd, J=11.9, 15.3 Hz, 0.5H), 2.10 (dd, J=10.2, 15.3 Hz, 0.5H), 2.36 (dd, J=3.1, 15.3 Hz, 0.5H), 2.56 (dd, J=2.4, 15.3 Hz, 0.5H), 2.81 (d, J=13.6 Hz, 0.5H), 2.94 (d, J=13.5 Hz, 0.5H), 3.01 (d, J=13.5 Hz, 0.5H), 3.06 (d, J=13.6 Hz, 0.5H), 3.55 (dd, J=2.4, 11.9 Hz, 0.5H), 3.88 (dd, J=3.1, 10.2 Hz, 0.5H), 7.17-7.31 (m, 5H) (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C12H15NO5=253.26 Analytical value=252.23 (M−H)− Example 12 Synthesis of 2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid; NO.2 0.13 g (0.52 mmol) of 4-benzyl-4-hydroxy-2-ketoglutaric acid and 0.11 ml (1.0 mmol) of benzylamine were dissolved in 5 ml of methanol, to which 0.1 g of 5% palladium carbon (50% hydrous product) was added, for reaction under hydrogen atmosphere at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. Two days later, the catalyst was filtered off, and the reaction solution was concentrated to dryness, to obtain 0.03 g (0.12 mmol) of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid and 0.06 g (0.24 mmol) of (2R,4S)/(2S,4R)-2-amino-4-benzyl-4-hydroxyglutaric acid as a mixture. Example 13 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid To 10 ml of water in which were dissolved 3.18 g of potassium hydroxide, were added 1.0 g (5.55 mmol) of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid and 2.2 g (16.7 mmol) of oxalacetic acid, for reaction at ambient temperature for 72 hours (about pH 13 at the start of the reaction). Hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt of 1.54 g (22.2 mmol) was added to the reaction solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 10 hours. The reaction solution was then adjusted to pH 2.6, using 6N hydrochloric acid, for extraction using ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and concentrated to dryness, to obtain 0.7 g (2.47 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid as a crude product. Further, the crude product was recrystallized in methanol and toluene, to obtain 0.22 g (0.78 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid in crystal. (NMR Measurement) 1H NMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 2.67 (d, J=13.7 Hz, 1H), 2.89 (d, J=13.7 Hz, 1H), 2.95 (d, J=12.5 Hz, 1H), 2.99 (d, J=12.5 Hz, 1H), 6.59 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 2H), 6.97 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 2H), 9.11 (br s, 1H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C12H13NO6=283.24 Analytical value=281.93 (M−H)− Example 14 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutarate acid 0.06 g (0.21 mmol) of 4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutarate acid was dissolved in 2.5 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia, to which 0.04 g of 5% rhodium carbon was added for reaction at ambient temperature and a hydrogen pressure of 7.5 atmospheres. 14 hours later, the catalyst was filtered off, and the resulting solution was concentrated to dryness, to obtain a mixture of 0.044 g (0.145 mmol) of (2S,4S)/(2R,4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid and 0.021 g (0.069 mmol) of (2S,4R)/(2R,4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid. 1H NMR (D2O) δ: 1.89 (dd, J=11.9, 15.7 Hz, 0.68H), 2.06 (dd, J=10.2, 15.0 Hz, 0.32H), 2.30 (dd, J=3.3, 15.0 Hz, 0.32H), 2.51 (dd, J=2.4, 15.7 Hz, 0.68H), 2.70 (d, J=13.4 Hz, 0.68H), 2.83 (d, J=13.4 Hz, 0.32H), 2.90 (d, J=13.4 Hz, 0.32H), 2.96 (d, J=13.4 Hz, 0.68H), 3.52 (dd, J=2.4, 11.9 Hz, 0.68H), 3.84 (dd, J=3.3, 10.2 Hz, 0.32H), 6.71-6.77 (m, 2H), 7.02-7.08 (m, 2H). (Molecular Weight Measurement) Theoretical ESI-MS value C12H15NO6=269.26 Analytical value=268.11 (M−H)− Example 15 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid; NO. 4 12.30 g (58.7 mmol; at a purity of 97.0% by weight) of indole pyruvic acid was added to and dissolved in 209 ml of water containing 2.45 g of sodium hydroxide dissolved therein. Over a period of two hours 47.61 g of an aqueous 25% by weight sodium hydroxide solution and a mixture of 25.85 g (293.5 mmol) of pyruvic acid and 25.85 g of water were added to the resulting solutuion under a nitrogen atmosphere at 35° C., while the reaction system was kept at pH 11.0. Subsequently, the reaction system was agitated for 14 hours. In this way, a reaction solution was obtained, which contained 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid at a yield of 44.1% (vs. indolepyruvic acid). 3.60 g of 1N hydrochloric acid was added to the solution for neutralization (pH=6.91), to obtain 275 ml of a neutralized reaction solution. 168 ml of the thus obtained neutralized reaction solution was passed through a resin column (having a diameter of 4.8 cm) packed with 840 ml of a synthetic adsorbent (DIAION-SP207 manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation). Then, pure water was passed through the column at a flow rate of 23.5 ml per minute, to collect 1.7 to 2.9 (L/L-R) to obtain 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid at a high purity at a yield of 66.3%. (NMR Spectrum) 1H-NMR(400 MHz, D2O): δ 3.03 (d, 1H, J=14.6 Hz), 3.11(d, 1H, J=14.6 Hz), 3.21(d, 1H, J=18.1 Hz), 3.40 (d, 1H, J=18.1 Hz), 7.06-7.15 (m, 3H), 7.39 (d, 1H, J=7.8 Hz), 7.66 (d, 1H, J=7.8 Hz). 13C-NMR(400 MHz, D2O): 635.43, 47.91, 77.28, 109.49, 112.05, 119.44, 119.67, 121.91, 125.42, 128.41, 136.21, 169.78, 181.43, 203.58. (Mass Analysis) Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H13NO6=291.07 Analytical value=290.02 (M−H)− Example 16 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid; NO. 2 After 1.0 g (4.92 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid was added to and dissolved in 10 ml of aqueous saturated sodium carbonate solution, the resulting solution was adjusted to pH 12.55 using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution. After 1.3 g (14.8 mmol) of pyruvic acid was added, the resulting solution was adjusted to pH 12.6 using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 2 hours, to obtain a reaction solution containing 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid. 1.37 g (19.7 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt was added to the reaction solution, while the reaction solution was adjusted to a pH value around neutrality using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution, and stirred at ambient temperature for 4 hours. Using conc. hydrochloric acid, the reaction solution was adjusted to an acidic pH value, to extract the organic matter in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and subsequently concentrated, to obtain the residue. The residue was recrystallized in aqueous 28% ammonia and ethanol, to obtain 0.52 g of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid (1.5 mmol; a yield, 31% vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid) in crystal form. (NMR Spectrum) 1HNMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 2.66 (s, 2H), 2.89 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 3.04 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 6.89-6.94 (m, 1H), 6.97-7.03 (m, 1H), 7.11 (d, J=2.8 Hz, 1H), 7.27 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (d, J=7.8 Hz, 1H), 10.71 (br s, 1H). (Mass Analysis) Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H14N2O6=306.28 Analytical value=305.17 (M−H)− Example 17 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid; NO. 3 After 10.0 g (49.2 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid was added to and dissolved in 98 ml of aqueous saturated sodium carbonate solution, the resulting solution was adjusted to pH 12.4 using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution. After 16.3 g (147.6 mmol) of sodium pyruvate was added for reaction at ambient temperature for 2 hours, a reaction solution containing 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid was obtained. 13.7 g (197 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt was added to the reaction solution while the reaction solution was adjusted to a pH value around neutrality using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution, and agitated at ambient temperature for 4 hours. Using conc. hydrochloric acid, the reaction solution was adjusted to an acidic pH value, to extract the organic matter in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and subsequently concentrated, to obtain the residue. The residue was recrystallized in aqueous 28% ammonia and ethanol, to obtain 5.51 g of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid (16.2 mmol; a yield of 32% vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid) in crystal form. Example 18 After 1.0 g (4.92 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid was added to and dissolved in 10 ml of aqueous saturated sodium carbonate solution in the same manner as in Example 16, the resulting solution was adjusted to pH 12.7 using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution. After 1.3 g (14.8 mmol) of pyruvic acid was added, the resulting solution was adjusted to pH 10.0 using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution, for reaction at ambient temperature for 6 hours. 1.37 g (19.7 mmol) of hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt was added to the reaction solution while the reaction solution was adjusted to a pH value around neutrality using aqueous 25% sodium hydroxide solution, and stirred at ambient temperature for 13 hours. Using conc. hydrochloric acid, the reaction solution was adjusted to an acidic pH value, to extract the organic matter in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and subsequently concentrated, to obtain the residue. The residue was analyzed by HPLC, by which it was shown that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was generated at a yield of about 14%. Example 19 Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid; NO. 4 73.8 g (352 mmol) of indole-3-pyruvic acid was added to and dissolved in 917 g of aqueous 1.6 wt % sodium hydroxide solution. The resulting solution was adjusted to 35° C., to which 310.2 g (1761 mmol) of aqueous 50% pyruvic acid solution was added dropwise over 2 hours, while the reaction solution was retained at pH 11.1 using aqueous 30% sodium hydroxide solution. After reaction for another 4.5 hours, a reaction solution containing 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid was obtained. 367.2 g (2114 mmol) of aqueous 40% hydroxylamine hydrochloride salt solution was added to the reaction solution while the reaction solution was kept at pH 7 using aqueous 30% sodium hydroxide solution, and stirred at 5° C. for 17.5 hours. Using conc. hydrochloric acid, the reaction solution was adjusted to pH 2, to extract the organic matter in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was rinsed with aqueous saturated sodium chloride and concentrated, to obtain the residue. The residue was recrystallized in 60 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia and 1350 ml of 2-propanol, to obtain 43.4 g of the diammonium salt of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid (142 mmol; a yield of 40% vs. indole-3-pyruvic acid) in crystal form. Example 20 Production of (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid After 44.7 g (0.131 mol) of the ammonium salt of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was dissolved in 500 ml of water at 25° C., the resulting aqueous solution was adjusted to pH 2 using 25.5 g of 36% hydrochloric acid. The acidic solution was extracted in 1300 ml of ethyl acetate, and the resulting ethyl acetate solution was rinsed with 200 ml of aqueous saturated sodium chloride solution. 500 ml of an aqueous sodium carbonate solution (13.9 g (0.131 mole) of sodium carbonate) was added to the resulting ethyl acetate solution for agitation, to separate the aqueous alkali solution from ethyl acetate. 23.1 g of 36% hydrochloric acid was added to the resulting aqueous alkali solution, to adjust the solution to pH 2. 6.99 g (57.6 mmol) of (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine was added dropwise to the resulting aqueous acidic solution and the solution stirred at 25° C. for one hour. The resulting crystal was filtered and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain 21.8 g (47.8 mmol) of the (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid. (Yield, 72.7%; optical purity, 87.4%.) 1H-NMR(400 MHz, DMSO-d6) σ: 1.48 (d, 3H, J=6.8 Hz), 2.63(d, 1H, J=14.0 Hz), 2.70(d, 1H, J=14.0 Hz), 2.90 (d, 1H, j=14.1 Hz), 3.06 (d, 1H, J=14.1 Hz), 4.40 (q, 1H, J=6.8 Hz), 6.91-7.54 (m, 10H). Example 21 Production of (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine of 7.12 g (58.7 mmol) was added dropwise to the solution obtained in Example 20 after the crystal was filtered off, and the mixtured stirred at 25° C. for one hour. The resulting crystal was filtered off and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain of 23.8 g (53.3 mol) the (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid. (Yield, 81.1%; optical purity, 92.1%.) Example 22 Production of the Ammonium Salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid 200 ml of water and 18.5 g of aqueous 28% ammonia were added to 21.8 g (51.0 mmol) of the (R)-(+)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid at 25° C. so as to dissolve the salt, followed by further addition of 200 ml of toluene and stirring. The aqueous layer obtained by the partition of the resulting layers was heated to 60° C. To the resulting aqueous solution was added dropwise 900 ml of 2-propanol over 2 hours. After the aqueous 2-propanol solution was cooled to 10° C. over 5 hours, the solution was stirred at 10° C. for 10 hours. The resulting crystal was filtered and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain 14.75 g of the ammonium salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid. (Yield, 85.1%; optical purity, 99.0%.) Melting point; 205° C. (decomposed) Specific rotation [α]20D+13.4 (c=1.00, H2O) Example 23 Production of the Ammonium Salt of (4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid In the same manner as in the Example described above, 16.2 g the ammonium salt of (4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was recovered of 23.8 g (53.3 mmol) of from the (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine salt of (4R)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid. (Yield, 89.3%; optical purity, 99.9%.) Specific rotation [α]20D−13.6 (c=1.00, H2O) Example 24 Production of (2S,4S)Monatin 4.5 g (13.1 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was dissolved in 100 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia, followed by addition of 3.4 g of 5% rhodium carbon (50% hydrous product), for reaction at ambient temperature and a hydrogen pressure of 10 atmospheres (1 MPa). After 24 hours, the catalyst was filtered off. The filtrate was concentrated. 40 ml of aqueous 90% ethanol was added to the concentrate, for stirring at 25° C. for 1.5 hours. The deposited crude crystal was filtered. 40 ml of aqueous 90% ethanol was added to the crude crystal, and stirred at 25° C. for 1.5 hours. The deposited purified crystal was filtered off and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain 0.57 g (1.84 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4S) monatin. (Yield, 14.1%; optical purity, 99.5%.) 1HNMR (400 MHz, D2O) δ: 2.06 (dd, J=11.8, 15.3 Hz, 1H), 267 (dd, J=2.0, 15.2 Hz, 1H), 3.08 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H), 3.28 (d, J=14.4 Hz, 1H) 3.63 (dd, J=2.2, 12.2 Hz, 1H), 7.12-7.16 (m, 1H), 7.20-7.24 (m, 2H), 7.48-7.49 (m, 1H), 7.71-7.73 (m, 1H). Theoretical ESI-MS value C14H16N2O5=292.29 Analytical value=291.28 (MH−) Example 25 Production of Ammonium Salt of (2S,4S)Monatin 14.0 g (41.1 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (4S)-4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-hydroxyiminoglutaric acid was dissolved in 120 ml of aqueous 28% ammonia, followed by addition of 7.38 g of 5% rhodium carbon (50% hydrous product), for reaction at 25° C. and a hydrogen pressure of 1 MPa. After 24 hours, the catalyst was filtered off. The filtrate was concentrated. 110 ml of aqueous 88% ethanol was added to 17.68 g of the concentrate, for stirring at 25° C. for 19 hours. The resulting crude crystal was filtered off and dissolved in 15 ml of water, followed by addition of 100 ml of ethanol. After stirring at 25° C. for 1.5 hours, the deposited purified crystals was filtered and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain 4.94 g (16.0 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4S) monatin. (Yield, 39.2%; optical purity, 99.9%.) Example 26 Production of Free Form of (2S,4S)Monatin 2.22 g (7.18 mmol) of the ammonium salt of (2S,4S) monatin obtained in the above Example was dissolved in a mixed solvent of 4.5 ml of water and 4.2 ml (71.8 mmol) of acetic acid, followed by dropwise addition of 50 ml of ethanol to the resulting solution at 25° C. over about 3 hours. After another 0.5-hr stirring, the resulting crystal was filtered and dried under reduced pressure, to obtain 1.93 g (6.62 mmol) of (2S,4S) monatin of. (Yield, 92.2%; the ammonium content, 0.19 wt %.) Comparative Example 1 Using cinchonidine in place of the optically active amine used in Example 20, the same procedures were carried out. The optical purity of the resulting crystal was 0% Comparative Example 2 L-Lysine was used in place of the optically active amine used in Example 20. However, no crystal was obtained. Comparative Example 3 L-Arginine was used in place of the optically active amine used in Example 20. However, no crystal was obtained. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY In accordance with the invention, glutamic acid compounds typically including monatin useful as sweetener or an intermediate for producing pharmaceutical products can be efficiently produced industrially. In accordance with the invention, further, optically active monatin can be efficiently produced industrially. The present application is based on Japanese application No. 2001-396300 (filed Dec. 27, 2001), Japanese application No. 2002-149069 (filed May 23, 2002), Japanese application No. 2002-149078 (filed May 23, 2002), and Japanese application No. 2002-182032, filed Jun. 21, 2002, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to processes of producing glutamic acid compounds such as monatin, useful as production intermediates for sweetener or pharmaceutical products, as well as production intermediates therefore, and a novel important intermediate included in them. More specifically, the invention relates to a process of industrially efficiently producing the glutamic acid compounds, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel intermediate included in them, and a process of producing optically active monatin, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore, including a novel intermediate. 2. Description of the Background Glutamic acid compounds such as monatin are compounds that are promising for use as sweetener or production intermediates for pharmaceutical products and the like. For example, it has been known that 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (3-(1-amino-1,3-dicarboxy-3-hydroxybutan-4-yl)indole, sometimes referred to as “monatin” hereinbelow) represented by the following formula (7′) in the (2S,4S) form is contained in the root of a plant Schlerochiton ilicifolius and has sweetness at a level several hundreds-fold that of sucrose (see JP-A-64-25757 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,298)). In the specification, the term “monatin” is not limited to the (2S,4S) form naturally occurring but is used as the generic name of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-aminoglutaric acid (3-(1-amino-1,3-dicarboxy-3-hydroxybutan-4-yl)indole) including the individual isomers in the forms of (2S,4S), (2S,4R), (2R,4S), and (2R,4R). The following reports have been issued about processes of producing monatin (the following examples (2) to (5)) and protected monatin (the following example (1)). (1) Process described in Tetrahedron Letters, 2001, Vol. 42, No. 39, pp. 6793-6796; (2) Process described in Organic Letters, 2000, Vol. 2, No. 19, pp. 2967-2970; (3) Process described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,559; (4) Process described in Synthetic Communications, 1994, Vol. 24, No. 22, pp. 3197-3211; and (5) Process described in Synthetic Communications, 1993, Vol. 23, No. 18, pp. 2511-2526 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,298 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,164; Because any of the processes requires multiple steps, however, the industrial practice of the processes actually involves much difficulty. Some of the references shown above or other references (see T. Kitahara, et al., Japanese Agrochemical Association, the 2000-th Conference, Abstracts of Proceedings, 3B128β (p.221)) describe about the examination of processes of producing optically active monatin. However, disadvantageously, the processes require multiple steps and involve very tough steps for industrial practice. Thus, it has been desired to develop an industrial process of efficiently producing glutamic acid compounds typically including monatin, particularly an industrial process of efficiently producing optically active monatin. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The problems to be solved by the present invention are to provide processes of industrially and efficiently producing glutamic acid compounds such as monatin and production intermediates therefore (including salt forms of them) and to provide important intermediates therefore. More specifically, the invention provides a process of industrially efficiently producing the glutamic acid compounds, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel important intermediate included in them, and a process of producing optically active monatin, a process of producing production intermediates for use therefore and a novel important intermediate included in them. The inventors have made investigations so as to solve the problems described above. The inventors have found that glutamic acid compounds such as monatin (including salt forms thereof) can be efficiently produced by condensing a specific pyruvic acid compound and oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid together with cross aldol reaction to produce ketoglutaric acid compounds as precursors of the intended glutamic acid compounds and then converting the carbonyl group in the resulting ketoglutaric acid compounds to amino group. In an aldol reaction using carbonyl compounds of different types as in the present invention, generally, four types of products are produced in mixture through the self aldol reaction of the same types of compounds and the cross aldol reaction of different types of compounds. Although the self aldol condensation reaction of oxalacetic acid (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1973, Vol. 38, No. 20, pp.3582-3585) or pyruvic acid (Journal of American Chemical Society, 1964, Vol. 86, pp. 2805-2810; Analytical Chemistry, 1986, Vol. 58, No. 12, pp. 2504-2510) or the cross aldol reaction in a system where one of carbonyl compounds such as glyoxylic acid or oxalacetic acid is never condensed with itself so a single product can relatively readily be obtained (Tetrahedron Letters, 1987, Vol. 28, pp. 1277-1280) has been known so far, no report has described any example of selectively obtaining a single cross aldol reaction product between oxalacetic acid or pyruvic acid and pyruvic acid compounds. Additionally, the inventors have found that an optically active monatin can be obtained by reacting a glutaric acid compound of the following formula (9) with a specific optically active amine to form a diasteromer salt, then crystallizing and separating the resulting diastereomer salt, further dissociating the diastereomer salt or exchanging the diastereomer salt with a different salt to obtain an optically active glutaric acid compound, then converting the alkoxyimino group (or hydroxyimino group) of the diastereomer salt or the optically active glutaric acid compound to amino group, crystallizing the resulting monatin represented by the following formula (13) (racemate at the 2-position) in a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent. Based on their findings described above, the invention has been achieved. Thus, the invention includes inventions relating to the following production processes described below and the novel substance described below in their individual various embodiments. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a pyruvic acid compound represented by the following formula (1) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction or treating the pyruvic acid compound (except for pyruvic acid) and a pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, to obtain a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof, and a step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof to amino group, where the pyruvic acid compound, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: in the above formulas, R 1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R 1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above in where the step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of reacting an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the resulting glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the above formulas, R 1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; R 2 represents hydrogen atom or a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups; and R 1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above in where the step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of treating the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a pyruvic acid compound represented by the following formula (1) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating the pyruvic acid compound (except for pyruvic acid) and a pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, where the pyruvic acid compound, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: in the above formulas, R 1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R 1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is conducted within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of reacting a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the resulting glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the above formulas, R 1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; R 2 represents hydrogen atom or a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups; and R 1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process of producing a glutamic acid compound represented by the following formula (7) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating a ketoglutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (4) or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction: in the above formulas, R 1 represents a group selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups, aralkyl groups and heterocyclic ring-containing hydrocarbon groups; and R 1 may have at least one substituent selected from halogen atoms, hydroxyl group, alkyl groups with one to 3 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups with one to 3 carbon atoms and amino group. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, to obtain 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof, and a step of converting the carbonyl group of the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to amino group, where indole-3-pyruvic acid, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: A process described above where the step of converting the carbonyl group of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of reacting an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof with the ketoglutaric acid or a salt thereof to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6′) or a salt thereof, and a step of treating the glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, or a substituent selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups. A process described above where the step of converting the carbonyl group of 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the formula (4′) or a salt thereof to amino group includes a step of treating the ketoglutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction. A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and oxalacetic acid represented by the following formula (2) by cross aldol reaction and decarboxylation reaction, or treating indole-3-pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (1′) and pyruvic acid represented by the following formula (2′) by cross aldol reaction, where indole-3-pyruvic acid, oxalacetic acid and pyruvic acid may individually be in salt forms thereof: A process described above where the cross aldol reaction is carried out within a range of pH 10 to 14. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of reacting 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethy)-2-ketogluraric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof with an amine compound represented by the following formula (5) or a salt thereof, to obtain a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (6′) or a salt thereof, and a step of subsequently treating the glutaric acid compound or a salt thereof by reducing reaction: in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom and a substituent selected from alkyl groups, aryl groups and aralkyl groups. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (7′) or a salt thereof, including a step of treating 4-hydroxy-4-(3-indolylmethyl)-2-ketoglutaric acid represented by the following formula (4′) or a salt thereof by reductive amination reaction: A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof including the following steps a to c: in the formula, * denotes an asymmyetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration: step a: a step of obtaining an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 represent the same meanings as described below; in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents R- or S-configuration by reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (9) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and the bond marked with wavy line expresses that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included with an optically active amine represented by the following formula (10) in the formula, R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R-configuration or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt, and a step of separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization; step b: a step of generating monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, by dissociating the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11) or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, as necessary, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration, and a step of converting the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group to amino group; step c: a step of obtaining an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof by crystallizing monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent. A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof, including the following steps b and c: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration step b: a step of generating monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, by dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt, as necessary, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration, and by treating the optically active glutaric acid compound by a reaction to convert the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group thereof to amino group and step c: a step of obtaining an optically active monatin represented by the formula (8) or a salt thereof by crystallizing the monatin represented by the formula (13) or a salt thereof using a mixed solvent of water and an alcohol. A process of producing an optically active monatin represented by the following formula (8) or a salt thereof in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of crystallizing the salt of monatin represented by the following formula (13) using a mixed solvent of water and alcohol: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents R- or S-configuration; and the bond marked with wavy line means both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included. A process of producing an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of reacting a glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (9) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; and the bond marked with wavy line means that both the R-configuration and S-configuration are included with an optically active amine represented by the following formula (10) in the formula, R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration, to form a diastereomer salt, and a step of separating the diastereomer salt by crystallization. A process of producing an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration, including a step of dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt. A process of producing monatin represented by the following formula (13) or a salt thereof: in the formula, * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration; the bond marked with wavy line expresses that both the R-configuration and the S-configuration are included, including a step of dissociating an optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the following formula (11) in the formula, R represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R 1 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and independently represents the R- or S-configuration or exchanging the optically active glutaric acid compound salt with a different salt on a needed basis, to prepare an optically active glutaric acid compound represented by the following formula (12) or a salt thereof (excluding the optically active glutaric acid compound salt represented by the formula (11)) in the formula, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R-configuration or the S-configuration and a step of treating the resulting optically active glutaric acid compound by a reaction to convert the alkoxyimino group or hydroxyimino group thereof to amino group. A process of producing monatin represented by the following structural formula (7′) (including salt forms thereof), the process passing through a process described above: A compound represented by the following formulas or the formula (4′), (6′), (7″), (11), (12), (14), (15), (16) or (17) (including salt forms thereof), where in the formulas, R 2 represents hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group or an aralkyl group; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and R 7 independently represent hydrogen atom or an alkyl group with one to 3 carbon atoms; and * denotes an asymmetric center and represents the R- or S-configuration: In an embodiment that such a compound is used or prepared in an appropriate salt form in accordance with the invention, the salt form is with no specific limitation. Such salt form includes for example sodium salt, potassium salt, lithium salt, magnesium salt, calcium salt, ammonium salt, and dicyclohexylammonium salt. By salt formation process, desalting process, salt exchange process and the like for routine use so far, the intended salt can be produced. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040622 | 20060620 | 20050106 | 62164.0 | 0 | SHIAO, REI TSANG | PROCESSES OF PRODUCING GLUTAMIC ACID COMPOUNDS AND PRODUCTION INTERMEDIATES THEREFORE AND NOVEL INTERMEDIATE FOR THE PROCESSES | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,636 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for wireless communication in a high velocity environment | A communication system transitions from a high velocity mode of operation to a non-high velocity mode of operation based on a movement of a mobile station. When the communication system is in a high velocity mode of operation, the communication system promotes pilots from a High Velocity Neighbor Set of the mobile station or a controller. When the communication system is in a non-high velocity mode of operation, the communication system promotes pilots from a Neighbor Set of the mobile station or the controller. The communication system may further include a high velocity repeater that, when co-located with the mobile station, is capable of providing a communication link between the mobile station and a radio access network servicing the mobile station. | 1. A method of wireless communication in a high velocity environment comprising: maintaining, by a mobile station, a High Velocity Neighbor Set and a Neighbor Set, determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment; and when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, utilizing the High Velocity Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment comprises: determining a plurality of best pilot signals within a period of time, wherein each best pilot signal of the plurality of best pilot signals is different than the other pilot signals of the plurality of best pilot signals; and when a quantity of best pilot signals determined within the period of time exceeds a best pilot signal quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment comprises: determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a same base station; and when the period of time is less than a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment comprises: receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure; determining a Doppler shift of the received signal; and when the Doppler shift exceeds a Doppler shift threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment comprises: engaging in a plurality of handoffs during a period of time; and when a quality of handoffs engaged in during the period of time exceeds a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing the High Velocity Neighbor Set for handoffs. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity mode: determining whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment; and when the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, transitioning to utilization of the Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment comprises: determining a plurality of best pilot signals within a period of time, wherein each best pilot signal of the plurality of best pilot signals is different than the other pilot signals of the plurality of best pilot signals; and when a quantity of best pilot signals determined within the period of time is less than a best pilot signal quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of best pilot signals are determined based on pilot signals of the Neighbor Set. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of best pilot signals are determined based on pilot signals of the High Velocity Neighbor Set. 11. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment comprises: determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a same base station; and when the period of time exceeds a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 12. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment comprises: receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure; determining a Doppler Shift of the received signal; and when the Doppler shift is less than a Doppler shift threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 13. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment comprises: engaging in a plurality of handoffs during a period of time; and when a quantity of handoffs engaged in during the period of time is less than a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 14. A mobile station comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor sets, wherein a first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a Neighbor Set and a second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a High Velocity Neighbor Set; a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, utilizes the High Velocity Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. 15. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein the processor determines that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment based on received instructions to utilize the High Velocity Neighbor Set. 16. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the processor utilizes the High Velocity Neighbor Set for handoffs. 17. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a plurality of best pilot signals within a period of time, wherein each best pilot signal of the plurality of best pilot signals is different than the other pilot signal of the plurality of best pilot signals, and when a quantity of best pilot signals determined within the period of time exceeds a best pilot signal quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 18. The mobile station of claim 17, wherein the processor determines the plurality of best pilot signals based on pilot signals of the Neighbor Set. 19. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a same base station and, when the period of time is less than a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 20. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure, determining a Doppler shift of the received signal, and when the Doppler shift exceeds a Doppler shift threshold, determining that the wireless communication device is operating in a high velocity environment. 21. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a quantity of handoffs engaged in by the mobile station during a period of time and, when the quantity of handoffs engaged in during the period of time exceeds a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 22. The mobile station of claim 14, wherein, when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity mode, the processor determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment and, when the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, utilizes the Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. 23. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment by determining a plurality of best pilot signals within a period of time, wherein each best pilot signal of the plurality of best pilot signals is different than the other pilot signals of the plurality of best pilot signals, and when a quantity of best pilot signals determined within the period of time is less than a best pilot signal quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 24. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment by determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a same base station and when the period of time exceeds a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 25. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment by receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure, determining a Doppler shift of the received signal, and when the Doppler shift is less than a Doppler shift threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 26. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by engaging in a plurality of handoffs during a period of time and when a quantity of handoffs engaged in during the period of time is less than a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 27. A radio access network controller comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor sets; and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines whether a mobile station serviced by the controller is operating in a high velocity environment, when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment adjusts a first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and conveys an instruction to promote a pilot based on the adjustment of the first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets, and when the mobile station is not operating in a high velocity environment adjusts a second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and conveys an instruction to promote a pilot based on the adjustment of the second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets 28. The radio access network controller of claim 27, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a sane base station and, when the period of time is less than a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 29. The radio access network controller of claim 27, the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a quantity of handoffs engaged in by the mobile station during a period of time and when a quantity of handoffs engaged in during the period of time exceeds a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment. 30. The radio access network controller of claim 27, wherein, when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, the processor further determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment and when the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, transitions the mobile station to a non-high velocity mode of operation wherein the mobile station no longer utilizes the High Velocity Neighbor Set for handoffs. 31. The radio access network controller of claim 30, wherein the processor determines whether the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment by determining a period of time during which the mobile station is serviced by a same base station and, when the period of time exceeds a time threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 32. The radio access network controller of claim 30, the processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment by determining a quantity of handoffs engaged in by the mobile station during a period of time and when a quantity of handoffs engaged in during the period of time is less than a handoff quantity threshold, determining that the mobile station is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. 33. A method of operating a mobile station in a high velocity environment comprising: determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment; maintaining, by a mobile station, a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set; in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, searching pilot signals associated with the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value; and in response to determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, modifying an Active Set. 34. A mobile station comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set; and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, searches pilot signals associated with the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, and in response to determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, modifies an Active Set. 35. A method for promoting pilot signals in a high velocity environment comprising: maintaining, by a mobile station, a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set; searching pilot signals associated with at least one of the Neighbor Set and the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value; upon determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, transmitting information concerning the pilot signal; in response to transmitting information concerning the pilot signal, receiving instructions promote the pilot signal to an Active Set; and in response to receiving the instruction, promoting the pilot signal to the Active Set. 36. A radio access network controller comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set; and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that receives information from the mobile station concerning a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, determines that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to receiving the information and determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, adjusts a High Velocity Neighbor Set and conveys information to the mobile station corresponding to the adjustment. 37. The radio access network controller of claim 36, wherein the processor conveys the changes by conveying a system configuration message indicating a modification of at High Velocity Neighbor List and further conveys the modification of the High Velocity Neighbor List. 38. The radio access network controller of claim 36, wherein the processor further modifies the High Velocity Neighbor Set maintained in the at least one memory device based on the information received from the mobile station. 39. A radio access network controller comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set; and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines that a mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, conveys a High Velocity Neighbor List to the mobile station. 40. A mobile station comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor sets, wherein a first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a Neighbor Set and a second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a High Velocity Neighbor Set; a receiver that receives instructions from a wireless infrastructure to modify at least one of the plurality of neighbor sets; and a processor coupled to each of the at least one memory device and the receiver that is capable of modifying the at least one of the plurality of neighbor sets in response to the received instructions. 41. The mobile station of claim 40, wherein the processor further receives instructions to modify at least one neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and, in response to receiving the instructions, modifies the at least one neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets. 42. The mobile station of claim 41, wherein the mobile station receives instructions to modify by receiving a system configuration message indicating a modification of at least one neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and receiving a modification of the at least one neighbor set. 43. The mobile station of claim 40, wherein the processor further searches pilot signals associated with the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, in response to determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, transmits information concerning the pilot signal, and in response to transmitting information concerning the pilot signal, receives changes to a High Velocity Neighbor List; and modifies the High Velocity Neighbor Set based on the received changes to a High Velocity Neighbor List. 44. The mobile station of claim 40, wherein the processor further searches pilot signals associated with the Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, upon determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, transmits information concerning the pilot signal, and in response to transmitting information concerning the pilot signal, receives changes to a High Velocity Neighbor List, and modifies the High Velocity Neighbor Set based on the received changes to a High Velocity Neighbor List. 45. A method for providing wireless communication services in a high velocity environment comprising: determining a frequency shift due, at least in part, to a movement of a repeater; applying a first frequency offset to a fit signal received by the repeater; applying a second frequency offset to a second signal transmitted by the repeater; and wherein each frequency offset of the first frequency offset and the second frequency offset is based on the determined frequency shift. 46. The method of claim 45 wherein applying a first frequency offset comprises: receiving a first signal from a wireless infrastructure; applying a first frequency offset to the first signal to produce a first frequency offset signal; and transmit the first frequency offset signal to a mobile station co-located with the repeater. 47. The method of claim 45, wherein applying a second frequency offset comprises: receiving a second signal from a wireless communication device co-located with the repeater; applying a second frequency offset to the second signal to produce a second frequency offset signal; and transmitting the second frequency offset signal to a wireless infrastructure. 48. The method of claim 45, wherein determining a frequency shift comprises: receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure; and determining a Doppler shift of the received signal. 49. The method of claim 45, further comprising: transmitting, by the mobile station, signals to the repeater at a power level that is less than a power level required to acceptably transmit signals by the mobile station to a wireless infrastructure. 50. A repeater capable of operating in a high velocity environment, the repeater comprising a processor that determines a frequency shift due, at least in part, to a movement of the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, applies a first frequency offset to a first signal received by the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, applies a second frequency offset to a second signal transmitted by the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, and wherein each of the first frequency offset and the second frequency offset is based on the determined frequency shift. 51. The repeater of claim 50, wherein the processor applies a first frequency offset by receiving a first signal from a wireless infrastructure, applying a first frequency offset to the first signal to produce a first frequency offset signal, and transmitting the first frequency offset signal to a mobile station co-located with the repeater. 52. The repeater of claim 50, the processor applies a second frequency offset by receiving a second signal from a mobile station co-located with the repeater, applying a second frequency offset to the second signal to produce a second frequency offset signal, and transmitting the second frequency offset signal to a wireless infrastructure. 53. The repeater of claim 50, wherein the processor determines a frequency shift by receiving a signal from a wireless infrastructure and determining a Doppler shift of the received signal. 54. The repeater of claim 50, wherein the repeater further comprises at least one memory device that stores mobile station functionality and wherein the processor, by executing the mobile station functionality, is capable of determining at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with a radio access network (RAN) and, in response to determining the at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with tie RAN, automatically tuning to frequencies associated with the RAN. 55. A repeater comprising: at least one memory device that stores mobile station functionality; and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that executes the mobile station functionality and, by executing the mobile station functionality, is capable of determining at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with a radio access network (RAN) and, in response to determining the at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with the RAN, automatically tuning to frequencies associated with the RAN. 56. A method for operating a mobile station in a high velocity environment, the method comprising maintaining a plurality of neighbor lists, wherein a first neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a high velocity neighbor list and a second neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a non-high velocity neighbor list. 57. The method of claim 56, further comprising: receiving instructions to modify at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists; and modifying the at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists in response to the received instructions. 58. The method of claim 57, wherein receiving instructions to modify comprises; receiving a system configuration message indicating a modification of at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists; and receiving a modification of the at least one neighbor list. 59. A mobile station comprising: at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor lists, wherein a first neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a high velocity neighbor list and a second neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a non-high velocity neighbor list; a receiver that receives instructions from a wireless infrastructure to modify at least one of the plurality of neighbor lists; and a processor coupled to each of the at least one memory device and the receiver that is capable of modifying the at least one of the plurality of neighbor lists in response to the received instructions. 60. The mobile station of claim 59, wherein the processor further receives instructions to modify at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists and, in response to receiving the instructions, modifies the at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists. 61. The mobile station of claim 60, wherein the mobile station receives instructions to modify by receiving a system configuration message indicating a modification of at least one neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists and receiving a modification of the at least one neighbor list. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and, in particular, to a provision of wireless communication services in a high velocity environment. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Interim Standard IS-2000 has been adopted by the Telecommunications Industry Association for implementing cdma2000® in a cellular system. In a cdma2000 communication system, a mobile station (MS) communicates with any one or more of a plurality of base stations (BSs) dispersed in a geographic region. Each BS continuously transmits a pilot channel signal having the same spreading code but with a different code phase offset. Phase offset allows the pilot signals to be distinguished from one another, which in turn allows the BSs to be distinguished. Hereinafter, a pilot signal of a BS will be simply referred to as a pilot. The MS monitors the pilots and measures the received energy of the pilots. The MS communicates with a BS providing wireless communication services to the MS via a forward link and a reverse link. The forward link typically includes one or more forward traffic channels, one or more forward control channels, and a paging channel. The reverse link typically includes one or more reverse traffic channels, one or more reverse control channels, and an access channel. During a call, the MS must constantly monitor and maintain four sets of pilots. The four sets of pilots are collectively referred to as the Pilot Set and include an Active Set, a Candidate Set, a Neighbor Set, and a Remaining Set. The Active Set comprises pilots associated with a forward traffic channel assigned to the MS. When the MS is in an idle mode, the Active Set comprises pilots associated with a paging channel or a forward control channel monitored by the MS. The Candidate Set comprises pilots that are not currently in the Active Set but have been received by the MS with sufficient strength to indicate that an associated forward traffic channel could be successfully demodulated. The Neighbor Set comprises pilots that are each transmitted from a BS to the MS and are possible candidates for handoff. The Remaining Set comprises all possible pilots in the current system on the current CDMA frequency assignment, excluding the pilots in the Neighbor Set, the Candidate Set, and the Active Set. Typically, a BS provides communications services to MSs located in a coverage area serviced by the BS. When the MS is serviced by a first BS, the MS constantly searches pilot channels of neighboring BSs for a pilot that is sufficiently stronger than a threshold value. The MS signals the determination of a pilot that is sufficiently stronger than the threshold value to the first, serving BTS using a Pilot Strength Measurement Message. As the MS moves from a first coverage area serviced by a first BS to a second coverage area serviced by a second BS, the communication system promotes certain pilots from the Candidate Set to the Active Set and from the Neighbor Set to the Candidate Set. The serving BS notifies the MS of the promotions. Then, when the MS commences communication with a new BS that has been added to the Active Set before terminating communications with an old BS, a “soft handoff” has occurred. For the reverse link, typically each BS in the Active Set independently demodulates and decodes each frame or packet received from the MS. It is then up to a switching center to arbitrate between the each BS's decoded frames. When an MS is operating in a high velocity environment, such as when the MS is located a high speed aircraft such as a commercial airplane, a conventional operation and handoff of the MS is fraught with problems. Typically, MSs include a mechanism for correcting for Doppler shifts in received signals resulting from the MS traveling at speeds of less than 120 kilometers per hour. However, when an MS is traveling at a speed in excess of 120 kilometers per hour, the MS is unable to fully compensate for the resulting Doppler shift in a received signal, resulting in an inability of the MS to properly demodulate the received signal. Furthermore, when an MS is traveling at an excessively a high rate of speed, new handoffs may be indicated before current handoffs may be completed, resulting in system inefficiencies and potentially resulting in dropped calls. Furthermore, pilots and associated BSs may be transferred in and out of the Neighbor Set so frequently that the Neighbor Set becomes somewhat useless. Therefore, there exists a need for a method and apparatus for performing handoffs and Doppler compensation with respect to an MS traveling at a high velocity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a base station of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of Radio Access Network controller of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile station of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a high velocity repeater of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a logic flow diagram of a high velocity mode of operation of the communication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram of the communication system of FIG. 1 operating in a high velocity mode in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a logic flow diagram of the communication system of FIG. 1 operating in a high velocity mode in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION To address the need for a method and an apparatus for performing handoffs and Doppler compensation with respect to an MS traveling at a high velocity, a communication system is provided that transitions from a high velocity mode of operation to a non-high velocity mode of operation based on a movement of a mobile station. When the communication system is in a high velocity mode of operation, the communication system promotes pilots from a High Velocity Neighbor Set of the mobile station or a controller. When the communication system is in a non-high velocity mode of operation, the communication system promotes pilots from a Neighbor Set of the mobile station or the controller. The communication system may further include a high velocity repeater that, when co-located with the mobile station, is capable of providing a communication link between the mobile station and a radio access network servicing the mobile station. Generally, an embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method of wireless communication in a high velocity environment. The method includes maintaining, by a mobile station, a High Velocity Neighbor Set and a Neighbor Set, determining whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, and when the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, utilizing the High Velocity Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. Another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a mobile station that includes at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor sets, wherein a first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a Neighbor Set and a second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets comprises a High Velocity Neighbor Set. The mobile station further includes a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, utilizes the High Velocity Neighbor Set for promotion of pilot signals. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a radio access network controller that includes at least one memory device that maintains multiple neighbor sets. The radio access network controller further includes a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines whether a mobile station serviced by the controller is operating in a high velocity environment. When the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, the processor adjusts a first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and conveys an instruction to promote a pilot based on the adjustment of the first neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets. When the mobile station is not operating in a high velocity environment, the processor adjusts a second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets and conveys an instruction to promote a pilot based on the adjustment of the second neighbor set of the plurality of neighbor sets Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method of operating a mobile station in a high velocity environment. The method includes determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, maintaining, by a mobile station, a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set. The method further includes, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, searching pilot signals associated with the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value and, in response to determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, modifying an Active Set. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a mobile station that includes at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device. The processor determines whether the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, searches pilot signals associated with the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, and in response to determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, modifies an Active Set. Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method for promoting pilot signals in a high velocity environment. The method includes maintaining, by a mobile station, a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set, searching pilot signals associated with at least one of the Neighbor Set and the High Velocity Neighbor Set for a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, and upon determining a pilot signal stronger than the threshold value, transmitting information concerning the pilot signal. The method further includes, in response to transmitting information concerning the pilot signal, receiving instructions promote the pilot signal to an Active Set and, in response to receiving the instruction, promoting the pilot signal to the Active Set. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a radio access network controller that includes at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device. The processor receives information from the mobile station concerning a pilot signal stronger than a threshold value, determines that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to receiving the information and determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, adjusts a High Velocity Neighbor Set and conveys information to the mobile station corresponding to the adjustment. Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a radio access network controller that includes at least one memory device that maintains a Neighbor Set and a High Velocity Neighbor Set. The radio access network controller further includes a processor coupled to the at least one memory device that determines that a mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment and, in response to determining that the mobile station is operating in a high velocity environment, conveys a High Velocity Neighbor List to the mobile station. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a mobile station that includes at least one memory device that maintains multiple neighbor sets, wherein a first neighbor list of the multiple neighbor lists comprises a Neighbor Set and a second neighbor set of the multiple neighbor sets comprises a High Velocity Neighbor Set. The mobile station further includes a receiver that receives instructions from a wireless infrastructure to modify at least one of the multiple neighbor sets and a processor coupled to each of the at least one memory device and the receiver that is capable of modifying the at least one of the multiple neighbor sets in response to the received instructions. Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method for providing wireless communication services in a high velocity environment that includes determining a frequency shift due, at least in part, to a movement of a repeater, applying a first frequency offset to a first signal received by the repeater, and applying a second frequency offset to a second signal transmitted by the repeater, wherein each frequency offset of the first frequency offset and the second frequency offset is based on the determined frequency shift. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a repeater capable of operating in a high velocity environment. The repeater includes a processor that determines a frequency shift due, at least in part, to a movement of the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, applies a first frequency offset to a first signal received by the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, and applies a second frequency offset to a second signal transmitted by the repeater when operating in the high velocity environment, wherein each of the first frequency offset and the second frequency offset is based on the determined frequency shift. Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a repeater that includes at least one memory device that stores mobile station functionality and a processor coupled to the at least one memory device. The processor executes the mobile station functionality and, by executing the mobile station functionality, is capable of determining at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with a radio access network (RAN) and, in response to determining the at least one of a carrier and a modulation scheme associated with the RAN, automatically tuning to frequencies associated with the RAN. Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method for operating a mobile station in a high velocity environment. The method includes maintaining a plurality of neighbor lists, wherein a first neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a high velocity neighbor list and a second neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a non-high velocity neighbor list. Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a mobile station that includes at least one memory device that maintains a plurality of neighbor lists, wherein a first neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a high velocity neighbor list and a second neighbor list of the plurality of neighbor lists comprises a non-high velocity neighbor list. The mobile station further includes a receiver that receives instructions from a wireless infrastructure to modify at least one of the plurality of neighbor lists and a processor coupled to each of the at least one memory device and the receiver that is capable of modifying the at least one of the plurality of neighbor lists in response to the received instructions. The present invention may be more fully described with reference to FIGS. 1-8. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Communication system 100 includes a Radio Access Network (RAN) 114 that comprises multiple Base Stations (BSs) 120-129. Each BS of the multiple BSs 120-129 includes at least one base transceiver station (BTS), which BTS wirelessly interfaces with the mobile stations located in a respective non-high velocity coverage area, or cell, 130-139 serviced by the BS. Communication system 100 further includes a RAN controller 116, preferably a Centralized Base Station Controller (CBSC), coupled to each BS of the multiple BSs 120-129. RAN controller 116 includes a Mobility Manager (MM) 118 that maintains, for each mobile station (MS) serviced by the RAN controller, a record of a location of the MS and a number of handoffs engaged in by the MS. In another embodiment of the present invention, RAN controller 116 may be distributed among the multiple BSs 120-129. RAN 114 and RAN controller 116 are collectively referred to herein as a terrestrial wireless infrastructure. Communication system 100 further includes a mobile station (MS) 106, such as a cellular telephone, a radiotelephone, a wireless modem associated with data terminal equipment (DTE) such as a personal computer (PC) or a laptop computer, or a personal digital assistant (PDA) with wireless communication capabilities. MS 106 is provided wireless communication services by RAN 114, and in particular by a BS of the multiple BSs 120-129 of communication system 100, via a first air interface 108 and/or via a combination of a second air interface 110, a repeater 104, and a third air interface 112. Each air interface 108, 110, 112 includes a forward link comprising multiple communication channels, preferably including at least one paging channel, at least one forward control channel, and at least one forward traffic channel. Each air interface 108, 110, 112 further includes a reverse link comprising multiple communication channels, preferably including an access channel, at least one reverse control channel, and at least one reverse traffic channel. When a vehicle 102 that is capable of traveling at a high velocity, such as a non-terrestrial vehicle such as an aircraft or a terrestrial vehicle such as a high speed train, is operating in communication system 100, the communication system may further include a high velocity repeater 104 that resides in the vehicle. When an MS, such as MS 106, is located in vehicle 102, the MS may communicate with RAN 114 via high velocity repeater 104 instead of communicating directly with the RAN. Since the MS is co-located with high velocity repeater 104, the MS and the repeater each experience approximately a same Doppler shift with respect to signals exchanged with RAN 114. As a result, high velocity repeater 104 may provide Doppler shift compensation for the MS that the MS is not capable of providing itself. Furthermore, by providing a high velocity repeater 104 that is co-located with MS 106, the MS may transmit at lower power levels than the power levels that would be required for the MS to acceptably transmit signals directly to RAN 114. By reducing the transmit power level of MS 106, the possibility of the MS interfering with other communications involving RAN 114 or high velocity repeater 104 is reduced. In addition, by reducing the transmit power level of MS 106, a limited life power source, such as a battery, that supplies power to the MS may be preserved. Communication system 100 comprises a wireless packet data communication system. In order for an MS, such as MS 106, to establish a packet data connection with an external network (not shown) connected to the infrastructure of communication system 100, each of repeater 104, BSs 120-129, and RAN controller 116 operate in accordance with well-known wireless telecommunications protocols. By operating in accordance with well-known protocols, a user of MS 106 can be assured that MS 106 will be able to communicate with the infrastructure and establish a packet data communication link with the external network via the infrastructure. Preferably, communication system 100 operates in accordance with the 3GPP2 and TIA/EIA (Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Association) IS-2000, or IOS (Inter Operability Specification), standard, which provides a compatibility standard for cdma2000 or 1xEV-DO, systems, wherein each communication channel of air interfaces 108, 110, and 112 comprises at least one orthogonal code, such as a Walsh code. The standard specifies wireless telecommunications system operating protocols, including radio system parameters and call processing procedures. However, those who are of ordinary skill in the art realize that communication system 100 may operate in accordance with any one of a variety of wireless packet data communication systems, such as other CDMA 30 technologies like W-CDMA, a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) communication system, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communication system, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) communication system, or an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM) communication system. When an MS of communication system 100, such as MS 106, is engaged in an active communication, the MS operates in soft handoff (SHO) mode wherein the MS is in wireless communication with multiple BSs in an Active Set of the MS. That is, when engaged in an active communication, the MS multi-casts data packets to each BS corresponding to a pilot in the Active Set of the MS. For example, when MS 106 is operating in a non-high velocity mode, the MS may be serviced by BS 120 servicing cell 130, and may be in a 3-way soft handoff with BS 121 serving cell 131 and BS 122 serving cell 132. The pilots signals corresponding to the BSs associated with the cells concurrently servicing the MS, that is, the pilots signals (hereinafter referred to as “pilots”) corresponding to BS 120, BS 121, and BS 122, are the Active Set of the MS. In other words, the MS is in soft handoff (SHO) with BSs 120, 121, and 122, which BSs are associated with the cells 130, 131, and 132 servicing the MS, and which BSs are the Active Set of the MS. In another embodiment of the present invention, a “sectorized” embodiment, each cell 130-139 may be divided into multiple geographic sectors. Each sector of the multiple geographic sectors is serviced by a BTS included in the BS servicing the cell. In the sectorized embodiment, an MS residing in a sector of a cell is serviced by BTS servicing the sector, and the Active Set of the MS comprises a pilot associated with the BTS servicing the MS and pilots associated with BTSs servicing other sectors of the cell or sectors of other cells. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a BS 120-129 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As depicted in FIG. 2, each BS 120-129 includes at least one BTS 202 that is coupled to an antenna 204. Antenna 204 includes a least one antenna element 206 (nine shown) that generates a radio frequency (RF) signal radiation pattern that is substantially co-planar with the Earth's surface and is designed to provide communication services to terrestrial-based communication devices. In the sectorized embodiment, antenna 204 may be a directional antenna that is divided into multiple antenna sectors, wherein each sector of the multiple antenna sectors corresponds to, and provides communications service to, a respective geographic sector of the multiple geographic sectors of the corresponding cell. Each antenna sector comprises an antenna array that includes multiple antenna elements. By utilizing an antenna array to broadcast signals to an MS located in the cell sector serviced by the antenna array, the BS is able to utilize one of numerous known beamforming methods for the broadcast of the signals. When a BS 120-129 is a high velocity BS, such as BSs 120 and 126-129, antenna 204 may further include one or more non-terrestrial antenna elements 208 (one shown) for transmission of signals to, and reception of signals from, non-terrestrial communication devices. The one or more non-terrestrial antenna elements 208 generate a radio frequency (RF) signal radiation pattern that is above the horizontal plane encompassing the radiation pattern of the at least one antenna element 206, thereby avoiding interference with signals transmitted by the at least one antenna element 206. In addition, a polarization of radio signals radiating from the one or more non-terrestrial antenna elements 208 may be designed to be substantially orthogonal to a polarization of radio signals radiating from the at least one antenna element 206, thereby further minimizing any interference produced by the one or more non-terrestrial antenna elements 208 with respect to the at least one antenna element 206. For example, the beams radiated by the one or more non-terrestrial antenna elements 208 may be vertically polarized, as opposed to a horizontal polarization of beams radiated by the at least one antenna element 206. Each high velocity BS 120, 126-129, in addition to providing communication services to MSs located in a non-high velocity coverage area associated with the BS, that is, coverage areas 130 and 136-139, further provides communication services to MSs located in a respective high velocity coverage area 140, 146-149, associated with the BS. High velocity coverage areas 140, 146-149 may be broader than their respective non-high velocity coverage areas 130 and 136-139 both due to the desirability of reduced handoffs of an MS when the MS is operating in a high velocity mode and further due to the fact that an MS located in a high speed aircraft is often in line-of-sight communication with a serving BS, which allows for a wider coverage area by the BS. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of RAN controller 116 in accordance with an 30 embodiment of the present invention. RAN controller 116 includes a processor 302, such as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), combinations thereof or such other devices known to those having ordinary skill in the art, and one or more associated memory devices 304, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or read only memory (ROM) or equivalents thereof, that maintain data and programs that may be executed by the corresponding processor. Unless otherwise specified herein, all functions performed by RAN controller 116 or by MM 118 are performed by processor 302 of the RAN controller. The one or more memory devices 304 further maintain for each BS, such as BS 120, serviced by the controller a Neighbor Set 306 and a High Velocity Neighbor Set 308. Neighbor Set 306 comprises a list of pilots that are not currently in an Active Set or a Candidate Set associated with the MS but are possible candidates for handoff when communication system 100 is in a non-high velocity mode of operation. Similarly, High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 comprises a list of pilots that are not currently in an Active Set or a Candidate Set associated with the MS but are possible candidates for handoff when communication system 100 is in a high velocity mode of operation, that is, are pilots that are possible candidates for handoff and are associated with high velocity BSs. MM 118 is implemented in processor 302 and the one or more memory devices 304 of the controller. MM 118 is responsible for managing mobility by defining the members of the Active Sets, Neighbor Sets, and High Velocity Neighbor Sets associated with RAN 114 and for coordinating multicast/multireceive groups. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of MS 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. MS 106 includes a receiving unit 402 and a transmitting unit 404 coupled to a processor 406, such as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), combinations thereof or such other devices known to those having ordinary skill in the art, and one or more associated memory devices 408, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or read only memory (ROM) or equivalents thereof, that maintain data and programs that may be executed by the corresponding processor. Unless otherwise specified herein, all functions performed by MS 106 are performed by processor 406 of the MS, which receives signals via receiving unit 402 and transmits signals via transmitting unit 404. The one or more memory devices 408 maintain an Active Set 410, a Neighbor Set 412, and a Remaining Set 414. Active Set 410 comprises a list of pilots associated with a forward traffic channel assigned to the MS when the MS is engaged in an active communication or, when the MS is in an idle mode, a list of pilots associated with a paging channel or a forward control channel monitored by the MS. Neighbor Set 412 comprises a list of pilots that are not currently in the Active Set or a Candidate Set of the MS but are possible candidates for handoff. Remaining Set 414 comprises a list of pilots associated with all other BSs in communication system 100 that are not a member of Active Set 410, the Candidate Set, Neighbor Set 412, or a High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 of the MS. The one or more memory devices 408 may further maintain a High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 that comprises a list of pilots associated with high velocity BSs and that are not currently in the Active Set or a Candidate Set of the MS but are possible candidates for handoff. When MS 106 includes High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, the pilots of the High Velocity Neighbor Set are not included among the pilots of the Remaining Set. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of high velocity repeater 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Repeater 104 includes a receiving unit 502 and a transmitting unit 504 coupled to a processor 506, such as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), combinations thereof or such other devices known to those having ordinary skill in the art. Repeater 104 further comprises one or more memory devices 508 coupled to processor 506, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or read only memory (ROM) or equivalents thereof, that maintain data and programs that may be executed by the corresponding processor. Unless otherwise specified herein, all functions performed by repeater 104 are performed by processor 506 of the repeater, which receives signals via receiving unit 502 and transmits signals via transmitting unit 504. Embedded in the one or more memory devices 508 is mobile station (MS) functionality 510, such as data and programs that allow repeater 104 to perform functions that are typically associated with MSs, and in particular the functionality of multiple-band and multiple-mode MSs, such as MSs capable of operating in multiple frequency bands and further capable of operating in multiple communication systems, such as but not limited to two or more of CDMA, GSM, and TDMA. In particular, repeater 104, and in particular one or more memory devices 508, includes programs that allow the repeater, and in particular processor 506, to scan pilots and paging channels of the RAN 114 and thereby determine a carrier and/or a modulation scheme associated with the RAN. Upon determining a carrier and/or a modulation scheme associated with the RAN, repeater 104 automatically tunes to frequencies associated with a forward link and a reverse link of the RAN in the same way that a multi-band multi-mode MS tunes to the frequencies of a communication system detected by the MS. As a result, as the vehicle in which the repeater resides, that is, vehicle 102, travels among various communication systems, the repeater may be able to automatically configure itself to operate in whatever system it currently resides. Communication system 100 includes handoff procedures by which MS 106 can be handed off from a first air interface whose quality has degraded to another, higher quality air interface. When MS 106 is operating in a non-high velocity environment, that is, when MS 106 is stationary or is moving at a low rate of speed, such as at a speed of less than 120 kilometers per hour, communication system 100 provides for a handoff of the MS in accordance with well-known handoff techniques. For example, when MS 106 is active on a traffic channel and is serviced by a first BS, such as BS 120, the MS constantly searches pilot channels of neighboring BSs, that is, BSs in Neighbor Set 412, for a pilot that is sufficiently stronger than a threshold value. The MS signals this event to the first, serving BTS. As the MS moves from a first cell serviced by a first BS, that is, BS 120, toward a second cell serviced by a second BS, such as BS 124, communication system 100 promotes certain pilots from Neighbor Set 412, such as pilots associated with BSs 124 and 125, to Active Set 410. The serving BS, that is, BS 120, notifies the MS of the promotions via a neighbor list update message that is broadcast over the traffic channel. Upon receiving the neighbor list update message, MS 106 makes the appropriate changes to the list of pilots maintained in Neighbor Set 412 and Active Set 410. When a new BS is added to Active Set 210, MS 106 then commences communication with the new BS. MS 106 may further terminate communications with an old BS when a BS is dropped from the Active Set. When MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment, that is, when the MS is located in a vehicle, such as vehicle 102, that is moving at a high velocity, such as at a speed of greater than 120 kilometers per hour, a conventional operation and handoff of the MS is fraught with problems. Typically, an MS include a mechanism for correcting for Doppler shifts in received signals resulting from the MS traveling at speeds of less than 120 kilometers per hour. However, when an MS is traveling at an excessive rate of speed, for example, a speed in excess of a maximum speed at which an MS is designed to provide Doppler shift compensation, the MS is unable to fully compensate for the resulting Doppler shift in a received signal. Furthermore, when an MS is traveling at an excessive rate of speed, new handoffs may be indicated before current handoffs may be completed, resulting in system inefficiencies and potentially resulting in dropped calls. Furthermore, pilots and associated BSs may be transferred in and out of Neighbor Set 412 so frequently that the Neighbor Set becomes somewhat useless. As a result, communication system 100 transitions to a high velocity mode of operation when an MS, such as MS 106, is operating in a high velocity environment. FIG. 6 is a logic flow diagram 600 of a high velocity mode of operation of communication system 100 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Logic flow diagram begins (602) when MS 106 activates (604) in communication system 100. Upon activating in the communication system, RAN controller 116 provisions (606) to the MS, and the MS receives (608) from the RAN controller 116, one or more of a Neighbor List and a High Velocity Neighbor List. The Neighbor List is based on the pilots included in Neighbor Set 306 of RAN controller 116. The High Velocity Neighbor List is based on the pilots included in High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 of RAN controller 116. In one embodiment of the present invention, where MS 106 is in idle mode, RAN controller 116 may provision both a Neighbor List and a High Velocity Neighbor List to the MS via a paging channel. In another embodiment of the present invention, where MS 106 is active on a forward traffic channel, RAN controller 116 may provision a Neighbor List and/or a High Velocity Neighbor List to the MS via the forward traffic channel. In still another embodiment of the present invention, RAN controller 116 may convey the High Velocity Neighbor List to the MS via the forward traffic channel in response to determining, as described in detail below, that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. At any time when MS 106 is in communication with RAN 114, and in particular with a serving BS 120, the MS may communicate with the RAN directly, that is, via air interface 108, or via repeater 104 and air interfaces 110 and 112. References herein to a forward link, paging channel, forward traffic channel, and forward control channel may then refer to a forward link, paging channel, forward traffic channel, and forward control channel of air interface 108 or of air interfaces 110 and 112. Similarly, references herein to a reverse link, access channel, reverse traffic channel, and reverse control channel may then refer to a reverse link, paging channel, reverse traffic channel, and reverse control channel of air interface 108 or of air interfaces 110 and 112. Upon receiving the one or more of a Neighbor List and a High Velocity Neighbor List, MS 106 then stores (610) the received Neighbor List as a Neighbor Set 412 and/or the received High Velocity Neighbor List as a High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS. Typically, each of Neighbor Set 306 and the Neighbor List comprises a list of pilots corresponding to each of multiple BSs adjacent to BSs associated with an Active Set of an MS. In contrast to the Neighbor Set and Neighbor List, the High Velocity Neighbor List comprises a list of pilots corresponding to each of multiple geographically diverse BSs, such as BSs 120 and 126-129, that is, ‘high velocity’ BSs. For example, each of the High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 and the High Velocity Neighbor List may comprise pilots associated with every ‘Nth” BS, wherein the value of ‘N’ is up to a designer of communication system 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, a distribution of BSs associated with each of High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 and the High Velocity Neighbor List is determined so that a number of handoffs is minimized when an MS is traveling at a high rate of speed, while the BSs are not so widely dispersed that the MS traveling at a high rate of speed may not be able to find an acceptable signal when a quality of a signal quality associated with a BS of the Active Set declines to an unacceptable level. In addition, the BSs associated with each of High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 and the High Velocity Neighbor List may be sufficiently close such that an MS is able to operate in a soft handoff mode. Communication system 100, and in particular MS 106 or RAN controller 116, further determines (612) whether MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment. When MS 106 is in an idle mode, the MS may self-determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. When the MS is engaged in an active communication on a traffic channel, RAN 114, and in particular the BS serving the MS, that is, BS 120, or RAN controller 116, may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. In one embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 may determine whether MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment based on a quantity of different best pilot signals determined by the MS within a predetermined period of time. When MS 106 is in idle mode, the MS constantly monitors the pilots of BSs associated with Active Set 410 and Neighbor Set 412 as the MS travels through communication system 100. Periodically, MS 106 determines a quality metric with respect to each pilot monitored by MS 106, such as a frame error rate, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or a signal strength. Based on the quality metrics determined for each of the pilots monitored by the MS, MS 106 then determines a best pilot signal. MS 106 may then store information concerning the determined best pilot signal in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS and/or may convey information concerning the determined best pilot signal to serving BS 120, and thereby to RAN controller 116, in a Pilot Strength Measurement Message (PSMM). As a result of the MS periodically determining a best pilot signal, multiple best pilot signals are determined. Based on the multiple best pilot signals determined by MS 106, the MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116 may determine a quantity of different best pilot signals determined within a predetermined period of time. Preferably, each best pilot signal of the quantity of different best pilot signals is different than the other best pilot signals of the quantity of different best pilot signals, thereby avoiding consideration of a situation where the MS is operating in a fringe area of each of multiple cells and where the MS is just switching back and forth among the pilots of the multiple cells in determining a best pilot. The MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116, whichever is appropriate, then compares the quantity of best pilots determined within a predetermined period of time to a best pilot signal quantity threshold, which threshold may be respectively stored in the one or more memory devices 304, 408. When the quantity of best pilots determined within the predetermined period of time exceeds the best pilot signal quantity threshold, the MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116 may determine that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. In another embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a period of time during which the MS is serviced by a same BS. That is, each time MS 106 changes the BS serving the MS, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 stores information in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408 concerning the time at which the MS changed the serving BS. Based on the stored times, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 further determines and stores in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408 a length of time, that is a period of time, during which the MS was served by the most recently changed serving BS. The MS or RAN controller then compares the determined length of time to a time threshold stored in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408. When the length of time is less than the time threshold, the MS or RAN controller determines that MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment. However, in order to assure that the MS did not merely activate at the fringe of a cell and then move into an adjacent cell, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 may further determine a successive number of times that the determined length of time is less than the time threshold. When the successive number of times that the determined length of time is less than the time threshold exceeds a serving BS change threshold, which threshold may be stored in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408, the MS or RAN controller determines that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a Doppler shift of signals received by the MS from RAN 114. Upon receiving a pilot from a BS serving the MS, MS 106 determines a Doppler shift of the pilot and compares the determined Doppler shift to a Doppler shift threshold that is stored in the one or more memory devices 304. When the determined Doppler shift exceeds the Doppler shift threshold, the MS determines that it is operating in a high velocity environment. In still another embodiment of the present invention, RAN controller 116 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a quantity of handoffs involving the MS during a predetermined period of time. Each time MS 106 engages in a handoff, information concerning the handoff is stored in MM 118. As a result, MM 118 maintains a record of a quantity of handoffs engaged in by MS 106. RAN controller 116, or MM 118, then determines a quantity of handoffs engaged in by MS 106 during the predetermined period of time and compares the quantity of handoffs to a handoff quantity threshold. When the quantity of handoffs engaged in during the predetermined period of time exceeds the handoff quantity threshold, RAN controller 116, or MM 118, determines that MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment. In response to determining that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment, communication system 100 transitions (614) to a high velocity mode of operation and logic flow 600 ends (616). In one embodiment of the present invention, when communication system 100 is in the high velocity mode of operation and MS 106 is in idle mode, the MS uses High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 to promote pilots to Active Set 410. In another embodiment of the present invention, when communication system 100 is in the high velocity mode of operation and MS 106 is actively engaged in a communication via a forward traffic channel, RAN controller 116 uses High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 to push neighbor list updates to MS 106. By using High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 or High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 to promote pilots to Active Set 410 when in a high velocity mode, communication system 100 is able to begin restricting handoffs to high velocity BSs. FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram 700 of a high velocity mode of operation by communication system 100 when MS 106 is in idle mode in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Since MS 106 is in idle mode, RAN 114, and in particular a serving high velocity BS such as BS 120, cannot convey updates to High Velocity Neighbor List 416 via a forward traffic channel. Logic flow diagram 700 begins (702) when MS 106 self-determines (704), as described in detail above, that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. In response to determining that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment, the MS constantly searches (706) pilots associated with High Velocity Neighbor Set 412 for a pilot that is stronger than a threshold value. The threshold value is maintained in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS. When MS 106 determines (708) that a pilot associated with High Velocity Neighbor Set 412, for example, a pilot associated with BS 128, is stronger than the threshold value, the MS promotes (710) the pilot from High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 to Active Set 410. MS 106 autonomously performs (712) idle mode handoffs based on the pilots included in the Active Set 410. Logic flow 700 then ends (714). FIG. 8 is a logic flow diagram 800 of a high velocity mode of operation by communication system 100 when MS 106 is actively engaged in a communication via a forward traffic channel in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Logic flow diagram 800 begins (802) when MS 106 is serviced (804) by a first BS, such as BS 120, via one or more forward traffic channels, such as a forward traffic channel associated with air interface 108 or forward traffic channels associated with each of air interfaces 110 and 112, and one or more reverse traffic channels, such as a reverse traffic channel associated with air interface 108 or reverse traffic channels associated with each of air interfaces 110 and 112. RAN 114, such as RAN controller 116 or serving BS 120, determines (806), as is described in detail above, that MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment. MS constantly searches (808) pilots associated with a neighbor set stored in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS for a pilot that is stronger than a threshold value, which threshold value is maintained in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS. In one embodiment of the present invention, the neighbor set utilized by MS 106 in searching pilots is the neighbor set that was most recently utilized by the MS in idle mode prior to transitioning to active mode. For example, when MS 106 was most recently in a non-high velocity environment prior to transitioning to active mode, the neighbor set most recently utilized by the MS in searching pilots while in idle mode may have been Neighbor Set 412. Accordingly, MS 106 searches pilots associated with Neighbor Set 412 in performing step 808. By way of another example, when MS 106 was most recently in a high velocity environment prior to transitioning to active mode, the neighbor set most recently utilized by the MS in searching pilots while in idle mode may have been High Velocity Neighbor Set 416. Accordingly, MS 106 searches pilots associated with High Velocity Neighbor Set 416 in performing step 808. However, the designer of system 100 may utilize any one of numerous algorithms for determining which neighbor set is utilized by the MS in searching pilots in step 808. Upon determining (810) that a pilot is stronger than the threshold value, MS 106 informs (812) RAN 114, and in particular RAN controller 116 via serving BS 120, of the determination of a pilot that is stronger than a threshold value, preferably by conveying a Pilot Strength Measurement Message (PSMM) to the RAN via the one or more reverse traffic channels. In response to receiving (814) the information concerning a determination of a pilot that is stronger than a threshold value, to determining that MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment, and when the determined pilot is associated with a high velocity BS, RAN controller 116 modifies (816) the list of pilots maintained in High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 stored in the one or more memory devices 304. For example, RAN controller 114 may add a strong pilot to High Velocity Neighbor Set 308 and/or drop a weak pilot from the High Velocity Neighbor Set. RAN controller 116 then assembles and conveys (818) to MS 106 a message instructing the MS to update the neighbor set being utilized by the MS to search pilots and/or to update an active set maintained by the MS, that is, Neighbor Set 412 or High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, and/or Active Set 410 based on the adjustments made by the controller to High Velocity Neighbor Set 308. In one embodiment of the present invention, the message instructing MS 106 to update the neighbor set and/or the active set may comprise a handoff message instructing MS 106 to add or delete a BS from Active Set 410 or to handoff to a new serving BS. In another embodiment of the present invention, the message instructing the MS to update the neighbor set and/or the active set may comprise a Neighbor List Update Message (NLUM). In still another embodiment of the present invention, the message instructing the MS to update the neighbor set and/or the active set may comprise a system configuration message or a system parameters message followed by a neighbor list message that informs of pilots for promotion to the neighbor set and/or active set of the MS. Upon receiving (820) the message instructing the MS to update the neighbor set being utilized by the MS to search pilots and/or to update an active set of the MS, MS 106 modifies (822) the neighbor set being utilized by the MS and/or the active set, that is, Neighbor Set 412, High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, and/or Active Set 410 based on the received message. That is, based on the received message, MS 106 may promote a pilot to Neighbor Set 412, High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, and/or Active Set 410. The promoted pilot(s) are associated with high velocity BSs since the pilot(s) promoted by RAN controller 116 are pilots associated with high velocity BSs. MS 106 may then commence (824) communications with a new BS that has been added to the Active Set and/or terminate communications with an old BS that has been dropped from the Active Set. MS 106 further commences monitoring (826) a pilot associated with any BS added to the neighbor set utilized by the MS and/or ceases monitoring a pilot associated with any BS dropped from the neighbor set utilized by the MS and not added to Active Set 410 or a Candidate Set of the MS. Logic flow 800 then ends (828). By promoting only pilots associated with high velocity BSs to a neighbor set and an active set utilized by an MS when the MS is traveling at an excessively high rate of speed, that is, is operating in a high velocity environment, communication system 100 reduces a quantity of handoffs and best pilot re-determinations that may occur, thereby enhancing system efficiency, reducing system processing load, and reducing the possibility of dropped calls during handoff. In one embodiment of the present invention, an MS in idle mode self-determines whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. Upon determining that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment, the MS transitions to searching pilots associated with a High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, as opposed to a Neighbor Set 412, of the MS and promoting pilots from the High Velocity Neighbor Set to an Active Set 410 of the MS. In another embodiment of the present invention, when an MS is active on a traffic channel, RAN controller 116 determines whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment. Upon determining that the MS is operating in a high velocity environment, the RAN controller transitions to pushing pilots to the MS from a High Velocity Neighbor Set 308, as opposed to a Neighbor Set 306, of the RAN controller. Referring again to FIG. 6, in another embodiment of the present invention, subsequent to communication system 100 transitioning to the high velocity mode of operation, MS 106, a serving high velocity BS, such as BS 120, or RAN 114, and in particular RAN controller 116, may determine (618) that the MS is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. In response to determining that the MS is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, communication system 100 transitions (620) to a non-high velocity, conventional mode of operation. In one embodiment of the present invention, wherein MS 106 is in idle mode, MS 106 self-determines that the MS is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. Upon determining that MS 106 is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, communication system 100 transitions to a non-high velocity mode of operation by MS 106 automatically beginning searching pilots associated with Neighbor Set 412, as opposed to High Velocity Neighbor Set 416, and promoting pilots from the Neighbor Set to Active Set 410. In another embodiment of the present invention, wherein MS 106 is actively engaged in communications via a forward traffic channel, RAN controller 116 determines that MS 106 is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. Upon determining that MS 106 is no longer operating in a high velocity environment, communication system 100 transitions to a non-high velocity mode of operation by RAN controller 116 pushing pilots from Neighbor Set 306, as opposed to High Velocity Neighbor Set 312, to MS 106 for promotion to a neighbor set and/or the active set of the MS. In one embodiment of the present invention MS 106 or RAN controller 116 may determine whether MS 106 is operating in a high velocity environment based on a quantity of different best pilot signals determined by the MS within a predetermined period of time. When MS 106 is in idle mode, even though operating in the high velocity mode, the MS constantly monitors the pilots of BSs associated with Active Set 410 and of Neighbor Set 412. Periodically, MS 106 determines a quality metric with respect to each monitored pilot and based on the quality metrics determines a best pilot signal. MS 106 may then store information concerning the determined best pilot signal in the one or more memory devices 408 of the MS and/or may convey information concerning the determined best pilot signal to serving BS 120, and thereby to RAN controller 116. Based on multiple best pilot signals determined by MS 106, the MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116 may determine a quantity of different best pilot signals determined within a predetermined period of time. The MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116, whichever is appropriate, then compares the quantity of best pilots determined within a predetermined period of time to a best pilot signal quantity threshold. When the quantity of best pilots determined within the predetermined period of time is less than the best pilot signal quantity threshold, the MS, serving BS, or RAN controller 116 may determine that the MS is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. In another embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a period of time during which the MS is serviced by a same BS. That is, each time MS 106 changes the BS serving the MS, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 stores information in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408 concerning a time at which the MS changed the serving BS. Based on the stored times, MS 106 or RAN controller 116 further determines and stores in the respective one or more memory devices 304, 408 a length of time, that is a period of time, during which the MS was served by the most recently changed serving BS. The MS or RAN controller then compares the determined length of time to the time threshold. When the length of time exceeds the time threshold, or when a successive number of times that the determined length of time exceeds the time threshold exceeds the serving BS change threshold, the MS or RAN controller may determine that MS 106 is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a Doppler shift of signals received by the MS from RAN 114. Upon receiving a pilot from a BS serving the MS, MS 106 determines a Doppler shift the pilot. When the determined Doppler shift is less than the Doppler shift threshold, MS 106 may determine that the MS is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. In still another embodiment of the present invention, RAN controller 116 may determine whether the MS is operating in a high velocity environment based on a quantity of handoffs involving the MS during a predetermined period of time. Each time MS 106 engages in a handoff, information concerning the handoff is stored in MM 118. As a result, MM 118 maintains a record of a quantity of handoffs engaged in by MS 106. When RAN controller 116 determines that a quantity of handoffs engaged in during the predetermined period of time is less than the handoff quantity threshold, RAN controller 116 may determine that MS 106 is no longer operating in a high velocity environment. By providing for communication system 100 to transition from a high velocity mode of operation to a non-high velocity mode of operation, communication system 100 is provided flexibility of operation. Communication system 100 utilizes pilots associated with high velocity BSs for handoff determinations when MS 106 is traveling at a high rate of speed, and lifts the restriction on pilots when the MS 106 is standing still or is traveling at less than a high rate of speed. Accordingly, communication system 100 provides for an adaptable handoff operation that may be adapted to a rate of speed of the MS. Referring still to FIG. 6, as noted above, at any time when MS 106 is in communication with RAN 114, and in particular with a serving BS 120, the MS may communicate with the RAN directly, that is, via air interface 108, or via repeater 104 and air interfaces 110 and 112. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, MS 106 may establish (622) a communication link with RAN 114 via air interface 108. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, the MS may be located in a vehicle that includes a high velocity repeater, such as vehicle 102 and repeater 104. In such an event, MS 106 may establish (624) communications with RAN 114 via air interface 110, repeater 104, and air interface 112. MS 106 may establish communications via repeater 104 either upon determining the presence of repeater 104 or upon transitioning to a high velocity mode of operation. Repeater 104 periodically transmits a low power beacon, or pilot, signal. In one embodiment of the present invention, when MS 106 monitors pilots of BSs, the MS further monitors for the beacon signal of repeater 104. In response to detecting a repeater beacon signal, the MS compares a strength of the beacon signal to a beacon signal strength threshold that is stored in the one or more memory devices 408. When the detected beacon signal strength exceeds the beacon signal strength threshold, the MS tunes to air interface 112 associated with repeater 104 by executing a conventional handoff regardless of whether the MS is operating in the high velocity mode or has been instructed to transition to the high velocity mode. In another embodiment of the present invention, instead of executing a handoff, signals of repeater 104 may appear similar to a mulitpath component of a RAN 114 signal. In such an embodiment, a finger manager of MS 106 may walk off from the signals of RAN 114 to the time delay of the repeater signals. In still other embodiments of the present invention, MS 106 may not monitor the beacon signal of repeater 104 until the MS receives the system overhead message instructing the MS to switch to the high velocity mode, or the MS, although constantly monitoring the repeater beacon signal, may not tune to air interface 112, that is, handoff to repeater 104, until the MS receives the system overhead message. Upon switching to the high velocity mode of operation and tuning to the forward link and the reverse link of air interface 112, MS 106 communicates (626) with RAN 114 via repeater 104. That is, MS 106 conveys communications intended for RAN 114 to repeater 104 via a reverse link of air interface 112. Repeater 104 then forwards the communications received from MS 106 to RAN 114 via a reverse link of air interface 110. In turn, RAN 114 conveys communications intended for MS 106 to repeater 104 via a forward link of air interface 110. Repeater 104 then forwards the communications received from RAN 114 to MS 106 via a forward link of air interface 110. In exchanging communications with RAN 114, repeater 104 provides Doppler shift compensation to the signals received from, and transmitted to, RAN 114. By providing a repeater that can provide high velocity Doppler shift compensation, communication system 100 overcomes the inability of an MS, such as MS 106, to compensate for Doppler shifts resulting from high velocity movement of the MS, typically movement in excess of 120 kilometers per hour. Repeater 104 provides high velocity Doppler shift compensation by monitoring pilots associated with one or more BSs of the multiple BSs 120-129 of communication system 100. For example, at any particular time and similar to MS 106, repeater 104 may be provided wireless communication services by a serving BS and may monitor pilots associated with the serving BS. Repeater 104 derives the Doppler shift of each received pilot and, based on the determined Doppler shift, determines multiple Doppler shift compensation factors. When repeater 104 is acting as a repeater with respect to signals exchanged between MS 106 and RAN 114, the repeater then applies a first Doppler shift compensation factor of the multiple Doppler shift compensation factors to the signals received from RAN 114 and intended for MS 106 and applies a second Doppler shift compensation factor of the multiple Doppler shift compensation factors to the signals received from MS 106 and intended for RAN 114. A determination of a Doppler shift and Doppler shift compensation are well-known in the art. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, repeater 104 may determine a Doppler shift of a received pilot and further determine Doppler shift compensation factors as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,489, which patent is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. In another embodiment of the present invention, repeater 104 may determine a Doppler shift of a received pilot and further determine Doppler shift compensation factors as follows. Each pilot associated with a BS and monitored by repeater 104 includes timing synchronization for a decoding of signals transmitted by the associated BS. Repeater 104 includes an internal oscillator, and with reference to the internal oscillator and each monitored pilot, or BS, is able to determine the center of the pilot channel associated with the BS. As vehicle 102, in which repeater 104 is located, moves at an increasing speed, the repeater is able to determine a frequency offset, that is, a Doppler shift, of pilots received from a monitored BS. The repeater stores the determined frequency offset in a memory of the repeater. When repeater 104 is acting as a repeater with respect to signals exchanged between MS 106 and RAN 114, the repeater determines Doppler compensation factors based on the determined frequency offset and applies the determined Doppler compensation factors to signals received from, and transmitted to, RAN 114. By determining Doppler compensation factors and applying the determined Doppler compensation factors to signals received from, and transmitted to, RAN 114, repeater 104 provides the Doppler compensation for MS 106 when the MS is operating in a high velocity mode and exchanges communications with RAN 114. That is, repeater 104 receives signals conveyed by RAN 114 and intended for MS 106. Repeater 104 adjusts the signal received from RAN 114 to compensate for a Doppler shift, that is, a applies a first frequency offset to the signal received from RAN 114 to produce a first frequency offset signal and to compensate for a Doppler shift experienced by the signal when conveyed by RAN 114 to repeater 104, which Doppler shift compensation is based on a Doppler shift of a pilot received by the repeater. Repeater 104 then conveys the adjusted signal to MS 106 via the forward link of air interface 112. Repeater 104 further receives signals conveyed by MS 106 and intended for RAN 114. Repeater 104 adjusts the signal received from MS 106 to provide compensation for a Doppler shift, that is, applies a second frequency offset to the signal received from MS 106 to produce a second frequency offset signal and to compensate for the Doppler shift that will be introduced to signal when conveyed by repeater 104 to RAN 114 via air interface 110, in effect providing frequency predistortion, which Doppler shift compensation is also based on the Doppler shift of the pilot received by the repeater. Repeater 104 then conveys the adjusted signal to RAN 114 via the reverse link of air interface 110. While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather then a restrictive sense, and all such changes and substitutions are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. It is further understood that the use of relational terms, if any, such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Interim Standard IS-2000 has been adopted by the Telecommunications Industry Association for implementing cdma2000® in a cellular system. In a cdma2000 communication system, a mobile station (MS) communicates with any one or more of a plurality of base stations (BSs) dispersed in a geographic region. Each BS continuously transmits a pilot channel signal having the same spreading code but with a different code phase offset. Phase offset allows the pilot signals to be distinguished from one another, which in turn allows the BSs to be distinguished. Hereinafter, a pilot signal of a BS will be simply referred to as a pilot. The MS monitors the pilots and measures the received energy of the pilots. The MS communicates with a BS providing wireless communication services to the MS via a forward link and a reverse link. The forward link typically includes one or more forward traffic channels, one or more forward control channels, and a paging channel. The reverse link typically includes one or more reverse traffic channels, one or more reverse control channels, and an access channel. During a call, the MS must constantly monitor and maintain four sets of pilots. The four sets of pilots are collectively referred to as the Pilot Set and include an Active Set, a Candidate Set, a Neighbor Set, and a Remaining Set. The Active Set comprises pilots associated with a forward traffic channel assigned to the MS. When the MS is in an idle mode, the Active Set comprises pilots associated with a paging channel or a forward control channel monitored by the MS. The Candidate Set comprises pilots that are not currently in the Active Set but have been received by the MS with sufficient strength to indicate that an associated forward traffic channel could be successfully demodulated. The Neighbor Set comprises pilots that are each transmitted from a BS to the MS and are possible candidates for handoff. The Remaining Set comprises all possible pilots in the current system on the current CDMA frequency assignment, excluding the pilots in the Neighbor Set, the Candidate Set, and the Active Set. Typically, a BS provides communications services to MSs located in a coverage area serviced by the BS. When the MS is serviced by a first BS, the MS constantly searches pilot channels of neighboring BSs for a pilot that is sufficiently stronger than a threshold value. The MS signals the determination of a pilot that is sufficiently stronger than the threshold value to the first, serving BTS using a Pilot Strength Measurement Message. As the MS moves from a first coverage area serviced by a first BS to a second coverage area serviced by a second BS, the communication system promotes certain pilots from the Candidate Set to the Active Set and from the Neighbor Set to the Candidate Set. The serving BS notifies the MS of the promotions. Then, when the MS commences communication with a new BS that has been added to the Active Set before terminating communications with an old BS, a “soft handoff” has occurred. For the reverse link, typically each BS in the Active Set independently demodulates and decodes each frame or packet received from the MS. It is then up to a switching center to arbitrate between the each BS's decoded frames. When an MS is operating in a high velocity environment, such as when the MS is located a high speed aircraft such as a commercial airplane, a conventional operation and handoff of the MS is fraught with problems. Typically, MSs include a mechanism for correcting for Doppler shifts in received signals resulting from the MS traveling at speeds of less than 120 kilometers per hour. However, when an MS is traveling at a speed in excess of 120 kilometers per hour, the MS is unable to fully compensate for the resulting Doppler shift in a received signal, resulting in an inability of the MS to properly demodulate the received signal. Furthermore, when an MS is traveling at an excessively a high rate of speed, new handoffs may be indicated before current handoffs may be completed, resulting in system inefficiencies and potentially resulting in dropped calls. Furthermore, pilots and associated BSs may be transferred in and out of the Neighbor Set so frequently that the Neighbor Set becomes somewhat useless. Therefore, there exists a need for a method and apparatus for performing handoffs and Doppler compensation with respect to an MS traveling at a high velocity. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a base station of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of Radio Access Network controller of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile station of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a high velocity repeater of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a logic flow diagram of a high velocity mode of operation of the communication system of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram of the communication system of FIG. 1 operating in a high velocity mode in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a logic flow diagram of the communication system of FIG. 1 operating in a high velocity mode in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040621 | 20090707 | 20050127 | 62639.0 | 0 | PEREZ, ANGELICA | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION IN A HIGH VELOCITY ENVIRONMENT | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,722 | ACCEPTED | Method, system, and apparatus for managing access to a data object | In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, a mechanism for managing a plurality of access requests for a data object is provided. The mechanism includes a lock control identifying whether a requested data object is in use and a waiter control identifying whether at least one of the plurality of access requests have been denied immediate access to the data object and is currently waiting for access to the data object. Additionally, the mechanism maintains a list optimize control identifying whether one of the plurality of access requests is currently optimizing a waiters list of access requests waiting to access to the data object. | 1. A mechanism for managing a plurality of access requests for a data object, comprising: a lock control identifying whether a requested data object is in use; a waiter control identifying whether at least one of the plurality of access requests have been denied immediate access to the data object and is currently waiting for access to the data object; and a list optimize control identifying whether one of the plurality of access requests is currently optimizing a waiters list of access requests waiting to access to the data object. 2. The locking mechanism of claim 1, further comprising: a share count identifying a number of access requests that are currently sharing access to the data object. 3. The locking mechanism of claim 2, wherein the share count equals zero if the data object is being accessed by an exclusive access request. 4. The locking mechanism of claim 2, wherein the share count is greater than zero if the data object is being accessed by at least one shared access request. 5. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the lock control identifies that the data object is in use if at least one of the plurality of access requests obtains access to the data object. 6. The locking mechanism of claim 5, wherein the at least one of the plurality of access requests is an exclusive access request. 7. The locking mechanism of claim 5, wherein the at least one of the plurality of access requests is a shared access request. 8. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the waiter control identifies that at least one of the plurality of access requests is currently waiting for access to the data object. 9. The locking mechanism of claim 1, further comprising: a multiple share control identifying if more than one of the plurality of access requests are currently sharing access to the data object. 10. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein each of the access requests that are denied immediate access to the data object attempt to optimize the waiters list by setting the list optimize control. 11. A computer readable medium having computer-executable components for managing access to a data object, the components comprising: a waiters list component, wherein the waiters list component maintains a respective wait block representative of each access request that have been denied immediate access to the data object and are waiting to access the data object; and a locking mechanism component controlling access to the data object, the locking mechanism comprising: a reference to the waiters list; and an optimization control for the waiters list. 12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the optimization control identifies whether the waiters list is currently being optimized by one of the plurality of access requests that are waiting to access the data object. 13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the wait blocks in the waiters list identifies an end wait block of the waiters list. 14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the wait blocks in the waiters list identifies a previous wait block. 15. The computer system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the wait blocks in the waiters list identifies a subsequent wait block. 16. The computer system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the wait blocks in the waiters list identifies a number of access requests that were currently accessing the data object prior to its addition to the waiters list. 17. The computer system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the wait blocks in the waiters list identifies an end wait block of the waiters list, a previous wait block, and a subsequent wait block. 18. The computer system of claim 11, wherein locking mechanism includes an indication of a number of the plurality of access requests currently waiting to access the data object. 19. A method for maintaining a waiters list of access requests that are waiting to access a data object that is locked, the method comprising: receiving an access request for the data object; generating a wait block representative of the access request; adding the wait block to the front of the waiters list; determining if the waiters list is currently being optimized; if it is determined that the waiters list is not currently being optimized, optimizing the waiters list; determining if the lock on the data object has been released; and if it is determined that the lock in the data object has been released, allowing at least one of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein allowing at least one of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object includes allowing all of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein allowing at least one of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object includes allowing the first access request identified by a wait block added to the waiters list to attempt to access the data object. 22. The method of claim 19, wherein optimizing the waiters list includes: adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the first wait block added to the waiters list. 23. The method of claim 19, wherein optimizing the waiters list includes: adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the wait block preceding the wait block to which the reference is added. 24. The method of claim 19, wherein optimizing the waiters list includes: adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the wait block subsequent to the wait block to which the reference is added. 25. The method of claim 19, wherein optimizing the waiters list includes: adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the first wait block added to the waiters list; adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the wait block preceding the wait block to which the reference is added; and adding a reference to at least one of the wait blocks identifying the wait block subsequent to the wait block to which the reference is added. 26. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 19. 27. The computer system having a processor, a memory and an operating environment, the computer system operable to perform the method recited claim 19. 28. A method for controlling access to a data object, the method comprising: receiving a first exclusive access request for the data object; placing an exclusive lock on the data object; receiving a second access request for the data object; creating a wait block representative of the second access request; adding the wait block to a waiters list; determining whether the waiters list is currently being optimized; and if it is determined that the waiters list is not currently being optimized, allowing the second access request to optimize the waiters list. 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising: including an indication in the lock that an access request is currently waiting to access the data object. 30. The method of claim 28, further comprising: generating a pointer to the waiters list in response to adding the wait block to the waiters list. 31. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 28. 32. The computer system having a processor, a memory and an operating environment, the computer system operable to perform the method recited claim 28. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION In general, the present application relates to computer software in a multi-threaded computing environment, and, more particularly, to a system and method for managing multiple requests to access a data object by employing a locking mechanism for the data object. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Traditionally, computing environments in which computer programs are run have been single threaded. A “thread,” as used herein, is part of a program that can execute independently of other parts of the program. Accordingly, a single threaded environment requires that only one thread of a program may be executed at a time. This places constraints on both users and programs because users are only able to run one program at a time and that program is only able to execute a single thread at a time. To overcome the deficiencies associated with single threaded environments, computing environments have been created that are multi-threaded. “Multi-threaded,” as used herein, is the ability of an operating system to execute different parts of a program, or programs, called threads, simultaneously. Accordingly, a program is typically able to run multiple threads concurrently. For example, a spreadsheet program may calculate a complex formula taking minutes to complete while at the same time permitting the user to continue editing the spreadsheet. Additionally, a user may be able to run threads from different applications at the same time. However, a problem arises when two or more threads of the same or different programs attempt to access the same “data object.” A “data object” as used herein may be any type of data stored on a computing device. For example, a data object may be a file, such as an image file, data file, database file, a software component, or any other type of computing information. Concurrent access of the same data object may result in corruption of a program's data structures, ultimately causing the computer to fail. Therefore, techniques have been created in an effort to manage access to data objects in a multi-threaded environment by locking the data object once accessed. However, such techniques have resulted in inefficient management of threads. In general, thread requests in a multi-threaded environment fall into two categories, non-contended and contended. Non-contended cases occur when: (1) an exclusive acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is currently in a free state, i.e., unlocked; (2) a shared acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is not exclusively locked (i.e., being accessed by an exclusive acquire thread); (3) an exclusive release thread that attempts to release an exclusively acquired data object that has not met contention; and (4) a shared release thread that attempts to release a data object that is shared by one or more shared acquire threads and that has not met contention. Contended cases result in two circumstances. First, when an exclusive acquire thread attempts to exclusively acquire a data object that is currently locked by another exclusive acquire thread or by a shared acquire thread. An exclusive acquire thread will always result in a contended case when a data object is locked by either a previous exclusive acquire thread or by one or more shared acquire threads. Second, a contended case also results when a shared acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is locked by an exclusive acquire thread. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a typical lock that is used to manage access to a data object in a multi-threaded environment. In particular, a typical lock 101 includes three control bits, a shared owners count control bit 103, an exclusive control bit 105, and a waiters control bit 107. If there are no threads attempting to access the data object being managed by lock 101, each of the control bits 103-107 are low, or in a zero state, thereby indicating that the data object managed by the lock 101 is currently available. With continued reference to FIG. 1, in a first example, exclusive acquire thread 121 attempts to acquire a data object (not shown) that is controlled by a lock 101 when that data object is in a free state. The lock 101 identifies that the data object is in a free state because the shared owner count 103 is in a zero or low state, the exclusive control bit 105 is in a zero or low state, and the waiters control bit 107 is in a zero or low state. In response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 121, the lock 101 transitions to a lock 111 and includes a shared owner count of a low or zero state 113, an exclusive control bit 115 having a high or 1 state, and a waiters control bit 117 having a zero or low state. Transitioning the exclusive control bit 115 to a high state identifies the data object as being exclusively locked. Another example of a non-contended case results from a shared acquire thread 131 attempting to access a data object that is currently not locked by an exclusive acquire. In such a case, the data object being accessed may have multiple shared acquire threads accessing the data object thereby resulting in a shared owners count 103 of any number illustrating the number of shared acquire threads currently accessing the data object. For example, if there were three shared acquire threads accessing the data object, the shared owners count 103 would have a value of 3. Because the object is not exclusively acquired, the exclusive control bit 105 is in a low state and the waiters control bit 107 is also in a low state. In response to receiving a shared acquire thread 131, the lock 101 transitions to the lock 111. The state of the lock 111 in response to a shared acquire thread 131 results in a shared owners count 113 being incremented by 1 from whatever the value of the shared owners count 103 contained in the lock 101. For example, if the shared owners count 103 had a value of 3, access by a shared acquire thread 131 would result in a shared owners count of 4. Likewise, because the acquire thread is a shared acquire and there is no contention, the exclusive control bit 115 remains low and the waiters control bit 117 also remains low. Another non-contended case results from receipt of an exclusive release thread 141, to release a data object that is currently locked by an exclusive acquire thread. A data object is identified as being exclusively locked by the lock control bit 105 being high, the shared owners count control bit 103 being low and the waiters control bit 107 also being low. Receiving the exclusive release 141 results in a transition to lock 111 with a shared owners count 113 remaining low, an exclusive control bit 115 transitioning to a low state and the waiters control bit 117 remaining in a low state. The transition of the exclusive control bit 105 from a high state to an exclusive control bit 115 having a low state indicates that the data object controlled by the lock 101 is no longer locked (i.e., being accessed) by an exclusive acquire thread. A shared release thread 151 releasing a data object that is not exclusively locked, identified by the exclusive control bit 105 being low, also results in a non-contended case. A data object controlled by a shared lock may be shared by multiple shared acquire threads, as illustrated by shared owners count 103 being any number (N) identifying the number of shared acquires currently accessing the data object. In response to receiving a shared release 151, the lock 101 transitions to the lock 111 and the shared owners count 113 is decremented by 1, illustrating the release of one shared acquire thread. The shared owners count 113 is decremented by 1 for all shared releases where the shared owners count is greater than or equal to one. The exclusive control bit 105 remains in a low state when it transitions to the exclusive control bit 115. Likewise, the waiters control bit 107 maintains its low state when it transitions to the waiters control bit 117. FIG. 2 illustrates a typical technique for managing multiple access requests in a multi-threaded environment using a lock 201 which transitions, in response to a contended request, to a lock 211 and a local wait block 221. The local wait block is added to a local wait block list. As discussed above, a contended case will result when an exclusive acquire thread 231 attempts to access a data object that has either previously been locked by an exclusive acquire thread or is currently locked and being accessed by one or more shared acquire threads. In a first example, the lock 201 identifies that a data object is exclusively locked by setting the exclusive acquire control bit 205 to a non-zero state. Alternatively, the lock 201 indicates that a data object is locked and being accessed by one or more shared acquire threads by indicating the number of shared acquire threads currently accessing the data object in the shared owners count control bit 203. With continued reference to FIG. 2, in response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 231 which results in a contended case, the lock 201 transitions to a lock 211 which contains a pointer 219 to a local wait block 221 and a waiters control bit 213. Additionally, for a contended case, a local wait block 221 including a saved share count 223 and an exclusive control bit 225 is generated for the thread that has been denied access to the data object. The pointer block 219 includes a reference to the local wait block 221. Additionally, in response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 231 which results in a contended case, the waiters control bit 207 transitions to a high state to a waiters control bit 213 which indicates that there is currently at least one thread waiting to access the data object. The local wait block 221 includes a saved share count 223 and an exclusive control bit 225. The saved share count control bit 223 maintains the number of shared acquires that were currently accessing the data object prior to receipt of the exclusive acquire thread 231. Additionally, the exclusive control bit 225 maintains the status of the thread that caused contention. In this instance, because the thread causing contention, the exclusive acquire thread 231, is exclusive, the exclusive control bit 225 transitions to a high state. A shared acquire thread 241 results in a contended case when the data object being managed by the lock 201 is currently locked by a previous exclusive acquire, indicated by the exclusive acquire control bit 205 being in a high state. In response to receiving a shared acquire thread 241, the lock 201 transitions to a lock 211 which includes a pointer 219 containing a reference to the local wait block 221 and increments the waiters control bit 213 by 1 to indicate the number of threads currently awaiting access to the data object, in this case one. Likewise, in response to receiving a shared acquire thread 241 which results in a contended case, the local waiters block 221 maintains a saved share count 223 which, in this example, will be zero (because the data object was locked by an exclusive acquire) and an exclusive acquire control bit 225 will transition to a low state, because the thread causing contention is a shared acquire thread 241. In a typical case, after a contended case has caused one or more local wait blocks to be added to a local wait block list, releases are more complicated. Typically, the following rights are granted to a releasing thread (shared or exclusive) that is attempting to release an acquired data object that has met contention: (1) shared release threads are allowed to search the local wait block list until they identify a wait block with a non-zero saved share count (this will be a wait block marked exclusive). The thread is allowed to use an interlocked operation to decrement that value. If this thread transitioned the value to zero, then it attains the rights of an exclusive releasing thread; (2) exclusive releasing threads are allowed to search the local wait block list until they find a continuous chain of shared wait blocks or they find the last wait block in an exclusive waiting thread. Additional acquires that meet contention are added to the head of the local wait block list. Once there is a contended case, all attempted acquires are queued in the local wait block. In the current implementation of locks, as described above, ownership of the lock is passed from thread to thread. However, this results in a problem as releasing threads must traverse the local wait list to find the next thread to wake. As a result, the lock hold time on a data object is increased due to the increase in time to identify and wake the appropriate wake block and pass lock ownership to that thread. Thus, the wait block list is effectively protected by the lock itself. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for efficiently managing thread requests for a data object in a multi-threaded environment that reduces wait time. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, a mechanism for managing a plurality of access requests for a data object is provided. The mechanism includes a lock control identifying whether a requested data object is in use and a waiter control identifying whether at least one of the plurality of access requests have been denied immediate access to the data object and is currently waiting for access to the data object. Additionally, the mechanism maintains a list optimize control identifying whether one of the plurality of access requests is currently optimizing a waiters list of access requests waiting to access the data object. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable medium having computer-executable components for managing access to a data object is provided. The components include a waiters list component that maintains a respective wait block representative of each access request that have been denied immediate access to the data object and are waiting to access the data object, and a locking mechanism component that is used to control access to the data object. The locking mechanism includes a reference to the waiters list, and an list optimization control for the waiters list. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for maintaining a waiters list of access requests that are waiting to access a data object that is locked is provided. Upon receipt of an access request for the data object the method generates a wait block representative of the access request and adds the wait block to the head of the waiters list. Additionally, the method determines whether the waiters list is currently being optimized, and, if not, the wait list is optimized. After optimization, the method determines whether the lock on the data object has been released, and, if so, the method allows at least one of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object. In still another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling access to a data object is provided. Upon receipt of a first exclusive access request for the data object, the method places an exclusive lock on the data object and allows the request to access the data object. If another access request for the data object is received, the method creates a wait block representative of the second access request and adds the wait block to a waiters list. In addition to adding the wait block to the waiters list, it is determined whether the waiters list is currently being optimized, and, if it is not being optimized, the second access request is allowed to optimize the waiters list. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 illustrates the transition of a typical lock in response to receiving threads that result in a non-contended case; FIG. 2 illustrates a typical technique for managing multiple access requests in a multi-threaded environment using a lock which transitions, in response to a contended request, to a lock and a local wait block; FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a locking mechanism for managing access requests in a multi-threaded environment for both contended and non-contended cases, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 illustrates the transition of a lock in response to non-contended cases, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the transition of a lock to a lock and a local wait block in response to a thread request in a multi-thread environment which results in a contended case, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 illustrate a general example of a system and method for managing multiple access requests for a data object, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 11, 12, 13, and 14 are a flow diagram illustrative of a lock routine for managing access requests for a data object, according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present application relates to a system and method for managing requests for a data object in a multi-threaded environment by implementing a locking mechanism for that data object. Embodiments of the present invention are operational in numerous general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for implementing the invention include, but are not limited to personal computers, server computers, laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or the like. Additionally, the invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform a particular task or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may be also practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices. While the present invention will be described with regard to illustrative embodiments, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the disclosed embodiments should not be construed as limiting. FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a locking mechanism for managing access requests in a multi-threaded environment for both contended and non-contended cases, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The locking mechanism described herein provides the ability to manage both shared and exclusive thread requests to access a data object without passing ownership of locks from thread to thread. In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates a lock 300 that is maintained for a data object that has only received non-contended threads, and a lock 310 that is maintained for a data object that has received one or more contended threads. The lock 300, 310 are embodied as data structures that may be manipulated, stored, and/or transmitted, as will be described below. Additionally, a lock 300, 310 may be embodied as part of the data object it is maintaining or may be a separate data structure. For example, the lock 300, 310 may be embodied as a pointer size object. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, the bits that make up the locks may be arranged in any order and the described arrangement discussed herein shall not be considered as limiting embodiments of the invention to any particular arrangement. In contrast to the locking mechanism typically used to manage thread requests for a data object in a multi-threaded environment, the locks 300 and 310 maintain four control bits: a multiple shared owners control bit 303, a list optimizer/waker control bit 305, a waiters control bit 307, and a lock control bit 309. Additionally, for non-contended cases, the lock 300 includes a share count control bit 301 which indicates the number of shared owners currently accessing the data object managed by the lock 300. For the contended case, the lock 310 maintains a pointer 311 to a local wait block contained within a local waiters list, as will be described below. In an actual embodiment, locks are not owned by a single thread but instead the lock provides the ability for threads to unconditionally release the locks thereby decreasing wait time. In contrast to previous locking techniques which pass ownership of locks from one thread to another, a releasing thread may release the lock and wake threads awaiting access, thereby allowing waiting threads and new threads to compete for access to the data object. In addition to decreasing wait time by unconditionally releasing locks, embodiments of the present invention limit waiters lists traversal time by tracking the end of the list, as described below. The terminology used herein of control bits, setting control bits in a high or 1 state, and setting control bits in a low or zero state, is used for clarity and ease of discussion and is not intended to be limiting in any way. As one who is skilled in the relevant art will appreciate, any form or technique for tracking a particular state may be used with embodiments of the present invention. The multiple shared owners control bit 303 is set if the lock is held shared by more than one thread. For non-contended cases, this control bit is not utilized and remains in the low state. The list optimize/waker control bit 305 is set by a thread that traverses the list to optimize the waiters list and/or wake threads. The list optimize/waker control bit 305 is zero in a non-contended case. The waiters control bit 307 indicates whether one or more threads have been denied immediate access to the data object and are currently awaiting access to that data object. The waiters control bit 307 is zero for the non-contended case and one for a contended case. In an alternative embodiment, the waiters control bit 407 may be used to indicate the number of threads that are waiting to access the data object. The lock control bit 309 is set for any type of access, exclusive or shared. For the lock 310, that results in response to a contended case, a pointer 311 is generated which points to a waiters list. Additionally, the multiple shared owners control bit 303 is set if the lock is held shared by more than one thread. If it is non-zero, then multiple threads own the lock and the waiters list must be traversed to find the share count in the lock. The waiters control bit 307 is non-zero for the contended case. FIG. 4 illustrates the transition of a lock 400 in response to non-contended cases, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Non-contended cases result from an exclusive acquire thread attempting to access a data object that is currently not being shared by any other access request and is also not exclusively locked. Another non-contended case results from receipt of a first shared acquire when the data object being accessed is not locked. A later shared acquire will also result in a non-contended case when the data object is locked by a previous shared acquire. Releases which result in non-contended cases include an exclusive release that is releasing a data object that has been acquired by a non-contended exclusive acquire. A non-last shared release results in a non-contended case when the data object is currently locked and shared by more than one shared acquire. Finally, a last shared release will result in a non-contended case when the data object is locked by one shared acquire. A data object that is currently not locked, as illustrated by the lock 400 having a share count of zero 401 and a lock control bit of zero 403 will result in a non-contended case when an acquire is received. For example, in response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 421, the lock 400 locks the data object by transitioning lock control bit 403 from a low state to the lock control bit 413 being in a high state. By not passing ownership of locks to waiting threads, as previously required in the typical techniques, exclusive acquires may access an acquired data object that may have other threads waiting to access the data object, as illustrated by waiters control bit 405. Thus, in the transition from lock 400 to lock 410, in response to an exclusive acquire 421, the waiters control bit 405 remains the same, as illustrated by waiters control bit 415. Additionally, because the acquiring thread is an exclusive acquire thread 421, the share count 401 maintains its low state as share count 411. The multiple shared owners control bit 409 also maintains its low state as multiple shared owners count control bit 419 because there is no contention. For non-contended cases, the multiple shared owners control bit 419 is not utilized and thus its state is not relevant, as illustrated by the “M” in FIG. 4. For a data object that is not locked and not shared, an access attempt by a first shared acquire thread 431 will result in a non-contended case. In particular, the lock 400 transitions to the lock 410 and the shared acquire is allowed access to the data object. The share count 401 of the lock 400 is incremented by one to a share count 411, illustrating that the data object is currently being accessed by one shared acquire. Likewise, because the data object was not previously locked, as illustrated by the lock control bit 403 being low, the lock control bit 403 transitions to a high state of the lock control bit 413 identifying that the data object is locked. The waiters control bit 415 and the list optimize/waker control bit 417 all remain in a low state. The multiple shared owners count bit 419 is not monitored for non-contended cases. In one example, the multiple shared owners control bit 419 may be placed in a low state for non-contended cases. For a later shared acquire thread 441 that is attempting to access a data object that is currently being shared by one or more shared acquire threads will also result in a non-contended case. In such an instance, the lock 400 transitions to the lock 410 by incrementing the share count 401 by one, as illustrated by the share count 411, to identify that an additional shared acquire is accessing the data object. The lock control bit 403 will remain in a high state 413, as the object will remain locked. Additionally, because there is no contention, the waiters control bit 405 and the list optimize/waker control bit 407 will each remain low as the lock 400 transitions to the lock 410. An exclusive release 451 that is releasing a data object that is locked by an exclusive acquire thread and has not received contention, also results in a non-contended case. As discussed above, a data object that is locked by an exclusive acquire thread, such as exclusive acquire thread 421, will have a lock control bit 403 in a high state. In response to receiving an exclusive releasing thread 451, the lock control bit 403 transitions from a high state to a low state, as illustrated by lock control bit 413. The other control bits, shared owners count 401, waiters control bit 405, and list optimize/waker control bit 407 will all remain low for this example, as no contention has occurred. Finally, there are two cases for non-contended shared releases. Non-last shared release threads 461 and last shared release threads 471. Both types of release threads may result when a data object is currently locked and shared by one or more shared acquire threads. In response to a non-last shared release thread 461, the share count control bit 401 of the lock 400 transitions by decrementing the share count by one as illustrated by the share count 411 of the lock 410. As discussed above, the shared owners count 401 identifies the number of shared acquire threads that are currently accessing the data object. Because the releasing thread is a non-last shared release thread 461, the lock control bit 403 which is high for the lock 400 transitions to lock 410 having a lock control bit that remains high 413. The lock control bit remains high as there are other shared acquire threads still accessing the data object. In contrast, for a last shared release thread 471, both the share count 401 and the lock control bit 403 of the lock 400 transition to the lock 410 having a share count 411 of zero and a lock control bit 413 of zero. Both control bits transition to low or zero because there are no threads accessing the data object. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the transition of a lock 500 to a lock 510 and a local wait block 520 in response to a thread request in a multi-thread environment which results in a contended case, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Two examples of such contended cases are the receipt of an exclusive acquire thread 541 when a data object is currently locked by a shared acquire thread or by another exclusive acquire thread, and a case where a shared acquire thread 551 is received and the data object is locked by an exclusive acquire thread. Referring first to an exclusive acquire thread 541 which results in a contended case when the data object is already locked by a lock 500. In a first instance, contention results when the lock 500 contains a share count 501 indicating the number of shared acquire threads that are currently accessing the data object. In a second instance, contention results when the lock 500 contains a share count 501 of zero and a high value for the lock control bit 503 thereby identifying that the data object is exclusively locked. In response to receiving the exclusive acquire thread 541, in either instance, the lock 500 transitions to lock 510 which contains a pointer 510 to a local wait block 520 added to the head of a waiters list. Additionally, the lock control bit 503 will be maintained in a high state as the lock control bit 513, the waiters control bit 505 transitions to a high state (or remains high if previously set) to indicate the addition of a local wait block to the waiters list. Additionally, because the list optimize/waker control bit 507 was in a low state prior to receiving the exclusive acquire thread 541, the exclusive acquire thread 541 sets the list optimize/waker control bit 515 to a high state thereby allowing the thread to become a list optimizing thread and traverse the waiters list and optimize the local wait blocks contained within the waiters list, as described below. In an actual embodiment, if the exclusive acquire thread 541 is the first thread being added to the waiters list, the list optimize/waker control bit 515 is not set and the waiters list is not optimized, as this is the only thread awaiting access. Finally, the multiple shared owners control bit 509 is set to high if the shared owners count 501 (also saved share count 521) is greater than one when the exclusive acquire thread 541 is received. As discussed below, the multiple shared owners control bit 519 is used to optimize shared releases. A local wait block 520 is generated in response to an exclusive acquire thread 541 that results in a contended case. The local wait block 520 contains a saved share count 521 that includes the share count that was previously maintained in the share count control bit 501 of the lock 500. Additionally, the local wait block 520 includes an exclusive waiter control bit 523 indicating that the wait block represents an exclusive acquire thread. As described below, the local wait block is added to the head of a waiters list. The waiters list is used to maintain access requests that have been denied immediate access to the data object. A shared acquire thread 551 attempting to access a data object that is currently exclusively locked results in contention. An exclusive lock is identified by the lock 500 having a share count control bit 501 value of zero, and a lock control bit 503 value that is high. In response to a shared acquire thread 551 that results in contention, the lock 500 transitions to the lock 510 as follows. The lock 510 includes a pointer 531 which points to local wait block 520 generated in response to the shared acquire thread 551. Additionally, the lock control bit 513 maintains its high state as the data object remains locked. The waiters control bit 505 maintained by lock 500 is incremented by 1 to indicate the addition of a local wait block to the waiters list. Additionally, because the list optimize/waker control bit 507 of the lock 500 was low, the shared acquire thread 551 sets the list optimize/waker control bit 517 so that the thread may become the optimizing thread and traverse and optimize the waiters list, as described below. Finally, the multiple shared owners control bit 509 of the lock 500 is set to high if the shared owners count 501 (also saved share count 521) is greater than one when the shared acquire thread 551 is received. In addition to setting the list optimize/waker control bit 517, the shared acquire thread 551 generates a local wait block 520 that contains a saved share count 521, which in this example is zero, that is the share count that was stored in the share count control bit 501 of the lock 500. Likewise, the local wait block 520 includes an exclusive wait control bit 523 which is not set because the acquiring thread is a shared acquire thread 551. Referring now to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, a general example of a system and method for managing multiple access requests for a data object, according to an embodiment of the present invention, will be described. The example described with respect to FIGS. 6-10 are for illustration purposes only and any variety and combination of threads (shared/exclusive) may attempt to access/release data objects in any number of ways in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Included in FIGS. 6-10 is a data structure 600 which contains one or more data objects, such as data object 601, and a lock 603 for controlling access to a data object. Also included in the data structure 600 is a waiters list 630, which is used to maintain local wait blocks representative of threads that have been denied immediate access to a data object. For this example, we will assume that an initial time, time=“0” 651, a data object 601 is in a free state and the lock 603 which will manage access to the data object 601 has a share counter control bit 605 in a low state, a lock control bit 607 in a low state, a waiters control bit 609 in a low state, a list optimize/waker control bit 611 in a low state, and a multiple shared owners control bit 613 in a low state, all as illustrated in the timetable 650. At time=“1” 653, thread A 621, which is an exclusive acquire thread attempts to access data object 601. In response to the access request by thread A 621, the data object 601 is locked by transitioning the lock control bit 607 to a high state and thread A is allowed to exclusively access the data object 601. Because thread A 621 is an exclusive acquire thread, the share counter control bit 605 remains at a low state. Additionally, because this is the first thread to attempt to access the data object 601 and access was allowed, the waiters control bit 609 and multiple shared owners control bit 613 also remain in a low state. The list optimize/waker control bit 611 remains at a low state. Additionally, because no access request has been denied immediate access to the data object 601, the waiters list 630 has no local wait blocks contained within it for the data object 601. Subsequent to the exclusive acquire thread A 621 accessing the data object 601, at time=“2” 655, thread B 623, which is a shared acquire thread, attempts to access the data object 601 while thread A 621 is still accessing the data object 601. This results in a contended case, as described above. In response to the access request by thread B 623, immediate access is denied to thread B and a local wait block (“LWB1”) 623A is generated which contains a saved share count of 0 and an exclusive acquire waiter control bit of 0. The saved share count is 0 because the previous share count of the lock 603 was at 0 because thread A 621 is an exclusive acquire thread. LWB1 623A is added to the head of the waiters list 630. Additionally, because LWB1 623A is the first wait block added to the waiters list 630, an end pointer 635 of the LWB1 623A is added to the waiters list, that points to itself. At this point a back pointer 631 and a forward pointer 633 for LWB1 623A are null. Additionally, because this is the first wait block to be added to the waiters list 630, the list optimize/waker control bit 611 is not set, as there is nothing in the waiters list to optimize. Referring now to FIG. 7, a third thread, thread C 625, at time=“3” 657, attempts to access the data object 601. In this example, thread C 625 is another exclusive acquire thread. In response to receiving the exclusive acquire thread 625, immediate access is denied to thread C 625, and a local wait block LWB2 625A is generated with a saved share count of zero and an exclusive acquire control bit being set to high. The LWB2 625A is added to the waiters list 630, and thread C 625 attempts to set the list optimize/waker control bit 611. The LWB2 625A is added to head of the waiters list 630 and the lock 603 has its pointer 605 updated to point to the location of LWB2 625A within the waiters list 630. In addition to the LWB2 625A being added to the waiters list 630, the forward pointer 633 for LWB2 625A is included with a forward pointer to LWB1 623A. At this point, the end pointer 635 and the back pointer 631 for the LWB2 625A are unknown. However, because the list optimize/waker control bit 611 was successfully set by thread C 625, thread C 625 is allowed to optimize the waiters list, as illustrated and discussed with respect to FIG. 8. Referring now to FIG. 8, thread C 625 is allowed to optimize the waiters list 630 because it successfully set the list optimize/waker control bit 611 of lock 603. In optimizing the waiters list 630, thread C 625 fills in the forward pointers 633 and back pointers 631 of the local wait blocks currently contained in the waiters list 630. For example, the end pointer 635 for LWB2 625A is filled in to point to LWB1 623A because it is the local wait block contained at the end of the waiters list 630. Likewise, the back pointer for LWB1 623A is filled in to include a pointer back to LWB2 625A because LWB2 625A is the block immediately behind LWB1 623A. After thread C 625 has completed optimization of the waiters list 630, it releases control of the list optimizer/waker control bit 611. In an actual embodiment, threads that meet contention attempt to add their respective local wait block onto the head of the waiters list and automatically set the list optimize/waker control bit at the same time. If the list optimize/waker control bit is already set, then another thread is optimizing the waiters list. If the thread manages to set the list optimize/waker control bit at the same time as adding itself onto the list, it becomes the optimizing thread. The list optimize/waker control bit is not a lock control bit, as no thread ever waits to set it. It is a gating mechanism for waking and optimizing the waiters list and only one thread needs to do this at any time. Optimizing threads (those that set the list optimize/waker control bit) traverse the waiters list and fill in back pointers and end pointers so that release requests can quickly get to the end of the waiters list. Once the list optimization has been completed, the optimizing thread attempts to clear the list optimize/waker control bit. At this point, if the lock is unlocked, the thread becomes a waker thread by breaking the chain and waking the end threads thereby allowing those threads to again attempt to access the data object. However, if the lock is still locked when the optimizing thread attempts to release the list optimizer/waker control bit, then the list optimize/waker control bit is just cleared. Threads releasing the lock also attempt to set the list optimize/waker control bit if they are the last shared release or an exclusive release. If they succeed in setting the list optimize/waker control bit, they wake threads at the end of the waiters list. Referring now to FIG. 9, thread D 627, at time=“4” 659, attempts to access data object 601. In particular, thread D 627 is a shared acquire thread. In response to receiving the shared acquire thread request, immediate access is denied to thread D 627, a local wait block (“LWB3”) 627A is generated and added to the head of the waiters list 630, and thread D 627 attempts to set the list optimize waker control bit 611. In adding LWB3 627A to the waiters list 630, a forward pointer 633 for LWB3 pointing to LWB2 625A is included. At this point, the end pointer 635 and the back pointer 631 for LWB3 627A are unknown. Because the previous thread, thread C 625, had completed optimization of the waiters list 630 and released control of the list optimize/waker control bit 611, thread D 627 is successful in setting the list optimize/waker control bit 611 and thereby becomes the optimizing thread of the waiters list 630. Referring now to FIG. 10, in optimizing the waiters list 630, thread D 627 fills in the unknown end pointers 635 and back pointers 631 for LWB3 627A. In particular, an end pointer 635 is added to include a pointer to LWB1 635, which is the last local wait block in the waiters list 630. Similarly, the back pointer 631 for LWB2 625A is filled in to include a pointer back to LWB3 627A. Upon completion of optimization of the waiters list 630, thread 627 releases control of the list optimize/waker control bit 611. Optimizing the waiters list 630 to include back pointers 631, forward pointers 633 and end pointers 635 for each local wait block allows a releasing thread to quickly traverse the waiters list, thereby reducing the time required to identify the appropriate thread for release. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of a lock routine 1100 for managing access requests for a data object, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As one who is skilled in the art will appreciate, FIGS. 11, 12, 13, and 14 illustrate blocks for performing specific functions. In alternative embodiments, more or fewer blocks may be used. In an embodiment of the present invention, a block may represent a software program, a software object, a software function, a software subroutine, a software method, a software instance, a code fragment, a hardware operation, or a user operation, singly or in combination. Referring to FIG. 11, at block 1101 the lock management routine 1100 begins and a thread from a program in the multi-threaded environment is received, as illustrated at block 1103. At decision block 1105 it is determined whether the received thread is an acquiring thread. As discussed above, an acquiring thread may be an exclusive acquire thread or a shared acquire thread. If it is determined at decision block 1105 that the received thread is an acquiring thread, a determination is made as to whether the received thread is an exclusive acquire thread, as illustrated by decision block 1107. If the received thread is an exclusive acquire thread, it is determined if the requested data object is currently locked, as illustrated by decision block 1109. If it is determined at decision block 1109 that the object is not locked, the exclusive acquire thread is allowed to access the requested data object and the accessed data object is exclusively locked so that no other request may access the data object, as illustrated by block 1111. Referring back to decision block 1107, if it is determined that the received acquire thread is not an exclusive acquire thread, a determination is made as to whether the data object is exclusively locked by a previously received exclusive acquire thread, as illustrated by decision block 1113. If the requested data object is not exclusively locked, at decision block 1115 it is determined whether the requested data object is locked by a previously received shared thread, as illustrated by decision block 1115. If at decision block 1115 it is determined that the requested data object is not locked by a shared thread, at block 1117 the shared acquire thread is allowed to access the requested data object, a shared lock is placed on that data object, and the share count maintained within the shared lock is incremented, as illustrated at block 1119. However, if it is determined at decision block 1115 that the object is locked by another shared acquire thread, the shared acquire thread is allowed to access the data object and the share count in the previously existing lock is incremented to identify the addition of a shared acquire thread for that data object. Referring back to decision block 1113, if it is determined that the received thread is an acquiring thread that is not an exclusive acquire thread (i.e., it is a shared acquire thread) and that the object is already exclusively locked, the thread is denied immediate access to the data object and a wait block representative of the requesting thread that has been denied access is generated, as illustrated by block 1401 (FIG. 14). Upon generation of a wait block, at block 1403, the wait block is added to the waiters list. In addition to adding the wait block to the waiters list, the thread that has been denied immediate access attempts to set the list optimize/waker control bit, thereby becoming an optimizing thread for the waiters list, and increments the waiters count control bit in the existing lock for that data object, as illustrated by block 1405. In an actual embodiment, if this is the first wait block being added to the water's list, the list optimize/waker control bit is not set, as there is nothing to optimize. If it is determined at decision block 1407 that the thread succeeded in setting the list optimize/waker control bit at block 1405, that thread becomes the optimizing thread for the waiters list and optimizes the waiters list, as illustrated by block 1409. Optimizing threads (those that succeed in setting the list optimize/waker control bit) traverse the waiters list and fill in back pointers and end pointers so that releasing threads can get to the end of the list quickly. Once list optimization has completed, the optimizing thread attempts to clear the list optimize/waker control bit. At this point, if the data object has been unlocked, the thread becomes a waker thread and wakes the end threads of the waiters list. However, if the data object remains locked, once the waiters list optimization thread has completed optimizing the waiters list, then the list optimize/waker control bit is simply cleared. During optimization, the optimizing thread fills in previous pointers for all wait blocks after the first wait block until it meets a wait block with an end pointer that is not null. A wait block with an end pointer that is not null identifies the beginning of the waiters list last optimized by the optimizer (possibly by a different optimizing thread). The previous pointer for a block containing an end pointer is filled in by the list optimizing thread and the first block encountered by the optimizing thread has its end pointer filled in to point to the block containing the end pointer that points to itself. In an alternative embodiment, the end pointers for each block encountered by the optimizing thread are filled in to point to the end wait block. In this way the waiters list is updated to reflect its state at the start of the walk by the optimizing thread. New blocks may be added onto the head of the waiters list at any time while the optimizing thread is optimizing the waiters list. As such, the optimizing thread will see the new blocks and optimize those wait blocks prior to attempting to clear the list optimize/waker control bit. Each valid end pointer within a wait list points to the end wait block in the list. In an actual embodiment, the first wait block added to a waiters list has its end pointer pointing to itself so that list optimizing threads can check only the end pointer. Previous pointers are also filled in from the first block with an end pointer to the last block. Previous pointers are used to wake threads in reverse order of waiting. After the threads have been awakened, as illustrated by block 1413, and/or after it is determined at decision block 1407 that the list optimize/waker control bit was not successfully set, the routine 1100 again awaits receipt of a new thread for that data object as illustrated by block 1103 (FIG. 11). Referring again to FIG. 11, if it is determined at decision block 1109 that the data object being requested by an exclusive acquire thread is locked, the system proceeds as described above with respect to FIG. 14. If it is determined at decision block 1105 (FIG. 11) that the received thread for a particular data object is not an acquiring thread (i.e., it is a releasing thread) it is determined whether there are currently any wait blocks contained in the waiters list, as illustrated by decision block 1201 (FIG. 12). If it is determined at decision block 1201 that there are wait blocks in the waiters list, it is determined whether the received releasing thread is an exclusive release or a last shared release, as illustrated by decision block 1203. If it is determined that the releasing thread is an exclusive release or a last shared release, that thread attempts to set the list optimize/waker control bit and thereby become the optimizing thread of the waiters list. At decision block 1205 it is determined whether the list optimize/waker control bit has been set and if so, the releasing thread is allowed to optimize the waiters list, as illustrated at block 1207. List optimization by a releasing thread optimizes the waiters list as discussed above with respect to block 1409 (FIG. 14). In addition to optimizing the waiters list, an exclusive release or last shared release that is allowed to optimize the waiters list also wakes/releases threads from the list upon completion of its optimization, as illustrated by block 1209. However, if it is determined that either there are no wait blocks in the waiters list, as illustrated by decision block 1201, or that there is a waiters list and it is determined at decision block 1203 that the releasing thread is the last shared release, at decision block 1301 (FIG. 13) it is determined whether the releasing thread is an exclusive release. In FIG. 13, if it is determined at decision block 1301 that the releasing thread is not an exclusive release thread, a determination is made as to whether the data object is shared by more than one thread, as illustrated by decision block 1303. If it is determined at decision block 1303 that the data object is shared by more than one thread, the share count contained in the existing lock is reduced by one and the data object remains locked. However, if it is determined at decision block 1303 that the data object is not shared by more than one thread, the share count of the lock is cleared and the lock control bit is cleared, thereby unlocking the data object, as illustrated by block 1305. Finally, if it is determined at decision block 1301 that the releasing thread is an exclusive release thread, the lock control bit for the lock maintaining access to the data object is cleared, thereby unlocking the object. After the data object has been unlocked, as shown by blocks 1309 and 1305, and/or after the object remains locked but the share count has been reduced by one (i.e., one of the shared acquires has completed its acquire and released), the routine 1100 returns to block 1103 (FIG. 11) and awaits receipt of another thread. In an alternative embodiment, some lock uses may require a generic release. This is a common thread to release both an exclusive acquire and a shared acquire thread. For non-contended acquires, the release can transition easily by looking at the share count of the lock and either clearing the share count and the lock control bit (FIG. 13, 1305) or by reducing the share count by 1 and leaving the lock control bit in a high state (FIG. 13, 1307). However, for the contended case, the share count control bit is not available and the right to traverse the waiters list is not granted to exclusive releasers. However, referring to the multiple shared owners control bit, contended releases may be completed efficiently. The multiple shared owners control bit, if set, identifies that multiple shared acquirers own the lock and the releasing thread must traverse the list to identify and release the appropriate thread. If the multiple shared owners control bit is not set, then the acquiring thread was an exclusive acquire or a shared acquire with a share count greater than 1. For this case the lock control bit is just cleared. The multiple shared owners control bit also serves to optimize shared and generic releases by allowing some to proceed to unlock without any list walking. The multiple shared owners control bit also allows a shared acquire to access a shared data object even if there are acquiring threads currently waiting to access the data object. While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Traditionally, computing environments in which computer programs are run have been single threaded. A “thread,” as used herein, is part of a program that can execute independently of other parts of the program. Accordingly, a single threaded environment requires that only one thread of a program may be executed at a time. This places constraints on both users and programs because users are only able to run one program at a time and that program is only able to execute a single thread at a time. To overcome the deficiencies associated with single threaded environments, computing environments have been created that are multi-threaded. “Multi-threaded,” as used herein, is the ability of an operating system to execute different parts of a program, or programs, called threads, simultaneously. Accordingly, a program is typically able to run multiple threads concurrently. For example, a spreadsheet program may calculate a complex formula taking minutes to complete while at the same time permitting the user to continue editing the spreadsheet. Additionally, a user may be able to run threads from different applications at the same time. However, a problem arises when two or more threads of the same or different programs attempt to access the same “data object.” A “data object” as used herein may be any type of data stored on a computing device. For example, a data object may be a file, such as an image file, data file, database file, a software component, or any other type of computing information. Concurrent access of the same data object may result in corruption of a program's data structures, ultimately causing the computer to fail. Therefore, techniques have been created in an effort to manage access to data objects in a multi-threaded environment by locking the data object once accessed. However, such techniques have resulted in inefficient management of threads. In general, thread requests in a multi-threaded environment fall into two categories, non-contended and contended. Non-contended cases occur when: (1) an exclusive acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is currently in a free state, i.e., unlocked; (2) a shared acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is not exclusively locked (i.e., being accessed by an exclusive acquire thread); (3) an exclusive release thread that attempts to release an exclusively acquired data object that has not met contention; and (4) a shared release thread that attempts to release a data object that is shared by one or more shared acquire threads and that has not met contention. Contended cases result in two circumstances. First, when an exclusive acquire thread attempts to exclusively acquire a data object that is currently locked by another exclusive acquire thread or by a shared acquire thread. An exclusive acquire thread will always result in a contended case when a data object is locked by either a previous exclusive acquire thread or by one or more shared acquire threads. Second, a contended case also results when a shared acquire thread attempts to access a data object that is locked by an exclusive acquire thread. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a typical lock that is used to manage access to a data object in a multi-threaded environment. In particular, a typical lock 101 includes three control bits, a shared owners count control bit 103 , an exclusive control bit 105 , and a waiters control bit 107 . If there are no threads attempting to access the data object being managed by lock 101 , each of the control bits 103 - 107 are low, or in a zero state, thereby indicating that the data object managed by the lock 101 is currently available. With continued reference to FIG. 1 , in a first example, exclusive acquire thread 121 attempts to acquire a data object (not shown) that is controlled by a lock 101 when that data object is in a free state. The lock 101 identifies that the data object is in a free state because the shared owner count 103 is in a zero or low state, the exclusive control bit 105 is in a zero or low state, and the waiters control bit 107 is in a zero or low state. In response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 121 , the lock 101 transitions to a lock 111 and includes a shared owner count of a low or zero state 113 , an exclusive control bit 115 having a high or 1 state, and a waiters control bit 117 having a zero or low state. Transitioning the exclusive control bit 115 to a high state identifies the data object as being exclusively locked. Another example of a non-contended case results from a shared acquire thread 131 attempting to access a data object that is currently not locked by an exclusive acquire. In such a case, the data object being accessed may have multiple shared acquire threads accessing the data object thereby resulting in a shared owners count 103 of any number illustrating the number of shared acquire threads currently accessing the data object. For example, if there were three shared acquire threads accessing the data object, the shared owners count 103 would have a value of 3. Because the object is not exclusively acquired, the exclusive control bit 105 is in a low state and the waiters control bit 107 is also in a low state. In response to receiving a shared acquire thread 131 , the lock 101 transitions to the lock 111 . The state of the lock 111 in response to a shared acquire thread 131 results in a shared owners count 113 being incremented by 1 from whatever the value of the shared owners count 103 contained in the lock 101 . For example, if the shared owners count 103 had a value of 3, access by a shared acquire thread 131 would result in a shared owners count of 4. Likewise, because the acquire thread is a shared acquire and there is no contention, the exclusive control bit 115 remains low and the waiters control bit 117 also remains low. Another non-contended case results from receipt of an exclusive release thread 141 , to release a data object that is currently locked by an exclusive acquire thread. A data object is identified as being exclusively locked by the lock control bit 105 being high, the shared owners count control bit 103 being low and the waiters control bit 107 also being low. Receiving the exclusive release 141 results in a transition to lock 111 with a shared owners count 113 remaining low, an exclusive control bit 115 transitioning to a low state and the waiters control bit 117 remaining in a low state. The transition of the exclusive control bit 105 from a high state to an exclusive control bit 115 having a low state indicates that the data object controlled by the lock 101 is no longer locked (i.e., being accessed) by an exclusive acquire thread. A shared release thread 151 releasing a data object that is not exclusively locked, identified by the exclusive control bit 105 being low, also results in a non-contended case. A data object controlled by a shared lock may be shared by multiple shared acquire threads, as illustrated by shared owners count 103 being any number (N) identifying the number of shared acquires currently accessing the data object. In response to receiving a shared release 151 , the lock 101 transitions to the lock 111 and the shared owners count 113 is decremented by 1, illustrating the release of one shared acquire thread. The shared owners count 113 is decremented by 1 for all shared releases where the shared owners count is greater than or equal to one. The exclusive control bit 105 remains in a low state when it transitions to the exclusive control bit 115 . Likewise, the waiters control bit 107 maintains its low state when it transitions to the waiters control bit 117 . FIG. 2 illustrates a typical technique for managing multiple access requests in a multi-threaded environment using a lock 201 which transitions, in response to a contended request, to a lock 211 and a local wait block 221 . The local wait block is added to a local wait block list. As discussed above, a contended case will result when an exclusive acquire thread 231 attempts to access a data object that has either previously been locked by an exclusive acquire thread or is currently locked and being accessed by one or more shared acquire threads. In a first example, the lock 201 identifies that a data object is exclusively locked by setting the exclusive acquire control bit 205 to a non-zero state. Alternatively, the lock 201 indicates that a data object is locked and being accessed by one or more shared acquire threads by indicating the number of shared acquire threads currently accessing the data object in the shared owners count control bit 203 . With continued reference to FIG. 2 , in response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 231 which results in a contended case, the lock 201 transitions to a lock 211 which contains a pointer 219 to a local wait block 221 and a waiters control bit 213 . Additionally, for a contended case, a local wait block 221 including a saved share count 223 and an exclusive control bit 225 is generated for the thread that has been denied access to the data object. The pointer block 219 includes a reference to the local wait block 221 . Additionally, in response to receiving an exclusive acquire thread 231 which results in a contended case, the waiters control bit 207 transitions to a high state to a waiters control bit 213 which indicates that there is currently at least one thread waiting to access the data object. The local wait block 221 includes a saved share count 223 and an exclusive control bit 225 . The saved share count control bit 223 maintains the number of shared acquires that were currently accessing the data object prior to receipt of the exclusive acquire thread 231 . Additionally, the exclusive control bit 225 maintains the status of the thread that caused contention. In this instance, because the thread causing contention, the exclusive acquire thread 231 , is exclusive, the exclusive control bit 225 transitions to a high state. A shared acquire thread 241 results in a contended case when the data object being managed by the lock 201 is currently locked by a previous exclusive acquire, indicated by the exclusive acquire control bit 205 being in a high state. In response to receiving a shared acquire thread 241 , the lock 201 transitions to a lock 211 which includes a pointer 219 containing a reference to the local wait block 221 and increments the waiters control bit 213 by 1 to indicate the number of threads currently awaiting access to the data object, in this case one. Likewise, in response to receiving a shared acquire thread 241 which results in a contended case, the local waiters block 221 maintains a saved share count 223 which, in this example, will be zero (because the data object was locked by an exclusive acquire) and an exclusive acquire control bit 225 will transition to a low state, because the thread causing contention is a shared acquire thread 241 . In a typical case, after a contended case has caused one or more local wait blocks to be added to a local wait block list, releases are more complicated. Typically, the following rights are granted to a releasing thread (shared or exclusive) that is attempting to release an acquired data object that has met contention: (1) shared release threads are allowed to search the local wait block list until they identify a wait block with a non-zero saved share count (this will be a wait block marked exclusive). The thread is allowed to use an interlocked operation to decrement that value. If this thread transitioned the value to zero, then it attains the rights of an exclusive releasing thread; (2) exclusive releasing threads are allowed to search the local wait block list until they find a continuous chain of shared wait blocks or they find the last wait block in an exclusive waiting thread. Additional acquires that meet contention are added to the head of the local wait block list. Once there is a contended case, all attempted acquires are queued in the local wait block. In the current implementation of locks, as described above, ownership of the lock is passed from thread to thread. However, this results in a problem as releasing threads must traverse the local wait list to find the next thread to wake. As a result, the lock hold time on a data object is increased due to the increase in time to identify and wake the appropriate wake block and pass lock ownership to that thread. Thus, the wait block list is effectively protected by the lock itself. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for efficiently managing thread requests for a data object in a multi-threaded environment that reduces wait time. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, a mechanism for managing a plurality of access requests for a data object is provided. The mechanism includes a lock control identifying whether a requested data object is in use and a waiter control identifying whether at least one of the plurality of access requests have been denied immediate access to the data object and is currently waiting for access to the data object. Additionally, the mechanism maintains a list optimize control identifying whether one of the plurality of access requests is currently optimizing a waiters list of access requests waiting to access the data object. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable medium having computer-executable components for managing access to a data object is provided. The components include a waiters list component that maintains a respective wait block representative of each access request that have been denied immediate access to the data object and are waiting to access the data object, and a locking mechanism component that is used to control access to the data object. The locking mechanism includes a reference to the waiters list, and an list optimization control for the waiters list. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for maintaining a waiters list of access requests that are waiting to access a data object that is locked is provided. Upon receipt of an access request for the data object the method generates a wait block representative of the access request and adds the wait block to the head of the waiters list. Additionally, the method determines whether the waiters list is currently being optimized, and, if not, the wait list is optimized. After optimization, the method determines whether the lock on the data object has been released, and, if so, the method allows at least one of the access requests identified by a wait block to attempt to access the data object. In still another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling access to a data object is provided. Upon receipt of a first exclusive access request for the data object, the method places an exclusive lock on the data object and allows the request to access the data object. If another access request for the data object is received, the method creates a wait block representative of the second access request and adds the wait block to a waiters list. In addition to adding the wait block to the waiters list, it is determined whether the waiters list is currently being optimized, and, if it is not being optimized, the second access request is allowed to optimize the waiters list. | 20040621 | 20080923 | 20060105 | 94805.0 | G06F1730 | 0 | LEWIS, CHERYL RENEA | METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING ACCESS TO A DATA OBJECT | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,872,727 | ACCEPTED | Module with a built-in semiconductor and method for producing the same | In a module with a built-in semiconductor, higher densification is achieved by disposing inner vias close to a semiconductor device. A module which has a space 107 between a first wiring layer 102a and a built-in semiconductor device 105 is obtained by: mounting the semiconductor device 105 on a first wiring layer 102a of a wiring board 103 without using a sealing resin; stacking on the circuit board an electrically insulating substrate having a through bore (inner via) 104 filled with a conductive paste and an opening for receiving the semiconductor device, and a mold release carrier having a second wiring layer 102b in the stated order; and heating and pressurizing so that the semiconductor device 105 is incorporated in a core layer 101 which is formed by curing the electrically insulating substrate. | 1. A module with a built-in semiconductor comprising an electrically insulating core layer containing an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin, a first wiring layer formed on one surface of the core layer and a second wiring layer formed on the other surface of the core layer, inner vias which is formed in the core layer and connects the wiring layers electrically, and a semiconductor device incorporated in the core layer, wherein at least the first wiring layer forms a circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and/or one or more wiring layers, the semiconductor device is connected to the first wiring layer by a flip-chip bonding, and a space is formed between a functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and a surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. 2. The module according to claim 1, wherein an outer edge of the space is situated inside an outer edge of the semiconductor device and a side peripheral face of the space is in contact with the core layer. 3. The module according to claim 2, wherein at least one of protruding electrodes which connect the semiconductor device and the first wiring layer is sealed with a material of the core layer. 4. The module according to claim 1, which further comprises a through hole which faces the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and penetrates the circuit board in a thickness direction at a position which communicates with the space. 5. The module according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is an imaging device having a light-receiving portion which faces the space, and a through hole which penetrates the circuit board in a thickness direction is formed at a position which faces the light-receiving portion. 6. The module according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is an imaging device having a light-receiving portion which faces the space, and the circuit board is transparent at least at a position which faces the light-receiving portion. 7. The module according to claim 6, wherein a lens is provided on the circuit board at the position which faces the light-receiving portion. 8. The module according to claim 6, wherein the electrically insulating layer of the circuit board is made of a transparent material and formed into a lens at the position which faces the light-receiving portion. 9. The module according to claim 5, wherein a transparent substance occupies a part of or the entire of the space. 10. The module according to claim 6, wherein a transparent substance occupies a part of or the entire of the space. 11. The module according to claim 5, wherein an optical filter is placed within the space. 12. The module according to claim 6, wherein an optical filter is placed within the space. 13. The module according to claim 1, wherein at least one passive component is incorporated in the core layer. 14. The module according to claim 5, wherein at least one passive component is incorporated in the core layer. 15. The module according to claim 6, wherein at least one passive component is incorporated in the core layer. 16. The module according to claim 1, wherein the thermosetting resin contained in the core layer is a resin whose main component is an epoxy resin, a phenolic resin or a cyanate resin. 17. The module according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic filler contained in the core layer is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of Al2O3, MgO, BN, AlN, and SiO2. 18. The module according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board is a resin board. 19. The module according to claim 18, wherein the circuit board comprises an electrically insulating layer comprising a mixture which contains an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin, and inner vias formed in the electrically insulating layer. 20. The module according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board is a ceramic board. 21. The module according to claim 1, which has a multilayer configuration wherein another circuit board or a module with a built-in component is electrically connected to the second wiring layer of the core layer. 22. The module according to claim 1, wherein an active component and/or a passive component is mounted on a surface of an outer most wiring layer. 23. The module according to claim 1, wherein a wiring pattern for mounting the module to another board is an area array. 24. The module according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board has an area broader than that of the core layer. 25. The module according to claim 24, wherein, in the circuit board, the first wiring layer forms a multilayer circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and one or more wiring layers at a region which is not in contact with the core layer. 26. A method for producing a module with a built-in semiconductor, which comprise the steps of: (1) flip-chip bonding a semiconductor device on a wiring layer of a circuit board; (2) forming through bores in an electrically insulating substrate containing an uncured thermosetting resin and an inorganic filler, and filling the bore with a conductive resin composition; (3) stacking the electrically insulating substrate on a surface of the circuit board on which surface the semiconductor device is flip-chip bonded, and stacking a mold release carrier having a wiring layer on a surface of the electrically insulating substrate which surface is opposite to the surface contacting with the circuit board; and (4) fluidizing the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate and then curing the thermosetting resin and the electrically conductive resin composition within the through bores by heating and pressurizing. 27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the step (4) further includes retaining a temperature in a range of TL±20° C. wherein TL is a temperature at which the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate indicates a lowest melt viscosity, and then raising the temperature. 28. The method according to claim 26, wherein an imaging device is mounted as the semiconductor device in the step (1), and which comprises, in addition to the steps (1) to (4), the step of: (5) forming a through hole which penetrates the circuit board in a thickness direction at a position which faces a light-receiving portion of the imaging device. 29. The method according to claim 26, wherein an imaging device is mounted as the semiconductor device in the step (1) and the circuit board is transparent at least at a position which faces a light-receiving portion of the imaging device. 30. The method according to claim 26, wherein an imaging device is mounted as the semiconductor device in the step (1), and a transparent substance is applied to a position of the circuit board at which the imaging device is mounted before the step (1), the amount of the transparent substance being equal to or smaller than a volume which is defined, after mounting the imaging device, by a surface of the imaging device on which surface a light-receiving portion is situated, a surface of the circuit board which surface faces the light-receiving position, and the electrically insulating substrate after the fluidizing. 31. The method according to claim 26, wherein an imaging device is mounted as the semiconductor device in the step (1), and which further comprises, in addition to the steps (1) to (4), the steps of: (6) forming a through bore in a circuit board, the through bore communicating with a space formed between a surface of the imaging device on which a light-receiving portion of the imaging device is situated and a surface of the circuit board; and (7) injecting a transparent resin into the space via the through bore after carrying out the steps (1) to (4). 32. The method according to claim 26, wherein an imaging device is mounted as the semiconductor device in the step (1) and a transparent thin film is attached to a position of the circuit board at which the imaging device is mounted before the step (1). 33. The method according to claim 26, wherein a circuit board is stacked instead of the mold release carrier having a wiring layer in the step (3). 34. The method according to claim 26, which further comprises the step of forming a space for receiving the semiconductor device in the electrically insulating substrate containing the inorganic filler and the uncured thermosetting resin, and wherein the step is carried out at least before the step (3). 35. The method according to claim 26, wherein the step (1) further comprises mounting an active component on the wiring layer on which the semiconductor is mounted. 36. The method according to claim 26, which further comprises mounting an active component and/or a passive component on an outer most wiring layer after the step (4). | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims a priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-190879 filed on Jul. 3, 2003, entitled “Module with a built-in semiconductor and method for producing the same.” The contents of that application are incorporated herein by the reference thereto in their entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a module with a built-in semiconductor wherein a semiconductor device is incorporated, and a method for producing the module. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Recently, a higher density semiconductor with more functions is needed, since electronic equipments having higher performance and smaller size are required. For this reason, a three-dimensional mounting technique has been developed actively, wherein semiconductor devices and components are mounted three-dimensionally to reduce a mounting area. The three-dimensional mounting has an advantage of shortening a wire length between the semiconductor devices and the length between the components, resulting in an excellent high frequency property. An example of a module with a built-in semiconductor manufactured by using a conventional three-dimensional mounting technique is described below with reference to a drawing. In this specification, a term “module” is used as a term which means not only a device having functions as a single unit but also a part of construction of one device. FIG. 18 shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor manufactured by using a conventional three-dimensional mounting technique. The module with a built-in semiconductor includes a core layer 201 which is an electrically insulating substrate, wiring layers 202 with a desired wiring pattern, inner vias 204 formed by filling through holes with a conductive resin, which electrically connects the wiring layers 202, a circuit board 203, a semiconductor device 205 which is disposed within the core layer 201 and electrically connected to the wiring layer 202. The semiconductor device 205 is flip-chip bonded onto the wiring layer 202 through protruding electrodes 206 formed on the device 205. The wiring layer 202 on which the semiconductor device 205 is mounted constitutes a double-sided circuit board 203, together with an electrically insulating layer 208, a wiring layer which faces the wiring layer 202 across the layer 208 and inner vias 209 electrically connecting the wiring layers. A sealing resin 216 fills a space between the wiring layer 202 and a functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device 205 (that is, a surface having an element(s), such as a circuit, which is necessary for fulfilling a predetermined function of the semiconductor element). This sealing resin 216 extends over edge portions of the semiconductor device 205. Viewing from the direction of an arrow “a”, it is found that a peripheral edge of the resin surrounds the peripheral edge of the semiconductor device 205. See Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-244638(A). Further, as a cellular phone, personal computer and sensor are preferred to be multifunctional, these equipments are often provided with an imaging apparatus. These equipments are needed to be smaller and lighter. For this reason, in order to make the imaging apparatus smaller and lighter, a module wherein a semiconductor imaging device is incorporated has been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A), an image-taking apparatus is proposed, which includes a three-dimensional circuit board having a leg and cylindrical barrel provided on the leg, a semiconductor device attached on back of the leg, and a lens supported inside the barrel to impinge a light onto the semiconductor imaging device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The module with a built-in semiconductor of the above construction is produced by a method which includes mounting a semiconductor device on a wiring layer formed on a circuit board, stacking on the circuit board an electrically insulating substrate having inner vias, and heating and pressurizing so that the semiconductor device is buried in the electrically insulating substrate. This production method has an advantage that filling through holes for the inner vias can be easily filled with a conductive resin and that a process for forming the inner via can be selected from a wide range. However, when using this production method, the inner via cannot be disposed at a place where the sealing resin extends over the edge portion of the semiconductor device. This is because when the electrically insulating substrate is stacked, the inner via cannot pierce a portion of the sealing resin which overruns the semiconductor, without deformation. The deformation of the inner via causes inferior connection between the wiring layers. Further, a passive component cannot be disposed on the overrunning portion of the sealing resin. As described above, the overrunning sealing resin reduces an area where the inner vias and the passive components can be mounted. As a result, when it is necessary to dispose a predetermined number of inner vias and passive components each of which has a predetermined size, an area of the module with a built-in semiconductor should be large, which is adverse to the requirement of miniaturization of the electronic equipments. As a result of studying for finding a solution of the above problems, it has been found that the module, as shown in FIG. 18, in which the sealing resin overruns the outer edge of the semiconductor device is produced by merely applying a surface mounting technique which does not involve incorporating the semiconductor device. In the case of the surface mounting, it is necessary to strengthen the fixation of the semiconductor device to the circuit board so that the mounting reliability is improved. However, when the semiconductor device is incorporated, the device is fixed securely by being surrounded entirely by the electrically insulating core layer in the final module, and therefore there is no practical problem even if the sealing resin is not used. The present invention is based on this knowledge and provides a module with a built-in semiconductor of the following construction. That is, the present invention provides a module with a built-in semiconductor which includes: an electrically insulating core layer containing an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin a first wiring layer formed on one surface of the core layer and a second wiring layer formed on the other surface of the core layer; inner vias formed in the core layer, which connect the wiring layers; and a semiconductor device incorporated in the core layer, wherein at least the first wiring layer forms a circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and/or one or more wiring layers, the semiconductor device is connected to the first wiring layer by a flip-chip bonding, and a space (or a gap) is formed between a functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and a surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. The “surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed” is a surface of the first wiring layer at a portion where the wire exists on the surface of the circuit board, and is a surface of the electrically insulating layer at a portion where the wire does not exist. Strictly, this space is a space defined by the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device, the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is situated, and the core layer. More specifically, this space has a thickness-direction dimension defined by a distance between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer, and a planar-direction dimension defined by the core layer which flows into an area between these surfaces. This module with a built-in semiconductor (which is merely referred to as the “module”) is characterized in that it does not include a sealing resin. Therefore, this construction makes it possible to dispose the inner vias and/or passive components closer to the built-in semiconductor. Further, this module can gives a construction wherein electrodes which connects the semiconductor device to the first wiring layer are surrounded by air, not the sealing resin. Generally the semiconductor device is designed on the assumption that it is used in an air environment. Therefore, when the functional element-formed surface is covered with the sealing resin as shown in FIG. 18, a high-frequency signal is disadvantageously transmitted, and there may raise a problem of corrosion. The module of the present invention has a construction wherein the functional element-formed surface is in contact with air, which is advantageous to the transmission of the high-frequency signal and the module is not liable to raise the problem due to the fact that sealing resin surrounds the functional element-formed surface. Furthermore, since the semiconductor device is fixedly connected to the wiring lay by being surrounded by the core layer in this module, it is possible to ensure the same connection reliability as that obtained in the prior art module even if the sealing resin is not employed. In addition, this module can be produced without the step of sealing a connection portion between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer with the sealing resin, which is advantageous to cost. The semiconductor device is, for example, a transistor, an IC, or an LSI. The semiconductor device may be a semiconductor bare chip. In the module of the present invention, “the first wiring layer forms a circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and/or one or more wiring layers” refers to a construction wherein the first wiring layer is disposed on a surface of a circuit board (for example, a multilayer wiring board, a double-sided wiring board, or a single-sided wiring board) on the assumption that the core layer does not exist. It can be said that the module of the present invention has a configuration wherein the circuit board having the first wiring layer thereon adheres to the core layer. In the case where this circuit board is the single-sided wiring board, the first wiring layer forms the circuit board together with only one electrically insulating layer. It should be noted that “and/or” is used here in order to include such en embodiment. In the module of the present invention, at least one of protruding electrodes which connect the semiconductor device and the wiring layer may be sealed with a material of the core layer. In other words, one of the protruding electrodes may be surrounded (or covered) by the material of the core layer. When the protruding electrode is sealed with the material of the core layer of the module, that is, the thermosetting resin containing the inorganic filler, the semiconductor device is more securely fixed to the wiring layer, resulting in higher connection reliability. In this construction, since the electrode is not surrounded by air, the high frequency signal is transmitted disadvantageously compared with the construction wherein the electrode is surrounded by air. However, the module of this construction can be produced through less steps without the step of injecting the sealing resin, and therefore can be provided at a lower cost than the conventional module shown in FIG. 18. In the module of the present invention, it is preferable to form a through hole which pierces the circuit board in a thickness direction at a position which faces the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and communicates with the space formed between the functional element-formed surface and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. In other words, in the module of the present invention, the circuit board including the first wiring layer and the electrically insulating layer preferably has a through hole which runs through the circuit board in the thickness direction at a position facing to the functional element-formed surface. This through hole serves as a path which allows a pressure in the space formed between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer to escape outside (that is, as an equalization hole) when the pressure in the space becomes higher than that of ambient air. When the module with the space closed is reflowed on another substrate upon mounting, moist which has entered into the space is vaporized rapidly and the pressure in the space is increased resulting in damage to the module. The through hole prevents such damage. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is an imaging device, a light-receiving portion of the imaging device is disposed so that the portion faces the space and the through hole is provided at a position which faces the light-receiving portion. This construction enables a signal as a light to pass through the through hole and to arrive at the light-receiving portion disposed within the core layer. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is the imaging device, the circuit board may be constructed so that a position which faces the light-receiving portion is transparent instead of forming the through hole. Such a circuit board allows the light to reach the light-receiving portion. The electrically insulating layer of the circuit board may be entirely formed of a transparent material. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is the imaging device, a transparent substance may occupy a part or all of the space between the functional element-formed surface and the surface of the circuit board on which the first wiring layer is disposed. Such a transparent substance is disposed in order to protect the imaging element from the atmosphere or to pass a light having a predetermined wavelength (that is, to serve as an optical filter). The present invention also provides a method for producing the module of the present invention. The method for producing the module provided by the present invention includes: (1) flip-chip bonding a semiconductor device on a wiring layer of a circuit board; (2) forming through bores in an electrically insulating substrate containing an uncured thermosetting resin and an inorganic filler, and filling the bore with a conductive resin composition; (3) stacking the electrically insulating substrate on a surface of the circuit board on which surface the semiconductor device is flip-chip bonded, and stacking a mold release carrier having a wiring layer on a surface of the electrically insulating substrate which surface is opposite to the surface contacting with the circuit board; and (4) fluidizing the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate and then curing the thermosetting resin and the electrically conductive resin composition by heating and pressurizing. In this production method, the wiring layer of the circuit board corresponds to the first wiring layer in the final module, and the wiring layer on the mold release carrier corresponds to the second wiring layer. This production method does not include a sealing step using a sealing resin. Therefore, this production method makes it possible to incorporate the semiconductor device into the core layer with the space remained between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. In this production method, the electrically insulating substrate is used, wherein the through bores have been previously formed and filled with the conductive resin composition. The bores will become an inner vias in the final module. Therefore, this method does not require forming the inner via after the electrically insulating substrate has been stacked to incorporate the semiconductor device therein as described in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-244638(A). This means that the circuit board with a semiconductor device mounted is not damaged during the step of forming the through bores, and a difficult step of filling a filled via (which is an inner via whose bottom is closed) with a conductive paste is not required. Further, it is possible to employ a simple method for forming the through bore for inner via such as punching which does not use a laser. Therefore, according to this production method, the through bores for inner vias can be more easily formed, and the bores can be more easily filled with the conductive paste more easily. Further, since the sealing resin is not used in this production method, a bad connection due to interference (that is, collision) between the inner vias and the sealing resin does not occur in the final module, even if the through bores filled with the conductive resin composition are placed close to the semiconductor device. This is an essential feature of the production method of the present invention. In the step (4), as the fluidity of the material of the electrically insulating substrate is larger, more material flows into the space between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which the first wiring layer is disposed, and then cures. As a result, the space in the final module becomes smaller. When the module wherein the protruding electrode(s) is sealed with the material of the core layer is produced, it is preferable that the step (4) includes retaining a temperature in a range of TL+20° C. wherein TL is a temperature at which the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate indicates a lowest melt viscosity. The thermosetting resin has a property that the viscosity decreases as the temperature is raised to a certain temperature, and then the viscosity increases as the temperature is further raised. In this specification, “the lowest melt viscosity” is the lowest viscosity during the temperature rising and the temperature at which the lowest viscosity is achieved is referred to as the “lowest melt viscosity-indicating temperature.” Retaining the thermosetting resin around this temperature, the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is reduced to have a sufficient fluidity. As a result, the material of the electrically insulating substrate flows into a region around the protruding electrode(s) to cover (that is, seal) the electrode(s). The production method of the present invention may further includes a step of forming a void space for receiving the semiconductor device in the electrically insulating substrate containing the inorganic filler and the uncured thermosetting resin. This step is preferably carried out in the case where the size (particularly the thickness) of the semiconductor device is large such that it is not fully incorporated in the electrically insulating substrate by merely laminating and heating and pressurizing the substrate. Therefore, the void space for receiving the semiconductor device should be formed at least before carrying out the step (3). The module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention is characterized in that connection portion between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer is not sealed with a sealing resin and the space is formed between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor and the wiring layer. This feature makes it possible to form the inner vias at positions close to the semiconductor device, which gives a higher density module with a built-in semiconductor. The module of the present invention is preferably produced by a method which includes laminating an electrically insulating substrate provided with the inner vias (that is, the through bores filled with the conductive paste) on the semiconductor device which is mounted on a circuit board. In this production method, even if the inner vias are disposed close to the semiconductor device, there is no disadvantage due to the interference (that is, collision) between the inner vias and the sealing resin. Therefore, this method makes it possible to produce a high-density wiring board efficiently by positioning the preformed inner vias and the wiring layer with accuracy. Further, in the production method of the present invention, a step for injecting the sealing resin is eliminated, whereby simplification of the production process and low production cost can be realized. In the case where an imaging device is used as the semiconductor device, a module wherein the imaging device is buried in the electrically insulating core layer can be obtained. In such a module, heat is more released from the imaging device than the device in air, since the device is surrounded by the electrically insulating material. Further, an imaging apparatus provided with various components can be obtained by mounting another semiconductor device on a wiring layer formed on the core layer and stacking another core layer. This apparatus is more miniaturized compared with that disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will become readily apparent with reference to the following detailed description, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIGS. 2A to 2D are schematic cross-show sectional views illustrating a method for producing the first embodiment of the module according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIGS. 4A to 4D are schematic cross-show sectional views illustrating a method for producing the third embodiment of the module according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a fifth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sixth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a eight embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a ninth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a tenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a eleventh embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIGS. 11A to 11F are schematic cross-show sectional views illustrating a method for producing the eleventh embodiment according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 12A to 12E are schematic cross-show sectional views illustrating a method for producing the eleventh embodiment according to a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic cross-sectional views of a fifteenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sixteenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a seventeenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a eighteenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a nineteenth embodiment of a module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention; and FIG. 18 schematically shows a sectional view of a conventional module with a built-in semiconductor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals. In this specification including the following description, the term “surface” used with respect to a layer shall mean a surface vertical to a thickness direction unless otherwise specified (that is, a principal surface) and a surface parallel to the thickness direction refers to as a “side peripheral face” or an “end face.” Further, the phrase “on a layer or a sheet-like member” means “on an exposed principal surface of the layer or the sheet-like member.” For example, the phrase “on a wiring layer” means “on an exposed principal surface of the wiring layer.” (First Embodiment) A first embodiment (Embodiment 1) of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 1 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The module with a built-in semiconductor includes: an electrically insulating core layer 101, a first wiring layer 102a formed on one surface of the core layer 101 and a second wiring layer 102b formed on the other surface of the core layer, both of which have predetermined wiring patterns; a circuit board 103 having the first wiring layer 102a thereon, which closely adheres to the core layer; inner vias 104 electrically connecting the wiring layers 102a and 102b; and a semiconductor device 105 connected to the first wiring layer 102a and disposed within the core layer 101. The semiconductor device 105 is mounted by flip-chip bonding on the first wiring layer 102a, and the semiconductor device 105 and the first wiring layer 102a are electrically connected through protruding electrodes 106. A space 107 exists between a functional element-formed surface 105a of the semiconductor device 105 and a surface 103a of the circuit board 103 on which surface the first wiring layer 102a is disposed (this surface may be referred to as “a first surface of a circuit board), and a sealing resin is not injected. As shown in FIG. 1, a material of the core layer 101 enters into the area between the outer peripheral portion of the functional element-formed surface 105a and the first surface 103a of the circuit board 103. Since there is no sealing resin in the module of this configuration, the inner vias 104 can be disposed adjacent to the semiconductor device 105, whereby a planar dimension of the module can be reduced. Further, this module is suitable for transmitting a high frequency signal since the protruding electrodes 106 are surrounded by air of low dielectric constant in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the entire device 105 except for the functional element-formed surface 105a is enclosed by the core layer 101, and thereby the semiconductor device 105 is securely fixed to the first wiring layer 102a in the module. Therefore, the module shown in FIG. 1 presents high connection reliability despite the fact that connection portions between the semiconductor 105 and the first wiring layer 102a are not sealed by a sealing resin. Next, materials and so on of elements and members shown in FIG. 1 are described. The core layer 101 formed of a mixture of an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin. As the inorganic filler, a filler which is made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of, for example, Al2O3, MgO, BN, AlN, and SiO2 may be used. The ratio of the inorganic filler in the mixture is preferably in a range of 70 to 95 wt %. Further, a mean particle diameter of the inorganic filler is preferably in a range of 0.1 μm to 100 μm. As the thermosetting resin, for example, an epoxy resin, a phenol resin or a cyanate resin is preferably used. The use of the epoxy resin is particularly preferably since heat resistance thereof is particularly high. The mixture may further contain one or more additives selected from a dispersant, a coloring agent, a coupling agent, and a releasing agent. The inorganic filler and the thermosetting resin are not limited to the above-mentioned ones, and a filler of another inorganic material and another resin component may be used. Both of the wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b formed on both surface of the core layer 101 are made of an electrically conductive material, for example, copper or a conductive resin composition. The first and the second wiring layers 102a and 102b are formed into a predetermined wiring pattern by, for example, an etching. Specifically, the first wiring layer 102a may be formed by patterning a copper foil with an etching. The copper foil may be, for example, a foil having a thickness of 12 μm to 35 μm formed by an electroplating. The surface of the copper foil which surface is in contact with the core layer is preferably roughened so as to improve the adherence between the first wiring layer 102a and the core layer 101 and between the second wiring layer 102b and the core layer 101 by an anchoring effect. Further, in the case where the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b are formed using the copper foils, the surface of the foil may be subjected to a coupling treatment, or electroplating with tin, zinc, nickel or gold, in order to improve the oxidation resistance and the adhesiveness to the core layer 101. The first wiring layer 102a constitutes the circuit board 103. This is because only the first wiring layer 102a cannot support the semiconductor device 105 which is flip-chip bonded thereto. Therefore, the construction shown in FIG. 1 is obtained by forming the first wiring layer 102a on the circuit board 103 and then mounting the semiconductor device 105 thereon and sticking the first wiring layer 102a to the core layer 101. The second wiring layer 102b is formed by, for example, transferring a wiring layer formed on a mold release carrier onto the core layer. The inner vias 104 formed within the core layer 101 consists of, for example, a thermosetting conductive material. The inner vias 104 are formed, as described below, by forming through bores in an electrically insulating substrate and filling the bores with the thermosetting conductive material. As the thermosetting conductive material, for example, a conductive resin composition which is a mixture of metal particles and a thermosetting resin may be used. As the metal particles, particles made of gold, copper, silver or nickel may be used. Gold, copper, silver and nickel are preferably used since they have high electrical conductivities. The use of copper is particularly preferable since copper has a high electrical conductivity and also presents low migration. Examples of the thermosetting resin include, for example, an epoxy resin, a phenol resin and a cyanate resin. The use of the epoxy resin is particularly preferable since heat resistance thereof is high. In the case where the inner vias 104 are formed from the thermosetting conductive resin composition, the composition is cured by heat to connect the wiring layers electrically in the final module. In this specification, the term “inner via” means the composition in a state wherein the composition connects two wiring layers electrically, and it is distinguished from the conductive resin composition which merely fills the through bore. The protruding electrodes 106 which connect the semiconductor device 105 and the first wiring layer 102a is formed of, for example, a metal having electrical conductivity. The shape of this protruding electrode may be either of column and sphere. The height of the protruding electrode 106 is generally in a range of 3 μm to 300 μm. However, the protruding electrode may be deformed by a pressure which is applied during the production process. Examples of the metal which forms the protruding electrode include gold, copper, aluminum, nickel and solder. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, although the semiconductor device 105 and the wiring layer 102a are connected by only the protruding electrodes 106, they may be connected with the protruding electrode and a conductive adhesive. In that case, the conductive adhesive is situated at the tip of the protruding electrodes 106 and in contact with the first wiring layer 102a. For example, a resin that contains a conductive filler mixed therein may be used as the conductive adhesive. As shown in FIG. 1, the height of the protruding electrode 106 determine the dimension of the space 107 in a thickness direction (that is, the height of the side peripheral face), and therefore, the height of the protruding electrode 106 is a factor which determines the dimension of the space 107, together with the planar dimension of the semiconductor device 105 and the viscosity of the thermosetting resin contained in the core layer 101. Thus, the height of the protruding electrode 106 is selected from the above range in consideration of the deformation of the electrode due to the pressure applied during the production process, so that the space 107 is formed into a desired dimension. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the circuit board 103 includes an electrically insulating layer 108 containing an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin, inner vias 109 formed in the electrically insulating layer 108, the first wiring layer 102a and a third wiring layer 102c which faces the first wiring layer 102a across the layer 108. In this circuit board 103, the inner vias 109 electrically connects the first wiring layer 102a and the third wiring layer 102c. When the materials of the electrically insulating layer 108 of the circuit board 103 are the same as those of the core layer 101, there is no difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the core layer 101 and the electrically insulating layer 108, whereby the internal stress is difficult to generate at the interface between those layers, resulting in higher reliability of the module with a built-in semiconductor. The circuit board 103 is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and may be a multilayer circuit board or a single-sided board. Further, any of a ceramic board, a glass epoxy board, a resin board of any layer interstitial via hole, a polyimide board and a liquid crystal polymer substrate may be used as the circuit board 103. Alternatively, the circuit board 103 may be a glass substrate which has a wiring layer(s) formed on one or both surfaces thereof. Such a board is particularly preferred in the case where an imaging device is used as the semiconductor device. As described above, in the module with a built-in module as shown in FIG. 1, a distance between the inner vias 104 and the semiconductor device 105 in the core layer 101 is shorter compared with that in the conventional module as shown in FIG. 18. Therefore, the present invention provides a more miniature module with a built-in semiconductor. In the module of Embodiment 1, a passive component may be disposed and incorporated in a portion of the core layer 101 in which portion the semiconductor device 105 is not disposed. Thereby, a higher-density module with a built-in semiconductor can be provided. Examples of the passive components include a chip resistor, a chip capacitor, a chip inductor, a film resistor, a film capacitor, and a film inductor. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a circuit component such as an active component (for example, a semiconductor device) and the passive component may be mounted on the surface of the second wiring layer 102b, whereby a higher-density module with a semiconductor can be provided. In the module shown in FIG. 1, also the second wiring layer 102 may be a wiring layer formed on a circuit board. That is, the module may be of a configuration wherein a circuit board is adhered to both surfaces of the core layer 101. Alternatively, a circuit component may be incorporated in the circuit board 103. Similarly, in the case where the second wiring layer 102b is a wiring layer formed on a circuit board, the circuit board include a built-in circuit component. It should be noted that the term “circuit component” is used to generically refer to active components and passive components in the present specification. Also in such a module, the active component (for example, a semiconductor device) and/or the passive component may be mounted on the surface of an outermost wiring layer (that is, an wiring layer having an exposed surface). In the above, the embodiment wherein only one semiconductor device 105 is incorporated in the core layer 101 is described. A plurality of semiconductor devices 105 may be incorporated in the core layer 101. Alternatively, a module of the present invention includes two or more core layers each of which has a built-in semiconductor device incorporated therein as shown in FIG. 1. In other words, a module of the present invention may be of a construction wherein another semiconductor device is mounted on the second wiring layer 102b without using a sealing resin and the another semiconductor device is buried in another electrically insulating core layer formed on the second wiring layer 102b. (Second Embodiment) Next, as a second embodiment (Embodiment 2), a method for producing the module with a built-in semiconductor of Embodiment 1 is described. As described above, the production method of the present invention includes the steps of: (1) mounting a semiconductor device on a wiring layer of a circuit board by a flip-chip bonding; (2) forming through bores in an electrically insulating substrate and filling the through bores with a conductive resin composition; (3) laminating the electrically insulating substrate on the circuit board with the mounted semiconductor device and laminating a mold release carrier having a wiring layer on a surface of the electrically insulating substrate which surface is opposite to the surface in contact with the circuit board; and (4) fluidizing a thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate and then curing the thermosetting resin and the conductive resin composition in the through bores by heating and pressurizing. These steps (1) to (4) are divided into a process of mounting the semiconductor device (the above step (1)) and a process of incorporating the mounted semiconductor device in the electrically insulating substrate (the above steps (2) to (4)). Firstly, as shown in FIG. 2A, a semiconductor device 105 is mounted on the circuit board 103 by a flip-chip bonding. The semiconductor device is mounted on a wiring layer 102a of the wiring board 103. This wiring layer is to be a first wiring layer in the final module. The flip-chip bonding is carried out by, for example, a method which includes: forming metal protruding electrodes 106 on a functional element-formed surface 105a of the semiconductor device 105; positioning the electrodes 106 on the wiring layer 102a, and then connecting electrically the electrodes 106 to the wiring layer 102a by applying an ultrasonic wave and heat. Examples of the protruding electrodes 106 include a deposition of gold, copper or nickel formed by plating, and a bump formed by a gold wire bonding method. Instead of ultrasonic wave bonding, it is possible to employ a method wherein solder bumps are formed as the protruding electrodes 106 and then the solder bumps are melted by heating so that the semiconductor device 105 is mounted. Alternatively, the semiconductor device 105 may be mounted by a method which includes transferring a conductive adhesive to the protruding electrodes 106 formed by the gold wire bonding method, and then positioning and connecting the electrodes 106 to the wiring layer 102a followed by drying the adhesive. The circuit board 103 is as described in connection with the first embodiment, and therefore a detailed description thereof is omitted. Next, the process for incorporating the semiconductor device 105 in the electrically insulating substrate is described with reference to FIGS. 2B to 2D. Firstly, as shown in FIG. 2B, two electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b are prepared. The electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b finally become a core layer. The electrically insulating substrate 112a is obtained by processing a mixture of an inorganic filler and an uncured thermosetting resin, as described in Embodiment 1, into a sheet member. In this sheet member, through bores 117a are formed and filled with a conductive paste 113 of a conductive resin composition. This conductive paste 113 is cured to become inner vias in the core layer finally. Also the electrically insulating substrate 112b has a construction similar to that of the electrically insulating substrate 112a and provided with through bores 117b filled with the conductive paste 113. The electrically insulating substrate 112b differs from the electrically insulating substrate 112a in that the substrate 112b has an opening 114 which penetrates in the thickness direction. The step shown in FIG. 2B may be carried out in parallel with the step shown in FIG. 2A. The electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b are manufactured according to the following procedures. Firstly, a mixture in the form of paste is prepared by mixing an inorganic filler with an uncured thermosetting resin in the form of liquid, or mixing an inorganic filler with an uncured thermosetting resin whose viscosity is lowered with a solvent. Next, a sheet member of a constant thickness is formed by pressing the paste mixture between mold release sheets. When the thermosetting resin in the form of liquid is used, the sheet member is subjected to a thermal treatment so that the thermosetting resin is in a semi-cured state (that is, B-stage). Since the sheet member formed from the liquid thermosetting resin has stickiness, this thermal treatment is carried out to remove the stickiness. Although the cure of the thermosetting resin somewhat proceeds, the thermosetting resin can be further cured by heating, and the flexibility of the sheet member can be maintained. When the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is lowered by the solvent, the stickiness is removed by evaporating the solvent while maintaining the uncured state of the thermosetting resin and the flexibility of the sheet member. The through bores are formed in the sheet member wherein the thermosetting resin is in the uncured state. The through bores may be formed by a laser processing, a processing with a metal die, or a punching process. Especially when the through bores are formed by the laser processing using a carbon dioxide gas laser or an excimer laser, there is an advantage in a process speed and a minute process. The conductive paste 113 will finally constitute the inner vias. Therefore, it is possible to use, as the conductive paste 113, a mixture obtained by mixing one or more types of powder made of a conductive material selected from gold, silver, copper and nickel with a thermosetting resin. Examples of thermosetting resin suitable for constituting the conductive paste 113 are the same as those suitable for constituting the electrically insulating substrate (that is, the core layer). Copper is particularly effective since it has a high electrical conductivity and presents a small migration. Further, a liquid epoxy resin is suitable as the thermosetting resin for constituting the conductive paste 113 because it is thermally stable with good heat resistance. The opening 114 formed in the electrically insulating substrate 112b corresponds to a portion where the semiconductor device 105 is incorporated. Therefore, the opening 114 is formed into a dimension so that the semiconductor device 105 is received when the substrate 112 is disposed on the circuit board 103. The opening 114 may be disposed by a laser processing, a processing with a metal die, or a punching process. Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the circuit board 103 with the semiconductor 105 mounted thereon, the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b, a mold release carrier 115 having a wiring layer 102b (which is to be a second wiring layer in the final module) are positioned. The electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b are positioned so that the through bores filled with the conductive paste 113 are registered to form a single inner via. After positioning, these are stacked, and thereby the semiconductor device 105 is situated within the opening 114 formed in the electrically insulating substrate 112b. The mold release carrier 115 is removed after the wiring layer 102b has been transferred to the core layer 1 as described below. The mold release carrier 115 is a film made of an organic resin such as polyethylene or polyethylene terephtalate, or a metal foil such as a copper foil. The wiring layer 102b may be formed by disposing a metal film on the mold release carrier 105 and then forming a desired wiring pattern using a conventional technique such as a chemical etching. The metal film may be formed by bonding the metal foil such as the copper foil to the carrier 115 with an adhesive, or by depositing a metal on the carrier 115 in the case where the carrier 115 is the metal foil. FIG. 2D shows that the laminate is heated and pressed with a press so that the semiconductor device 105 is buried and incorporated into the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b and then the mold release carrier 115 is peeled off. The semiconductor device 105 is received within the opening 114 before curing the thermosetting resin contained in the substrates 112a and 112b. Generally the opening 114 is formed so that it has a size larger than that of the semiconductor device 105, whereby there is gap between the semiconductor device 105 and an inner surface of the opening 114. The heating and pressurization are carried out so as to lower the viscosity of the thermosetting resin contained in the substrates 112a and 112b and to fluidize the resin. During the heating and pressurization, the materials of the substrates 112a and 112b flows into a part of the space between the functional element-formed surface 105a of the semiconductor device 105 and the first surface 103a of the circuit board 103, and covers the peripheral portion of the functional element-formed surface 105a as shown in FIG. 2D. The heating and pressurization are further continued so that the thermosetting resin contained in the substrates 112a and 112b and the conductive paste 113 is completely cured. Thereby, the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b become the core layer 101, and the core layer 101 is fixedly and mechanically bonded to the semiconductor device 105, the core layer 101, the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b. Further, the conductive paste 113 becomes the inner vias 104 and connects the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b as a result of curing. Subsequently, the mold release carrier 115 is peeled off so that the module with a built-in semiconductor as shown in FIG. 2D is obtained. When the module is obtained in a manner such that the through bores 117 are formed closer to the opening 114 in the electrically insulating substrate 112, the electrical connection with the conductive paste 113 between the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b is not harmed since the sealing resin does not exist. Therefore, the production method of the present invention makes it possible to produce the high-density module as shown in FIG. 2D efficiently wherein the distance between the inner via 104 and the semiconductor device 105 is short. A multilayer module can be obtained by positioning and stacking another electrically insulating substrate and another mold release carrier having a wiring layer in the stated order on one or both surfaces of the module produced by the above-mentioned method, and then carrying out heating and pressurizing. Alternatively, the mounting process as shown in FIG. 2A may be carried out using, as the mounting surface, one or two exposed surfaces of wiring layers situated on both sides of the module shown in FIG. 2D, and then the process for incorporating the semiconductor device as shown in FIGS. 2B to 2D are carried out, so that a module wherein a plurality of layers have built-in semiconductor devices respectively can be obtained. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, two electrically insulating substrates are used, and a through bore for receiving the semiconductor device is formed in one of the substrates. In stead of forming the through bore, a recess having a shape and size for receiving the semiconductor may be formed in the one electrically insulating substrate, and then the steps shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D may be carried out. The production method of the present invention is described as Embodiment 2. The method of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications may be made in this embodiment. For example, the core layer further includes a built-in passive component therein as described above. Such a core layer may be formed by mounting the passive component on the first wiring layer before or after mounting the semiconductor device, and then stacking the electrically insulating substrates according to the method as described above. The passive component may be mounted according to the following procedure. Firstly, a conductive adhesive or solder is previously applied to a position of the surface of the first wiring layer on which position the passive component is to be mounted. The passive component is mounted on the position where the conductive adhesive or the solder is applied, and then a heat treatment is carried out to cure the conductive adhesive or to melt the solder, whereby the passive component and the wiring layer are electrically connected. As the conductive adhesive, a mixture of a thermosetting resin and gold, silver, copper or a copper-palladium alloy may be used. The incorporation of the passive component into the core layer may be carried out not only in the case of producing the module of Embodiment 1, but also in any embodiment described bellow. In Embodiment 2, a method for forming the second wiring layer 102b is formed by using a mold release carrier 115. Alternatively, instead of the mold-release carrier, another circuit board or a semiconductor built-in module may be stacked on the surface of the electrically insulating substrate which is to become the core layer. Stacking another circuit board or another module may be carried out in any of other production methods according to the embodiments of the present as described bellow. In Embodiment 2, the method for mounting and incorporating one semiconductor device is described. Similarly, a plurality of semiconductor devices may be incorporated into one core layer by mounting the semiconductor devices on the wiring layer of the circuit board. Further, the production method of the present invention may further include mounting a circuit component such as an active component or a passive component on the surface of the outermost wiring layer of the resulting module or the resulting circuit board with a built-in semiconductor. In that case, a higher-density module or circuit board with a built-in semiconductor can be provided. A plurality of semiconductor devices may be incorporated into one core layer in any of other production methods according to other embodiments of the present invention. Similarly, the active component and/or the passive component may be mounted on the outermost wiring layer in any of other production methods according to other embodiments of the present invention. In Embodiment 2, the space for receiving the semiconductor device is previously formed in the electrically insulating substrate. This space is not necessarily needed to be formed. In the case where the thickness of the semiconductor device is thin (for example, 0.1 mm or less), the semiconductor device is pushed and incorporated into the electrically insulating substrate without forming the space. This is applicable to a any of other production methods according to other embodiments of the present invention. (Embodiment 3) A third embodiment (Embodiment 3) is described with reference to FIG. 3 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor device. The basic configuration (that is, the materials for the core layer 101, the connection between the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b with the inner vias 103, and the flip-chip bonding of the semiconductor device 105) of the module shown in FIG. 3 is similar to that of Embodiment 1. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 1 are described below. The module shown in FIG. 3 is different from that shown in FIG. 1 in that the protruding electrodes 106 which connects the first wiring layer 102a and the semiconductor device 105 which is flip-chip bonded to the first wiring layer 102a is enclosed and sealed by the material of the core layer 101. This configuration gives an advantage that the connection reliability of the protruding electrodes 106 is increased since the protruding electrodes 106 is more securely fixed by the material of the core layer 101. The configuration shown in FIG. 3 does not have a sealing resin, and therefore this embodiment gives the effect (that is, density growth) achieved by the fact similarly to Embodiment 1. (Embodiment 4) Next, as a fourth embodiment (Embodiment 4), an example of the method for producing the module with a built-in semiconductor of Embodiment 3 is described with reference to FIG. 4. Also the module of Embodiment 3 is produced by a method including the steps (1) to (4) which is the same that for producing Embodiment 1. The steps (1) to (4) are as described in connection with Embodiment 2. Therefore, Embodiment 4 is described below by mainly illustrating differences from Embodiment 2. The steps shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C are the same as the steps shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C. These drawings show the process of mounting a semiconductor device 105 on a wiring layer 102a of a circuit board 103, and positioning the circuit board 103, two electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b and a mold release carrier 115 having a wiring layer 102b. The step shown in FIG. 4D shows that a stack obtained by the positioning and stacking is heated and pressurized so as to bury and incorporate the semiconductor device 105 into the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b and then the mold release carrier 115 is peeled off. In this embodiment, it is necessary to carry out the heating and pressurizing so that the side peripheral face of the protruding electrodes 106 is sealed with the core layer 101. For this purpose, the heating and pressurizing is carried out under the condition that the fluidity of a thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b becomes larger. Specifically, in the heating and pressurizing step, the stack is preferably maintained at a temperature in the range of TL±20° C. during a certain period, wherein TL is a temperature at which temperature the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b shows a lowest melt viscosity. Thereby, the material of the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b is accelerated to flow and the configuration wherein the protruding electrodes 106 sealed with the material of the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b is easily obtained. The core layer 101 and the inner vias 104 are formed by further continuing the heating and pressurizing so that the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b and the conductive paste 113 is cured. A part of the side peripheral face of the protruding electrodes 106 may be still exposed after curing the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b. This is because the protruding electrodes 106 is so minute that the side peripheral face thereof is difficult to be completely covered and sealed. Finally, the module with a built-in module as shown in FIG. 4D is obtained by peeling off the mold release carrier 115. In the case where the module with a built-in semiconductor is produced in this manner, a higher reliability is achieved in the module in addition to the higher density since the protruding electrodes 106 is sealed (that is, covered) with the core layer 101 and thereby securely fixed. (Embodiment 5) A fifth embodiment (Embodiment 5) of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 5 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration (that is, the materials for the core layer 101, the connection between the first wiring layer 102a and the second wiring layer 102b with the inner vias 103, and the flip-chip bonding of the semiconductor device 105) of the module shown in FIG. 5 is similar to that of Embodiment 1. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 1 are described below. The module shown in FIG. 5 is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a through hole 111a is formed in a circuit board 113 such that the hole 111a faces an functional element-formed surface 105a and communicates with a space 107. The through hole 111a is a connection path between the space 107 and the atmosphere, and equalizes the pressures in the space 107 and in the atmosphere. Therefore, this configuration prevents the pressure in the space 107 from being a high pressure even if this module is subjected to a high-temperature treatment such as a reflow treatment upon being mounted on another board. The position of the through hole 111a is not limited to a particular position as long as the hole connects the space 107 and the atmosphere. The through hole 111a is preferably formed such that it has a diameter of 100 μm to 500 μm. A plurality of through holes 111a may be formed at a plurality of positions. Further, the protruding electrodes are not necessarily required to be exposed, and the protruding electrodes may be sealed with the material of the core layer. (Embodiment 6) A sixth embodiment (Embodiment 6) is described with reference to FIG. 6 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 6 is similar to that of Embodiment 5. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 5 are described below. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the semiconductor device 105 is an imaging device such as a CCD or a CMS. In this embodiment, a light-receiving portion 110 on the surface of the device 105 faces a space 107, and a through hole 111b which penetrates a circuit board 103 is formed at a position which faces light-receiving portion 110 so that the imaging device 105 can receive a light. The planar dimension and shape of the through hole 111b are selected so that they are the same as surface dimension and shape of the light-receiving portion 110, or the outer edge of the light-receiving portion 110 is disposed inside the outer edge of the through hole 111b. Further, the through hole 111b is registered exactly with the light-receiving portion 110. In other words, this module has a construction which passes a signal transmitted as a light through the hole 111b and the space 107 so that it reaches the light-receiving portion 110. Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to realize a constitution which enables a space to be formed between an imaging device and a wiring layer on which the device is mounted, and to be communicated with the outside, and thereby provides a high-density module having the imaging device incorporated into a core layer. The position and the size of the light-receiving portion 110 of the imaging device 105 are not limited to the embodiment shown in the drawing. For example, the light-receiving portion 110 occupies the entire surface of the imaging device 105. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is different from that shown in FIG. 5 in that the protruding electrodes 106 are sealed with the material of the core layer 101. In the module having the imaging device and the through hole, the protruding electrodes are not necessarily required to be sealed with the material of the core layer, and the side peripheral face of the electrodes may be kept exposed. (Embodiment 7) As a seventh embodiment (Embodiment 7), a method for producing the module of Embodiment 5 or 6 is described. The module of Embodiment 5 or 6 is produced according to one of Embodiments 2 and 4 which are described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, except that a through hole is previously formed in the circuit board 103 at a desired position. In the case where the module of Embodiment 4 is produced, an imaging device such as a CCD or a CMOS is flip-chip bonded to the circuit board 103 as the semiconductor device 105, and the through hole is formed in the circuit board so that it coincides with a light-receiving portion of the imaging device. The through hole is formed using a drill, a laser, a punch or a metal die before mounting the semiconductor device. (Embodiment 8) An eight embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 7 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 7 is similar to that of Embodiment 1. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 1 are described below. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the semiconductor device 105 is the same as that in Embodiment 6, that is, an imaging device with a light-receiving portion 110. Further, in addition to the imaging device, passive components 120 are incorporated into the core layer 101. In this embodiment, an electrically insulating layer 128 is made of a transparent material so that the imaging device can receive a signal. Therefore, a through hole is not required in this embodiment. Specifically, the transparent material is a transparent and colorless material such as glass, and a transparent resin such as an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, a phenolic resin, a cyanate resin, and a vinyl chloride. However, the material for the transparent electrically insulating layer 128 may be colored as long as it allows only a light with a particular wavelength to pass through the layer 128 when only the light is required to reach the light-receiving portion depending on functions of the imaging device. In other words, when the term “transparent” is used in connection with the module with a built-in imaging device, it is used in the sense of “transparent” relative to the light which should reach the light-receiving portion. In the case where the electrically insulating layer 128 is made of a transparent material, a first wiring layer 102a is preferably formed of a transparent conductive material. In that case, the transmission of the light is not impeded by the first wiring layer 102a, and thereby more light reaches the light-receiving portion, which results in a higher-precision and a more highly functional imaging module. The wiring layer of transparent conductive material may be formed by a sputtering method or a CVD method using, for example, indium-tin oxide (ITO). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a second wiring layer 102b may be used as a wire for fitting the module to another board. In other words, this module may be provided as a module having an area-array wiring pattern for mounting, and thereby this module can be more miniaturized compared with the module of a fan-out type as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A). Further, since the module shown in FIG. 7 does not require a three-dimensional substrate as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A), the module has an advantage that problems caused by forming the three-dimensional substrate (for example, size changing due to existence of a thicker portion and a thinner portion) can be avoided. The wiring pattern used for mounting can be formed into the area array pattern not only in this embodiment, but also in any of other embodiments. A modification of this embodiment has a constitution wherein only a part of the electrically insulating layer of the circuit board is formed of a transparent material and the part is situated at a position which faces the light-receiving portion of the imaging device. The circuit board of this constitution may be formed by, for example, forming a through hole in the electrically insulating layer of the circuit board, and fitting a substrate of a transparent resin or glass into the through hole. The imaging device is disposed so that the transparent substrate coincides with the light-receiving portion. In the case of using the circuit board having the electrically insulating layer that is entirely transparent as shown in FIG. 7, any portion can be coincided with the light-receiving portion, which gives an advantage that an operation for placing the light-receiving portion at a particular position is eliminated or simplified. The module of this embodiment is produced according to the same method as Embodiment 2, except that the circuit board 103 having the electrically insulating layer 128 made of a transparent material is used, and the passive components 120 are mounted on the first wiring layer 102a before or after the imaging device 105 is mounted on the first wiring layer 102a. The circuit board 103 having the transparent electrically insulating layer 128 is produced by forming the wiring layer 102a on one surface of a substrate of a transparent resin or glass by vacuum depositing aluminum, copper, gold, silver or nickel on the substrate. As described above, the wiring layer 102a is made of ITO. In that case, the wiring layer 102a is formed by a vacuum deposition, a sputtering method, or a CVD method. The glass substrate has a smooth surface, which results in a smooth surface of a wiring layer formed thereon. Therefore, the circuit board having the glass substrate as the electrically insulating layer is suitable for mounting the imaging device thereon. The passive components 120 are mounted according to a method as described in connection with Embodiment 2. When the passive components 120 are thin, they can be pushed and incorporated into the electrically insulating substrates. When the passive components 120 are thick, openings for receiving the components 120 may be formed in the electrically insulating substrate, as described in Embodiment 2. The method for forming the openings for receiving the passive components 120 will be described below in connection with Embodiment 12. Further, the protruding electrodes are not necessarily required to be sealed with the material of the core layer, and the side peripheral face of the electrodes may be kept exposed. (Embodiment 9) A ninth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 8 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 8 is similar to that of Embodiment 6. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 6 are described below. This embodiment is different from Embodiment 6 in that a lens 130 is provided at a position where the through hole is disposed. The semiconductor device is an imaging device 105 with a light-receiving portion 110. This module is constructed so that a light which is converged by the lens 130 reaches the light-receiving portion 110. The lens is transparent relative to the light which is to reach the light-receiving portion 110, and therefore this embodiment also corresponds to a modification of Embodiment 8. The lens 130 may be of any type, for example, a lens used for a cellular phone. Therefore, this module does not require a lens-mounting step in an assembly process of an equipment, which promotes automation and laborsaving in the assembly process. The position of the lens is not limited to the position shown in FIG. 8, and it depends on a focal length of the lens. For example, the lens may be disposed at a position which is further from or closer to the light-receiving portion 110. The module of this embodiment may be obtained by, for example carrying out the production method of Embodiment 2 using a circuit board to which a lens is previously fitted. The circuit board with a lens fitted may be manufactured by forming a simple hole or a counter bore which pierces the circuit board in the thickness direction, and fitting the lens which has a shape conforming to the hole or the bore with an adhesive. Alternatively, the module of this embodiment may be obtained by manufacturing the module of Embodiment 4 according to the production method of Embodiment 6, and then fitting the lens to the through hole. (Embodiment 10) A tenth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 9 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 9 is similar to that of Embodiment 8. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 8 are described below. In this embodiment, a circuit board 103 has an electrically insulating layer 128 of a transparent material in the same manner as that in Embodiment 8. This embodiment is different from Embodiment 8 in that a part of the circuit board 103 is formed into a lens 130a. A semiconductor device 105 is an imaging device with a light-receiving portion 110. This embodiment can be said to be a modification of Embodiment 9. The circuit board having a lens portion may be manufactured by, for example, forming a glass or a transparent resin into a glass-equiped electrically insulating layer 128 and then forming a wiring layer 102a thereon. The module of this embodiment may be produced according to, for example, the method of Embodiment 2, using this circuit board. More specifically, the module of this embodiment may be produced by mounting the imaging device at a position where the device coincides with the lens 130a. (Embodiment 11) An eleventh embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 10 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 10 is similar to that of Embodiment 8. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 8 are described below. This embodiment has a configuration wherein a semiconductor device 105 is an imaging device and a transparent substance 140 occupies the entire of a space formed between a functional element-formed surface 105a (that is the surface where a light-receiving portion 110 is disposed) and a first surface 103a. The transparent substance 140 is a material which is transparent relative to a light which should reach the light-receiving portion 110, and more specifically the substance is a glass or a resin which has a transmittance of 20% or more with respect to that light. The transparent resin is, for example, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, a phenolic resin, a cyanate resin and a vinyl chloride. The transparent substance 140 within the space does not allow a steam-containing air to exist within the space, or reduces the steam-containing air within the space, and thereby prevents the light-receiving portion from being fogged with steam due to condensation caused by a temperature change or reduces such fogging. The transparent substance 140 may function as an optical filter which allows only a light with a particular wavelength to reach the light-receiving portion 110. Specifically, the transparent substance 140 which functions as the optical filter may be obtained by dispersing a pigment or a dye as a coloring agent in the above-mentioned resin. The coloring agents include, for example, a monoazo-based coloring agent, diazo-based coloring agent, an anthraquinone-based coloring agent, and a phtalocyanine-based coloring agent. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the transparent substance 140 occupies the entire region which could become the space 107 shown in FIG. 7 if the substance 140 did not exist. In other words, in the illustrated embodiment, there in no vacant region in the core layer 101. In a modification of this embodiment, the transparent substance 140 may occupy only a part of the space formed between the functional element-formed surface 105a of the semiconductor device and the first surface 103a of the circuit board. In that case, the transparent substance 140 may be in contact with only the semiconductor device 105 and away from the first wiring layer 102a. Alternatively, the transparent substance 140 may be in contact with only the first wiring layer 102a and away from the semiconductor device 105. The transparent substance 140 is distinguished from the sealing resin which is mentioned with reference to FIG. 18 irrespective of distribution of the transparent substance. This is because the sealing resin does not substantially have light permeability due to the filler. Further, the purpose of the transparent substance 140 is not to fix the connection portion between the protruding electrodes 106 and the first wiring layer 102a, and the substance dose not extend over the edge portion of the semiconductor device 105. Therefore, it should be noted that the module of this embodiment is of a configuration different from that of the conventional module as shown in FIG. 18. (Embodiment 12) Next, an example of method for producing the module of Embodiment 11 is described as a twelfth embodiment (Embodiment 12) with reference to FIG. 11. In this example, in order to obtain the module of Embodiment 11, a transparent substance 140 is applied to a position where an imaging device 105 is mounted as shown in FIG. 11A, before the step (1) in the method of Embodiment 4. An amount of the applied transparent substance 140 is equal to or smaller than a volume which is defined, after mounting the imaging device, by the surface of the imaging device on which surface the light-receiving portion is situated, the first surface 103a of the circuit board 103, and the electrically insulating substrate 101 after it has flowed (that is, the core layer after assembling the module). In other words, the amount of the transparent substance should be smaller than a volume of a space which is to be formed when the transparent substance is not applied. When the amount of the transparent substance 140 is large, the substance may extend over the edge portion of the imaging device 105, whereby inner vias 113 cannot be provided close to the semiconductor device 105. When the transparent substance is required to occupy the entire space as shown in FIG. 10, it is necessary to use the substance in an amount that is exactly the same as the volume of the space. However, it is difficult to make the amount of the transparent substance same as the volume of the space, and therefore, the transparent substance is generally employed in an amount smaller than the volume of the space. As a result, the module produced according to this method generally has a vacant region between the functional element-formed surface 105a of the semiconductor and the first surface 103a of the circuit board. Passive components 120 are mounted on the wiring layer 102a according to the method described in connection with Embodiment 8. When the thickness of the passive component 120 is large, another opening similar to the opening 114 may be formed in an electrically insulating substrate 112b. However, when the height of the passive component is smaller than the height of the top of the imaging device 105, the opening whose height is the same is that of the opening 114 is too large for the passive component 120. When the opening is too large, the passive component cannot be covered with the core layer and thereby cannot be securely fixed even after the flowage of the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates 112a and 112b. In that case, three types of electrically insulating substrates which are different from each other in the number of openings may be used as shown in FIG. 11F. In FIG. 11F, the electrically insulating substrate 112a has no opening, the electrically insulating substrate 112b has one opening 114′, and the electrically insulating substrate 112c has three openings 114″. By staking these substrates, a plurality of openings are formed which have different heights. The number of the electrically insulating substrates may be four. As the larger number of the substrates is used, the openings with more various heights can be formed. It should be noted that the passive components 120 may be incorporated using the electrically insulating substrate as shown in FIG. 11F in any of other methods according to other embodiments of the present invention. Other operations carried out in the steps shown in FIGS. 11B to 11E, are the same as those in the steps shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted. (Embodiment 13) Next, as a thirteenth embodiment (Embodiment 13), another example of the method for producing the module of Embodiment 11 is described with reference to FIG. 12. This example shows a method which includes the steps of: forming a through bore 111c in a circuit board 103 previously, wherein the bore 111c communicates with a space that is formed after an imaging device 105 has been incorporated into a core layer 101, and injecting a transparent substance 140 (especially a resin) into the space through the bore 111c after the incorporation of the device 105. This method has an advantage that it is not necessary to determine, according to Embodiment 12, the amount of the transparent substance by previously calculating the volume of the space in consideration of the fluidity of the electrically insulating substrate, and therefore the module of Embodiment 11 can be produced more easily. The diameter of the thorough bore 111c is, for example, in a range of 100 μm to 1000 μm. The through bore may be formed by the method for forming a through hole which is described in connection with Embodiment 7. The through bore for injecting the transparent substance may be the through hole 111b, as formed in Embodiment 6, which faces the light-receiving portion 110. Other operations carried out in the steps shown in FIGS. 12B to 12E are the same as those in FIGS. 4A to 4D. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted. (Embodiment 14) As a fourteenth embodiment (Embodiment 14), another example of the production method of Embodiment 11 is described. In this example, the module of Embodiment 11 is obtained by attaching a thin film made of a transparent material (such as a transparent resin film or a glass thin plate) before the step (1) in the production method of Embodiment 4 to a circuit board. The thin film of the transparent material should have a volume which is equal to or smaller than the volume of the space which is defined, by the functional elements-forming surface 105a of the imaging device and the first surface 103a of the circuit board 103. More specifically, when a plurality of protruding electrodes 106 are disposed along the periphery of the semiconductor device 105, the thin film preferably has a thickness of 10 μm to 300 μm and an area smaller than the area which is surrounded by the protruding electrodes 106. (Embodiment 15) A fifteenth embodiment (Embodiment 15) of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B which show cross-sectional views of modules. The basic configuration of the module shown in each of FIGS. 13A and 13B is similar to that of Embodiment 9. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 9 are described below. The embodiment shown in FIG. 13A is different from Embodiment 9 in that a transparent substance 140 is disposed between an imaging device as a semiconductor device 105 and a lens 130. This embodiment also corresponds to a modification of the above Embodiment 11. Examples of the transparent substance are as described above. The transparent substance 140 may serve as an optical filter. Also in this embodiment, the transparent substance 140 may be disposed so that it is in contact only with the lens 130 and a gap exists between the transparent substance 140 and the imaging device 105. Alternatively, the transparent substance 140 may be disposed so that it is in contact with the imaging device 105 and away from the lens 130. The module shown in FIG. 13B is different from that shown in FIG. 13A in that a second wiring layer 102b is one of wiring layers formed on a double-sided circuit board 103′. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13B, the other wiring layer of the circuit board 103′ is a fourth wiring layer 102e. For example, this wiring layer 102e may be used for mounting another component thereon since it is situated on a surface of the module. This wiring layer 102e may also be used for mounting this module itself on another circuit board. The circuit board 103′ has a constitution wherein inner vias 109′ are formed in an electrically insulating layer 108′ to connect two wiring layers, similarly to the circuit board 103. The module of this embodiment is produced by a method similar to Embodiment 12, which includes applying a resin or the like to a circuit board provided with a lens 130. Alternatively, the module of this embodiment may be produced by a method similar to Embodiment 13, which includes injecting a transparent substance 140 via a through bore formed in the circuit board at a position which faces the light-receiving portion 110, and then attaching the lens 130 to the through bore. Alternatively, the module of this embodiment may be produced by a method similar to Embodiment 14, which includes attaching a thin film to the circuit board provided with the lens 130a. The module as shown in FIG. 13B, a circuit board having two wiring layers 102b and 102 is stacked instead of a mold release carrier 115 with the wiring layer 102b so that the wiring layer 102b is in contact with the electrically insulating substrate 112b. The technique for forming the second wiring layer using the circuit board makes it possible to produce the module easily since this technique does not require peeling off the mold release carrier 115. (Embodiment 16) A sixteenth embodiment (Embodiment 16) of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 14 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor device. The basic configuration of the module shown in FIG. 14 is similar to that of Embodiment 9. Therefore, differences from Embodiment 9 are described below. This embodiment is different from Embodiment 9 in that a thin-film optical filter 142 is provided between a lens 130 and a light-receiving portion 110. Further, the illustrated embodiment is different from the module shown in FIG. 8 in that the lens 130 is disposed further away from the light-receiving portion 110. Since the optical filter 142 is transparent with respect to a light having a particular wavelength, the module of this embodiment can be said to be a modification of Embodiment 15. This module can be constructed using a conventional optical filter and has the same function as that of a conventional imaging apparatus (for example, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A)). The optical filter 142 is provided for the purpose of, for example, suppressing sensitivity to an infrared region. By using such a filter, the module presents a flat sensitivity behavior in the visible light range. A material for the optical filter is, for example, a resin in which an appropriate coloring agent is dispersed, as described in connection with Embodiment 1. The module of this embodiment can be produced by a method similar to Embodiment 14. Specifically, the module of this embodiment may be produced by a method which includes forming a through hole in a circuit board 103 according to the method of Embodiment 7, attaching a thin-film optical filter to the circuit board 103 before mounting an imaging device so that the through hole is covered with the filter, and fitting a lens into the through hole. In a modification of this embodiment, the circuit board 103 may be a transparent circuit board such as is used in Embodiment 8. (Embodiment 17) A seventeenth embodiment (Embodiment 17) of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 15 which shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor. This module has a two-layer construction wherein a first module layer 150 has a constitution similar to Embodiment 11, and a second module layer 152 has a constitution similar to Embodiment 1. In this embodiment, two semiconductor devices 105 and 105′ are mounted on a first wiring layer 102a and a second wiring layer 102b respectively without using a sealing resin. Therefore, also in this module, inner vias 104 and 104′ or passive components 120 and 120′ can be disposed adjacent to the semiconductor devices 105 and 105′. The semiconductor device 105′ is, for example, an LSI such as a digital signal processor. In this embodiment, the semiconductor device 105′ is mounted on the second wiring layer 102b of the first module layer. Therefore, the wiring layer 102b serves as the first wiring layer of the second module layer. The second wiring layer 102d of the second module layer 152 can serve as a wiring for mounting this module. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, two core layers are provided. Alternatively, three core layers may be provided. By employing this embodiment, it is possible to mount a plurality of semiconductor devices without broadening an area required for installation, and therefore to provide a more miniaturized module having more functions. In a multilayer module, all the semiconductor devices are not necessarily required to be mounted without using a sealing resin. For example, in one layer, the semiconductor device may be mounted using the sealing resin as shown in FIG. 18. For example, in the case where the upper module layer 150 wherein the semiconductor device (which is not an imaging device) is incorporated does not require a high-density mounting, the semiconductor device 105′ may be mounted on the second wiring layer 102b using the sealing resin so that the sealing resin extends over the edge portion of the semiconductor device 105′. The module of this embodiment may be produced by, for example, manufacturing a module having an imaging device 105 incorporated therein by any one of the methods according to Embodiments 12 to 14, and mounting a semiconductor device 105′ on the second wiring layer 102b according to Embodiment 2 or 4, and then incorporating the semiconductor device 105′ into a core layer 101′ and forming a wiring layer 102d. Upon producing the module of this embodiment, the core layers 101 and 101′ and the inner vias 104 and 104′ may be formed at once by curing a thermosetting resin through heating and pressurizing. That is, when the semiconductor device 105′ is mounted, the core layer 101 and the inner via 104 may be in an uncured state or a semi-cured state. (Embodiment 18) An eighteenth embodiment (Embodiment 18) of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor wherein a circuit board 103 on which the semiconductor 105 is mounted has an area broader than that of the core layer 101. A part of this circuit board has the core layer into which the semiconductor is incorporated, and the other part has a multilayer construction. Although each of Embodiments 1 to 17 is of a configuration wherein the circuit board becomes a part of a module, this embodiment is of a configuration wherein a part of the circuit board includes a module. In this embodiment, the circuit board 103 is of a construction wherein a lens 130 is attached. A part of a wiring layer 102a of the circuit board 103 constitutes an imaging module together with a core layer 101 into which an imaging device 105 and passive components 120 are incorporated, and the other part of the wiring layer 102a constitutes a multilayer circuit board together with a plurality of wiring layers 160 and electrically insulating layers 162. In the multilayer circuit board, the wiring layers 160 are connected through inner vias 164 formed in the electrically insulating layer 162. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the portion wherein the imaging device 105 is incorporated has a constitution similar to that of Embodiment 9, and therefore the detailed description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment, the circuit board 103 shown in FIG. 8 has a broad area, and only a part of the board 103 is used for mounting the imaging device 105 and incorporating the device into the core layer 101. The module of this embodiment can be used as a circuit board having an imaging module, such as a mother board for a cellular phone or a personal computer The circuit board of this embodiment may be produced by preparing a broad circuit board 103 and manufacturing a portion wherein the imaging device 105 incorporated, and then forming a multilayer circuit board in the other portion. Alternatively, the circuit board of this embodiment may be produced by a method which includes firstly manufacturing the multilayer circuit board as a whole except for a portion, and then mounting the imaging device 105 on the portion followed by forming a core layer 101 and a second wiring layer 102b. (Embodiment 19) A nineteenth embodiment (Embodiment 19) is described with reference to FIG. 17 which shows a cross-sectional view of a subsystem. The “subsystem” means a component which has different modules and demonstrates one function as a whole. This subsystem includes: an imaging module similar to that of Embodiment 9, which has an imaging device 105 incorporated therein; passive components 120 and 170 some of which are incorporated into a core layer 101 wherein the imaging device 105 is incorporated and some of which are mounted on an outer most wiring layer; and another semiconductor device 105″ mounted on the outermost wiring layer. This semiconductor device 105″ constitutes another module. Said another module may be, for example, an antenna module or a filter module in the case where this subsystem is used in a cellular phone. It should be noted that the subsystem according to the present invention can be said to a module with a built-in semiconductor since this subsystem includes at least one semiconductor device incorporated into the core layer. In other words, the subsystem shown in FIG. 17 is a module with a built-in semiconductor wherein the passive components are incorporated into the core layer into which the semiconductor is incorporated, and the active component and the passive components are mounted on the surface of the outermost wiring layer. In a modification of this embodiment, the passive components may be mounted only on the surface of the outermost wiring layer, or may be disposed only in the core layer. The module of this embodiment may be produced by the same method as Embodiment 12 except that passive components 120 and 170 are mounted on a first wiring layer 102a of a circuit board 103 and a core layer 101 is formed using a broad electrically insulating substrate so that an imaging device 105 and the passive components 120 and 170 are incorporated into the core layer 101. When the passive components 170 are thin components, the components 170 can be pushed and incorporated into the electrically insulating substrate. When the thickness of the passive component 170 is large, an opening is preferably formed in the electrically insulating substrate. In that case, a plurality of electrically insulating substrates whose number of holes are different from each other may be used as shown in FIG. 11F. EXAMPLE The present invention is described in more detail by examples. Example 1 In Example 1, a module with a built-in semiconductor according to Embodiment 1 was produced according to the following procedures (i) to (iii) (i) Manufacturing of Electrically Insulating Substrate An electrically insulating substrate was prepared by forming a sheet member from a mixture of an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin and then forming through bores and filling the bores with a conductive paste. The materials for the sheet member was prepared by charging the inorganic filler, the thermosetting resin and optionally a solvent for adjusting a viscosity into a container having a predetermined volume, and then rotating the container itself and revolving it by means of an agitator. This mixing (or agitation) method makes the inorganic filler dispersed sufficiently (that is, gives a uniform dispersion), even if the mixture has a relative high viscosity. In this example, a mixture of 10 wt % an epoxy resin as the thermosetting resin (including a curing agent) and 90 wt % silica filler as the inorganic filler was prepared by mixing these components for 10 minutes. A predetermined amount of a paste-like mixture obtained by the mixing and the agitation was taken out and delivered by drops onto a mold release film. As the mold release film, a polyethylene terephtalate film having a thickness of 75 μm whose surface was subjected to a mold release treatment with a silicone was used. A three-lay laminate was obtained by further disposing another same mold release film on the mixture applied to the mold release film, and the laminate was pressed by a pressing machine so that a constant thickness was obtained. Next, one of the mold release films was peeled off, and the mixture in the form of sheet was heated together with the mold release film which was remained on one surface of the mixture. The heating was carried out under the condition that the stickiness of the mixture was removed and the solvent was evaporated when the solvent was contained in the mixture. In this example, the heat treatment was carried out at 120° C. for 15 minted. As a result of the heat treatment, the mixture was formed into a sheet member having no stickiness. The heat treatment was carried out so that the thermosetting epoxy resin was in the semi-cured state (B stage). This was because it was necessary to reduce a viscosity of the epoxy resin so as to fluidize the resin by heating in a later step of incorporating a semiconductor device The sheet member was cut into a predetermined size and through bores having a diameter of 0.15 mm were formed at intervals of 0.2 mm to 2 mm using a carbon dioxide laser. A conductive paste was prepared by kneading 85 wt % spherical copper particles, 3 wt % bisphenol A epoxy resin as the resin component (Epicoat 828 manufactured by Yuka Shell Epoxy), 9 wt % glycidyl ester based epoxy resin (YD-171 manufactured by Toto Kasei) and 3 wt % amine aduct hardening agent (MY-24 manufactured by Ajinomoto Co., Inc.) using three rollers. The conductive paste was charged into the through bores by a screen printing method, whereby an electrically insulating substrate was obtained. In this example, the electrically insulating substrate manufactured in this manner was used as 1) an electrically insulating layer of a circuit board on which a semiconductor device is mounted and 2) a material for a core layer of a module. (ii) Manufacturing of Circuit Board A circuit board having a wiring layer on both surfaces was produced using the electrically insulating substrate having a thickness of 0.1 mm, which was manufactured according to the process (i). The wiring layer was formed by laminating a mold release carrier with a wiring layer onto a surface of the electrically insulating substrate and transferring the wiring layer to the substrate. The mold release carrier with a wiring layer was manufactured by using a copper foil having a thickness of 70 μm as the mold release carrier and depositing a copper layer of 9 μm thickness on one surface of the carrier followed by chemically etching the deposited copper by a photolithography method so that a predetermined wiring pattern was formed. The mold release carriers with a wiring layer are positioned and disposed on both surfaces of the electrically insulating substrate so that the wiring layers are in contact with the substrate. Subsequently, this laminate was heated and pressurized at 180° C. and 1 MPa for one hour. As a result, the epoxy resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate and the conductive paste was hardened resulting in an adhesion between the substrate and the wiring layer as well as an electrical connection between the wiring layers through inner vias which were formed of the cured conductive paste. Next, the mold release carriers were peeled off. The surface of the carrier on which the wiring layer was formed was smooth and glossy, and the wiring layer was formed by an electroplating so that is had concavities and convexities in the surface which was in contact with the electrically insulating substrate, and the concavities and convexities are closely adhered to the substrate by an anchoring effect. Therefore, in the peeling step, only the mold release carrier was able to be peeled off. In the resulting circuit board, a wiring layer on which a semiconductor was mounted became a first wiring layer in a final module. (iii) Incorporation of Semiconductor Device A semiconductor device was incorporated according to the method described as Embodiment 2. Firstly, a semiconductor device of 10 mm×10 mm and 0.3 mm thickness was flip-chip boned to the circuit board which was manufactured by the process (ii). The flip-chip bonding was carried out by placing 464 protruding gold electrodes of 70 μm thickness along the outer peripheral of the semiconductor device. An electrically insulating substrate “a” of 0.1 mm thickness and an electrically insulating substrate “b” of 0.3 mm thickness were prepared according to the process (i), and an opening penetrating the thickness direction was formed in the substrate “b” by a laser processing. The opening had a planar dimension and shape which as approximately equal to those of a functional element-formed surface of the mounted module. Next, the substrate “b”, the substrate “a” and another mold release carrier manufactured according to the method described above were positioned and superposed on the circuit board having a mounted semiconductor to give a laminate. The another mold release carrier was disposed so that the wiring layer was in contact with the electrically insulating substrate and it became a second wiring layer in the final module. Subsequently, the laminate was heated at 180° C. and 1 MPa for one hour using a hot press. Thereby, the epoxy resin contained in the electrically insulating substrates “a” and “b” was softened due to the decline in its viscosity and then hardened to give a core layer. Further, the epoxy resin contained in the conductive paste was hardened by the heating and pressurizing to give inner vias which connects a first wiring layer and a second wiring layer which face each other through the core layer. Next, the mold release carrier disposed on one side of the core layer was peeled off. It was confirmed that the protruding electrodes deformed and the height thereof became 25 μm in the final module. A module with a built-in semiconductor according to Embodiment 1 was thus obtained. In this example, two samples were manufactured, which are different from each other in a distance “d” between the semiconductor and the inner via which is closest to the semiconductor. As to each sample, five modules were produced (N=5) and the reliability of each module was evaluated. Sample 1-a: d=0.5 mm; and Sample 1-b: d=0.8 mm. In all samples, the semiconductor had an area of 10 mm×10 mm and a thickness of 0.3 mm, and the inner via had a diameter of 150 μm. The reliability of each module was evaluated by carrying out a moisture reflow test and a temperature cycle test. Specifically, the moisture reflow test was carried out by repeating a cycle three times, in which cycle the module which had been maintained at 30° C. and 60% RH (relative humidity) for 192 hours was passed through a belt-type reflow tester for 20 seconds wherein a maximum temperature was 240° C. The temperature cycle test was carried out for 1000 cycles, in which cycle the module was maintained at 125° C. for 30 minutes and then maintained at −40° C. for 30 minutes. In these test, each module was evaluated by an inner via connection reliability and a semiconductor connection reliability. The inner via connection reliability was evaluated as “good” when a change of the connection resistance value of the inner via connection between before and after the test was less than 10%, and it was evaluated as “failure” when a disconnection happened or the change of the connection resistance value was 10% or more. Similarly, the semiconductor connection reliability was evaluated as “good” when a change of the connection resistance value at a semiconductor-wiring layer connection portion between before and after the test was less than 10%, and it was evaluated as “failure” when a disconnection happened or the change of the connection resistance value was 10% or more. The inner via connection reliability and the semiconductor connection reliability after the moisture reflow test were all “good” as to each module of Samples 1-a and 1-b. Further, the inner via connection reliability and the semiconductor connection reliability after the temperature cycle test were all “good” as to each of Samples 1-a and 1-b. Furthermore, no cracks were observed in the semiconductor device after the tests and an ultrasonic-flaw detector did not indicate any defect. As described above, in the module of the present invention, it is possible to dispose an inner via closer to a semiconductor device even if the device is incorporated by stacking an electrically insulating substrate having the inner via previously formed therein. This is because the module is of a configuration wherein no sealing resin exists (that is, a sealing resin does not extend over the outer edge of the semiconductor device). Specifically, according to the module of the present invention, a high reliability can be ensured even if the inner via is disposed closer to the semiconductor device so that the distance between the outer edge of the device and the center of the inner via is in a range of 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm. Further, the module of the present invention can be produced eliminating the steps of sealing the connection portion between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer with a sealing resin, and thereby the simplification of the production process and the cost reduction can be achieved. Example 2 In Example 2, a module with a built-in semiconductor of Embodiment 3 was produced. In Example 2, a module was produced by manufacturing, in the same manner as in Example 1, a laminate which consisted of a circuit board with a mounted semiconductor device, two electrically insulating substrates and a mold release film having a wiring layer, and heating and pressurizing the laminate at 120° C. and 1 MPa for 5 minutes and then at 180° C. and 1 MPa for one hour. 120° C. is a temperature in a range of TL+20° C. wherein TL is a temperature at which a thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate indicates the lowest melt viscosity. During heating at 120° C., the viscosity of the thermosetting resin which was contained in the electrically insulating substrate declined and the resin was fluidized. Therefore, during the lower temperature heating, the material of the electrically insulating substrate flowed, and surrounded and sealed the protruding electrodes. The heating at 180° C. hardened the epoxy resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate to give a core layer. Further, the heating and pressurization hardened the epoxy resin contained in a conductive paste to give inner vias which connected the first wiring layer and the second wiring layer electrically. Subsequently, the mold release carrier on one side of the core layer was peeled off. Thus, the module of Embodiment 3 was obtained. Also in this example, two samples were manufactured, which are different from each other in a distance “d” between the semiconductor and the inner via which is closest to the semiconductor. As to each sample, five modules were produced (N=5) and the reliability of each module was evaluated. Sample 2-a: d=0.5 mm; and Sample 2-b: d=0.8 mm. The reliability of each module was evaluated by a moisture reflow test and a temperature cycle test. Specifically, the moisture reflow test was carried out by repeating a cycle three times, in which cycle the module which had been maintained at 30° C. and 60% RH for 192 hours was passed through a belt-type reflow tester for 20 seconds wherein a maximum temperature was 260° C. The temperature cycle test was carried out for 1500 cycles, in which cycle the module was maintained at 125° C. for 30 minutes and then maintained at −40° C. for 30 minutes. As to each module, the inner via connection reliability and the semiconductor connection reliability were evaluated. The evaluation criteria for reliability were the same as that described in Example 1. The inner via connection reliability and the semiconductor connection reliability after the moisture reflow test were “good” as to each of Samples 2-a and 2-b. Further, the inner via connection reliability and the semiconductor connection reliability after the temperature cycle test were “good” as to each of Samples 2-a and 2-b. Furthermore, no cracks were observed in the semiconductor device after the tests and an ultrasonic-flaw detector did not indicate any defect. As described above, also in the module of Embodiment 3 of the present invention, a high reliability can be ensured even if the inner via is disposed closer to the semiconductor device so that the distance between the outer edge of the device and the center of the inner via is in a range of 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm. Further, although the moisture reflow test and the temperature cycle test were carried out under conditions severer than those in Example 1, the results were the same as those of Example 1. This shows that higher connection reliability can be achieved by covering the protruding electrodes which connect the semiconductor device and the wiring layer, with the material of the core layer. In the module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention, a semiconductor device incorporated in an electrically insulating layer is mounted on a circuit board without using a sealing resin, whereby inner vias can be disposed closer to the semiconductor device in the electrically insulating layer. Further, no problem arises due to disuse of the sealing resin. Therefore, the present invention provides a more miniature module with a built-in semiconductor. Furthermore, the present invention provides an imaging module which includes an imaging device that is disposed within the electrically insulating core layer using a surface where a light-receiving portion is placed as a mounting side. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Recently, a higher density semiconductor with more functions is needed, since electronic equipments having higher performance and smaller size are required. For this reason, a three-dimensional mounting technique has been developed actively, wherein semiconductor devices and components are mounted three-dimensionally to reduce a mounting area. The three-dimensional mounting has an advantage of shortening a wire length between the semiconductor devices and the length between the components, resulting in an excellent high frequency property. An example of a module with a built-in semiconductor manufactured by using a conventional three-dimensional mounting technique is described below with reference to a drawing. In this specification, a term “module” is used as a term which means not only a device having functions as a single unit but also a part of construction of one device. FIG. 18 shows a cross-sectional view of a module with a built-in semiconductor manufactured by using a conventional three-dimensional mounting technique. The module with a built-in semiconductor includes a core layer 201 which is an electrically insulating substrate, wiring layers 202 with a desired wiring pattern, inner vias 204 formed by filling through holes with a conductive resin, which electrically connects the wiring layers 202 , a circuit board 203 , a semiconductor device 205 which is disposed within the core layer 201 and electrically connected to the wiring layer 202 . The semiconductor device 205 is flip-chip bonded onto the wiring layer 202 through protruding electrodes 206 formed on the device 205 . The wiring layer 202 on which the semiconductor device 205 is mounted constitutes a double-sided circuit board 203 , together with an electrically insulating layer 208 , a wiring layer which faces the wiring layer 202 across the layer 208 and inner vias 209 electrically connecting the wiring layers. A sealing resin 216 fills a space between the wiring layer 202 and a functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device 205 (that is, a surface having an element(s), such as a circuit, which is necessary for fulfilling a predetermined function of the semiconductor element). This sealing resin 216 extends over edge portions of the semiconductor device 205 . Viewing from the direction of an arrow “a”, it is found that a peripheral edge of the resin surrounds the peripheral edge of the semiconductor device 205 . See Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-244638(A). Further, as a cellular phone, personal computer and sensor are preferred to be multifunctional, these equipments are often provided with an imaging apparatus. These equipments are needed to be smaller and lighter. For this reason, in order to make the imaging apparatus smaller and lighter, a module wherein a semiconductor imaging device is incorporated has been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A), an image-taking apparatus is proposed, which includes a three-dimensional circuit board having a leg and cylindrical barrel provided on the leg, a semiconductor device attached on back of the leg, and a lens supported inside the barrel to impinge a light onto the semiconductor imaging device. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The module with a built-in semiconductor of the above construction is produced by a method which includes mounting a semiconductor device on a wiring layer formed on a circuit board, stacking on the circuit board an electrically insulating substrate having inner vias, and heating and pressurizing so that the semiconductor device is buried in the electrically insulating substrate. This production method has an advantage that filling through holes for the inner vias can be easily filled with a conductive resin and that a process for forming the inner via can be selected from a wide range. However, when using this production method, the inner via cannot be disposed at a place where the sealing resin extends over the edge portion of the semiconductor device. This is because when the electrically insulating substrate is stacked, the inner via cannot pierce a portion of the sealing resin which overruns the semiconductor, without deformation. The deformation of the inner via causes inferior connection between the wiring layers. Further, a passive component cannot be disposed on the overrunning portion of the sealing resin. As described above, the overrunning sealing resin reduces an area where the inner vias and the passive components can be mounted. As a result, when it is necessary to dispose a predetermined number of inner vias and passive components each of which has a predetermined size, an area of the module with a built-in semiconductor should be large, which is adverse to the requirement of miniaturization of the electronic equipments. As a result of studying for finding a solution of the above problems, it has been found that the module, as shown in FIG. 18 , in which the sealing resin overruns the outer edge of the semiconductor device is produced by merely applying a surface mounting technique which does not involve incorporating the semiconductor device. In the case of the surface mounting, it is necessary to strengthen the fixation of the semiconductor device to the circuit board so that the mounting reliability is improved. However, when the semiconductor device is incorporated, the device is fixed securely by being surrounded entirely by the electrically insulating core layer in the final module, and therefore there is no practical problem even if the sealing resin is not used. The present invention is based on this knowledge and provides a module with a built-in semiconductor of the following construction. That is, the present invention provides a module with a built-in semiconductor which includes: an electrically insulating core layer containing an inorganic filler and a thermosetting resin a first wiring layer formed on one surface of the core layer and a second wiring layer formed on the other surface of the core layer; inner vias formed in the core layer, which connect the wiring layers; and a semiconductor device incorporated in the core layer, wherein at least the first wiring layer forms a circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and/or one or more wiring layers, the semiconductor device is connected to the first wiring layer by a flip-chip bonding, and a space (or a gap) is formed between a functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and a surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. The “surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed” is a surface of the first wiring layer at a portion where the wire exists on the surface of the circuit board, and is a surface of the electrically insulating layer at a portion where the wire does not exist. Strictly, this space is a space defined by the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device, the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is situated, and the core layer. More specifically, this space has a thickness-direction dimension defined by a distance between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer, and a planar-direction dimension defined by the core layer which flows into an area between these surfaces. This module with a built-in semiconductor (which is merely referred to as the “module”) is characterized in that it does not include a sealing resin. Therefore, this construction makes it possible to dispose the inner vias and/or passive components closer to the built-in semiconductor. Further, this module can gives a construction wherein electrodes which connects the semiconductor device to the first wiring layer are surrounded by air, not the sealing resin. Generally the semiconductor device is designed on the assumption that it is used in an air environment. Therefore, when the functional element-formed surface is covered with the sealing resin as shown in FIG. 18 , a high-frequency signal is disadvantageously transmitted, and there may raise a problem of corrosion. The module of the present invention has a construction wherein the functional element-formed surface is in contact with air, which is advantageous to the transmission of the high-frequency signal and the module is not liable to raise the problem due to the fact that sealing resin surrounds the functional element-formed surface. Furthermore, since the semiconductor device is fixedly connected to the wiring lay by being surrounded by the core layer in this module, it is possible to ensure the same connection reliability as that obtained in the prior art module even if the sealing resin is not employed. In addition, this module can be produced without the step of sealing a connection portion between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer with the sealing resin, which is advantageous to cost. The semiconductor device is, for example, a transistor, an IC, or an LSI. The semiconductor device may be a semiconductor bare chip. In the module of the present invention, “the first wiring layer forms a circuit board together with one or more electrically insulating layers and/or one or more wiring layers” refers to a construction wherein the first wiring layer is disposed on a surface of a circuit board (for example, a multilayer wiring board, a double-sided wiring board, or a single-sided wiring board) on the assumption that the core layer does not exist. It can be said that the module of the present invention has a configuration wherein the circuit board having the first wiring layer thereon adheres to the core layer. In the case where this circuit board is the single-sided wiring board, the first wiring layer forms the circuit board together with only one electrically insulating layer. It should be noted that “and/or” is used here in order to include such en embodiment. In the module of the present invention, at least one of protruding electrodes which connect the semiconductor device and the wiring layer may be sealed with a material of the core layer. In other words, one of the protruding electrodes may be surrounded (or covered) by the material of the core layer. When the protruding electrode is sealed with the material of the core layer of the module, that is, the thermosetting resin containing the inorganic filler, the semiconductor device is more securely fixed to the wiring layer, resulting in higher connection reliability. In this construction, since the electrode is not surrounded by air, the high frequency signal is transmitted disadvantageously compared with the construction wherein the electrode is surrounded by air. However, the module of this construction can be produced through less steps without the step of injecting the sealing resin, and therefore can be provided at a lower cost than the conventional module shown in FIG. 18 . In the module of the present invention, it is preferable to form a through hole which pierces the circuit board in a thickness direction at a position which faces the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and communicates with the space formed between the functional element-formed surface and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. In other words, in the module of the present invention, the circuit board including the first wiring layer and the electrically insulating layer preferably has a through hole which runs through the circuit board in the thickness direction at a position facing to the functional element-formed surface. This through hole serves as a path which allows a pressure in the space formed between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer to escape outside (that is, as an equalization hole) when the pressure in the space becomes higher than that of ambient air. When the module with the space closed is reflowed on another substrate upon mounting, moist which has entered into the space is vaporized rapidly and the pressure in the space is increased resulting in damage to the module. The through hole prevents such damage. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is an imaging device, a light-receiving portion of the imaging device is disposed so that the portion faces the space and the through hole is provided at a position which faces the light-receiving portion. This construction enables a signal as a light to pass through the through hole and to arrive at the light-receiving portion disposed within the core layer. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is the imaging device, the circuit board may be constructed so that a position which faces the light-receiving portion is transparent instead of forming the through hole. Such a circuit board allows the light to reach the light-receiving portion. The electrically insulating layer of the circuit board may be entirely formed of a transparent material. In the module of the present invention, in the case where the semiconductor device is the imaging device, a transparent substance may occupy a part or all of the space between the functional element-formed surface and the surface of the circuit board on which the first wiring layer is disposed. Such a transparent substance is disposed in order to protect the imaging element from the atmosphere or to pass a light having a predetermined wavelength (that is, to serve as an optical filter). The present invention also provides a method for producing the module of the present invention. The method for producing the module provided by the present invention includes: (1) flip-chip bonding a semiconductor device on a wiring layer of a circuit board; (2) forming through bores in an electrically insulating substrate containing an uncured thermosetting resin and an inorganic filler, and filling the bore with a conductive resin composition; (3) stacking the electrically insulating substrate on a surface of the circuit board on which surface the semiconductor device is flip-chip bonded, and stacking a mold release carrier having a wiring layer on a surface of the electrically insulating substrate which surface is opposite to the surface contacting with the circuit board; and (4) fluidizing the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate and then curing the thermosetting resin and the electrically conductive resin composition by heating and pressurizing. In this production method, the wiring layer of the circuit board corresponds to the first wiring layer in the final module, and the wiring layer on the mold release carrier corresponds to the second wiring layer. This production method does not include a sealing step using a sealing resin. Therefore, this production method makes it possible to incorporate the semiconductor device into the core layer with the space remained between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which surface the first wiring layer is disposed. In this production method, the electrically insulating substrate is used, wherein the through bores have been previously formed and filled with the conductive resin composition. The bores will become an inner vias in the final module. Therefore, this method does not require forming the inner via after the electrically insulating substrate has been stacked to incorporate the semiconductor device therein as described in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-244638(A). This means that the circuit board with a semiconductor device mounted is not damaged during the step of forming the through bores, and a difficult step of filling a filled via (which is an inner via whose bottom is closed) with a conductive paste is not required. Further, it is possible to employ a simple method for forming the through bore for inner via such as punching which does not use a laser. Therefore, according to this production method, the through bores for inner vias can be more easily formed, and the bores can be more easily filled with the conductive paste more easily. Further, since the sealing resin is not used in this production method, a bad connection due to interference (that is, collision) between the inner vias and the sealing resin does not occur in the final module, even if the through bores filled with the conductive resin composition are placed close to the semiconductor device. This is an essential feature of the production method of the present invention. In the step (4), as the fluidity of the material of the electrically insulating substrate is larger, more material flows into the space between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor device and the surface of the circuit board on which the first wiring layer is disposed, and then cures. As a result, the space in the final module becomes smaller. When the module wherein the protruding electrode(s) is sealed with the material of the core layer is produced, it is preferable that the step (4) includes retaining a temperature in a range of TL+20° C. wherein TL is a temperature at which the thermosetting resin contained in the electrically insulating substrate indicates a lowest melt viscosity. The thermosetting resin has a property that the viscosity decreases as the temperature is raised to a certain temperature, and then the viscosity increases as the temperature is further raised. In this specification, “the lowest melt viscosity” is the lowest viscosity during the temperature rising and the temperature at which the lowest viscosity is achieved is referred to as the “lowest melt viscosity-indicating temperature.” Retaining the thermosetting resin around this temperature, the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is reduced to have a sufficient fluidity. As a result, the material of the electrically insulating substrate flows into a region around the protruding electrode(s) to cover (that is, seal) the electrode(s). The production method of the present invention may further includes a step of forming a void space for receiving the semiconductor device in the electrically insulating substrate containing the inorganic filler and the uncured thermosetting resin. This step is preferably carried out in the case where the size (particularly the thickness) of the semiconductor device is large such that it is not fully incorporated in the electrically insulating substrate by merely laminating and heating and pressurizing the substrate. Therefore, the void space for receiving the semiconductor device should be formed at least before carrying out the step (3). The module with a built-in semiconductor of the present invention is characterized in that connection portion between the semiconductor device and the wiring layer is not sealed with a sealing resin and the space is formed between the functional element-formed surface of the semiconductor and the wiring layer. This feature makes it possible to form the inner vias at positions close to the semiconductor device, which gives a higher density module with a built-in semiconductor. The module of the present invention is preferably produced by a method which includes laminating an electrically insulating substrate provided with the inner vias (that is, the through bores filled with the conductive paste) on the semiconductor device which is mounted on a circuit board. In this production method, even if the inner vias are disposed close to the semiconductor device, there is no disadvantage due to the interference (that is, collision) between the inner vias and the sealing resin. Therefore, this method makes it possible to produce a high-density wiring board efficiently by positioning the preformed inner vias and the wiring layer with accuracy. Further, in the production method of the present invention, a step for injecting the sealing resin is eliminated, whereby simplification of the production process and low production cost can be realized. In the case where an imaging device is used as the semiconductor device, a module wherein the imaging device is buried in the electrically insulating core layer can be obtained. In such a module, heat is more released from the imaging device than the device in air, since the device is surrounded by the electrically insulating material. Further, an imaging apparatus provided with various components can be obtained by mounting another semiconductor device on a wiring layer formed on the core layer and stacking another core layer. This apparatus is more miniaturized compared with that disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) Publication No. 2001-245186(A). | 20040622 | 20061128 | 20050106 | 63176.0 | 0 | POTTER, ROY KARL | MODULE WITH A BUILT-IN SEMICONDUCTOR AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,741 | ACCEPTED | Microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical modulator and optical display system | A MEMS optical display system includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a converging microlens array having an array of lenslets that converge the collimated illumination light. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light to a microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) optical modulator. The MEMS optical modulator includes, for example, a planar substrate through which multiple pixel apertures extend and multiple MEMS actuators that support and selectively position MEMS shutters over the apertures. A MEMS actuator and MEMS shutter, together with a corresponding aperture, correspond to pixel. The light from the converging microlens array is focused through the apertures and is selectively modulated according to the positioning of the MEMS shutters by the MEMS actuators, thereby to impart image information on the illumination light. The light is then passed to a diffused transmissive display screen by a projection microlens array. | 1-11. (Canceled). 12. The optical modulator of claim 14 in which each pixel region includes an aperture that extends through the planar substrate. 13. The optical modulator of claim 14 in which each pixel region includes a reflector on the planar substrate. 14. A microelectrical mechanical multi-pixel optical modulator, comprising: a planar substrate with plural pixel regions; and plural microelectrical mechanical actuators that support and selectively position plural microelectrical mechanical shutters to selectively modulate light directed at the pixel regions; wherein the actuators are thermal actuators. 15. The optical modulator of claim 14 in which the actuators provide selective positioning of the shutters generally in a plane that is parallel to the substrate. 16. The optical modulator of claim 14 in which the actuators provide selective positioning of the shutters generally in a plane that is transverse to the substrate. 17-22. (Canceled) 23. A microelectrical mechanical optical display, comprising: an illumination source that provides illumination light; a collimating lens that receives the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light; plural microelectrical mechanical optical modules that each include a converging microlens array having an array of plural lenslets that converge illumination light, a microelectrical mechanical optical modulator including a planar substrate with plural pixel regions and plural microelectrical mechanical actuators that support and selectively position plural microelectrical mechanical shutters over the pixel regions to selectively modulate light from the converging microlens array, a projection microlens array having an array of plural lenslets and being positioned to receive modulated light from the optical modulator to project the modulated light, and a mounting structure configured to fit together with other such mounting structures, wherein the plural optical modules are arranged in an array and wherein the actuators are thermal actuators; and a display screen that receives the illumination light passing the microelectrical mechanical optical modulator. 24. (Canceled) 25. The optical display of claim 23 in which the illumination source provides illumination light for all of the optical modules. 26. The optical display of claim 23 in which each pixel region includes an aperture that extends through the planar substrate. 27. (Canceled) 28. The optical display of claim 23 in which the actuators provide selective positioning of the shutters generally in a plane that is parallel to the substrate. 29. The optical display of claim 23 in which the actuators provide selective positioning of the shutters generally in a plane that is transverse to the substrate. 30. A microelectrical mechanical optical module, comprising: converging microlens array means for converging illumination light; microelectrical mechanical optical modulator means for selectively modulating light from the converging microlens array including a planar substrate with plural pixel regions and plural microelectrical mechanical thermal buckle-beam actuators that support and selectively position plural microelectrical mechanical shutters over the pixel regions; and projection microlens array means positioned to receive modulated light from the optical modulator for projecting the modulated light. 31. The optical module of claim 30 in which the converging microlens array means includes an array of plural lenslets. 32. (Canceled) 33. The optical module of claim 30 in which the projection microlens array means includes an array of plural lenslets. 34-45. (Canceled) | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to optical display systems and, in particular, to a display system that employs a microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) optical modulator. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Flat panel optical display systems, such as liquid crystal displays, are well known and widely used. Many such displays (e.g., liquid crystal displays) require polarized illumination light. Typically, polarization of illumination light greatly attenuates the light, thereby resulting in displays with decreased brightness, or require relatively expensive optical components. Moreover, such displays commonly have relatively low contrast ratios, which decreases image clarity and overall image quality. Furthermore, such displays typically require complex or difficult manufacturing processes. To address such shortcomings, the present invention includes a microelectrical mechanical optical display system that employs microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) actuators to modulate light. As is known in the art, MEMS actuators provide control of very small components that are formed on semiconductor substrates by conventional semiconductor (e.g., CMOS) fabrication processes. MEMS systems and actuators are sometimes referred to as micromachined systems-on-a-chip. In one implementation, a MEMS optical display system according to the present invention includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a converging microlens array having an array of lenslets that converge the collimated illumination light. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light to a microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) optical modulator. The MEMS optical modulator includes, for example, a planar substrate through which multiple pixel apertures extend and multiple MEMS actuators that support and selectively position MEMS shutters over the apertures. A MEMS actuator and MEMS shutter, together with a corresponding aperture, correspond to a pixel. The light from the converging microlens array is focused through the apertures and is selectively modulated according to the positioning of the MEMS shutters by the MEMS actuators, thereby to impart image information on the illumination light. The light is then passed to a diffused transmissive display screen by a projection microlens array. In alternative implementations, a MEMS optical device module can be formed with at least, for example, a converging microlens array, a MEMS optical modulator, and a projection microlens array. MEMS optical display systems according to the present invention can be formed from multiple such modules that are arranged in arrays and combined with light sources, collimating optics, and display screens. A MEMS optical display system according to the present invention is operable without polarized illumination light, thereby eliminating the light attenuation or expense of the polarizing illumination light. In addition, light can be completely blocked or modulated by the opaque MEMS shutters, thereby providing display images with very high contrast ratios. Furthermore, such MEMS optical modulators can be manufactured by conventional CMOS circuit manufacturing processes. Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1-15 are cross-section views of a general multi-user MEMS process known in the prior art for fabricating microelectrical mechanical devices. Cross-hatching is omitted to improve clarity of the prior art structure and process depicted. FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic side view of one implementation of a microelectrical mechanical (MEMS) optical display system according to the present invention. FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic side view of a MEMS optical device module. FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic side view of a modular optical device that includes an array of multiple MEMS optical device modules of FIG. 17. FIG. 19 another implementation of a microelectrical mechanical (MEMS) optical display system according to the present invention. FIGS. 20 and 21 are front views of an exemplary MEMS actuator in respective activated and relaxed states for a controlling MEMS shutter. FIG. 22 yet another implementation of a microelectrical mechanical (MEMS) optical display system according to the present invention. FIG. 23 is a diagrammatic plan view of a microelectrical mechanical out-of-plane thermal buckle-beam actuator. FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic side view of the actuator of FIG. 23 in a relaxed state. FIG. 25 is a diagrammatic side view of the actuator of FIG. 23 in an activated state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS To assist with understanding the present invention, the general procedure for fabricating micromechanical devices using the MUMPs process is explained with reference to FIGS. 1-15. The MUMPs process provides three-layers of conformal polysilicon that are etched to create a desired physical structure. The first layer, designated POLY 0, is coupled to a supporting wafer, and the second and third layers, POLY 1 and POLY 2, respectively, are mechanical layers that can be separated from underlying structure by the use of sacrificial layers that separate layers and are removed during the process. The accompanying figures show a general process for building a micro-motor as provided by the MEMS Technology Applications Center, 3021 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The MUMPs process begins with a 100 mm n-type silicon wafer 10. The wafer surface is heavily doped with phosphorus in a standard diffusion furnace using POCI 3 as the dopant source. This reduces charge feed-through to the silicon from electrostatic devices subsequently mounted on the wafer. Next, a 600 nm low-stress Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) silicon nitride layer 12 is deposited on the silicon as an electrical isolation layer. The silicon wafer and silicon nitride layer form a substrate. Next, a 500 nm LPCVD polysilicon film—POLY 0.14—is deposited onto the substrate. The POLY 0 layer 14 is then patterned by photolithography; a process that includes coating the POLY 0 layer with a photoresist 16, exposing the photoresist with a mask (not shown) and developing the exposed photoresist to create the desired etch mask for subsequent pattern transfer into the POLY 0 layer (FIG. 2). After patterning the photoresist, the POLY 0 layer 14 is etched in a Reactive Ion Etch (RIE) system (FIG. 3). With reference to FIG. 4, a 2.0 μm phosphosilicate glass (PSG) sacrificial layer 18 is deposited by LPCVD onto the POLY 0 layer 14 and exposed portions of the nitride layer 102. This PSG layer, referred to herein as a First Oxide, is removed at the end of the process to free the first mechanical layer of polysilicon, POLY 1 (described below) from its underlying structure; namely, POLY 0 and the silicon nitride layers. This sacrificial layer is lithographically patterned with a DIMPLES mask to form dimples 20 in the First Oxide layer by RIE (FIG. 5) at a depth of 750 nm. The wafer is then patterned with a third mask layer, ANCHOR1, and etched (FIG. 6) to provide anchor holes 22 that extend through the First Oxide layer to the POLY 0 layer. The ANCHOR 1 holes will be filled in the next step by the POLY 1 layer 24. After the ANCHOR1 etch, the first structural layer of polysilicon (POLY 1) 24 is deposited at a thickness of 2.0 μm. A thin 200 nm PSG layer 26 is then deposited over the POLY 1 layer 24 and the wafer is annealed (FIG. 7) to dope the POLY 1 layer with phosphorus from the PSG layers. The anneal also reduces stresses in the POLY 1 layer. The POLY 1 and PSG masking layers 24, 26 are lithographically patterned to form the structure of the POLY1 layer. After etching the POLY 1 layer (FIG. 8), the photoresist is stripped and the remaining oxide mask is removed by RIE. After the POLY 1 layer 24 is etched, a second PSG layer (hereinafter “Second Oxide”) 28 is deposited (FIG. 9). The Second Oxide is patterned using two different etch masks with different objectives. First, a POLY1_POLY2_VIA etch (depicted at 30) provides for etch holes in the Second Oxide down to the POLY 1 layer 24. This etch provide a mechanical and electrical connection between the POLY 1 layer and a subsequent POLY 2 layer. The POLY1_POLY2_VIA layer is lithographically patterned and etched by RIE (FIG. 10). Second, an ANCHOR2 etch (depicted at 32) is provided to etch both the First and Second Oxide layers 18, 28 and POLY 1 layer 24 in one step (FIG. 11). For the ANCHOR2 etch, the Second Oxide layer is lithographically patterned and etched by RIE in the same way as the POLY1_POLY2_VIA etch. FIG. 11 shows the wafer cross section after both POLY1_POLY2_VIA and ANCHOR2 etches have been completed. A second structural layer, POLY 2, 34 is then deposited at a thickness of 1.5 μm, followed by a deposition of 200 nm of PSG. The wafer is then annealed to dope the POLY 2 layer and reduce its residual film stresses. Next, the POLY 2 layer is lithographically patterned with a seventh mask and the PSG and POLY 2 layers are etched by RIE. The photoresist can then be stripped and the masking oxide is removed (FIG. 13). The final deposited layer in the MUMPs process is a 0.5 μm metal layer 36 that provides for probing, bonding, electrical routing and highly reflective mirror surfaces. The wafer is patterned lithographically with the eighth mask and the metal is deposited and patterned using a lift-off technique. The final, unreleased exemplary structure is shown in FIG. 14. Lastly, the wafers undergo sacrificial release and test using known methods. FIG. 15 shows the device after the sacrificial oxides have been released. In preferred embodiments, the device of the present invention is fabricated by the MUMPs process in accordance with the steps described above. However, the device of the present invention does not employ the specific masks shown in the general process of FIGS. 1-15, but rather employs masks specific to the structure of the present invention. Also, the steps described above for the MUMPs process may change as dictated by the MEMS Technology Applications Center. The fabrication process is not a part of the present invention and is only one of several processes that can be used to make the present invention. FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic side view of a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical display system 50 according to the present invention. Display system 50 includes a light source 52 and reflector 54 that direct illumination light to a collimator lens 58. A converging microlens array 60 having a two-dimensional array of lenslets 62 (only one dimension shown) receives the collimated light and focuses it toward a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical modulator 70. Microlens array 60 could be formed as a molded array of plastic lenses or an array of holographic lenses, also referred to as hololenses, or may be an assembled array of conventional glass lenses. MEMS optical modulator.70 has a two-dimensional array of microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) shutters 72 that are positioned adjacent corresponding apertures 74 through a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) substrate 76, as described below in greater detail. Each MEMS shutter 72 corresponds to a picture element or pixel and is separately controllable by a display controller 78 to block or pass illumination light according to an image control signal (not shown), thereby to form a display image. For example, each MEMS shutter 72 could occlude its aperture 74 in inverse proportion to the brightness of the corresponding pixel for a given pixel period, or each MEMS shutter 72 could occlude its aperture 74 for an occlusion period that is inversely proportional to the brightness of the corresponding pixel. A projection microlens array 80 having a two-dimensional array of lenslets 82 (only one dimension shown) receives the display image light and projects it toward a rear surface 84 of a transmissive display screen 86 for viewing by an observer 88. Projection microlens array 80 may be of a construction analogous to microlens array 60, and could be identical to it to minimize manufacturing tooling costs. Alternatively, projection microlens array 80 could enlarge or reduce the optical field so that it provides a desired image size on transmissive display screen 86. MEMS optical display system 50 has a number of advantages over commonly available liquid crystal displays. For example, MEMS optical modulator 70 does not require that the illumination light be polarized, in contrast to the typical operation of liquid crystal cells. This eliminates the expense and light attenuation that typically accompanies polarization. Moreover, MEMS optical modulator 70 can pass unmodulated light with virtually no attenuation, whereas typical liquid crystal cells significantly attenuate light. Similarly, MEMS optical modulator 70 can provide much higher contrast ratios than liquid crystal cells because MEMS shutters 72 are opaque and can provide complete modulation of the light. Finally, MEMS optical modulator 70 can be manufactured by conventional CMOS circuit techniques without requiring the complex processes typically required for liquid crystal displays. In one implementation, for example, MEMS optical modulator 70 could include a 200×200 array of MEMS shutters 72 for controlling light passing through a corresponding 200×200 array of apertures. 74. In this implementation, for example, converging microlens array 60 could include 200×200 lenslets 62 that each have a focal length of about 1 mm, and apertures 74 may be positioned in a right, regular array with separations of about 50 μm, between them. MEMS optical modulator 70 in such an implementation could have dimensions of 1 cm×1 cm and thickness of substrate 76 of about 200 μm. With lenslets 82 of projection microlens array 80 providing magnification of about 2.5, display screen 86 could have dimensions of about 2.5 cm×2.5 cm, or about 1 inch×1 inch. FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic side view of a MEMS optical device module 100 having converging microlens array 60 with a two-dimensional array of lenslets 62 (only-one dimension shown), MEMS optical modulator 70, and projection microlens array 80 with a two-dimensional array of lenslets 82 (only one dimension shown). MEMS optical device module 100 is shown in relation to an illumination source, collimating lens and display screen (shown in dashed lines) to illustrate an exemplary display application or use of module 100. MEMS optical device module 100 includes a mounting structure (e.g., a frame or housing) 102 that contains or encompasses converging microlens array 60, MEMS optical modulator 70, and projection microlens array 80. Mounting structure 102 allows MEMS optical device module 100 to fit together with other such modules, either in a close packed arrangement or in secure engagement with each other. An electrical connection 104 (e.g., a plug, socket, lead, etc.) allows a display controller (not shown) to be connected to MEMS optical modulator 70 to provide display control signals for controlling MEMS shutters 72. It will be appreciated that in other implementations, a MEMS optical device module of this invention could include any of an illumination source, collimating optics and a display screen. FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic side view of a MEMS optical display system 120 that includes a one- or two-dimensional array 122 (only one dimension shown) of multiple MEMS optical device modules 100. In one implementation, all of MEMS optical device modules 100 are identical. A modular display housing 124 supports and encloses array 122 of MEMS optical device modules 100. Modular display housing 124 includes a light source 126, a reflector 128, and collimating optics 130 to provide collimated illumination to the multiple MEMS optical device modules 100. To support a thin flat panel form factor, light source 126 and reflector 128 could be analogous to those used in laptop computer flat panel displays, and collimating optics 130 could be a generally flat microlens array or Fresnel lens. An integrated display controller 134 is electrically coupled to electrical connections 104 of MEMS optical device modules 100 to provide integrated control of modules 100 as a single display. (The electrical couplings are not shown for purposes of clarity.) A transmissive, diffusive display screen 136 functions as an integral display screen for the MEMS optical device modules 100 of array 122. In an exemplary implementation, each MEMS optical device module 100 provides a 200 pixel×200 pixel display over an area of 2.5 cm×2.5 cm. A MEMS optical display system 120 that includes a 6×8 array 122 of MEMS optical device modules 100 would provide a 1200 pixel×1600 pixel display over an area of 15 cm×20 cm. For purposes of illustration, MEMS optical display system 50 and MEMS optical device modules 100 are each shown with a diagrammatic light source 52. In monochromatic (e.g., black and white) implementations, light source 52 could correspond to a single (e.g., nominally white) light source (e.g., lamp). In polychromatic implementations, light source 52 could include one or more separately controlled light sources that cooperate to provide polychromatic or full-color images. FIG. 19 is a diagrammatic side view of a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical display system 150 showing one implementation of a polychromatic illumination source 152 and an associated reflector 154. Components of MEMS optical display system 150 that are generally the same as those of display system 50 are indicated by the same reference numerals. Illumination source 152 includes multiple (e.g., three) color component light sources (e.g., lamps) 156R, 156G, and 156B that are positioned. generally in a line and generate red, green, and blue light, respectively. A display controller 158 that separately controls MEMS shutters 72 also activates color component light sources 156R, 156G, and 156B separately. During times that it successively activates color component light sources 156R, 156G, and 156B, display controller 158 applies control signals to MEMS shutters 72 corresponding to red, green, and blue image components, thereby to form color component images in a field-sequential manner. For example, color component images that are generated at a rate of 180 Hz can provide an image frame rate of 60 Hz. In one exemplary implementation, a display of 200×200 multi-color pixels could employ microlens arrays 60 and 70 with 204×204 arrays of lenslets 62 and 72, respectively, to compensate for different optical paths taken by different color components of light forming the display gamut. As an alternative implementation, it will be appreciated that multiple successive colors of illumination could be obtained by a spinning color wheel and a white light source, as is known in the art. FIGS. 20 and 21 are front views of an exemplary MEMS actuator 170 in respective activated and relaxed states for controlling MEMS shutter 72. In this exemplary implementation, MEMS shutter 72 is maintained over its associated aperture 74 extending through MEMS substrate 76 when MEMS actuator 170 is in a relaxed state. MEMS shutter 72 is moved to not obstruct its associated aperture 74 when MEMS actuator 170 is in an activated state. MEMS actuator 170 is one of a variety of MEMS actuators that could be used to control MEMS shutter 72. MEMS actuator 170 is an implementation of a thermal actuator, sometimes called a heatuator, that functions as a pseudo-bimorph. Actuator 170 includes a pair of structural anchors 172 and 174 that are secured to a substrate (e.g., substrate 10 or nitride layer 12, not shown). A narrow semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon) arm 178 is secured to anchor 172, and a wide semiconductor (e.g., polysilicon) arm 180 is secured to anchor 174 through a narrow extension 182. Arms 178 and 180 are coupled together by a cross member 184. Except for attachments to anchors 172 and 174, arms 178 and 180, extension 182, and cross member 184 are released from the substrate. The components of actuator 170 have electrically semi-conductive and positive coefficient of thermal expansion properties. For example, actuator 170 is formed of silicon. Actuator 170 is activated when an electrical current is passed from a current source 190, such as a pixel control signal source, through arms 178 and 180. The applied current induces ohmic or Joule heating of arms 178 and 180, causing them to expand longitudinally due to the positive temperature coefficient of expansion of silicon. The smaller size of arm 178 causes it to expand more than arm 180. Actuator 170 utilizes differential thermal expansion of different-sized arms 178 and 180 to produce a pseudo-bimorph that deflects in an arc parallel to the substrate. With actuator 170 in its relaxed state, as shown in FIG. 21, MEMS shutter 72 is positioned over aperture 74 and blocks light that is directed through it. With actuator 170 in its activated state, as shown in FIG. 20, MEMS shutter 72 is moved to allow light to pass through aperture 74. FIG. 22 is a diagrammatic side view of a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical display system 200 that is the same as MEMS optical display system 50, except that a microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) optical modulator 202 includes a two-dimensional array of microelectrical mechanical structure (MEMS) shutters 204 positioned on a light-receiving side 206 adjacent apertures 208. MEMS shutters 204 may be controlled by MEMS actuators (not shown) that move within a-plane parallel to optical modulator 202, as described above with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. In other implementations, MEMS shutters 72,and 204 of MEMS optical modulators 70 and 202 could be controlled by MEMS actuators that move shutters 72 and 204 in planes that are transverse (e.g., perpendicular) to modulators 70 and 202, respectively. In such implementations, shutters 72 and 204 would have light-blocking positions at about the focal points of lenslets 62. Shutters 72 and 204 would have generally light-transmitting positions that are generally distant from the focal points, but still within the optical paths of the light. FIG. 23 is a diagrammatic plan view of a microelectrical mechanical out-of-plane thermal buckle-beam actuator 250 capable of providing transverse-plane movement of shutters 72 and 204, as described above. Actuator 250 includes a pair of structural anchors 252 and 254 that are secured to a substrate (e.g., substrate 10 or nitride layer 12, not shown) and one or more thermal buckle beams 256 (multiple shown) that are secured at their base ends 260 and 262 to anchors 252 and 254, respectively. Buckle beams 256 are substantially the same and extend substantially parallel to and spaced-apart from the substrate and are released from it other than at anchors 252 and 254. A pivot frame 264 includes a frame base 266 that is secured to buckle beams 256 at coupling points 268 that in one implementation are positioned between buckle beam-midpoints (indicated by dashed line 270) and one of anchors 252 and 254 (e.g., anchor 254). Pivot frame 264 further includes at least one pivot arm 272 (two shown) that is coupled to frame base 266 at one end and extends to a free end 274 that pivots out-of-plane when actuator 250 is activated. Pivot frame 264 is released and free to move, other than where frame base 266 is secured to coupling points 268. FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic side view of actuator 250 in a relaxed state illustrating pivot frame 264 as being generally parallel to or co-planar with buckle beams 256. Structural anchors 252 and 254 and buckle beams 256 have electrically semi-conductive and positive coefficient of thermal expansion. properties. For example, buckle beams 256 are formed of silicon. Actuator 250 is activated when an electrical current is passed from a current source 280 through buckle beams 256 via electrically conductive couplings 282 and 284 and structural anchors 252 and 254, respectively. The applied current induces ohmic or Joule heating of buckle beams 256, thereby causing them to expand longitudinally due to the positive temperature coefficient of expansion of silicon. With anchors 252 and 254 constraining base ends 260 and 262 of buckle beams 256, the expanding buckle beams 256 ultimately buckle away from the substrate. In one implementation, buckle beams 256 are formed to have a widened aspect ratio, with widths (parallel to the substrate) greater than the thicknesses (perpendicular to the substrate), to provide a bias or predisposition for buckling away from the substrate, rather than parallel to it. FIG. 25 is a diagrammatic side view of actuator 250 in an activated state illustrating the out-of-plane buckling of buckle beams 256. The buckling of buckle beams 256 away from the substrate in the active state of actuator 250 causes free end 274 of pivot frame 264 to pivot away from the substrate. Pivot frame 264 rotates about frame base 266, which is also raised away from the substrate by buckle beams 256. As a result, free end 274 moves and exerts a pivoting or rotational force outward away from the substrate. When the activation current ceases, buckle beams 256 cool and contract, which causes free end 274 of pivot frame 264 to return to its initial position with a force equal to the actuation force, but in opposite rotational and translational directions. Such rotational deflections of pivot frame 264 may be used in a variety of applications, including providing out-of-plane deployment of other micro-mechanical structures, such as those used in micro-optical devices. In-the implementation illustrated in FIGS. 23-25, for example, a shutter 286 is secured to free end 274 and pivots with pivot frame 264 to selectively deflect light according to whether actuator 250 is in its relaxed or activated state. FIG. 24 shows buckle beam 256 in a relaxed state extending over a spacing pad 290 that is secured to and extends from substrate 10 (e.g., the nitride layer 12) near the middle of buckle beam 256. FIG. 25 shows buckle beam 256 in an activated state. For example, spacing pad 290 may be formed of a P0 layer with a thickness of 0.5 μm, and buckle beam 256 may be formed of a different (released) layer. Spacing pad 290 forces a small (e.g., 0.5 μm) hump or deflection 294 in each of buckle beams 256 due to the conformal nature of the fabrication. Also, a dimple 292 is formed near each end of buckle beam 256. Dimples 292 may be formed as a protrusion or dimple extending from a bottom surface of buckle beam 256 or as a recess into its top surface, or both, as illustrated. In a MUMPs implementation, for example, dimple 292 may be formed as is a 0.5 μm depression in the 2 μm polyl layer and does not touch the substrate. Spacing pad 290 and dimples 292 cause buckle beams 256 to buckle away from the substrate and reduce the stiction between buckle beams 256 and the substrate (e.g., the nitride layer 12). It will be appreciated that for the multiple buckle beams 256 in a typical actuator 250, a, separate spacing pad 290 could be formed for each buckle beam 256 or spacing pad 290 could be formed as a single continuous pad that extends beneath all the buckle beams 256. Spacing pad 290 and dimples 292, either individually or together, could be used alone or with a widened aspect ratio for buckle beams 256 to provide a bias or predisposition for them-to buckle away from the substrate. As described above, some implementations employ thermal MEMS actuators. Some thermal MEMS actuators can require significant power when activated (e.g., 10 mA), so that current requirements for simultaneous operation of many such actuators can be excessive. It will be appreciated, therefore, that other MEMS actuators, including at least electrostatic actuators and thermal actuators with reduced power requirements, may be used in other implementations to reduce the overall system power requirements. In addition, applications described above refer primarily to optical display applications. It will be appreciated, however, that various aspects of the present invention, including MEMS optical modulators 70 and MEMS optical device modules 100, could be used in other light modulating applications, such as modulated scanners, detectors, etc. In such applications, MEMS optical modulators 70 and MEMS optical device modules 100, for example, could employ one-dimensional arrays of optical elements. In one implementation described above, MEMS substrate 76 of MEMS optical modulator 70 has a thickness of about 200 μm. In mounting or supporting MEMS optical modulator 70 by its edges, such a thickness provides MEMS optical modulator 70 with adequate structural rigidity. With apertures 74 having dimensions across them of about 20 μm, lenslets 62 of converging microlens array 60 can require a relatively large depth of focus. To avoid such a large depth of focus, an alternative implementation of a MEMS optical modulator, such as MEMS optical modulator 202 in FIG. 22, could employ reflective pads, rather than apertures, to selectively reflect illumination light from the reflective pads to a display screen, scanner, sensors, etc. Parts of the description of the preferred embodiment refer to steps of the MUMPs fabrication process described above. However, as stated, MUMPs is a general fabrication process that accommodates a wide range of MEMS device designs. Consequently, a fabrication process that is specifically designed for the present invention will likely include different steps, additional steps, different dimensions and thickness, and different materials. Such specific fabrication processes are within the ken of persons skilled in the art of photolithographic processes and are not a part of the present invention. In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of our invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the detailed embodiments are illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of our invention. Rather, I claim as my invention all such embodiments as may come within the scope and spirit of the following claims and equivalents thereto. | <SOH> BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Flat panel optical display systems, such as liquid crystal displays, are well known and widely used. Many such displays (e.g., liquid crystal displays) require polarized illumination light. Typically, polarization of illumination light greatly attenuates the light, thereby resulting in displays with decreased brightness, or require relatively expensive optical components. Moreover, such displays commonly have relatively low contrast ratios, which decreases image clarity and overall image quality. Furthermore, such displays typically require complex or difficult manufacturing processes. To address such shortcomings, the present invention includes a microelectrical mechanical optical display system that employs microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) actuators to modulate light. As is known in the art, MEMS actuators provide control of very small components that are formed on semiconductor substrates by conventional semiconductor (e.g., CMOS) fabrication processes. MEMS systems and actuators are sometimes referred to as micromachined systems-on-a-chip. In one implementation, a MEMS optical display system according to the present invention includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a converging microlens array having an array of lenslets that converge the collimated illumination light. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light to a microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) optical modulator. The MEMS optical modulator includes, for example, a planar substrate through which multiple pixel apertures extend and multiple MEMS actuators that support and selectively position MEMS shutters over the apertures. A MEMS actuator and MEMS shutter, together with a corresponding aperture, correspond to a pixel. The light from the converging microlens array is focused through the apertures and is selectively modulated according to the positioning of the MEMS shutters by the MEMS actuators, thereby to impart image information on the illumination light. The light is then passed to a diffused transmissive display screen by a projection microlens array. In alternative implementations, a MEMS optical device module can be formed with at least, for example, a converging microlens array, a MEMS optical modulator, and a projection microlens array. MEMS optical display systems according to the present invention can be formed from multiple such modules that are arranged in arrays and combined with light sources, collimating optics, and display screens. A MEMS optical display system according to the present invention is operable without polarized illumination light, thereby eliminating the light attenuation or expense of the polarizing illumination light. In addition, light can be completely blocked or modulated by the opaque MEMS shutters, thereby providing display images with very high contrast ratios. Furthermore, such MEMS optical modulators can be manufactured by conventional CMOS circuit manufacturing processes. Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. | <SOH> BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Flat panel optical display systems, such as liquid crystal displays, are well known and widely used. Many such displays (e.g., liquid crystal displays) require polarized illumination light. Typically, polarization of illumination light greatly attenuates the light, thereby resulting in displays with decreased brightness, or require relatively expensive optical components. Moreover, such displays commonly have relatively low contrast ratios, which decreases image clarity and overall image quality. Furthermore, such displays typically require complex or difficult manufacturing processes. To address such shortcomings, the present invention includes a microelectrical mechanical optical display system that employs microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) actuators to modulate light. As is known in the art, MEMS actuators provide control of very small components that are formed on semiconductor substrates by conventional semiconductor (e.g., CMOS) fabrication processes. MEMS systems and actuators are sometimes referred to as micromachined systems-on-a-chip. In one implementation, a MEMS optical display system according to the present invention includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a converging microlens array having an array of lenslets that converge the collimated illumination light. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light to a microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) optical modulator. The MEMS optical modulator includes, for example, a planar substrate through which multiple pixel apertures extend and multiple MEMS actuators that support and selectively position MEMS shutters over the apertures. A MEMS actuator and MEMS shutter, together with a corresponding aperture, correspond to a pixel. The light from the converging microlens array is focused through the apertures and is selectively modulated according to the positioning of the MEMS shutters by the MEMS actuators, thereby to impart image information on the illumination light. The light is then passed to a diffused transmissive display screen by a projection microlens array. In alternative implementations, a MEMS optical device module can be formed with at least, for example, a converging microlens array, a MEMS optical modulator, and a projection microlens array. MEMS optical display systems according to the present invention can be formed from multiple such modules that are arranged in arrays and combined with light sources, collimating optics, and display screens. A MEMS optical display system according to the present invention is operable without polarized illumination light, thereby eliminating the light attenuation or expense of the polarizing illumination light. In addition, light can be completely blocked or modulated by the opaque MEMS shutters, thereby providing display images with very high contrast ratios. Furthermore, such MEMS optical modulators can be manufactured by conventional CMOS circuit manufacturing processes. Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. | 20040621 | 20061219 | 20050106 | 67366.0 | 0 | TRA, TUYEN Q | MICROELECTRICAL MECHANICAL STRUCTURE (MEMS) OPTICAL MODULATOR AND OPTICAL DISPLAY SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,752 | ACCEPTED | Method for the production of an electrically conductive resistive layer and heating and/or cooling device | An electrically conductive resistive layer (26) is produced by thermally spraying an electrically conductive material (18) onto the surface of a non-conductive substrate (12). Initially, the material layer (14) arising therefrom has no desired shape. The material layer (14) is then removed (24) in certain areas so that an electrically conductive resistive layer (26) having said desired shape is produced. | 1. An electrically conductive resistive layer for use in a heater created by a process of forming a material onto a substrate and subsequently removing areas of the material to form a desired shape of the electrically conductive resistive layer. 2. The electrically conductive resistive layer according to claim 1 further comprising a melting fuse formed with the subsequent removal of areas of the material. 3. The electrically conductive resistive layer according to claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive resistive layer forms a meander shape. 4. The electrically conductive resistive layer according to claim 1, wherein the material is selected from a group consisting of Bismuth (Bi), Tellurium (Te), Germanium (Ge), Silicon (Si), and Gallium Arsenide. 5. The electrically conductive resistive layer according to claim 1, wherein the material is selected from a group that consists of an electrical heating material and an electrical cooling material. 6. The electrically conductive resistive layer according to claim 1, wherein the shape is locally adjusted to provide desired electrical properties along the shape. 7. A heater comprising: a nonconductive substrate; and an electrically conductive resistive layer formed on the nonconductive substrate by a process of forming a material onto a substrate and subsequently removing areas of the material to form a desired shape of the electrically conductive resistive layer. 8. The heater according to claim 7 further comprising a sealing layer formed over the electrically conductive resistive layer. 9. The heater according to claim 7 further comprising an electrically nonconductive intermediate layer formed over the electrically conductive resistive layer, and a second electrically conductive resistive layer formed over the electrically nonconductive intermediate layer, wherein the second electrically conductive resistive layer is formed by the same process as the electrically conductive resistive layer. 10. The heater according to claim 7 further comprising a plurality of electrically conductive resistive layers separated by a corresponding plurality of electrically nonconductive intermediate layers. 11. The heater according to claim 7, wherein the shape is locally adjusted to provide desired electrical properties along the shape. 12. The heater according to claim 7, wherein the nonconductive substrate is a glass material. 13. The heater according to claim 7, wherein the electrically conductive resistive layer is a material is selected from a group consisting of Bismuth (Bi), Tellurium (Te), Germanium (Ge), Silicon (Si), and Gallium Arsenide. 14. A method of forming an electrically conductive resistive layer comprising the steps of: (a) forming an electrically conductive material onto a substrate; (b) removing areas of the electrically conductive material to form a desired shape of the electrically conductive resistive layer. 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the electrically conductive material is formed onto the substrate by a process selected from the group consisting of thermal spraying, plasma spraying, flame spraying, arc spraying, autogenious spraying, laser spraying, and cold gas spraying. 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the areas of electrically conductive material are removed by a process selected from the group consisting of laser, water jet, and powder sand blasting. 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein during removal of the electrically conductive material to form the desired shape, an electrical resistance (WIST) of the shape is obtained. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the actual electrical resistance (WIST) of the shape is compared to a desired value (WSOLL) and certain areas of electrically conductive material are removed to reduce the difference between the actual electrical resistance (WIST) and the desired value (WSOLL). 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the obtaining of the electrical resistance (WIST) of the shape and the removal of material to reduce the difference between the actual electrical resistance (WIST) and the desired value (WSOLL) are performed in parallel. 20. The method according to claim 14 further comprising the step of locally adjusting the shape with the removal process to provide desired electrical properties along the shape. 21. The method according to claim 14 further comprising the step of sealing the electrically conductive resistive layer. 22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the step of sealing is conducted under vacuum. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of PCT application number PCT/EP02/14310, titled “Method for the Production of an Electrically Conductive Resistive Layer and Heating and/or Cooling Device” filed Dec. 16, 2002, which claims priority from German application number DE 10162276.7, filed Dec. 19, 2001. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention at first covers a method to produce an electrically conductive resistance layer on which an electrically conductive material will be applied, by means of thermal spraying, to a non conductive substrate. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Such a method is already known from the DE 198 10 848 A1 patent. This patent describes a heating element which is produced by applying on the surface of a substrate through a plasma-spray method or an electrical arcing method band-shaped layers of an electrical conductive and resistance creating material. To achieve the desired shape of the electrical conductive layer, a separation layer is applied first to the substrate by means of a printing method. The separation layer is from such a material that, it does not bond with the electrically conductive layer on those parts of the substrate where it is present. The known method has the disadvantage that it is relatively complex and therefore the parts with the electrically conductive resistance layers are comparably expensive. In addition to this, only more or less level surfaces can be covered with an electrically conductive layer. The invention at hand therefore is to further develop the previously described method in a way that the production of a substrate with an electrically conductive layer can be performed more easily and cheaper and that also complex-shaped objects can be applied with an electrically conductive resistance layer as well. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This task is accomplished through a method in the initially mentioned art by applying the electrically conductive material to the surface of the substrate in such a manner so that the applied material layer at first does not necessarily show the desired shape but that later the material layer will be taken-off in a way that an electrically conductive resistance layer is created which in essentially shows the desired shape. For the invented method no special pre-treatment is necessary to get to the desired shape of the electrically conductive resistance layer. Instead the electrically conductive material which forms the resistance layer is surface-applied essentially evenly to the electrically non-conductive substrate. The application through thermal spraying cares for the high adhesion of the electrically conductive material to the electrically non-conductive substrate. In addition, different materials can be applied quickly and very evenly in this way to the electrically non-conductive surface. After that, the electrically conductive material will be taken-off with an appropriate device from certain areas. In this way, even complex shaping of the electrically conductive layer is achieved in only 2 work-steps. Advantageous additional features of the invention are stated in sub-claims. It is proposed that first the material layer be removed from certain areas by means of a laser beam or a water jet or a powder sand blast. Using a laser beam, the material will be greatly heated which causes it to evaporate. The use of a laser has the advantage that very quickly very high doses of energy can be brought to the electrically conductive material so that it immediately evaporates. Due to the instant evaporation of the electrically conductive material it is assured that only relatively little heat will be brought to the surface which lies underneath the electrically conductive material. That surface will not be damaged by the method contained in this invention. The evaporation has—compared to burning—the advantage that generally no residues remain on the surface of the evaporated areas which makes their insulation effect very good. With the appropriate optics of the device which sends out the laser beam the beam can be directed in an almost unlimited way to the subject. Therefore randomly complex contours can be evaporated from the electrically conductive material so that correspondingly complex electrical resistance layers can be manufactured. In addition even such subjects which themselves are complex three-dimensionally shaped can be worked-on. Therefore, an electrically conductive resistance layer of complex geometry can be manufactured in only two work-steps. Using a water jet will bring no thermal energy to the subject at all. This is especially advantageous when treating heat sensitive plastics. The same is applicable when utilizing powder sand blasting. In another especially preferred further development of the invention it is proposed that during the removal of the material layer the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer is at least indirectly obtained. This way a precise quality control is immediately possible during the production of the electrically conductive layer. In further development to this it is proposed to compare the actual resistance value of the electrically conductive resistance layer to a set value and to reduce the difference between set value and actual value by additional removal of the electrically conductive layer. This has the advantage that already during production of the electrically conductive layer deviations from the desired resistance can be adjusted. Such deviations can be created for example when during spraying of the thermally conductive material inconsistent amounts of the electrically conductive material are applied to some areas of the surface in a way that in those areas the thickness of the electrically conductive layer gets to a different thickness than in other areas. With the proposed method deviations of the actual value to the set value can be adjusted up to a precision of ±1%. The additional removal of zones of electrically conductive material can either imply a shortage or an elongation of the electrically conductive layer and/or it can imply a change in the width of the electrically conductive layer. Herewith it is again especially advantageous when the collection of the actual value of the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer and reduction in the difference between the actual value and the set value is being done simultaneously. This is possible, because already during the processing of the electrically conductive layer with a laser beam the electrical resistance value of the electrically conductive layer can be measured. If this method is applied during production of the electrically conductive layer time and consequently money can be saved. In an embodiment of the method according to the invention it is proposed that the material-layer be removed in such a way that at least at one spot of the electrically conductive layer, an intended melting spot is created that functions as the melting fuse. Such an integrated melting fuse increases the electrical safety of the electrically conductive resistance layer. That way the melting fuse can be incorporated into the electrically conductive layer practically without any additional cost and expenditure of time. It is also advantageous, when the material layer is removed in such a manner that the electrically conductive resistance layer at least in some areas has the shape of a meander. This enables the creation of a possibly long electrically conductive layer on a small area. It is also proposed that after the removal of some areas of the electrically conductive material and the completion of the electrically conductive resistance layer, the layer be applied by an electrically non-conductive intermediate layer. Next on top of the intermediate electrically non-conductive layer another electrically conductive layer can be thermal sprayed in such a way that it essentially does not show the desired shape yet. After this, using a laser beam the material layer will be removed in some areas so a second electrically conductive layer is created which has the desired shape. The invention allows therefore the use of several layers on top of each other. It must be noted that the invention not only covers an application with two electrically conductive resistance layers but also is applicable to any desired number of arranged resistance layers. The electrically conductive material comprise preferably Bismuth (Bi), Tellurium (Te), Germanium (Ge), Silicon (Si) and/or Gallium Arsenite. These materials proved to be well suitable for thermal spraying and the following treatment with laser beams. Furthermore, with these materials the known pertinent technical effects are realizable. Well suitable for applying electrically conductive materials on the substrate are plasma-spraying, high speed flame spraying, arc spraying, autogenious spraying, laser spraying or cold gas spraying. Furthermore it is proposed to apply the electrically conductive material and to remove the material layer in certain areas and that such a material is used in a way that an electrical heating layer or an electrical cooling layer is created. In the production of an electrical cooling layer the “Peltier effect” is beneficially used. One further beneficial embodiment is proposed so that the local electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer will be adjusted by means of local heat treatment. Through heating local oxides can be brought into the layer, which affects the local electrical conductivity of the material. This makes a specially precise and fine tuning of the electrical resistance possible. It is also beneficial when the electrically conductive layer gets sealed. This is especially advantageous on porous substrates (for example metal with an intermediate layer of Al2O3). Sealing decreases the risk of electrical sparking due to moisture especially at high voltages. Suitable materials to seal the surface are Silicone, Polyimide, soluble Potassium or soluble Sodium. They can be applied through plunging, spraying, painting etc. The tightness of the seal is best when the sealing layer is applied under vacuum. Electrically non-conductive substrates can also be glass or glass-ceramics. The electrically conductive resistance layer can be plasma-sprayed to these materials durably. Due to the good electrical insulation of glass it is unnecessary to ground the resistance layer. Also possible is the use of special high temperature glass such as for example Ceranglas®. The invention also applies to a heating- and/or cooling device with a non conductive substrate and an electrically conductive resistance layer which is thermally sprayed on the substrate. Manufacturing cost for such a heat- and/or cooling device can be reduced when the resistance layer envelops an electrically conductive material, which is surface-applied through thermal spraying and then removed by a laser beam from certain areas and brought into the desired shape. Next especially preferred embodiments of the invention illustrate design examples the invention with reference to the attached drawings. The drawings display: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective layout of a tube on which an electrically conductive material is sprayed-on; FIG. 2 is the tube of FIG. 1. Its electrically conductive layer is worked-on with laser beams; FIG. 3 is a side view of the tube of FIG. 2 after completion; FIG. 4 is the top view on a plate-shaped part with a meander-shaped electrically conductive resistance layer; FIG. 5 is two diagrams. One shows the progression of time of the electrical resistance and the other shows the progression of time of the length of the electrically conductive resistance layer from FIG. 4 during manufacturing; and FIG. 6 shows a section through the plate-shaped part with 2 electrically conductive resistance layers arranged one above the other. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 show the production of a tube shaped flow heater. On a high temperature resistant tube (12) with an electrically non-conductive material an electrically conductive layer is applied (FIG. 1). The application is conducted by means of a device (16) which is used to spray particles of Germanium (Ge) (18) on the tube (12). In this case, cold-gas-spray method is used. In the spraying process the unmolten particles of Germanium (Ge) are accelerated to speeds of 300-1200 m/sec and sprayed on to the tube (12). On impact the Ge-particles (18) as well as the surface of the tube get deformed. Because of the impact surface-oxides of the surface of the tube (12) get broken-up. Through micro-friction because of the impact the temperature of the contact area increases and leads to micro-welding. The acceleration of the Ge-particles (18) is done by means of a conveyor-gas whose temperature can be slightly increased. Although the Ge-powder (18) never reaches its melting temperature, the resulting temperatures on the surface of the tube (12) are relatively moderate so that for example the tube can be made from a relatively cheap plastic material. In other, not displayed construction examples, methods other than cold-gas-spraying can be used such as plasma-spraying, high-speed-flame-spraying, arc-spraying, autogenious-spraying or laser-spraying to apply the electrically conductive material to the substrate. Instead of Germanium (Ge), also Bismuth (Bi), Tellurium (Te), Silicon (Si) and/or Gallium Arsenide can be used, depending on the desired technical effect. The coating of the tube (12) with particles of Germanium (Ge) is done at first in a way that bit by bit the entire surface of the tube (12) is covered with the Germanium-layer (14) (compare FIG. 1). This material layer however does not have the desired shape yet: To be able to manufacture a tubular shaped flow heater an electrically conductive resistance layer must be produced which surrounds the tube (12) in a circumferential direction in a spiral shape. To achieve this, as can be seen in FIG. 2, a laser beam is directed to the “unshaped” material layer in a way that a spiral-shaped area (24) around the tube (12) is created in which the sprayed-on electrically conductive material (14) is not present any more. This is achieved by having the material in the material layer (14) met with the laser beam so that it heats and immediately evaporates that part of the layer (14). The laser device on one side and a—in the figure not shown—device which holds the tube (12) is one the other so that a continuing work process by the laser device (20) is possible. As can be seen from FIG. 3, an electrically conductive layer (26) is created, that stretches spirally from one axial end of the tube (12) to the other. The flow heater (28) is formed by the electrically conductive resistance layer (26) and the tube (12). In FIG. 4 a flat heat plate (28) is shown from a top view. This consists of a—in this view not visible—non conductive substrate on which, analog to the described process of FIG. 1 and 2 at first a sheet-shaped layer of material (14) gets applied, out of which certain areas (24) are being evaporated with a laser beam (for simplicity only one area (24) was marked). Hereby a meander shaped electrically conductive resistance layer (26) was created that stretches from one end of the plate (28) to the other. This, however, has two specialties: On the upper end of FIG. 4 the material layer (14), from which the electrically conductive layer was produced, was evaporated in a way that the conductive track (26) shows a narrowed section. This creates a melting fuse (30) in such a way that the use of the heater plate (28) is protected. The second specialty is that the heating capacity or as the case may be the density of the heat flow was corrected during manufacturing that it corresponds to the desired heat capacity or as the case may be the desired heat flow to very high precision. This is achieved as follows: A voltage is applied to the ends 32 and 34 of the electrically conductive resistance layer (26) during the evaporation process so that the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive layer (26) can be measured continuously. The material layer (14) will be evaporated by the laser beam at first in only small sections (24). The horizontal layers of the evaporated areas (24) of FIG. 4 stretch only from a corner (dashed lines) (36) to the horizontal corner (38) of the electrically conductive layer (26) which lies above. (Also here because of illustration purposes only one area (24) is shown). In addition to this, the material layer (14) is processed by the laser beam in a way that the lower electrical end area (34) becomes relatively broad. This is shown with a dotted line with the mark 40. During the evaporation of the areas (24) of the material layer (14) of our present example, it is noted by measuring the resistance of the created layer (26), that the actual electrical resistance WIST (compare FIG. 5) of the electrically conductive layer is lower than the desired electrical resistance WSOLL. Shown in FIG. 4, the lower connection area (34) of the electrically conductive resistance layer (26) is processed by the laser beam in a way that his width decreases. Additional material is evaporated. Herewith the length of the electrically conductive resistance layer (26) increases with the dimension dl (compare FIG. 4 and 5) thus increasing the electrical resistance WIST until it corresponds exactly with the desired electrical resistance WSOLL. The final position of the limiting line of the lower connection (34) is marked in FIG. 4 with the number 42. To adjust the density of the heat flow the evaporated areas (24) shown in FIG. 4 are increased. The final limitation at which the desired density of the heat flow corresponds to the desired density of the heat flow of the electrically conductive layer (26) is marked in FIG. 4 with the number 44 [for simplicity reasons only shown once in evaporated area (24)]. FIG. 6 shows a plate-shaped heating device in a cross section. In contrary to the examples described above, it does not only show one electrically conductive resistance layer but two electrically conductive resistance layers (26a and 26b). Between these layers an electrically non conductive intermediate layer (46) is positioned. The manufacturing process of these electrical heating plates (28) is described as follows: At first an electrically conductive material is applied to the plate shaped substrate (12) as described above. The material is surface-applied by thermal spraying it in a way that at first the material layer does not show the desired shape in general yet. Following this process the material layer (24a) gets evaporated by laser beam in such a way that an electrically conductive resistance layer (26a) is created which does show the desired shape. On top of the finished electrically conductive resistance layer 26a an electrically isolating intermediate layer (46) gets applied in a following work step. Then the procedure described above gets repeated which means that, again, electrically conductive material is surface-applied by thermal spraying on top of the non conductive intermediate layer (46) in a way that the so created second material layer does not show the desired shape yet. This layer is then processed by a laser beam in certain areas (24b) in such a way that a second electrically conductive resistance layer (26b) is created which does show the desired shape. The material in a non shown example was chosen in a way that —instead of an electrical heating layer—an electrical cooling layer is created. In another not illustrated example, the temperature of the heating layer is controlled by a ceramic switch. In this case, it is understood to mean a non mechanical switch, which consists of an element, whose conductivity is highly dependent on its temperature. Alternatively, a bimetal switch can be used as well. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Such a method is already known from the DE 198 10 848 A1 patent. This patent describes a heating element which is produced by applying on the surface of a substrate through a plasma-spray method or an electrical arcing method band-shaped layers of an electrical conductive and resistance creating material. To achieve the desired shape of the electrical conductive layer, a separation layer is applied first to the substrate by means of a printing method. The separation layer is from such a material that, it does not bond with the electrically conductive layer on those parts of the substrate where it is present. The known method has the disadvantage that it is relatively complex and therefore the parts with the electrically conductive resistance layers are comparably expensive. In addition to this, only more or less level surfaces can be covered with an electrically conductive layer. The invention at hand therefore is to further develop the previously described method in a way that the production of a substrate with an electrically conductive layer can be performed more easily and cheaper and that also complex-shaped objects can be applied with an electrically conductive resistance layer as well. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This task is accomplished through a method in the initially mentioned art by applying the electrically conductive material to the surface of the substrate in such a manner so that the applied material layer at first does not necessarily show the desired shape but that later the material layer will be taken-off in a way that an electrically conductive resistance layer is created which in essentially shows the desired shape. For the invented method no special pre-treatment is necessary to get to the desired shape of the electrically conductive resistance layer. Instead the electrically conductive material which forms the resistance layer is surface-applied essentially evenly to the electrically non-conductive substrate. The application through thermal spraying cares for the high adhesion of the electrically conductive material to the electrically non-conductive substrate. In addition, different materials can be applied quickly and very evenly in this way to the electrically non-conductive surface. After that, the electrically conductive material will be taken-off with an appropriate device from certain areas. In this way, even complex shaping of the electrically conductive layer is achieved in only 2 work-steps. Advantageous additional features of the invention are stated in sub-claims. It is proposed that first the material layer be removed from certain areas by means of a laser beam or a water jet or a powder sand blast. Using a laser beam, the material will be greatly heated which causes it to evaporate. The use of a laser has the advantage that very quickly very high doses of energy can be brought to the electrically conductive material so that it immediately evaporates. Due to the instant evaporation of the electrically conductive material it is assured that only relatively little heat will be brought to the surface which lies underneath the electrically conductive material. That surface will not be damaged by the method contained in this invention. The evaporation has—compared to burning—the advantage that generally no residues remain on the surface of the evaporated areas which makes their insulation effect very good. With the appropriate optics of the device which sends out the laser beam the beam can be directed in an almost unlimited way to the subject. Therefore randomly complex contours can be evaporated from the electrically conductive material so that correspondingly complex electrical resistance layers can be manufactured. In addition even such subjects which themselves are complex three-dimensionally shaped can be worked-on. Therefore, an electrically conductive resistance layer of complex geometry can be manufactured in only two work-steps. Using a water jet will bring no thermal energy to the subject at all. This is especially advantageous when treating heat sensitive plastics. The same is applicable when utilizing powder sand blasting. In another especially preferred further development of the invention it is proposed that during the removal of the material layer the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer is at least indirectly obtained. This way a precise quality control is immediately possible during the production of the electrically conductive layer. In further development to this it is proposed to compare the actual resistance value of the electrically conductive resistance layer to a set value and to reduce the difference between set value and actual value by additional removal of the electrically conductive layer. This has the advantage that already during production of the electrically conductive layer deviations from the desired resistance can be adjusted. Such deviations can be created for example when during spraying of the thermally conductive material inconsistent amounts of the electrically conductive material are applied to some areas of the surface in a way that in those areas the thickness of the electrically conductive layer gets to a different thickness than in other areas. With the proposed method deviations of the actual value to the set value can be adjusted up to a precision of ±1%. The additional removal of zones of electrically conductive material can either imply a shortage or an elongation of the electrically conductive layer and/or it can imply a change in the width of the electrically conductive layer. Herewith it is again especially advantageous when the collection of the actual value of the electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer and reduction in the difference between the actual value and the set value is being done simultaneously. This is possible, because already during the processing of the electrically conductive layer with a laser beam the electrical resistance value of the electrically conductive layer can be measured. If this method is applied during production of the electrically conductive layer time and consequently money can be saved. In an embodiment of the method according to the invention it is proposed that the material-layer be removed in such a way that at least at one spot of the electrically conductive layer, an intended melting spot is created that functions as the melting fuse. Such an integrated melting fuse increases the electrical safety of the electrically conductive resistance layer. That way the melting fuse can be incorporated into the electrically conductive layer practically without any additional cost and expenditure of time. It is also advantageous, when the material layer is removed in such a manner that the electrically conductive resistance layer at least in some areas has the shape of a meander. This enables the creation of a possibly long electrically conductive layer on a small area. It is also proposed that after the removal of some areas of the electrically conductive material and the completion of the electrically conductive resistance layer, the layer be applied by an electrically non-conductive intermediate layer. Next on top of the intermediate electrically non-conductive layer another electrically conductive layer can be thermal sprayed in such a way that it essentially does not show the desired shape yet. After this, using a laser beam the material layer will be removed in some areas so a second electrically conductive layer is created which has the desired shape. The invention allows therefore the use of several layers on top of each other. It must be noted that the invention not only covers an application with two electrically conductive resistance layers but also is applicable to any desired number of arranged resistance layers. The electrically conductive material comprise preferably Bismuth (Bi), Tellurium (Te), Germanium (Ge), Silicon (Si) and/or Gallium Arsenite. These materials proved to be well suitable for thermal spraying and the following treatment with laser beams. Furthermore, with these materials the known pertinent technical effects are realizable. Well suitable for applying electrically conductive materials on the substrate are plasma-spraying, high speed flame spraying, arc spraying, autogenious spraying, laser spraying or cold gas spraying. Furthermore it is proposed to apply the electrically conductive material and to remove the material layer in certain areas and that such a material is used in a way that an electrical heating layer or an electrical cooling layer is created. In the production of an electrical cooling layer the “Peltier effect” is beneficially used. One further beneficial embodiment is proposed so that the local electrical resistance of the electrically conductive resistance layer will be adjusted by means of local heat treatment. Through heating local oxides can be brought into the layer, which affects the local electrical conductivity of the material. This makes a specially precise and fine tuning of the electrical resistance possible. It is also beneficial when the electrically conductive layer gets sealed. This is especially advantageous on porous substrates (for example metal with an intermediate layer of Al2O3). Sealing decreases the risk of electrical sparking due to moisture especially at high voltages. Suitable materials to seal the surface are Silicone, Polyimide, soluble Potassium or soluble Sodium. They can be applied through plunging, spraying, painting etc. The tightness of the seal is best when the sealing layer is applied under vacuum. Electrically non-conductive substrates can also be glass or glass-ceramics. The electrically conductive resistance layer can be plasma-sprayed to these materials durably. Due to the good electrical insulation of glass it is unnecessary to ground the resistance layer. Also possible is the use of special high temperature glass such as for example Ceranglas®. The invention also applies to a heating- and/or cooling device with a non conductive substrate and an electrically conductive resistance layer which is thermally sprayed on the substrate. Manufacturing cost for such a heat- and/or cooling device can be reduced when the resistance layer envelops an electrically conductive material, which is surface-applied through thermal spraying and then removed by a laser beam from certain areas and brought into the desired shape. Next especially preferred embodiments of the invention illustrate design examples the invention with reference to the attached drawings. The drawings display: | 20040621 | 20080422 | 20050203 | 64956.0 | 1 | ROBINSON, DANIEL LEON | METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF AN ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE RESISTIVE LAYER AND HEATING AND/OR COOLING DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,761 | ACCEPTED | Grilling apparatus | A grill apparatus for cooking small and delicate food is provided. The grill apparatus is a cooking grate having a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area of the cooking grate. Because of the location and dimension of the apertures, a continuous line of the cooking area extends a length that is substantially less than the distance from one edge of the cooking grate to an opposing edge of the cooking grate to prevent warping of the cooking grate. | 1. A grill apparatus for placement above a heat source, comprising: a cooking grate having a cooking area, the cooking area having a perimeter that is positioned a distance from an edge of the cooking grate; and, a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area, wherein the apertures are arranged on the cooking grate to substantially preclude uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area of the cooking grate. 2. The grill apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apertures are positioned in a recurring pattern on the cooking area of the cooking grate. 3. The grill apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sidewall extending from the edge of the cooking grate. 4. The grill apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a plurality of apertures extending through the sidewall, wherein the apertures are arranged on the sidewall to preclude uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane between the apertures on the sidewall. 5. The grill apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apertures are elongated, and wherein a plurality of the apertures extends transverse to one another. 6. The grill apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sidewalls extending from the edge of the cooking grate. 7. The grill apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sidewalls are not directly connected to an adjacent sidewall. 8. The grill apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apertures comprise alternating vertical and horizontal slots. 9. A grill apparatus for placement above a heat source, comprising: a cooking grate having a first edge, a second edge opposing the first edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge opposing the third edge; a cooking area located between the edges of the cooking grate; and, a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area of the cooking grate, wherein the location of the apertures on the cooking grate precludes uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area and between the apertures thereof. 10. The grill apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a sidewall extending from one of the edges of the cooking grate. 11. The grill apparatus of claim 9, wherein a handle extends from one of the edges of the grate. 12. The grill apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of sidewalls extending at an angle from the cooking grate, the sidewalls having a plurality of apertures therein. 13. The grill apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apertures are elongated, and wherein a plurality of the apertures extends transverse to one another. 14. The grill apparatus of claim 9, wherein the cooking area is substantially flat. 15. The grill apparatus of claim 12, wherein the sidewalls are not directly connected to an adjacent sidewall. 16. A grill apparatus for placement above a heat source, comprising: a cooking grate having a plurality of opposing edges; a cooking area positioned between the opposing edges; and, a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area, wherein a continuous linear line in the cooking area extends a length between the apertures, and wherein the length of the continuous line in the cooking area is substantially less than the distance from one edge of the cooking grate to an opposing edge of the cooking grate. 17. The grill apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apertures are provided in a recurring pattern about the cooking area. 18. The grill apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a plurality of sidewalls extending from the cooking grate, the sidewalls having a plurality of apertures therein in the same pattern as the apertures in the cooking area. 19. The grill apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apertures comprise transverse slots. 20. The grill apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apertures comprise alternating vertical and horizontal slots. 21. A grill apparatus for placement above a heat source, comprising: a cooking grate having a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking grate, and a cooking area of the cooking grate extending around the apertures, wherein the apertures are dimensioned such that any continuous linear line in the cooking area between the apertures and extending in a first direction extends a distance less than 40% of an overall length of the cooking grate in the first direction. 22. The grill apparatus of claim 21, wherein the continuous line of the cooking area between the apertures and extending in the first direction extends a distance less than 30% of an overall length of the cooking grate in the first direction. 23. The grill apparatus of claim 21, wherein the continuous line of the cooking area between the apertures and extending in the first direction extends a distance less than 20% of an overall length of the cooking grate in the first direction. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/480,920 filed on Jun. 24, 2003, which is expressly incorporated herein. FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to the field of grates for barbecue grills, and more specifically to a removable secondary grate for a barbecue grill, which reduces the rate of potential warping of the grate upon the application of heat and/or moisture. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The popularity of barbecue grills and outdoor cooking devices has increased tremendously over the last twenty-five years. Initially, charcoal barbecue grills having combustible solid fuel were utilized to cook food via radiant and convective heat. Subsequently, gas barbecue grills, which employ a gas burner, were utilized. Often, the food to be cooked in both charcoal and gas grills was situated on a grate having numerous elongated members, openings, and cross members which cause the grate to have a grid-like configuration. Accordingly, to cook food in such barbecue grills the radiant and convective heat energy dispelled from either the charcoal or gas burners passed through the cooking grate and were directed to the food. An example of the conventional grate is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,452 to Schlosser et al. There, the grate is formed from a plurality of elongated rods about openings, both of which are within a perimeter defined by a circular ring. Another example of the conventional grate is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,343 to Rigney et al. There, the grate has a generally rectangular shape with numerous openings and elongated structures. Conventional grates, including those described above, are adequate for cooking foods which are relatively large in size and which tend to cook in a harmonious mass, such as burgers, steaks, chops, hotdogs, sausage, chicken, etc. Conventional grates suffer, however, from an inability to cook small and/or delicate foods without the loss of substantial amounts of the small and/or delicate foods through the apertures in the standard grate. For example, fish tends to flake when cooked, and when cooked on a conventional grate, the fish is inadequately supported and tends to fall through the apertures in the grate. Similarly, sliced or chopped vegetables are often cooked on a barbecue grill to obtain a distinctive flavor and appeal, however, these smaller items also tend to fall through the cooking grate, making outdoor cooking of these items extremely frustrating. Various attempts have been made to develop devices for cooking or grilling specialty foods items, particularly small food items, on outdoor barbecue grills. Many of these devices suffer from additional deficiencies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,855 to Avner describes a secondary grilling apparatus, which comprises a flat sheet of metal with rectangular openings that clips onto the bars of conventional barbecue grills. The sheet provides a secondary area for grilling with smaller openings. However, the device cannot be easily taken out of the barbecue grill while hot. Further, the perforation design on the grate of the '855 patent may allow thermal stresses to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area. A second prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,786 to Brown. The '786 patent discloses a food pan for placing on the grate of a barbecue grill for permitting grilling of small foods which would otherwise fall through a conventional grate of a grill. The food pan of the '786 patent includes a plate member with plurality of apertures extending through the upper and lower surfaces of the plate member to permit heat and smoke to reach food on the plate member. The apertures of the plate member are arranged in grid-like fashion having a plurality of columns and rows. The columns extend between the ends of the plate member, and the rows extend between the sides of the plate member. Because of this design, the aperture design of the '786 patent may also allow thermal stresses in the plate member to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area. Another prior art device is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 of this disclosure. This device is similar to the device disclosed in the '786 patent in that the plate member has a plurality of apertures arranged in a grid-like fashion having a plurality of rows and columns. Like the design of the '786 patent, this design has the same deficiencies; the cooking area could warp due to the accumulation of thermal stresses. One way in which manufacturers of these prior art devices attempted to control warping was to weld the sidewalls together in an attempt to make the basket more rigid. Unfortunately, this does not entirely solve the warping problem. Moreover, it adds unnecessary cost, and does not work with flat devices. Accordingly, a simple and inexpensive griddle device for cooking small and delicate foods reduces warping under heat and/or moisture in accordance with the present invention will provide an apparatus that attempts to eliminate the drawbacks of prior grate devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to obtain an optimal grilling/cooking flavor for barbecue-grilled items, it is preferred that the items are cooked on a surface having apertures to allow heated air and/or smoke to pass through the apertures to cook the food. The present invention provides a grate for barbecue grills that allows small and/or delicate foods to be cooked on barbecue grills to obtain the grilled flavor. The embodiments disclosed are relatively inexpensive and are easy to manufacture and use with a barbecue grill. Further, the present grilling apparatus can be utilized in conjunction with a conventional grate, or in place of a conventional grate. According to an aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a cooking area for small and/or delicate foods that reduces the rate of potential warping of the grilling apparatus upon the application of heat and/or moisture. In one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a grilling area with a plurality of apertures extending therethrough. The apertures extend transverse to one another. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the cooking area has a perimeter that is positioned a distance from an edge of the cooking grate. A plurality of apertures extend through the cooking area and are arranged on the cooking grate to preclude uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area of the cooking grate. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the cooking grate has a first edge, a second edge opposing the first edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge opposing the third edge. The cooking area is located between the edges of the cooking grate. A plurality of apertures extend through the cooking area of the cooking grate. The location of the apertures on the cooking grate precludes uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area and between the apertures thereof. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a plurality of opposing edges, a cooking area positioned between the opposing edges, and a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area. A continuous line of the cooking area extends a length between the apertures, and the length of the continuous line of the cooking area is substantially less than the distance from one edge of the cooking grate to an opposing edge of the cooking grate. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking grate, and a cooking area of the cooking grate extending around the apertures. The apertures are dimensioned such that any continuous line of the cooking area between the apertures and extending in a first direction extends a distance less than 40% of an overall length of the cooking grate in the first direction. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus includes at least one sidewall extending at an angle from the cooking grate. The sidewall depends from one of the edges of the cooking grate. In one embodiment, a plurality of apertures is also located in the sidewall. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the sidewalls of the grilling apparatus are not directly connected to an adjacent sidewall. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the apertures in the grilling apparatus are elongated in shape, and extend transverse to one another. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be made of any shape, including square, round, rectangular, polygonal, etc. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be utilized as a removable secondary grate for a conventional barbecue grill. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be used with a conventional grilling area without any alteration of the primary grill or grilling area. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a grilling area suitable for cooking small and/or delicate foods which does not interfere with the interaction between the food and the aromatic substances contained in the cooking gases of the barbecue grill. According to yet another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a grilling area that can be conveniently placed on or off a hot primary grill by means of handles, which reduces warping of the grilling apparatus. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the grilling apparatus; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the grilling apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation view along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is an end elevation view of the grilling apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the grilling apparatus; FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the grilling apparatus of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional elevation view along line 7-7 of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is an end elevation view of the grilling apparatus of FIG. 5; FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of an alternate aperture pattern for the grilling apparatus; FIG. 10 is a partial plan view of an alternate aperture pattern for the grilling apparatus; FIG. 11 is a partial plan view of an alternate aperture pattern for the grilling apparatus; FIG. 12 is a partial plan view of an alternate aperture pattern for the grilling apparatus; FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of an alternate aperture pattern for the grilling apparatus; FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a prior art device; and, FIG. 15 is top plan view of the prior art device of FIG. 14. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. Referring now in detail to the figures, and initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a grilling apparatus, generally designated by reference numeral 10. The grilling apparatus 10 generally comprises a cooking grate 12, a plurality of apertures 14 extending through the cooking grate 12, and a cooking area 16. While the embodiments illustrated in the Figures are shown as rectangular cooking grates 12, the cooking grate could have any shape, including oblong, round, polygonal, etc. Typically, the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12 is substantially flat. In the preferred embodiment, the cooking grate 12 has a first edge 18, a second edge 20 opposing the first edge 18, a third edge 22, and a fourth edge 24 opposing the third edge 22. If, for example, the cooking grate 12 were round, it may only have one continuous edge 18. Additionally, in a preferred embodiment the cooking grate 12 is made of a substantially flat sixteen gauge stainless steel, however one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that virtually any metal, and specifically any sheet metal, and any thickness may be available for use with the present invention. Additionally, it is understood that the metal may be coated. The cooking grate 12 may have sidewalls and handles. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-8, sidewall components 28 extend at an angle from the edges 18, 20, 22, and 24 of the cooking grate 12. The cooking grate 12 may also have handles 30 for lifting the cooking grate 12. The handles 30 have a radiused portion 31 and generally extend from the sidewalls 28. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the handles 30 extend from the sidewalls 28 adjacent the first and second opposing edges 18, 20 of the cooking grate 12. Similarly, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5-8 the handles 30 extend from each of the sidewalls 28 adjacent the first and second opposing edges 18, 20 of the cooking grate 12. As disclosed in another embodiment of the cooking grate 12 in FIGS. 5-8, the sidewalls 28 may be enlarged, and the sidewalls 28 may have the apertures 14 of the present invention incorporated therein. The cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12 is generally provided in the central region of the cooking grate 12 and adjacent the apertures 14 in the cooking grate 12. Further, the cooking area 16 has a perimeter that is positioned between the edges 18, 20, 22, 24 of the cooking grate 12, and more preferably a distance from the edges 18, 20, 22, 24 of the cooking grate 12. Generally, the perimeter of the cooking area 16 extends adjacent the outer apertures 14 in the cooking grate 12. The top surface 19 of the cooking area 16 is generally referred to as the cooking surface 19, because this is the surface 19 that the food is placed on for cooking thereof. The cooking grate 12 is designed such that the location and dimension of the apertures 14 on the cooking grate 12 substantially precludes thermal stresses from accumulating in any direction across the cooking grate 12, thereby lessening the potential for warping of the cooking grate 12. As shown in FIGS. 1-8, the apertures 14 extend through the cooking area 16, from the cooking surface 19 through to the opposing bottom surface 21 of the cooking grate 12. In a preferred embodiment, the apertures 14 are provided in a spaced transverse relationship. Specifically, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the apertures 14 comprise a plurality of vertical apertures 14a and a plurality of horizontal apertures 14b. Further, in the preferred embodiment, the vertical apertures 14a alternate with the horizontal apertures 14b in a recurring pattern in the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12. In preferred embodiments, the apertures 14 comprise elongated slots having a radiused end. It is understood, however, that the apertures 14 may have any configuration, including those shown in FIGS. 9-13. In the preferred embodiment, the elongated slots 14 are approximately 0.125″ wide, and 1.00″ long. Further, in a particular row, the vertical slots 14a are approximately 1.375″ apart. Similarly, adjacent rows of horizontal slots 14b are approximately 1.375″ apart. A gap 15 exists between the vertical apertures 14a and the horizontal apertures 14b. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-8, the gap 15 length is equal to the width of the slots. In an alternate embodiment, the gap 15 length is equal to twice the thickness of the metal used for the cooking grate 12, however, a length greater or less than this amount can be utilized as long as the rigidity of the cooking grate 12 is not comprised, and as long as the accumulation of thermal stresses is minimized. As explained above, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-8 discloses a plurality of apertures 14 in the sidewalls 28 of the cooking grate 12. It is understood that even if the sidewalls 28 are not enlarged apertures may reside therein. Like the apertures 14 in the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12, the apertures 14 in the sidewalls 28 extend from a top surface 23 of the sidewalls 28 through to the opposing bottom surface 25 of the sidewall 28 of the cooking grate 12. The apertures 14 are arranged on the sidewall 28 to preclude uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane between the apertures 14 in the sidewall 28. The apertures 14 in the sidewalls 28 may be configured similarly or different from the apertures 14 in the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12. In a preferred embodiment, the apertures 14 in the sidewall 28 are configured similarly to the apertures 14 in the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12. As shown in FIGS. 5-8, the apertures 14 in the sidewalls 28 of the preferred embodiment comprise a plurality of elongated slots having a radiused end as explained above. More specifically, they comprise a plurality of vertical apertures 14a and a plurality of horizontal apertures 14b that are provided in a spaced transverse relationship as explained above. Further, like the apertures 14 in the cooking area 16, in the sidewall 28 the vertical apertures 14a alternate with the horizontal apertures 14b in a recurring pattern. It is understood, however, that the apertures 14 may have any configuration. Further, in many prior art cooking grates utilizing sidewalls, the sidewalls were directly connected, typically by a tack weld, to adjacent sidewalls. This was provided to impart additional rigidity to the cooking grate, and to thereby attempt to overcome any forces that may tend to warp or twist the cooking grate due to the accumulation of thermal stresses in the cooking grate. Because the present cooking grate 12 provides apertures 14 dimensioned and arranged in a novel manner to reduce the accumulation of thermal stresses in the cooking grate 12, the sidewalls 28 do not have to be directly connected (i.e., via tack welding) to adjacent sidewalls 28. Alternate aperture 14 configurations are provided in FIGS. 9-13. As is understood by those having ordinary skill in the art, numerous other aperture configurations, other than the specific configurations disclosed, are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, FIG. 5 displays a similar aperture pattern to that disclosed in the embodiment of FIG. 1, however the apertures 14c have flat ends 32 instead of the radiused ends of the apertures 14 in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 displays an aperture pattern that employs an additional aperture 34 in the form of a circle between the other apertures 14d, however the additional aperture 34 could have any shape. The additional aperture 34 assists in providing additional access for heat and smoke to reach the food on the cooking grate 12. FIG. 7 discloses an aperture pattern employing both elongated apertures 14e and concave/convex apertures 14f. FIG. 8 discloses an aperture pattern employing semi-circular apertures 14g and elongated apertures 14h. FIG. 9 discloses an aperture pattern employing “S” shaped apertures 14i and elongated apertures 14j. Additionally, it is understood that the aperture pattern may be slanted or configured on an angle across the cooking grate 12. The location and arrangement of the apertures 14a and 14b on the cooking grate 12 substantially precludes an uninterrupted line from extending between the apertures 14 across the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12, and thus generally from one edge of the cooking grate 12 to an opposing edge of the cooking grate 12, including substantial distances therebetween. Accordingly, if a transverse plane were provided through the cooking area 16, the transverse plane would not extend across the cooking area 16 from the first edge 18 to the opposing second edge 20 (or from the third edge 22 to the opposing fourth edge 24) without interruption by an aperture 14. Put another way, the location and dimension of the apertures 14 on the cooking grate 12 precludes uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area 16 and between the apertures 14 thereof. In such a configuration, all of the thermal expansion forces are limited to being independent local forces, as opposed to accumulated local forces, because the hole pattern of the apertures 14 allows for absorbing the thermal expansion energy. Additionally, as is seen in FIGS. 1-8, in the present invention a continuous line 26 in the cooking area 16 extends a length (L1). The continuous line 26 is typically between the apertures 14 in the cooking area 16 of the cooking grate 12. The length (L1) of the continuous line 26 of the cooking area 16 is substantially less than the distance from one edge of cooking grate 12 to an opposing edge of the cooking grate 12. For example, as seen in FIG. 2, the length (L1) of the continuous line 26 is substantially less than the distance from the first edge 18 of the cooking grate 12 to the second edge 20 of the cooking grate 12. In a preferred embodiment, the apertures 14 are dimensioned such that any continuous line 26 in the cooking area 16 between apertures 14, and extending in a linear direction, extends a distance less than 40%, and preferably less than 30%, and most preferably less than 20% of an overall length of the cooking grate 12 in that linear direction. By precluding elongated uninterrupted extension of a continuous linear line 26 of the cooking area, the longest continuous element of the cooking area 16 is kept to a short length and terminates at one of the apertures 14. Accordingly, as the cooking area 16 expands and contracts during heating and cooling, and during placement of cool foods and other items on a warm surface in cooking, thermal stresses on cooking area 16 will not accumulate to cause warping. Rather, the location of the apertures 14 prevents the cooking area 16 from expanding a significant amount in any direction. In such a configuration, the size of the apertures 14 adjusts (expands and contracts) due to the thermal forces, assisting in preventing the cooking grate 12 from warping because the thermal forces are not transmitted across the apertures 14. Such a location and dimensioning of the apertures of the present invention is in direct distinction from the apertures provided in the prior art devices. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the apertures in the prior art devices are located in a column and row grid-type arrangement. Accordingly, any continuous line (W1, W2) on the cooking area and between the apertures of the prior art devices extends uninterrupted a substantial distance, and typically extends uninterrupted from one edge of the cooking area to the opposing edge of the cooking area. Several alternative embodiments and examples have been described and illustrated herein. A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate the features of the individual embodiments, and the possible combinations and variations of the components. A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the embodiments could be provided in any combination with the other embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third” as used herein are intended for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the embodiments in any way. Further, the term “plurality” as used herein indicates any number greater than one, either disjunctively or conjunctively, as necessary, up to an infinite number. It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein. While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The popularity of barbecue grills and outdoor cooking devices has increased tremendously over the last twenty-five years. Initially, charcoal barbecue grills having combustible solid fuel were utilized to cook food via radiant and convective heat. Subsequently, gas barbecue grills, which employ a gas burner, were utilized. Often, the food to be cooked in both charcoal and gas grills was situated on a grate having numerous elongated members, openings, and cross members which cause the grate to have a grid-like configuration. Accordingly, to cook food in such barbecue grills the radiant and convective heat energy dispelled from either the charcoal or gas burners passed through the cooking grate and were directed to the food. An example of the conventional grate is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,452 to Schlosser et al. There, the grate is formed from a plurality of elongated rods about openings, both of which are within a perimeter defined by a circular ring. Another example of the conventional grate is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,343 to Rigney et al. There, the grate has a generally rectangular shape with numerous openings and elongated structures. Conventional grates, including those described above, are adequate for cooking foods which are relatively large in size and which tend to cook in a harmonious mass, such as burgers, steaks, chops, hotdogs, sausage, chicken, etc. Conventional grates suffer, however, from an inability to cook small and/or delicate foods without the loss of substantial amounts of the small and/or delicate foods through the apertures in the standard grate. For example, fish tends to flake when cooked, and when cooked on a conventional grate, the fish is inadequately supported and tends to fall through the apertures in the grate. Similarly, sliced or chopped vegetables are often cooked on a barbecue grill to obtain a distinctive flavor and appeal, however, these smaller items also tend to fall through the cooking grate, making outdoor cooking of these items extremely frustrating. Various attempts have been made to develop devices for cooking or grilling specialty foods items, particularly small food items, on outdoor barbecue grills. Many of these devices suffer from additional deficiencies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,855 to Avner describes a secondary grilling apparatus, which comprises a flat sheet of metal with rectangular openings that clips onto the bars of conventional barbecue grills. The sheet provides a secondary area for grilling with smaller openings. However, the device cannot be easily taken out of the barbecue grill while hot. Further, the perforation design on the grate of the '855 patent may allow thermal stresses to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area. A second prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,786 to Brown. The '786 patent discloses a food pan for placing on the grate of a barbecue grill for permitting grilling of small foods which would otherwise fall through a conventional grate of a grill. The food pan of the '786 patent includes a plate member with plurality of apertures extending through the upper and lower surfaces of the plate member to permit heat and smoke to reach food on the plate member. The apertures of the plate member are arranged in grid-like fashion having a plurality of columns and rows. The columns extend between the ends of the plate member, and the rows extend between the sides of the plate member. Because of this design, the aperture design of the '786 patent may also allow thermal stresses in the plate member to accumulate and cause potential warping of the cooking area. Another prior art device is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 of this disclosure. This device is similar to the device disclosed in the '786 patent in that the plate member has a plurality of apertures arranged in a grid-like fashion having a plurality of rows and columns. Like the design of the '786 patent, this design has the same deficiencies; the cooking area could warp due to the accumulation of thermal stresses. One way in which manufacturers of these prior art devices attempted to control warping was to weld the sidewalls together in an attempt to make the basket more rigid. Unfortunately, this does not entirely solve the warping problem. Moreover, it adds unnecessary cost, and does not work with flat devices. Accordingly, a simple and inexpensive griddle device for cooking small and delicate foods reduces warping under heat and/or moisture in accordance with the present invention will provide an apparatus that attempts to eliminate the drawbacks of prior grate devices. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In order to obtain an optimal grilling/cooking flavor for barbecue-grilled items, it is preferred that the items are cooked on a surface having apertures to allow heated air and/or smoke to pass through the apertures to cook the food. The present invention provides a grate for barbecue grills that allows small and/or delicate foods to be cooked on barbecue grills to obtain the grilled flavor. The embodiments disclosed are relatively inexpensive and are easy to manufacture and use with a barbecue grill. Further, the present grilling apparatus can be utilized in conjunction with a conventional grate, or in place of a conventional grate. According to an aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a cooking area for small and/or delicate foods that reduces the rate of potential warping of the grilling apparatus upon the application of heat and/or moisture. In one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a grilling area with a plurality of apertures extending therethrough. The apertures extend transverse to one another. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the cooking area has a perimeter that is positioned a distance from an edge of the cooking grate. A plurality of apertures extend through the cooking area and are arranged on the cooking grate to preclude uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area of the cooking grate. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the cooking grate has a first edge, a second edge opposing the first edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge opposing the third edge. The cooking area is located between the edges of the cooking grate. A plurality of apertures extend through the cooking area of the cooking grate. The location of the apertures on the cooking grate precludes uninterrupted extension of a transverse plane across the cooking area and between the apertures thereof. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a plurality of opposing edges, a cooking area positioned between the opposing edges, and a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking area. A continuous line of the cooking area extends a length between the apertures, and the length of the continuous line of the cooking area is substantially less than the distance from one edge of the cooking grate to an opposing edge of the cooking grate. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus comprises a cooking grate having a plurality of apertures extending through the cooking grate, and a cooking area of the cooking grate extending around the apertures. The apertures are dimensioned such that any continuous line of the cooking area between the apertures and extending in a first direction extends a distance less than 40% of an overall length of the cooking grate in the first direction. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus includes at least one sidewall extending at an angle from the cooking grate. The sidewall depends from one of the edges of the cooking grate. In one embodiment, a plurality of apertures is also located in the sidewall. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the sidewalls of the grilling apparatus are not directly connected to an adjacent sidewall. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the apertures in the grilling apparatus are elongated in shape, and extend transverse to one another. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be made of any shape, including square, round, rectangular, polygonal, etc. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be utilized as a removable secondary grate for a conventional barbecue grill. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus can be used with a conventional grilling area without any alteration of the primary grill or grilling area. According to another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a grilling area suitable for cooking small and/or delicate foods which does not interfere with the interaction between the food and the aromatic substances contained in the cooking gases of the barbecue grill. According to yet another aspect of one embodiment, the grilling apparatus provides a grilling area that can be conveniently placed on or off a hot primary grill by means of handles, which reduces warping of the grilling apparatus. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings. | 20040621 | 20080311 | 20060713 | 61615.0 | A47J3707 | 2 | SIMONE, TIMOTHY F | GRILLING APPARATUS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | A47J | 2,004 |
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10,872,784 | ACCEPTED | Formulation | The invention relates to a novel sustained release pharmaceutical formulation adapted for administration by injection containing the compound 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol, more particularly to a formulation adapted for administration by injection containing the compound 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol in solution in a ricinoleate vehicle which additionally comprises at least one alcohol and a non-aqueous ester solvent which is miscible in the ricinoleate vehicle. | 1-23. (cancelled). 24. A method of treating a hormonal dependent benign or malignant disease of the breast or reproductive tract by administration to a human in need of such treatment an intra-muscular injection of a pharmaceutical formulation comprising fulvestrant, a mixture of from 8.5 to 11.5% weight of ethanol per volume of formulation, from 8.5 to 11.5% weight of benzyl alcohol per volume of formulation and 12 to 18% weight of benzyl benzoate per volume of formulation and a sufficient amount of a castor oil vehicle, whereby a therapeutically significant blood plasma fulvestrant concentration of at least 2.5 ngml−1 is attained for at least 2 weeks after injection. 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the amount of benzyl benzoate is 13 to 17% weight per volume of formulation. 26. The method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 25 wherein the benign or malignant disease is breast cancer. 27. The method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 25 wherein the blood plasma fulvestrant concentration is attained for at least 4 weeks after injection. 28. The method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 25 wherein the blood plasma fulvestrant concentration is attained for 2 to 5 weeks after injection. 29. A method of treating a hormonal dependent benign or malignant disease of the breast or reproductive tract by administration to a human in need of such treatment an intramuscular injection of a pharmaceutical formulation comprising fulvestrant, a mixture of from 8.5 to 11.5% weight of ethanol per volume of formulation, from 8.5 to 11.5% weight of benzyl alcohol per volume of formulation and 12 to 18% weight of benzyl benzoate per volume of formulation and a sufficient amount of a castor oil vehicle, whereby the formulation comprises at least 45 mgml−1 of fulvestrant. 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the amount of benzyl benzoate is 13 to 17% weight per volume of formulation. 31. The method as claimed in claim 29 or claim 30 wherein the benign or malignant disease is breast cancer. 32. The method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 29 wherein the total volume of the formulation administered to said human is 6 ml or less, and the concentration of fulvestrant in said formulation is at least 45 mgml−1. 33. The method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 29 wherein the total volume of the formulation administered to said human is 6 ml or less, and the total amount of fulvestrant in said volume of formulation is 250 mg or more. 34. The method as claimed in claim 33 wherein the total volume of the formulation is from 5 to 5.25 ml, and the total amount of fulvestrant in said volume of formulation is 250 mg. | The invention relates to a novel sustained release pharmaceutical formulation adapted for administration by injection containing the compound 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17,β-diol, more particularly to a formulation adapted for administration by injection containing the compound 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol in solution in a ricinoleate vehicle which additionally comprises at least one alcohol and a non-aqueous ester solvent which is miscible in the ricinoleate vehicle. Oestrogen deprivation is fundamental to the treatment of many benign and malignant diseases of the breast and reproductive tract. In premenopausal women, this is achieved by the ablation of ovarian function through surgical, radiotherapeutic, or medical means, and, in postmenopausal women, by the use of aromatase inhibitors. An alternative approach to oestrogen withdrawal is to antagonise oestrogens with antioestrogens. These are drugs that bind to and compete for oestrogen receptors (ER) present in the nuclei of oestrogen-responsive tissue. Conventional nonsteroidal antioestrogens, such as tamoxifen, compete efficiently for ER binding but their effectiveness is often limited by the partial agonism they display, which results in an incomplete blockade of oestrogen-mediated activity (Furr and Jordan 1984, May and Westley 1987). The potential for nonsteroidal antioestrogens to display agonistic properties prompted the search for novel compounds that would bind ER with high affinity without activating any of the normal transcriptional hormone responses and consequent manifestations of oestrogens. Such molecules would be “pure” antioestrogens, clearly distinguished from tamoxifen-like ligands and capable of eliciting complete ablation of the trophic effects of oestrogens. Such compounds are referred to as Estrogen Receptor-Downregulators (E.R.D.). The rationale for the design and testing of novel, pure antioestrogens has been described in: Bowler et al 1989, Wakeling 1990a, 1990b, 1990c. Wakeling and Bowler 1987, 1988. Steroidal analogues of oestradiol, with an alkylsulphinyl side chain in the 7α position, provided the first examples of compounds devoid of oestrogenic activity (Bowler et al 1989). One of these, 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentyl sulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5-(10)triene-3,17β-diol was selected for intensive study on the basis of its pure oestrogen antagonist activity and significantly increased antioestrogenic potency over other available antioestrogens. In vitro findings and early clinical experience with 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3-5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol have promoted interest in the development of the drug as a therapeutic agent for oestrogen-dependent indications such as breast cancer and certain benign gynaecological conditions. 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-Pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3-5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol, or ICI 182,780, has been allocated the international non-proprietary name fulvestrant, which is used hereinafter. When referring to fulvestrant we include pharmaceutically-acceptable salts thereof and any possible solvates of either thereof. Fulvestrant binds to ER with an affinity similar to that of oestradiol and completely lo blocks the growth stimulatory action of oestradiol on human breast cancer cells in vitro; it is more potent and more effective than tamoxifen in this respect. Fulvestrant blocks completely the uterotrophic action of oestradiol in rats, mice and monkeys, and also blocks the uterotrophic activity of tamoxifen. Because fulvestrant has none of the oestrogen-like stimulatory activity that is characteristic of clinically available antioestrogens such as tamoxifen or toremifene, it may offer improved therapeutic activity characterised by more rapid, complete, or longer-lasting tumour regression; a lower incidence or rate of development of resistance to treatment; and a reduction of tumour invasiveness. In intact adult rats, fulvestrant achieves maximum regression of the uterus at a dose which does not adversely affect bone density or lead to increased gonadotrophin secretion. If also true in humans, these findings could be of extreme importance clinically. Reduced bone density limits the duration of oestrogen-ablative treatment for endometriosis. Fulvestrant does not block hypothalamic ER. Oestrogen ablation also causes or exacerbates hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms; fulvestrant will not cause such effects because it does not cross the blood-brain barrier. European Patent Application No. 0 138 504 discloses that certain steroid derivatives are effective antioestrogenic agents. The disclosure includes information relating to the preparation of the steroid derivatives. In particular there is the disclosure within Example 35 of the compound 7α-[9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulphinyl)nonyl]oestra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol, which compound is specifically named in claim 4. It is also disclosed that the compounds of that invention may be provided for use in the form of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a steroid derivative of the invention together with a pharmaceutically-acceptable diluent or carrier. It is stated therein that the composition can be in a form suitable for oral or parenteral administration. Fulvestrant shows, along with other steroidal based compounds, certain physical properties which make formulation of these compounds difficult. Fulvestrant is a particularly lipophilic molecule, even when compared with other steroidal compounds, and its aqueous solubility is extremely low at around 10 ngml−1 (this is an estimate from a water/solvent mixture solute since measurements this low could not be achieved in a water only solute). Currently there are a number of sustained release injectable steroidal formulations which have been commercialised. Commonly these formulations use oil as a solvent and wherein additional excipients may be present. Below in Table 1 are described a few commercialised sustained release injectable formulations; In the formulations within Table 1 a number of different oils are used to solubilise the compound and additional excipients such as benzyl benzoate, benzyl alcohol and ethanol have been used. Volumes of oil needed to solubilise the steroid active ingredient are low. Extended release is achievable for periods from 1 to 8 weeks. TABLE 1 OIL BASED LONG-ACTING INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTIONS PRODUCT NAME STEROID DOSE TYPE COMP'. SOURCE OIL BzBz BzOH EtOH DOSE DOSING SUSTANON 100 Testosterone 30 mg Androgen Organon ABPI Data Arachis 0.1 ml 1 ml 3 weeks proprionate Testosterone 60 mg Sheet phenyl- Comp. 1999 proprionate Testosterone 60 mg isocaproate Testosterone 100 mg decanoate PROLUTON Hydroxy 250 mgml−1 Progestogen Schering ABPI Data Castor up to 1 or 1 week DEPOT progesterone HC Sheet 46% 2 ml hexanoate Comp. 1999 TOCOGESTAN Hydroxy 200 mg Progestogen Theramax Dict. Vidal Ethyl *40% 2 ml <1 week progesterone 1999 oleate enantate Progesterone 50 mg α- 250 mg Tocopherol TROPHOBOLENE Estrapronicate 1.3 mg Mixed Theramax Dict. Vidal Olive 45% 1 ml 15 to 30 Nandrolone 50 mg 1997 days undecanoate Hydroxy- 80 mg progesterone heptanoate NORISTERAT Norethisterone 200 mg Contra- Schering ABPI Data Castor YES 1 ml 8 weeks oenanthoate ceptive HC Sheet Comp. 1999 BENZO- Estradiol 5 mg Estradiol Roussel Dict. Vidal Arachis 1 ml 1 week GYNOESTRYL hexahydro- 1998 benzoate PROGESTERONE- Hydroxy 250 mgml−1 Progestogen Pharlon Dict. Vidal Castor YES 1 or 1 week RETARD progesterone 1999 2 ml caproate GRAVIBINAN Estradiol 5 mgml−1 Mixed Schering Dict. Vidal Castor YES 1 or 1-2 17-β-valerate Hydroxy- 250 mgml−1 HC 1995 2 ml weeks progesterone caproate PARABOLAN Trenbolone 76 mg Androgen Negma Dict. Vidal Arachis 75 mg 45 mg 1.5 ml 2 weeks 1997 DELESTROGEN Estradiol 20 mgml−1 Estradiol BMS J.Pharm. Castor 78% 20% 2% valerate 40 mgml−1 Sci 58% 40% 2% (1964) 53(8) 891 DELALUTIN 17-Hydroxy 250 mgml−1 Progestrogen DMS J.Pharm. Castor YES YES up to progesterone Sci.(1964) 2% 53(8) 891 BzBz = benzylbenzoate BzOH = benzylalcohol EtOH = ethanol Dict. Vidal = Dictionnaire Vidal % are w/v and *approximate as measured directly from a single sample described which comprises 50 mg of fulvestrant, 400 mg of benzyl alcohol and sufficient castor oil to bring the solution to a volume of 1 ml. Manufacture at a commercial scale of a formulation as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,814 will be complicated by the high alcohol concentration. Therefore, there is a need to lower the alcohol concentration in fulvestrant formulations whilst preventing precipitation of fulvestrant from the formulation. Table 2 shows the solubility of fulvestrant in a number of different solvents. TABLE 2 SOLUBILITY OF FULVESTRANT SOLUBILITY SOLVENT (mgml−1 at 25° C.) Water 0.001 Arachis oil 0.45 Sesame oil 0.58 Castor oil 20 Miglyol 810 3.06 Miglyol 812 2.72 Ethyl oleate 1.25 Benzyl benzoate 6.15 Isopropyl myristate 0.80 Span 85 (surfactant) 3.79 Ethanol >200 Benzyl Alcohol >200 As can be seen fulvestrant is significantly more soluble in castor oil than any of the other oils tested. The greater solvating ability of castor oil for steroidal compounds is known and is attributed to the high number of hydroxy groups of ricinoleic acid, which is the major constituent of the fatty acids within the triglycerides present in castor oil—see (Riffkin et.al. J. Pharm. Sci., (1964), 53, 891). However, even when using the best oil based solvent, castor oil, we have found that it is not possible to dissolve fulvestrant in an oil based solvent alone so as to achieve a high enough concentration to dose a patient in a low volume injection and achieve a therapeutically significant release rate. To achieve a therapeutically significant release rate the amount of fulvestrant needed would require the formulation volume to be large, at least 10 ml. This requires the doctor to inject an excessively large volume of formulation to administer a dose significantly high enough for human therapy. Currently guidelines recommend that no more than 5 mls of liquid is injected intramuscularly in a single injection. Pharmacologically active doses required for a 1 month long acting depot formulation of fulvestrant is around 250 mg. Therefore, when dissolved in just castor oil, fulvestrant would need to be administered in at least 10 ml of castor oil. The addition of organic solvents in which fulvestrant is freely soluble, and which are to miscible with castor oil, may be used, such as an alcohol. With the addition of high concentrations of an alcohol concentrations of >50 mgml−1 of fulvestrant in a castor oil formulation is achievable, thereby giving an injection volumes of <5 ml—see Table 3 below. We have surprisingly found that the introduction of a non-aqueous ester solvent which is miscible in the castor oil and an alcohol surprisingly eases the solubilisation of fulvestrant into a concentration of at least 50 mgml−1—see Table 3 below. The finding is surprising since the solubility of fulvestrant in non-aqueous ester solvents—see Table 2 above—is significantly lower than the solubility of fulvestrant in an alcohol. The solubility of fulvestrant is also lower in non-aqueous ester solvents than is the solubility of fulvestrant in castor oil. Therefore, we present as a feature of the invention a pharmaceutical formulation comprising fulvestrant (preferably fulvestrant is present at 3-10% w/v, 4-9% w/v, 4-8% w/v, 4-7% w/v, 4-6% w/v and most preferably at about 5% w/v) in a ricinoleate vehicle, a pharmaceutically acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent, and a pharmaceutically acceptable alcohol wherein the formulation is adapted for intramuscular administration and attaining a therapeutically significant blood plasma fulvestrant concentration for at least 2 weeks. Another feature of the invention is a pharmaceutical formulation comprising fulvestrant in which the formulation is adapted for intramuscular injection into a human and which is capable after injection of attaining a therapeutically significant blood plasma fulvestrant concentration for at least 2 weeks. Further features of the invention include a pharmaceutical formulation adapted for intramuscular injection comprising fulvestrant, 30% or less weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol per volume of formulation, at least 1% weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent miscible in a ricinoleate vehicle per volume of formulation and a sufficient amount of a ricinoleate vehicle so as to prepare a formulation which is capable after injection of attaining a therapeutically significant blood plasma fulvestrant concentration for at least 2 weeks. Further features of the invention include a pharmaceutical formulation adapted for intramuscular injection comprising fulvestrant; 35% (preferably 30% and ideally 25%) or less weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol per volume of formulation, at least 1% (preferably at least 5% or ideally 10%) weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent miscible within a ricinoleate vehicle per volume of formulation and a sufficient amount of a ricinoleate vehicle so as to prepare a formulation of at least 45 mgml−1 of fulvestrant. For the avoidance of any doubt when using the term % weight per volume of formulation for the constituents of the formulation we mean that within a unit volume of the formulation a certain percentage of the constituent by weight will be present, for example a 1% weight per volume formulation will contain within a 100 ml volume of formulation 1 g of the constituent. By way of further illustration % of x by weight per weight of x in volume of formulation 1 ml of formulation 30% 300 mg 20% 200 mg 10% 100 mg 5% 50 mg 1% 10 mg Preferred pharmaceutical formulations of the invention are as described above wherein: 1. The total volume of the formulation is 6 ml, or less, and the concentration of fulvestrant is at least 45 mgml−1. 2. The total amount of fulvestrant in the formulation is 250 mg, or more, and the total volume of the formulation is 6 ml, or less. 3. The total amount of fulvestrant in the formulation is 250 mg and the total volume of the formulation is 5-5.25 ml. It is appreciated that in the formulation an excess of formulation may be included to allow the attendant physician or care giver to be able to deliver the required dose. Therefore, when a 5 ml dose is required it would be appreciated that an excess of up to 0.25 ml, preferably up to 0.15 ml will also be present in the formulation. Typically the formulation will be presented in a vial or a prefilled syringe, preferably a prefilled syringe, containing a unit dosage of the formulation as described herein, these being further features of the invention. Preferred concentrations of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol present in any of the above formulations are; at least 3% w/v, at least 5% w/v, at least 7% w/v, at least 10% w/v, at least 11% w/v, at least 12% w/v, at least 13% w/v, at least 14% w/v, at least 15% w/v and, preferably, at least 16% w/v. Preferred maximal concentrations of pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol present in the formulation are; 28% w/v or less, 22% w/v or less and 20% w/v or less. Preferred ranges of pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol present in any of the above formulations are selected from any minimum or maximum value described above and preferably are; 3-35% w/v, 4-35% w/v, 5-35% w/v, 5-32% w/v, 7-32% w/v, 10-30% w/v, 12-28% w/v, 15-25% w/v, 17-23% w/v, 18-22% w/v and ideally 19-21% w/v. The pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol may consist of one alcohol or a mixture of two or more alcohols, preferably a mixture of two alcohols. Preferred pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohols for parenteral administration are ethanol, benzyl alcohol or a mixture of both ethanol and benzyl alcohol, preferably the ethanol and benzyl alcohol are present in the formulation in the same w/v amounts. Preferably the formulation alcohol contains 10% w/v ethanol and 10% w/v benzyl alcohol. The pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent may consist of one or a mixture of two or more pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvents, preferably just one. A preferred pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent for parenteral administration is selected from benzyl benzoate, ethyl oleate, isopropyl myristate,isopropyl palmitate or a mixture of any thereof. The ricinoleate vehicle should preferably be present in the formulation in a proportion of at least 30% weight per volume of the formulation, ideally at least 40% or at least 50% weight per volume of formulation. It will be understood by the skilled person that the pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol will be of a quality such that it will meet pharmacopoeial standards (such as are described in the US, British, European and Japanese pharmacopoeias) and as such will contain some water and possibly other organic solvents, for example ethanol in the US Pharmacopeia contains not less than 94.9% by volume and not more than 96.0% by volume of ethanol when measured at 15.56° C. Dehydrated alcohol in the US Pharmacopeia contains not less than 99.5% ethanol by volume when measured at 15.56° C. Preferred concentrations of the pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent present in any of the above formulations are; at least 5% w/v, at least 8% w/v, at least 10% w/v, at least 11% w/v, at least 12% w/v, at least 13% w/v, at least 15% w/v, at least 16% w/v, at least 17% w/v, at least 18% w/v, at least 19% w/v and at least 20% w/v. Preferred maximal concentrations of the pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent are; 60% w/v or less, 50% w/v or less, 45% w/v or less, 40% w/v or less, 35% w/v or less, 30% w/v or less and 25% w/v or less. A preferred concentration is 15% w/v. Preferred ranges of pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent present in any of the above formulations are selected from any minimum or maximum value described above and preferably are; 5-60% w/v, 7-55% w/v, 8-50% w/v, 10-50% w/v, 10-45% w/v, 10-40% w/v, 10-35% w/v, 10-30% w/v, 10-25% w/v, 12-25% w/v, 12-22% w/v, 12-20% w/v, 12-18% w/v, 13-17% w/v and ideally 14-16% w/v. Preferably the ester solvent is benzyl benzoate, most preferably at about 15% w/v. It will be understood by the skilled person that the pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent will be of a quality that it will meet pharmacopoeial standards (such as described in the US, British, European and Japanese pharmacopoeias). Preferred combinations of pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol and pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent in the formulation are set out below: Pharmaceutically- Pharmaceutically-acceptable acceptable non-aqueous alcohol(% w/v) ester (% w/v) 10-30 5-60, 7-55, 8-50, 10-50, 10-45, 10-40, 10-35, 10-30, 10-25, 12-25, 12-22, 12-20, 12-18, 13-17 and ideally 14-16. 17-23 5-60, 7-55, 8-50, 10-50, 10-45, 10-40, 10-35, 10-30, 10-25, 12-25, 12-22, 12-20, 12-18, 13-17 and ideally 14-16. 3-35, 4-35, 5-35, 5-32, 7-32, 10-35 10-30, 12-28, 15-25, 17-23, 18-22 and ideally 19- 3-35, 4-35, 5-35, 5-32, 7-32, 12-18 10-30, 12-28, 15-25, 17-23, 18-22 and ideally 19-21. ethanol and benzyl alcohol, most benzyl benzoate, most preferably each at about 10% preferably at about 15% By the use of the term ricinoleate vehicle we mean an oil which has as a proportion (at least 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% or 95% w/v) of its composition as triglycerides of ricinoleic acid. The ricinoleate vehicle may be a synthetic oil or conveniently is castor oil, ideally of pharmacopoeial standards, as described above. We have surprisingly found that the above formulations of the invention provide, after intramuscular injection, satisfactory release of fulvestrant over an extended period of time. This finding is indeed surprising for the following reasons. 1. Previously tested by the applicants have been intra-muscular injections of fulvestrant in the form of an aqueous suspension. We have found extensive local tissue irritation at the injection site as well as a poor release profile. It is believed that the tissue irritation/inflammation was due to the presence of fulvestrant in the form of solid particles. The release profile appeared to be determined by the extent of inflammation/irritation present at the injection site and this was variable and difficult to control. Also the fulvestrant release rate was not sufficiently high to be clinically significant. 2. Our findings from studies using 14C labelled benzyl alcohol show that it dissipates rapidly from the injection site and is removed from the body within 24 hours of administration. It would be expected that ethanol will dissipate at least as quickly, if not more rapidly, from the injection site. It is known that benzyl benzoate is metabolised by conjugation to glycine to form hippuric acid by the human liver and excreted into the urine—Martindale: The Extra Pharmacopoeia 32nd edition page 1103, and, therefore, it is unlikely that benzyl benzoate, when used, is present at the injection site during the whole of the extended release period. We have found that despite the rapid elimination of the additional solubilising excipients, i.e. the alcohol and pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent, from the formulation vehicle and the site of injection after injection of the formulation, extended release at therapeutically significant levels of fulvestrant over an extended period can still achieved by the formulation of the invention. By use of the term “therapeutically significant levels” we mean that blood plasma concentrations of at least 2.5 ngml−1, ideally at least 3 ngml−1, at least 8.5 ngml−1, and up to 12 ngml−1 of fulvestrant are achieved in the patient. Preferably blood plasma levels should be less than 15 ngml−1. By use of the term “extended release” we mean at least two weeks, at least three weeks, and, preferably at least four weeks of continuous release of fulvestrant is achieved. In a preferred feature extended release is achieved for 36 days. Preferably extended release of fulvestrant is for at least 2-5 weeks and more preferably for the following periods (weeks) 2.5-5, 2.5-4, 3-4, 3.5-4 and most preferably for at least about 4 weeks. It will be understood that the attendant physician may wish to administer the intramuscular injection as a divided dose, i.e. a 5 ml formulation is sequentially administered in two separate injections of 2.5 ml, this is a further feature of the invention Simply solubilising fulvestrant in an oil based liquid formulation is not predictive of a good release profile or lack of precipitation of drug after injection at the injection site. Table 3 shows the solubility of fulvestrant in a castor oil vehicle additionally containing alcohols ethanol and benzyl alcohol with or without benzyl benzoate. The results clearly show the positive effect of benzyl benzoate on fulvestrant solubility in castor oil, despite fulvestrant having a lower solubility in benzyl benzoate than in either alcohol or castor oil. TABLE 3 EFFECT OF BENZYL BENZOATE ON FULVESTRANT SOLUBILITY IN CASTOR OIL AT 25° C. % w/v Ethanol 5 5 10 10 10 10 15 15 (96%) Benzyl 5 5 5 5 10 10 15 15 Alcohol Benzyl 15 15 15 15 Benzoate Castor Oil to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 Fulvestrant 27 36 46 54 45 65 76 102 Solubility [mgml−1] The following Table 4 shows the solubility of fulvestrant in a range of oil based formulations which contain the same amounts of alcohol and benzyl benzoate but in which the oil is changed. The data also shows solubility of fulvestrant after removal of the alcohols. TABLE 4 Solubility comparisons of fulvestrant in oil based formulations with and without alcohols Fulvestrant Solubility mg ml−1 @ 25° C. Complete Vehicle minus Formulation(a) vehicle alcohols Castor oil based 81.2 12.6 Miglyol 812-N based 86.8 1.7 Sesame seed/ 70.1 4.4 Castor oil (1:1) based Sesame seed oil based 45.7 0.7 Arachis oil based 40.2 <0.2 (a)Complete Vehicle Formulations comprised ethanol [96%](10%), benzyl alcohol (10%) and benzyl benzoate (15%) made to volume with the stated oil. Excess fulvestrant was added to each solvent mixture and solubility determined. Effect of formulation on precipitation of fulvestrant at the injection site Days Formulationa 2 3 4 7 10 30 51 Formulation F1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 castor oil based Formulation F2 ++b +++ +++ +++ +++ ++ 0 Miglyol 812-N based Formulation F3 +c ++ ++ +++ ++ + + sesame seed oil/castor oil based 0, +, ++, +++ = Degree of precipitation (None detected, Mild, Moderate, Severe) aFormulations comprised fulvestrant (5%), ethanol [96%] (10%), benzyl alcohol (10%) and benzyl benzoate (15%) made to volume with the stated oil. bMainly large needle shaped crystals cSmall needles and/or sheafs of crystals Precipitation of fulvestrant and the release profile was determined with the above formulations in an in vivo rabbit study. FIG. 1 shows the release profile in vivo of the four formulations from the second part of Table 4 and shows the effect of the fixed oil component on fulvestrant-plasma profile over five days following intramuscular administration in rabbits (data normalised to 50 mg per 3 kg; mean given; number of animals per timepoint=8, plasma samples assayed for fulvestrant content using ic-ms/ms detection following solvent extraction). As can be seen the castor oil formulation showed a particularly even release profile with no evidence of precipitation of fulvestrant at the injection site. Therefore we present as a further feature of the invention an extended release pharmaceutical formulation adapted for intramuscular injection comprising fulvestrant; 35% (preferably 30% or ideally 25%) or less weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol per volume of formulation, at least 1% (preferably at least 5% or ideally 10%) weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent miscible in a ricinoleate vehicle per volume of formulation and sufficient amount of a ricinoleate vehicle, taking into account the addition of any further optional pharmaceutically-acceptable excipients, so as to prepare a formulation of at least 45 mgml−1 of fulvestrant. A further feature of the invention is a pharmaceutical formulation adapted for intramuscular injection, as defined above, for use in medical therapy. A further feature of the invention is a method of treating a benign or malignant diseases of the breast or reproductive tract, preferably treating breast cancer, by administration to a human in need of such treatment by intramuscular injection an extended release ricinoleate vehicle based pharmaceutical formulation comprising at least 45mgml−1 of fulvestrant; 35% (preferably 30% or ideally 25%) or less weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol per volume of formulation, at least 1% (preferably at least 5% or ideally 10%) weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent miscible in a ricinoleate vehicle per volume of formulation. Preferably 5 ml of the intramuscular injection is administered. A further feature of the invention is use of fulvestrant in the preparation of a pharmaceutical formulation as describe hereinabove, for the treatment of a benign or malignant disease of the breast or reproductive tract, preferably treating breast cancer. Additional excipients commonly used in the formulation field including, for example, an antioxidant preservative, a colorant or a surfactant may be used. A preferred optional excipient is a surfactant. As described above fulvestrant is useful in the treatment of oestrogen-dependent indications such as breast cancer and gynaecological conditions, such as endometriosis. In addition to fulvestrant another similar type of molecule is currently under clinical investigation. SH-646 (11βfluoro-7α-(14,14,15,15,15-pentafluoro-6-methyl-10-thia-6-azapentadecyl)estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol) is also putatively a compound with the same mode of action as fulvestrant and has a very similar chemical structure. It is believed that the compound will also share with fulvestrant similar physical properties and therefore the current invention will also have application with this compound. A further feature of the invention is a pharmaceutical formulation adapted for intra-muscular injection comprising 11β-fluoro-7α-(14,14,15,15,15-pentafluoro-6-methyl-10-thia-6-azapentadecyl)estra-1,3,5(10)-trienie-3,17β-diol; 35% or less weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable alcohol per volume of formulation, at least 1% weight of a pharmaceutically-acceptable non-aqueous ester solvent miscible within a ricinoleate vehicle per volume of formulation and a sufficient amount of a ricinoleate vehicle so as to prepare a formulation of at least 45 mgml−1 of 11β-fluoro-7α-(14,14,15,15,15-pentafluoro-6-methyl-10-thia-6-azapentadecyl)estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol. Further features of the invention are those as described above but in which SH-646 is substituted for fulvestrant. FORMULATION EXAMPLE Fulvestrant is mixed with alcohol and benzyl alcohol, stirring until completely dissolved. Benzyl benzoate is added and the solution is made to final weight with castor oil and stirred, (for convenience weight is used rather than volume by using the weight to volume ratio). The bulk solution is overlaid with Nitrogen. The solution is sterilised by filtration using one or two filters of 0.2 μm porosity. The sterile filtrate is kept under a nitrogen overlay as it is filled under aseptic conditions into washed and depyrogenised, sterile primary containers, for example vials or pre-filled syringes. An overage is included in the primary pack to facilitate removal of the dose volume. The primary packs are overlaid with sterile nitrogen, before aseptically sealing. See also Process Flow Diagram Below Quantities of each component of the formulation is chosen according to the required formulation specification, examples are described above. For example quantities are added of each component to prepare a formulation which contains 10% weight per volume of benzyl alcohol 10% weight per volume of ethanol 15% weight per volume of benzyl benzoate 250 mg of fulvestrant for each 5 ml of finished formulation and the remaining amount as castor oil References 1. Bowler J, Lilley T J, Pittam J D, Wakeling A E. Novel steroidal pure antioestrogens. Steroids 989; 5471-99. 2. Wakeling A E. Novel pure antioestrogens: mode of action and therapeutic prospects. American New York Academy Science 1990a; 595: 348-56. 3. Wakeling A E. Steroidal pure antioestrogens. In Lippman M, Dickson R, editors. Regulatory mechanisms in breast cancer. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1990b: 239-57. 4. Wakeling A E. Therapeutic potential of pure antioestrogens in the treatment of breast cancer. Journal Steroid Biochemistry 1990c; 37: 771-5. 5. Wakeling A E, Bowler J. Steroidal pure antioestrogens. Journal Endocrinology 1987; 112: R7-10. 6. Wakeling A E, Bowler J. Biology and mode of action of pure antioestrogens. Journal Steroid Biochemistry 1988; 3: 141-7. | 20040622 | 20081125 | 20050224 | 66080.0 | 24 | HUI, SAN MING R | FORMULATION | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,811 | ACCEPTED | Optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from optical disk | The present invention relates, in general, to an optical pickup and apparatus for recording and reproducing information on and from an optical recording medium, such as a compact disk or a digital versatile disk and, more particularly, to an optical pickup device, which improves a write quality while reducing efforts to set write strategies at the time of designing a pickup drive. | 1. An optical pickup device, the device including an optical system for radiating a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser onto an optical disk or receiving light reflected from the optical disk to perform writing and reading of information, comprising: memory means for storing therein optimum write strategies in consideration of types of optical disks and write speeds; and write signal correcting means for reading a write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used from the memory means on the basis of an external control signal and correcting a write signal. 2. The optical pickup device according to claim 1, further comprising: determining means for determining a type of optical disk being used; and write strategy selecting means for selecting the write strategy corresponding to the optical disk type determined by the determining means from the memory means, and providing the selected write strategy to the write signal correcting means. 3. The optical pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the write strategies stored in the memory means are set in consideration of properties of the optical system. 4. The optical pickup device according to claim 3, wherein the properties of the optical system include at least one parameter of a wavelength of the semiconductor laser, a shape of a light spot formed on the optical disk, and a radiation angle of the semiconductor laser. 5. The optical pickup device according to claim 4, wherein the write strategies stored in the memory means are set so that a rate of a write pulse width of write strategy data is increased to a predetermined rate as the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is lengthened. 6. The optical pickup device according to claim 4, wherein the write strategies stored in the memory means are set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a radiation angle of a laser beam of the semiconductor laser with respect to a direction of a track of the optical disk is decreased. 7. The optical pickup device according to claim 4, wherein the write strategies stored in the memory means are set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a size of a light spot formed on the optical disk in a direction of a track of the optical disk is increased. 8. An apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk, the apparatus having the optical pickup device of any of claims 1 to 7 in which unique write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency are stored in the memory means, the apparatus comprising: sub-memory means for storing therein unique write strategies for optical disks with a low use frequency; and write strategy writing means for selecting a write strategy corresponding to an optical disk being used from the sub-memory means and writing the selected write strategy in the memory means. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates, in general, to an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording and reproducing information on and from an optical recording medium, such as a compact disk or a digital versatile disk. 2. Description of the Related Art Recently, with the development of information and communication technology, networks, such as the Internet, have been rapidly popularized, so that a, large quantity of information has been actively exchanged through the networks. In such conditions, a read-only optical disk, such as a Compact Disk-Recordable (CD-R), or a rewritable optical disk, such as CD-Rewritable (CD-RW), has been spotlighted as a recording medium. Recently, an optical disk having a large capacity, such as Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)-R, DVD-RW and DVD-Random Access Memory (RAM), has been used as an information recording medium, as the wavelength of a semiconductor laser, a laser light source, is shortened, the diameter of a focal spot of an objective lens with a high Numerical Aperture (NA) is decreased, and a thin substrate is employed. The recording of information on a CD-R or the like is executed after converting write data obtained from a Personal Computer (PC), etc. into Eight to Fourteen Modulation (EFM) signals. In this case, a problem arises in that marks are poorly formed due to the heat accumulation and insufficient cooling speed of an optical disk attributable to the difference between the compositions of the dye recording layers of optical disks being used. Therefore, even though EFM signals are required to be recorded without change, required lands or spaces cannot be formed. Therefore, there has been employed a scheme of determining a unique write parameter of each of optical disks being used (hereinafter referred to as a “write strategy”) with respect to a write waveform which is a reference, and then maintaining an excellent write quality. However, this scheme is disadvantageous in that the load of a developer is increased to determine unique write strategies for respective optical disks being used, differences arise in write strategies, set using skillfulness based on previous experiences, and consequently differences arise in write qualities. Further, recently, as demands for the recording on an optical disk at a high density or at a high speed are further increased, the width of a write pulse becomes fine in response to the demands. However, for example, if the fine write pulse is generated at a pickup drive of an optical disk system and then provided to a semiconductor laser in an optical pickup through a flexible cable or the like, a write pulse having an exact shape cannot be transmitted due to the influence of the resistance or capacitance of the flexible cable. Further, in order to produce high quality write data, it is necessary to vary write conditions according to the unique properties of optical pickups, as well as the compositions of dye recording layers constituting each optical disk or write speeds. However, it is difficult to learn the unique properties of an optical pickup at a pickup drive and reflect the learned properties in a write strategy. Therefore, there has been proposed a technology to vary a write strategy at a pickup drive in consideration of the diameter of the light spot of an optical pickup (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-183960) has been proposed, or a technology to vary a write strategy at a pickup drive in consideration of the surrounding temperature of the optical pickup (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-297437). However, the above technologies are problematic in that it is difficult to optimize a write strategy without the help of the pickup drive, and the efforts of a developer of the pickup drive are not improved at all. Further, it is actually difficult for a drive manufacturer, which cannot learn the optical properties of respective optical pickups, to set write strategies, in which the unique properties of optical pickups are reflected, at the pickup drive, as described above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk, which improves a write quality while reducing efforts to set a write strategy at the time of designing a pickup drive. In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an optical pickup device, the device including an optical system for radiating a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser onto an optical disk or receiving light reflected from the optical disk to perform writing and reading of information, comprising memory means for storing therein optimum write strategies in consideration of types of optical disks and write speeds; and write signal correcting means for reading a write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used from the memory means on the basis of an external control signal and correcting a write signal. According to the present invention, the optical pickup device is provided with the means for storing therein optimum write strategies corresponding to respective optical disks and the means for correcting a write signal on the basis of the write strategies, thus preventing the degradation of the write signal and realizing a write operation with a high write quality. Preferably, the optical pickup device may further comprise determining means for determining a type of optical disk being used; and write strategy selecting means for selecting the write strategy corresponding to the optical disk type determined by the determining means from the memory means, and providing the selected write strategy to the write signal correcting means. According to the present invention, the optical pickup device is provided with the determining means for determining the type of optical disk, and the means for selecting a write strategy corresponding to the determined optical disk type from the memory means and providing the selected write strategy to the write signal correcting means, thus realizing a write operation using the optimum write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used without depending on an externally applied control signal. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set in consideration of properties of the optical system. According to the present invention, write strategies stored in the memory means are set and adopted in consideration of the optical system properties of the optical pickup devices, thus realizing a write operation with a high write quality by the unique write strategies for the optical pickup devices. Preferably, the properties of the optical system may include at least one parameter of a wavelength of the semiconductor laser, a shape of a light spot formed on the optical disk, and a radiation angle of the semiconductor laser. According to the present invention, the properties of the optical system include at least one parameter of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser greatly influencing the setting of the write strategy, the shape of the light spot formed on then optical disk, and the radiation angle of the semiconductor laser, so that the write strategy is set in consideration of such a parameter, thus enabling a write operation with a high write quality. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of write strategy data is increased to a predetermined rate as the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is lengthened. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a radiation angle of a laser beam of the semiconductor laser with respect to a direction of a track of the optical disk is decreased. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a size of a light spot formed on the optical disk in a direction of a track of the optical disk is increased. In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk, the apparatus having the optical pickup device in which unique write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency are stored in the memory means, the apparatus comprising sub-memory means for storing therein unique write strategies for optical disks with a low use frequency; and write strategy writing means for selecting a write strategy corresponding to an optical disk being used from the sub-memory means and writing the selected write strategy in the memory means. According to the present invention, since optimum write strategies corresponding to respective optical disks are stored in the memory means within the optical pickup device, the degradation of write signals can be prevented and a write operation with a high write quality can be realized. Further, unique write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency are stored in the memory means within the optical pickup device, and unique write strategies for optical disks with a low use frequency are stored in the memory means within the pickup drive, thus reducing the load of the memory means within the optical pickup device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a view showing the construction of an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a view showing a relationship between write powers and jitter values when information is written while the wavelength of a semiconductor laser is varied; FIGS. 3a and 3b are views showing a relationship between write powers and jitter values when information is written on a CD-RW using optical pickup devices that employ semiconductor lasers having almost similar wavelengths; and FIG. 4 is a view showing the construction of an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 to FIGS. 3a and 3b. Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. First embodiment As shown in FIG. 1, an apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from a compact disk according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an optical pickup device 100 and a pickup drive 200, wherein the optical pickup device 100 is comprised of a Laser Diode (LD) 101, an LD driver 102, a write signal correcting means 103, a light receiving means 104 and a main memory 105. The LD 101, which is a semiconductor laser source, records information on an optical disk by focusing laser beams onto the optical disk and guiding reflected light to the light receiving means 104 by focusing laser beams onto a recording track of the optical disk, through the use of the elements of an optical system within the optical pickup device 100, such as a collimator lens (not shown), an objective lens (not shown) driven by a focus actuator or tracking actuator, a polarization beam splitter (not shown), and a cylindrical lens (not shown). The LD driver 102 is a driving means for supplying desired optical output power or a current corresponding to a write pulse to the LD 101. The write signal correcting means 103 performs a predetermined correction with respect to a write signal input from, for example, an external Personal Computer (PC), using write strategies stored in the main memory 105, and generates a signal used to form a space or a mark corresponding to the write signal on the optical disk 1. The light receiving means 104 converts light reflected from the optical disk 1 into an electrical signal, and is comprised of four-segmented or two-segmented photodetectors (PDs). Further, the light receiving means 104 may include a front monitor diode for monitoring a laser output at the time of recording/reproducing information. The main memory 105 is a storage device for storing therein, in particular, the write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency, and is implemented with a recordable Random Access Memory (RAM). In the meantime, the pickup drive 200 includes a head amplifier 201, a sub-memory 202, a write strategy selecting means 203, a read signal processing circuit 204 and a write condition determining unit 205. The head amplifier 201 detects the light reflected from the optical disk 1, and calculates the amount of the reflected light to generate an RF signal representing the total amount of light reflected to respective regions of a four-segmented PD, to generate a Focus Error (FE) signal representing the focus deviation of a laser beam radiated from the optical pickup device 100 using an astigmatism method, and to generate a Tracking Error (TE) signal representing the deviation of the laser beam of the optical pickup device 100 from tracks using a push-pull method. The sub-memory 202 is a storage device for storing therein, in particular, write strategies for optical disks having a low use frequency, and is implemented with, for example, a recordable RAM or etc. The write strategy selecting means 203 commands the write signal correcting means 103 to read a write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used 1 from the main memory 105 on the basis of information obtained by the write condition determining unit 205. The read signal processing circuit 204 reads information, such as Identification (ID) or write speed of the optical disk 1 from the RF signal generated by the head amplifier 201, and outputs the read information to the write condition determining unit 205. Further, the read signal processing circuit 204 generates control signals for a servo system, such as focus, tracking, spindle and carriage, on the basis of the signals input from the head amplifier 201. The write condition determining unit 205 generates write strategy selection information on the basis of the information input from the read signal processing circuit 204. In the information recording/reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a spindle motor (not shown) on which the optical disk 1 is mounted is rotated, and a setup operation of the servo system is executed. After the setup operation has been completed, the optical pickup device 100 performs an operation of searching data at a predetermined address so as to read disk information from the optical disk 1. If the optical pickup device 100 moves to the predetermined address, laser beams are focused onto the optical disk 1, and laser beams reflected from the optical disk 1 are received by the light receiving means 104. The laser beams incident on the plurality of photodetectors constituting the light receiving means 104 are converted into a plurality of electrical signals and then input to the head amplifier 201. The head amplifier 201 calculates the plurality of input electrical signals to generate an RF signal, and output the RF signal to the read signal processing circuit 204. The read signal processing circuit 204 converts the input analog RF signal into a digital signal, restores the digital signal to the original analog RF signal and outputs the analog RF signal to the write condition determining unit 205. The write condition determining unit 205 extracts unique information of the optical disk 1 being used, such as disk ID or write speed, from the input signal, and outputs the extracted information to the write strategy selecting means 203. The write strategy selecting means 203 searches for an optimum write strategy on the basis of the input information, and outputs information of the optimum write strategy to the write signal correcting means 103. The write signal correcting means 103 reads, on the basis of the input information, a write strategy corresponding to an optical disk from the main memory 105 if the optical disk is a disk with a high use frequency, or from the sub-memory 202 if the optical disk is a disk with a low use frequency, and corrects an externally applied write signal. The corrected write signal is provided to the LD driver 102, which performs a write operation by supplying a drive current corresponding to the corrected write signal to the LD 101. Next, write strategies stored in the memories are described in detail. As described above, the write strategies need to be optimized depending on unique properties of an optical disk being used, a write speed or optical properties of an optical pickup device. However, in the past, since the setting of write strategies was performed at a pickup drive, an optical pickup manufacturer was required to provide an optical design not influencing write strategies, without the investigation of unique optical properties of a mounted optical pickup device and the reflection of the optical properties in the write strategies, thus coping with the optimization of the write strategies. However, as the optical design of the optical pickup device is precisely made, the write strategies are optimized, while the manufacturing efficiency of the optical pickup device is decreased. From a different point of view, an optical pickup manufacturer manages the optical properties of respective optical pickup devices through a production line. Therefore, if optimum write strategies regarding properties except for optical properties are clarified, it is relatively simple to set optimum write strategies by reflecting the optical properties of the respective optical pickup devices in the optimum write strategies. In this case, the present invention is characterized in that a memory for storing write strategies, which has been generally mounted in a pickup drive, is mounted in an optical pickup device, and unique optical properties of an optical system constituting the optical pickup device are reflected in the write strategies. Further, in a later description, it is premised that there are write strategies, in which optical system properties are not reflected and which correspond to respective optical disks. Properties influencing the write strategies, of optical properties of the optical pickup device, include the wavelength of a semiconductor laser, the shape of a light spot formed on an optical disk, and the radiation angle of the semiconductor laser. FIG. 2 is a view showing a relationship between write powers and jitter values when information is written on a CD-R of a specific manufacturer at 40-speed while the wavelength of a semiconductor laser is varied. Further, in FIG. 2, WS-1 and WS-2 represent write strategies of (n+0.5)T+α and (n+1)T-β, respectively, and a diamond, a square and a circle represent properties in a case where the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is 787 nm and a write strategy is WS-1, a case where the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is 792 nm and a write strategy is WS-1, and a case where the wavelength of a semiconductor laser is 792 nm and a write strategy is WS-2, respectively. Referring to FIG. 2, when the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is 787 nm (typical wavelength) and the write strategy is WS-1, a basic jitter value is smallest and write power is lowest. Further, as the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is increased, the basic jitter value is deteriorated and write power is increased. Further, when the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is increased, the basic jitter value can be improved and write power can be decreased by lengthening a write pulse. As a result of FIG. 2, a write quality can be improved by increasing the rate of a write pulse of the write strategy when the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is long. FIGS. 3a and 3b are views showing a relationship between write powers and jitter values when information is written on a CD-RW at 12-speed using optical pickup devices that employ semiconductor lasers having almost similar wavelengths. In FIGS. 3a and 3b, a diamond and a square represent the properties of an optical pickup device by which a light spot is formed while being inclined to the track of the optical disk at an angle of 45 degrees, and the properties of an optical pickup device by which a light spot is formed while being inclined to the track of the optical disk at an angle of 90 degrees, respectively. Further, FIGS. 3a and 3b show a case where a multi-pulse width is 1.00 T and a case where a multi-pulse width is 0.95 T, respectively. Further, the reason for using two types of optical pickups is to equivalently simulate a difference between areas occupied by focal spots on pits formed in the optical disk. Referring to the properties of FIGS. 3a and 3b, the optical pickup device by which a spot is formed while being inclined to the optical disk track at an angle of 45 degrees generally has an excellent jitter value. Further, as the multi-pulse width is widened, a jitter value is generally excellent. Therefore, the shape of a light spot is large. That is, a write strategy is set by reducing the multi-pulse width in an optical pickup device by which an area occupied by a focal spot on a pit formed in the optical disk is large, thus improving a write quality. Second embodiment FIG. 4 is a view showing the construction of an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The components of the information recording/reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment are almost equal to those of the first embodiment of FIG. 1. However, the second embodiment is characterized in that a head amplifier 201, a write condition determining unit 205 and a write strategy selecting means 203, which are mounted in the pickup drive 200 in the first embodiment, are installed in the optical pickup device 100. Through the above construction, the selection of optimum write strategies corresponding to optical disk types or write speeds is carried out by the optical pickup device 100, so that the optical pickup device 100 can personally control and execute a series of processes. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. That is, in the embodiments of the present invention, only a CD-R and a CD-RW are described as examples of disks. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, but variously applied to optical disks, such as DVD-R or DVD-RW. In accordance with the present invention, there is an advantage in that unique write strategies are stored in an optical pickup device, so that the number of manufacturing processes required for the design of a pickup drive can be greatly reduced. Further, the present invention is advantageous in that unique write strategies suitable for the properties of respective optical pickup devices are stored, so that a gap between write qualities is reduced and production efficiency is improved. Moreover, the present invention is advantageous in that memories are provided in both an optical pickup device and a pickup drive, thus reducing the load of a memory within the optical pickup device and miniaturizing the memory. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates, in general, to an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording and reproducing information on and from an optical recording medium, such as a compact disk or a digital versatile disk. 2. Description of the Related Art Recently, with the development of information and communication technology, networks, such as the Internet, have been rapidly popularized, so that a, large quantity of information has been actively exchanged through the networks. In such conditions, a read-only optical disk, such as a Compact Disk-Recordable (CD-R), or a rewritable optical disk, such as CD-Rewritable (CD-RW), has been spotlighted as a recording medium. Recently, an optical disk having a large capacity, such as Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)-R, DVD-RW and DVD-Random Access Memory (RAM), has been used as an information recording medium, as the wavelength of a semiconductor laser, a laser light source, is shortened, the diameter of a focal spot of an objective lens with a high Numerical Aperture (NA) is decreased, and a thin substrate is employed. The recording of information on a CD-R or the like is executed after converting write data obtained from a Personal Computer (PC), etc. into Eight to Fourteen Modulation (EFM) signals. In this case, a problem arises in that marks are poorly formed due to the heat accumulation and insufficient cooling speed of an optical disk attributable to the difference between the compositions of the dye recording layers of optical disks being used. Therefore, even though EFM signals are required to be recorded without change, required lands or spaces cannot be formed. Therefore, there has been employed a scheme of determining a unique write parameter of each of optical disks being used (hereinafter referred to as a “write strategy”) with respect to a write waveform which is a reference, and then maintaining an excellent write quality. However, this scheme is disadvantageous in that the load of a developer is increased to determine unique write strategies for respective optical disks being used, differences arise in write strategies, set using skillfulness based on previous experiences, and consequently differences arise in write qualities. Further, recently, as demands for the recording on an optical disk at a high density or at a high speed are further increased, the width of a write pulse becomes fine in response to the demands. However, for example, if the fine write pulse is generated at a pickup drive of an optical disk system and then provided to a semiconductor laser in an optical pickup through a flexible cable or the like, a write pulse having an exact shape cannot be transmitted due to the influence of the resistance or capacitance of the flexible cable. Further, in order to produce high quality write data, it is necessary to vary write conditions according to the unique properties of optical pickups, as well as the compositions of dye recording layers constituting each optical disk or write speeds. However, it is difficult to learn the unique properties of an optical pickup at a pickup drive and reflect the learned properties in a write strategy. Therefore, there has been proposed a technology to vary a write strategy at a pickup drive in consideration of the diameter of the light spot of an optical pickup (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-183960) has been proposed, or a technology to vary a write strategy at a pickup drive in consideration of the surrounding temperature of the optical pickup (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-297437). However, the above technologies are problematic in that it is difficult to optimize a write strategy without the help of the pickup drive, and the efforts of a developer of the pickup drive are not improved at all. Further, it is actually difficult for a drive manufacturer, which cannot learn the optical properties of respective optical pickups, to set write strategies, in which the unique properties of optical pickups are reflected, at the pickup drive, as described above. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical pickup device and apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk, which improves a write quality while reducing efforts to set a write strategy at the time of designing a pickup drive. In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an optical pickup device, the device including an optical system for radiating a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser onto an optical disk or receiving light reflected from the optical disk to perform writing and reading of information, comprising memory means for storing therein optimum write strategies in consideration of types of optical disks and write speeds; and write signal correcting means for reading a write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used from the memory means on the basis of an external control signal and correcting a write signal. According to the present invention, the optical pickup device is provided with the means for storing therein optimum write strategies corresponding to respective optical disks and the means for correcting a write signal on the basis of the write strategies, thus preventing the degradation of the write signal and realizing a write operation with a high write quality. Preferably, the optical pickup device may further comprise determining means for determining a type of optical disk being used; and write strategy selecting means for selecting the write strategy corresponding to the optical disk type determined by the determining means from the memory means, and providing the selected write strategy to the write signal correcting means. According to the present invention, the optical pickup device is provided with the determining means for determining the type of optical disk, and the means for selecting a write strategy corresponding to the determined optical disk type from the memory means and providing the selected write strategy to the write signal correcting means, thus realizing a write operation using the optimum write strategy corresponding to the optical disk being used without depending on an externally applied control signal. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set in consideration of properties of the optical system. According to the present invention, write strategies stored in the memory means are set and adopted in consideration of the optical system properties of the optical pickup devices, thus realizing a write operation with a high write quality by the unique write strategies for the optical pickup devices. Preferably, the properties of the optical system may include at least one parameter of a wavelength of the semiconductor laser, a shape of a light spot formed on the optical disk, and a radiation angle of the semiconductor laser. According to the present invention, the properties of the optical system include at least one parameter of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser greatly influencing the setting of the write strategy, the shape of the light spot formed on then optical disk, and the radiation angle of the semiconductor laser, so that the write strategy is set in consideration of such a parameter, thus enabling a write operation with a high write quality. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of write strategy data is increased to a predetermined rate as the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is lengthened. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a radiation angle of a laser beam of the semiconductor laser with respect to a direction of a track of the optical disk is decreased. Preferably, the write strategies stored in the memory means may be set so that a rate of a write pulse width of a multi-pulse is decreased to a predetermined rate as a size of a light spot formed on the optical disk in a direction of a track of the optical disk is increased. In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disk, the apparatus having the optical pickup device in which unique write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency are stored in the memory means, the apparatus comprising sub-memory means for storing therein unique write strategies for optical disks with a low use frequency; and write strategy writing means for selecting a write strategy corresponding to an optical disk being used from the sub-memory means and writing the selected write strategy in the memory means. According to the present invention, since optimum write strategies corresponding to respective optical disks are stored in the memory means within the optical pickup device, the degradation of write signals can be prevented and a write operation with a high write quality can be realized. Further, unique write strategies for optical disks with a high use frequency are stored in the memory means within the optical pickup device, and unique write strategies for optical disks with a low use frequency are stored in the memory means within the pickup drive, thus reducing the load of the memory means within the optical pickup device. | 20040621 | 20080415 | 20050512 | 70527.0 | 0 | HUBER, PAUL W | OPTICAL PICKUP DEVICE FOR WRITING INFORMATION TO AN OPTICAL DISK | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,920 | ACCEPTED | Method and device for depositing crystalline layers on crystalline substrates | The invention relates to a method and device for depositing several crystalline semiconductor layers on at least one semiconductor crystalline substrate. According to said method, gaseous parent substances are introduced into a process chamber of a reactor by means of a gas inlet organ, said substances accumulating, optionally after a chemical gas phase and/or surface reaction, on the surface of a semiconductor substrate that is placed on a substrate holder in the process chamber, thus forming the semiconductor layer. Said semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate form a crystal consisting of either one or several elements from main group V, elements from main groups III and V, or elements from main groups II and VI. In a first process step for depositing a first semiconductor layer, a first process gas consisting of one or several first parent substances is introduced into the process chamber, the decomposition products of said gas forming the crystal of a first semiconductor layer and small quantities of a second parent substance can be introduced into the process chamber in order to dope the first semiconductor layer. The invention is characterized in that in a second process step, prior to or after the first process step, a second process gas, which contains the second parent substance and optionally additional gases, is introduced into said process chamber in order to deposit a second semiconductor layer, the decomposition products of said gas forming a second semiconductor layer, having a crystal that differs from that of the first semiconductor layer, whereby small quantities of a first parent substance can be introduced into the process chamber in order to dope the second semiconductor layer. | 1. Method for depositing a plurality of crystalline semiconductor layers on at least one crystalline semiconductor substrate, in which gaseous starting substances are introduced into a process chamber of a reactor through a gas inlet member, which starting substances, if appropriate after a chemical vapor phase and/or surface reaction, accumulate on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, which is disposed on a substrate holder in the process chamber, so as to form the semiconductor layer, the semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate forming a crystal, from either (a.) one or more elements from main group V, (b.) elements from main groups III and V, or (c.) elements from main groups II and VI, wherein, in a first process step for deposition of a first semiconductor layer, a first process gas consisting of one or more first starting substances is introduced into the process chamber, the decomposition products of which process gas form the crystal of a first semiconductor layer, and wherein, for the purpose of doping the first semiconductor layer, small quantities of a second starting substance can be introduced into the process chamber, characterized in that, in a second process step before or after the first process step, a second process gas, which contains the second starting substance and if appropriate further gases, is introduced into the same process chamber in order to deposit a second semiconductor layer, the decomposition products of this second process gas forming a second semiconductor layer, having a crystal which differs from the crystal of the first semiconductor layer, it being possible for small quantities of a first starting substance to be introduced into the process chamber for the purpose of doping the second semiconductor layer. 2. Method according to claim 1 or in particular according thereto, characterized in that the crystal of at least one layer corresponds to the crystal of the substrate, and at least one layer comprises a crystal which differs from the crystal of the substrate. 3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one layer is formed by the same elements as those of which the substrate consists. 4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the substrate is silicon. 5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one of the layers is gallium arsenide, gallium nitride or silicon, silicon/germanium or an oxide. 6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that a transition region between a first and a second layer forms a monolayer solid solution. 7. Method according to claim 6, characterized in that the second layer is deposited directly on the first layer. 8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that decomposition products of the first or second process gas which are deposited on the substrate holder, the process chamber wall, the process chamber cover are either removed or passivated after the deposition of the associated first or second layer. 9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the removal of material is effected by etching using in particular HCl or a plasma. 10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the plasma, which consists in particular of hydrogen, chlorine or fluorine radicals, is generated remotely from the substrate. 11. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the substrate surface or the surface of a previously deposited layer is also etched. 12. Apparatus for depositing a plurality of crystalline semiconductor layers on at least one crystalline semiconductor substrate, in which gaseous starting substances are introduced into a process chamber of a reactor through a gas inlet member, which starting substances, if appropriate after a chemical vapor phase or surface reaction, accumulate on the surface of a semiconductor substrate which is disposed on a substrate holder in the process chamber so as to form the semiconductor layer, having a gas-mixing system arranged upstream of the gas inlet member, characterized in that the gas-mixing system has gas mass flow regulators, for both gaseous starting substances belonging to main groups III, IV and V, and all the gas mass flows that can be provided by the gas mass flow regulators can adopt a level which is suitable for the growth of a III-V semiconductor layer and a IV semiconductor layer. 13. Apparatus according to claim 12 or in particular according thereto, characterized in that at least one gas mass flow regulator can provide both the gas mass flow required for the layer growth of a first or second semiconductor layer and the gas mass flow required just for doping of in each case a different, second or first semiconductor layer. 14. Apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that the two gas mass flows differ by a factor of at least a thousand. 15. Apparatus according to claim 14, characterized by means for removing or passivating material deposited outside the substrate. 16. Apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the removal or passivation means act in the region of the process chamber wall and of the process chamber cover. 17. Apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that the means for removing parasitic growth generate a plasma. 18. Apparatus according to claim 17, characterized by a plasma which can be generated in the region of the reactor wall or of the process chamber cover. 19. Apparatus according to claim 18, characterized in that the substrate holder is heatable from the rear side. 20. Apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that the process chamber wall and the process chamber cover are heatable. 21. Apparatus according to claim 20, characterized in that the gas inlet member is disposed in the center of the reactor. 22. Apparatus according to claim 21, characterized by a rotationally driven substrate holder which in particular carries rotationally drivable substrate carrier plates. | This application is a continuation of pending International Patent Application No. PCT/EP02/13830 filed Dec. 6, 2002 which designates the United States and claims priority of pending German Patent Application No. 101 63 394.7 filed Dec. 21, 2001. The invention relates to a method for depositing a plurality of crystalline semiconductor layers on at least one crystalline semiconductor substrate, in which gaseous starting substances are introduced into a process chamber of a reactor through a gas inlet member, which starting substances, if appropriate after a chemical vapor phase or surface reaction, accumulate on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, which is disposed on a substrate holder in the process chamber, so as to form the semiconductor layer, the semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate forming a crystal, from either (a.) one or more elements from main group V, (b.) elements from main groups III and V, or (c.) elements from main groups II and VI, wherein, in a first process step for deposition of a first semiconductor layer, a first process gas consisting of one or more first starting substances is introduced into the process chamber, the decomposition products of which process gas form the crystal of a first semiconductor layer, and wherein, for the purpose of doping the first semiconductor layer, small quantities of a further starting substance can be introduced into the process chamber. WO 01/65592A2 has disclosed a method in which gallium nitride or gallium arsenide is deposited on a silicon crystal by means of vapor phase epitaxy. The silicon crystal has the property denoted above by (a.). Gallium nitride or gallium arsenide has the property denoted above by (b.). Furthermore, it is known from the prior art to deposit silicon on silicon single crystals. This process too is carried out by means of vapor phase epitaxy. Whereas gaseous trimethylgallium and gaseous arsine are used as starting substances for the deposition of gallium arsenide, gaseous silane is used as the starting substance for the deposition of single-crystal silicon layers on silicon substrates. It is also possible to produce a crystal mixture of the crystal referred to above under (a.), for example a crystal mixture of germanium and silicon. In this case, in addition to the gaseous silane, gaseous germane is introduced into the process chamber through the gas inlet member. In this case, the process gas consists of two gaseous starting substances. A further starting substance may be added to this process gas in order to dope the silicon/germanium. Trimethylgallium or arsine are suitable as a further starting substance, which is only fed to the gas phase in very small traces, depending on whether gallium doping or arsenic doping is desired. On the other hand, for the deposition of single-crystal gallium arsenide layers, wherein a two-component process gas is introduced into the gas phase to deposit a crystal characterized under (b.) above, a further starting substance can be admixed in only small traces to the process gas in order to dope the gallium arsenide crystal. This starting substance may be silane or germane. Unlike with the layer growth of silicon or silicon/germanium, however, silicon is only added to the process gas as a dopant for GaAs in extremely small masses, for example diluted a thousand times. The invention is based on the object of further developing the process engineering of the known method and of providing an apparatus which can be used to carry out the method which has been developed in this way. The achievement of this object is described in the claims. In particular, it is provided that in a second process step before or after the first process step, a second process gas, which contains the second starting substance and if appropriate further gases, is introduced into the same process chamber in order to deposit a second semiconductor layer, the decomposition products of this second process gas forming a second semiconductor layer, having a crystal which differs from the crystal of the first layer, it being possible for small quantities of a first starting substance to be introduced into the process chamber for the purpose of doping the second semiconductor layer. The method according to the invention allows not only gallium arsenide layers to be deposited on silicon or silicon layers to be deposited on silicon, but also either gallium arsenide layers on silicon or silicon layers on gallium arsenide layers to be deposited in succession in a single process chamber. These layers may be deposited not only in undoped form but also in doped form. It is possible to deposit III-V layers on IV layers. Of course, the same also applies to II and VI layers. It is advantageously possible for both the gallium arsenide layers and the silicon layers to be doped by using the starting substance of in each case the other process gas as dopant. The apparatus according to the invention is distinguished by a correspondingly large number of gas feed lines leading to the gas inlet member. Since at least two starting substances can be used both to form crystals and for doping, optimum utilization of the sources of the starting substances is possible. This may reduce the production costs of both the apparatus and the semiconductor products. To regulate the gas quantities there are in particular gas mass flow regulators which can be used to regulate each individual gas flow. These gas mass flow regulators are preferably configured in such a way that they can be used to provide both the gas quantities required for layer growth of a first semiconductor layer and the gas quantities required just for doping of a second semiconductor layer. The crystal of at least one layer, for example silicon or germanium, may correspond to the crystal of the substrate, for example silicon. However, the substrate may also consist of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide or germanium. Then at least one layer consists of precisely this material. Advantageously at least one further layer has a crystal which differs from the crystal of the substrate. If the substrate is silicon then this layer may consist of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide or gallium indium arsenide phosphide or gallium nitride. It is preferable for at least one layer to include the same elements of which the substrate also consists, for example silicon. However, an oxide is also suitable for use as a layer with a crystal which differs from the crystal of the substrate. The transition region between a first and a second layer, for example silicon/germanium or gallium arsenide, may preferably form a monolayer solid solution. This formation of a monolayer solid solution in the transition region between the two layers means that the layers, which typically have different lattice constants, are bonded to one another without any defects. The layers of the different crystals may both be deposited immediately in succession, in which case only the composition of the gas phase is changed. However, it is also possible for an intermediate process step to be carried out between the two coating steps. This intermediate process step may be an etching step or a passivation step. In the etching step, a material of the preceding process gas which has been deposited on the substrate holder is removed. The etching-away of these parasitic growth products can be effected by introducing HCl into the process chamber. This is particularly advantageous if the material is gallium arsenide or another III-V compound. If the parasitic growth product of a silicon deposition step is to be removed, it is possible to use a plasma in which hydrogen radicals, chlorine radicals or fluorine radicals are generated. This plasma is ignited, for example, by a radiofrequency electromagnetic alternating field. This electromagnetic alternating field is preferably built up in a region outside the substrate, so that only the surface region of the substrate which adjoins the substrate is impaired by the radicals. This plasma can also be used to treat the walls and cover of the process chamber, so that deposits in those regions are also removed. However, it is also possible to carry out the etching step in such a way that the surface of the substrate is also etched. Although this leads to slight damage to the substrate surface or if appropriate to the surface of a previously deposited layer, slight surface damage of this nature may actually be of benefit to the bonding of the subsequent layer. Therefore, as it were, a nucleation layer is formed. This nucleation layer is also formed if an intermediate layer is deposited for passivation purposes instead of the etching step. In a preferred method variant, the process parameters, i.e. the gas flows and the temperatures inside the process chamber, are set in such a way that the parasitic growth is minimized. For this purpose, it is preferable for not just the substrate holder, but also the walls and cover of the process chamber, to be heated from below. The process chamber is preferably cylindrical in form. The gas inlet member is located in its center. The substrate holder is located directly opposite the gas inlet member and can be driven in rotation. Substrate carrier plates, which are themselves in turn driven in rotation, may be located in a planetary manner with respect to the substrate holder. The rotational drive for the substrate carrier plates may be effected in a known way by means of a corresponding gas cushion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a highly diagrammatic illustration of a process chamber in a reactor of a first exemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 shows a second exemplary embodiment of a process chamber in a reactor, FIG. 3 to FIG. 8 show various layer structures produced using the method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 is the process chamber 2 of a reactor 1, which is only diagrammatically indicated. The process chamber 2 has a substrate holder 5 which extends in the horizontal plane and may consist, for example, of graphite or of coated graphite. This substrate holder 5 is rotationally driven in a known way. It rotates about its own axis. The substrate holder 5 is in the shape of a circular disk. Cylindrical substrate carrier plates 6, on which a substrate can be placed, are located in cylindrical pockets on the substrate holder. These substrate carrier plates 6 are driven in rotation by means of a gas cushion. In the process, they rotate about their own axis. A gas outlet member 7 opens out in the center of the process chamber 2. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, this gas outlet member 7 has two gas outlet openings, namely a peripheral outlet opening, through which, by way of example, trimethylgallium can enter the process chamber in gas form, and a central outlet opening, through which arsine can be introduced into the process chamber. The gas inlet member 7 projects through an opening in a process chamber cover 4 which extends parallel to the substrate holders. The periphery of the process chamber 2 is surrounded by an annular wall 3 which has gas outlet openings through which the process gas can emerge from the process chamber 2. The substrate holder 5 is heated from below, for example by means of infrared radiation or by means of radio waves. The process chamber wall 3 and the process chamber cover 4 may also be heated. The heating of the process chamber wall and the process chamber cover serves to minimize the parasitic growth. The process chamber cover 4 and the process chamber wall 3 may be configured to be electrically conductive. However, they may also have electrically conductive zones. These electrically conductive zones are connected to electrodes 8, 9. A radiofrequency electromagnetic alternating field can be connected to these electrodes, so that given a suitable vapor phase composition inside the process chamber 2 a plasma can form therein. This plasma generates hydrogen, chlorine or fluorine radicals, by means of which a silicon coating on the process chamber cover 4 or the process chamber wall 3 can be etched away. However, there is also provision for HCl to be introduced through the gas inlet member 7, by means of which a coverage of gallium arsenide on the process chamber wall and the process chamber cover 2 can be etched away. However, the introduction of HCl and/or the generation of the radicals also serves to etch the surface of the substrate holder 5. It is possible to partially etch both the surfaces of the substrate and of the layers deposited on the substrates. The exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 differs from the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 substantially with regard to the shape of the gas inlet member 7. Whereas the gas inlet member 7 is a multi-passage gas inlet system, in which the passages are separated from one another up to their openings, the gas inlet member 7 illustrated in FIG. 2 is a type of “showerhead”. This gas inlet system has a central chamber, from which a large number of openings disposed in grid form open out into the process chamber 2. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes various gas mass flow regulators. For example, the apparatus in each case has gas mass flow regulators for trimethylindium, trimethylgallium, phosphine, arsine, silane, germane, HCl, chlorine and fluorine, and also hydrogen. The gas mass flow regulators 10 may be of any desired structure. It is advantageous if a gas mass flow regulator 10 of at least one of the crystal-forming gases, for example trimethylindium, trimethylgallium, phosphine, arsine, silane or germane, is dimensioned in such a way that this starting substance can be used both as a crystal-forming starting substance and as a dopant. If this starting substance is used as a dopant, the gas mass flow regulator 10 passes a gas mass which is reduced by several powers of 10 into the gas inlet member 7. Reducing the gas mass flow of the corresponding starting substance to such an extent can be effected, for example, by suitable dilution. What is important, however, is that the starting substance in question can be used both to form crystals and in just trace form to dope a different crystal. The method according to the invention is explained on the basis of the vertical layer structures illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 8. In the figures, the substrate material indicated is silicon, for the sake of simplicity. To achieve the layer structure illustrated in FIG. 3, silicon/germanium is deposited on the silicon substrate in single crystal form. A silicon layer is deposited on this silicon/germanium layer. This is followed by deposition of gallium arsenide. To deposit the silicon/germanium layer, the substrate holder 5 is heated to a temperature of approximately 1000° C. Then, silane and germane are introduced into the process chamber through the gas inlet member 7. A silicon/germanium layer is formed on the silicon substrate. Then, to deposit the silicon layer, silane alone is introduced into the process chamber 2 through the gas inlet member, so that the silicon layer is deposited. Parasitic growth leads to a small amount of material also being deposited on the wall 3 of the process chamber and/or the process chamber cover 4. The coverage is minimized there by the process chamber wall 3 and the reactor cover 4 also being heated. After the silicon layer has been deposited, the parasitic deposits on the reactor wall 3 and the reactor cover 4 are etched away. This is effected by means of a hydrogen, chlorine or fluorine plasma. For this purpose, chlorine or HCl or fluorine or hydrogen is introduced into the process chamber. A plasma is ignited in the process chamber by means of the electrodes 8 and 9. The free radicals which are then formed etch away the deposits in the region of the plasma. Alternatively, however, it is also possible to deposit a thin interlayer, for example of gallium arsenide, which passivates the parasitic deposits. To achieve the layer structure illustrated in FIG. 4, likewise first of all silicon/germanium is deposited on the silicon substrate. Then, after an optional etching step or a passivation step, gallium arsenide is deposited on the silicon/germanium layer. To achieve the layer structure illustrated in FIG. 5, after a silicon/buffer layer has been deposited on the silicon substrate, gallium arsenide is deposited. In this case too, the deposition of gallium arsenide may be preceded by an etching step or a passivation step. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, first of all an oxide layer is deposited on the silicon substrate. A gallium arsenide layer is deposited on this oxide layer. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, gallium arsenide is deposited on a silicon/germanium layer deposited on the substrate. This gallium arsenide layer is then covered with a silicon layer. A further etching or passivation step may be carried out before the silicon covering layer is deposited. HCl can be introduced into the reactor in order to remove the gallium arsenide which has been parasitically deposited on the process chamber wall 3, the substrate holder 5 or the reactor cover 4. This HCl etches away the parasitically grown gallium arsenide. This etching step may even partially etch the gallium arsenide layer itself. In a variant, the deposition of the silicon covering layer is preceded by the deposition of a passivation layer, so that it is impossible for any gallium or arsenide to be vaporized out of the gallium arsenide deposits. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, first of all silicon/germanium is deposited on the silicon substrate. This layer is followed by a gallium arsenide coating. The covering layer provided in this case is silicon/germanium. The method according to the invention is effected by loading a reactor with one or more substrates. The substrates are, for example, laid onto the substrate carrier plates 6. However, it is also possible to lay just one substrate onto a non-rotatable substrate holder. After the reactor has been closed, the process chamber is heated to the deposition temperature for silicon. This deposition temperature may be approximately 1000° C. Then, silane is introduced into the process chamber 2 through the gas inlet member 7. The gas mass flow of the silane is set by means of the gas mass flow regulator 10. The gas mass flow is set to be sufficient to effect correspondingly extensive layer growth. After the silicon layer has been deposited, the silane flow is set to zero. Alternatively, it is also possible to introduce a mixture of germane and silane into the vapor phase instead of pure silane, so that a silicon-germanium layer grows onto the substrate. In an alternative, it is also possible to introduce an oxide-forming material (FIG. 6). During the deposition of the silicon layer, silane is used as starting substance to build up the layer. In addition to this silane, it is also possible for arsine or trimethylgallium or alternatively phosphine or trimethylindium to be introduced into the process chamber 2 through the gas inlet member 7. The mass flow of this second starting substance is, however, considerably lower, for example by a factor of 1000, than the mass flow of silane, and consequently this second starting substance does not build up the crystal, but rather is only responsible for doping the crystal. After this first semiconductor layer has been deposited from silane or a silane/germane mixture as first process gas, it is possible to deposit a second semiconductor layer. This is effected by introducing a second starting substance and in particular a mixture of two second starting substances into the process chamber as process gas. The second process gas is then formed by a mixture of arsine or trimethylgallium or phosphine and trimethylindium or a mixture of all four second starting substances. This second process gas is then introduced into the process chamber 2 through the gas inlet member 7 at a reduced deposition temperature. In this way, a III-V layer is deposited on the substrates or on the previously deposited layers of silicon or silicon/germanium. This layer has a different crystal than the IV crystal layer consisting of silicon or silicon/germanium. During the deposition of the III-V layer, it is also possible for silane to be introduced into the process chamber in addition to the abovementioned crystal-forming starting substances. Now, however, the gas mass flow of the silane is considerably lower than the gas mass flow of, for example, arsine and trimethylindium. This means that the layer substantially comprises gallium arsenide and only includes traces of silicon. In this case, silicon is only a dopant. Alternatively, it is possible to incorporate an intermediate etching step after the deposition of the first layer. In this intermediate etching step, the process chamber wall 3, the process chamber cover 4 and regions of the substrate holder 5 are etched. Any substances which may have been deposited during deposition of the silicon layer or there are removed during the etching step. This etching step may even partially etch the surface of the silicon layer. A plasma is preferably used to etch away parasitic silicon. For this purpose, fluorine, chlorine or HCl is introduced into the vapor phase. On account of a radiofrequency electromagnetic alternating field, radicals are formed from these gases and remove deposits from the process chamber wall 3 and the process chamber cover 4. However, as an alternative to the etching step, it is also possible to deposit an interlayer. In this case, this interlayer is deposited in such a way that primarily the process chamber wall 3 and the process chamber cover 4 are covered. Then, the temperature of the process chamber wall 3 and/or the process chamber cover 4 is controlled in a suitable way. The process parameters are selected in such a way that as little material as possible is deposited on the process chamber wall and the process chamber cover during the step of coating the substrate. In the intermediate coating step, however, the process parameters are set in such a way that substantially only the deposits are coated. Pure HCl without plasma can be used to remove parasitic growth of gallium arsenide or indium phosphide. In this case too, it is possible to accept the fact that the etching step will not only remove the deposits from the process chamber wall and the process chamber cover but also will partially etch the layer surface on the substrate. This is particularly advantageous if the coating is to take place with the formation of monolayer solid solutions between the individual layers. The formation of a monolayer solid solution in the transition region is of particular benefit to the bonding of the layers on one another and/or to defect-free growth. However, as an alternative to III-V compound semiconductors, it is also possible to deposit II-VI compound semiconductors. All the features disclosed are (inherently) pertinent to the invention. The content of disclosure of the associated/appended priority documents (copy of the prior application) is hereby incorporated in its entirety in the disclosure of the application, partly with a view to incorporating features of these documents in claims of the present application. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS <EOH>Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a highly diagrammatic illustration of a process chamber in a reactor of a first exemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 shows a second exemplary embodiment of a process chamber in a reactor, FIG. 3 to FIG. 8 show various layer structures produced using the method according to the invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040621 | 20060425 | 20050203 | 65977.0 | 0 | ANYA, IGWE U | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DEPOSITING CRYSTALLINE LAYERS ON CRYSTALLINE SUBSTRATES | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,940 | ACCEPTED | Sink drain adapter for drain cleaning device | The present invention is a drain adapter for adapting a flushing device to a drainpipe. The adapter has a main body including an indent portion for retaining the flushing device during operation. The main body also includes an enlarged portion. The enlarged portion corresponds to a sink recess and expands under pressure to retain the adapter within the drainpipe. | 1. A drain cleaning adapter comprising: a main body; a first end of said main body having a first opening for receiving a flushing device; a second end opposing said first end, said second end having a second opening for allowing discharge of a fluid; and an enlarged portion between said first end and said second end wherein said enlarged portion is expandable. 2. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said enlarged portion has at least one striation. 3. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 3, wherein said at least one striation extends from said main body to said second end. 4. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said main body end has at least one indent concentric about said main body, between said enlarged portion and said first end. 5. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 4, wherein said indent has a smaller diameter than said main body. 6. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 5, wherein said indent corresponds to recesses on said flushing device. 7. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said second end has an insertion portion for inserting into a drainpipe. 8. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 7, wherein said insertion portion has concentric rings for sealing against the drainpipe. 9. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 8, wherein said concentric rings form an interference fit with the drainpipe. 10. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said first end has a neck portion having a smaller diameter than said main body. 11. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said main body is rigid. 12. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 1, wherein said enlarged portion is expandable as a result of fluid pressure within the adapter. 13. A method of using a drain cleaning adapter comprising: a) inserting a flushing device into a first end of a main body; b) inserting a second end of the main body into a drainpipe; and c) expanding an enlarged portion with water such that the enlarged portion contacts a sink recess. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step a) includes aligning at least one recess on the flushing device with an indent on the main body. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein said step b) includes forming a seal between the second end and the drainpipe. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein said step c) includes releasing water from the flushing device to create water pressure in the enlarged portion. 17. The method of claim 13, wherein said step c) includes creating pressure between the enlarged portion and the sink recess to retain the adapter in the drainpipe. 18. A drain cleaning adapter comprising: a main body having a first end with a first opening for receiving a flushing device; a second end opposing said first end, said second end having an insertion portion for inserting into a drain pipe and a second opening for allowing discharge of a fluid; a indent on said main body disposed between said first end and said second end; and an enlarged portion between said first end and said second end wherein said enlarged portion is expandable as a result of fluid pressure within the adapter. 19. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 18, wherein said enlarged portion has at least one striation. 20. The drain cleaning adapter of claim 19, wherein said at least one striation extends from said main body to said second end. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to adapting a flushing device to a drainpipe. Drainpipes in sinks occasionally become blocked and require cleaning. Flushing devices have been designed to remove debris from the drainpipe when traditional cleaning methods do not work. The flushing device is inserted into a drainpipe. The flushing device is also connected to a water source, such as a hose. Water is sent through the flushing device and a valve creates a pulsing action to the water, which removes the debris from the drain. This type of flushing device should be inserted into the drainpipe several inches in order to operate correctly. However, to deter debris from entering the drainpipe crosshatches are located just inside the drainpipe entrance. The crosshatches restrict the insertion depth of the flushing device. Adapters are used with the flushing devices to accommodate for the abbreviated insertion distance resulting from the crosshatches. For one style of adapter, a first end of the adapter is inserted into the sink drain while the other end receives the flushing device. The adapter increases the allowable insertion distance for the flushing device such that it is sufficient to allow proper operation. During operation, water pressure builds between the blockage and the flushing device until the blockage is removed. For blockages that are difficult to remove, the increasing water pressure creates an upward force on the adapter pushing it from the pipe. Due to the short insertion distance of the adapter, it is difficult to retain the adapter in position. Additionally, when the flushing device and water source fill with fluid. The adapter becomes top heavy and may dislodge during operation. Thus, large amounts of physical exertion by the user are needed to retain the adapter in position. Also, because of the short sealing distance between the adapter and the pipe, the increasing water pressure may cause leaks to occur between the pipe and the adapter. Thus, an adapter which has enhanced sealing capability and that is easily retained in the drainpipe is needed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an adapter for use between a flushing device and a drainpipe. The adapter has a main body. A first end of the main body has a first opening for receiving a flushing device. A second end of the main body has a second opening allowing fluid to exit the flushing device and the adapter, and enter a drainpipe. An indent is included on the main body to correspond to recesses on the flushing device. During operation the flushing device expands within the adapter. The indent is received in one of the recesses and the expanding flushing device creates pressure against the adapter. Pressure between the flushing device walls and the indent retains the flushing device within the adapter. The main body also includes an enlarged portion that is disposed between the indent and the second end. The enlarged portion is expandable under pressure. The size and location of the enlarged portion on the adapter corresponds to a recess in a sink bottom. The enlarged portion interacts with the sink recess to retain the adapter in an upright position during use. When water pressure builds in the pipe during operation the enlarged portion will expand from the water pressure and contact the sink recess to retain the adapter in the drainpipe. If additional pressure is needed to retain the adapter in the drainpipe the enlarged portion also provides a surface where downward pressure can be applied by the user. Thus, the adapter is retained within the drainpipe during operation with little or no exertion needed on the part of the user. Concentric rings located on the second end of the adapter create an interference fit with the drainpipe to seal against any leaks. Any leaks that do occur are directed into a sink bottom by striations within the enlarged portion. Thus, back pressure is not created between the adapter and sink. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows: FIG. 1 is a general view of an embodiment of an adapter; FIG. 2 is a cross-section along line A-A from FIG. 1, of an embodiment of the adapter showing an enlarged portion having striations; FIG. 3 is a cross section along line B-B from FIG. 1 of an adapter with a flushing device and pipe illustrated in the proper locations; and FIG. 4 is a cross-section of an adapter along line B-B from FIG. 1 showing the arrangement of the adapter and flushing device during use. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a general view of an adapter 10. The adapter 10 has a main body 12. A first end 14 of the main body 12 has a first opening 16, for receiving a flushing device 18 (shown in FIG. 3). The first end 14 includes a neck portion 20 having a smaller diameter than the main body 12. The smaller diameter of the neck portion 20 assists in retaining the flushing device 18 in an upright position. However, the diameters of the first opening 16 and neck portion 20 are large enough to easily receive the flushing device 18. Indent 36 is located on the main body 12, between the second end 22 and the neck portion 20. The diameter of the indent 36 is smaller than the diameter of the main body 12. A second end 22 is located at an opposing end of the main body 12 from the first end 14. The second end 22 has an insertion portion 24 to be inserted into a drainpipe 26 (shown in FIG. 3) during operation. The insertion portion 24 has a smaller diameter than the main body 12 to accommodate for the size of the drainpipe 26. Rings 28 run concentric about the insertion portion 24 and have a larger diameter than the insertion portion 24 and the drainpipe 26 to create a seal between the adapter 10 and the drainpipe 26. The second end 22 has a second opening 30 located at the bottom of insertion portion 24. The second opening 30 allows water from the flushing device 18 to pass through to the drainpipe 26 during operation. An enlarged portion 32 is located on the main body 12 adjacent the insertion portion 24. The enlarged portion 32 has a larger diameter than the main body 12. The size and position of the enlarged portion 32 correspond to a sink recess 44 (shown in FIG. 3) when the adapter is in use. Striations 34 are included on the enlarged portion 32 and run from the insertion portion 24 all the way to the main body 12. The striations 34 follow the same curvature as the enlarged portion 32 along the length of the adapter 10. FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the adapter 10, along line A-A, through the enlarged portion 32. The striations 34 have a smaller diameter than the enlarged portion 32. Thus, when the enlarged portion 32, comes into contact with a sink recess 44 the striations 34 provide a vent allowing water to pass through. As shown in one embodiment the striations 34 have an arcuate cross-section. Although the main body 12 of the adapter 10 is generally rigid the enlarged portion 32 may expand under pressure. The striations 34 assist the enlarged portion 32 in expanding, even through made from a generally rigid material, such as a plastic. The main body 12 does not have striations, thus is not expandable. The change in cross-section of the enlarged portion 32′ when under pressure is shown in phantom. Alternatively, the enlarged portion 32 may have a thinner wall 35 then the main body 12, thus making the material less rigid, and expandable. Referring to FIG. 3 a cross-section of the adapter 10 is shown. The adapter 10 is inserted into the drainpipe 26 and the flushing device 18 is received through the first opening 16. As shown, the first opening 16 and neck portion 20 are larger in diameter than the flushing device 18. The flushing device 18 is inserted to a distance where an exit end 38 of the flushing device 18 has entered the enlarged portion 32, but not far enough to enter the insertion portion 24. A minimum distance between the exit end 38 and the second opening 30 must be maintained to allow for elongation of the flushing device 18 during operation. The flushing device 18 includes a series of recesses 40 for alignment with the indent 36 on the adapter 10. Protrusions 42 between the recesses 40 provide feedback as the user is inserting the flushing device 18 into the adapter 10, allowing the user to determine when the flushing device 18 has been inserted the proper distance into the adapter 10. The second end 22 of the adapter 10 is inserted into a drainpipe 26. The rings 28 form an interference fit with the drainpipe 26. When the adapter 10 is inserted into the drainpipe 26 the enlarged portion 32 easily fits within a sink recess 44. During operation the enlarged portion 32 interacts with the sink recess 44 to hold the adapter 10 in an upright position, compensating for the weight of the flushing device 18, and the water source. FIG. 4 shows the adapter 10 when the flushing device 18 is being operated. The flushing device 18 is connected to the water source at an entrance end 46. An internal valve (not shown) allows water pressure to build within the flushing device. As pressure builds the walls 48 of the flushing device 18 expand. The main body 12 of the adapter 10 is rigid. Thus, as the flushing device 18 expands it is locked into place by the indent 36, which corresponds to one of the recesses 40. Once the water pressure has reached a sufficient level the valve in the flushing device 18 opens and releases the water. The water flows through the second opening 30 into the drainpipe 26. The building and releasing of water pressure creates a pulsing action that can be repeated until the blockage is removed. Occasionally pulsing of the water is not enough to clear the blockage and water will begin to back up in the drainpipe 26. The water will back up until it enters the adapter 10, through the second opening 30. As water is continuously pulsed out of the flushing device 18 the pressure of water in the drainpipe 26 and the adapter 10 increases. When this occurs the striations 34 allow the enlarged portion 32 to expand as a result of the pressure. The enlarged portion 32 will then contact sink recess 44. The contact pressure between the enlarged portion 32 and the sink recess 44 is proportional to the water pressure in the adapter 10. Thus, as the pressure in the adapter 10 increases the contact pressure between the enlarged portion 32 and the sink recess 44 will help to retain the adapter 10 in the drainpipe 26. If additional pressure is needed to retain the adapter in place the enlarged portion 32 provides a surface 45 on which downward pressure may easily be applied, reducing the efforts of the user. If the increase of water pressure becomes great enough to cause leaks between the drainpipe 26 and the rings 28 then water may enter the sink recess 44. The striations 34 in the enlarged portion 32 allow this water to pass through to the sink bottom 50. Allowing any water leakage to pass through will prevent pressure from building between the enlarged portion 32 and the sink recess 44 that would force the adapter out of the drainpipe 26. Eventually the water pressure will reach a high enough level to force the drainpipe clear. At this point the water pressure in the adapter 10, and flushing device 18 decreases. The water source may be shut off and the adapter 10 and flushing device 18 may be easily disassembled. Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to adapting a flushing device to a drainpipe. Drainpipes in sinks occasionally become blocked and require cleaning. Flushing devices have been designed to remove debris from the drainpipe when traditional cleaning methods do not work. The flushing device is inserted into a drainpipe. The flushing device is also connected to a water source, such as a hose. Water is sent through the flushing device and a valve creates a pulsing action to the water, which removes the debris from the drain. This type of flushing device should be inserted into the drainpipe several inches in order to operate correctly. However, to deter debris from entering the drainpipe crosshatches are located just inside the drainpipe entrance. The crosshatches restrict the insertion depth of the flushing device. Adapters are used with the flushing devices to accommodate for the abbreviated insertion distance resulting from the crosshatches. For one style of adapter, a first end of the adapter is inserted into the sink drain while the other end receives the flushing device. The adapter increases the allowable insertion distance for the flushing device such that it is sufficient to allow proper operation. During operation, water pressure builds between the blockage and the flushing device until the blockage is removed. For blockages that are difficult to remove, the increasing water pressure creates an upward force on the adapter pushing it from the pipe. Due to the short insertion distance of the adapter, it is difficult to retain the adapter in position. Additionally, when the flushing device and water source fill with fluid. The adapter becomes top heavy and may dislodge during operation. Thus, large amounts of physical exertion by the user are needed to retain the adapter in position. Also, because of the short sealing distance between the adapter and the pipe, the increasing water pressure may cause leaks to occur between the pipe and the adapter. Thus, an adapter which has enhanced sealing capability and that is easily retained in the drainpipe is needed. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an adapter for use between a flushing device and a drainpipe. The adapter has a main body. A first end of the main body has a first opening for receiving a flushing device. A second end of the main body has a second opening allowing fluid to exit the flushing device and the adapter, and enter a drainpipe. An indent is included on the main body to correspond to recesses on the flushing device. During operation the flushing device expands within the adapter. The indent is received in one of the recesses and the expanding flushing device creates pressure against the adapter. Pressure between the flushing device walls and the indent retains the flushing device within the adapter. The main body also includes an enlarged portion that is disposed between the indent and the second end. The enlarged portion is expandable under pressure. The size and location of the enlarged portion on the adapter corresponds to a recess in a sink bottom. The enlarged portion interacts with the sink recess to retain the adapter in an upright position during use. When water pressure builds in the pipe during operation the enlarged portion will expand from the water pressure and contact the sink recess to retain the adapter in the drainpipe. If additional pressure is needed to retain the adapter in the drainpipe the enlarged portion also provides a surface where downward pressure can be applied by the user. Thus, the adapter is retained within the drainpipe during operation with little or no exertion needed on the part of the user. Concentric rings located on the second end of the adapter create an interference fit with the drainpipe to seal against any leaks. Any leaks that do occur are directed into a sink bottom by striations within the enlarged portion. Thus, back pressure is not created between the adapter and sink. | 20040621 | 20111011 | 20051222 | 67803.0 | 0 | MARKOFF, ALEXANDER | SINK DRAIN ADAPTER FOR DRAIN CLEANING DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,958 | ACCEPTED | Portable dueling tree | A modular target system includes a plurality of targets mounted on a center support so that the targets rotate between opposing sides of the center support. Preferably, the targets rotate about an axis which is between about 5 and 30 degrees less than vertical, and have faces which are disposed at an angle between about 5 and 30 degrees less than vertical. | 1. A modular bullet target system comprising: a center support configured for extending generally vertically; a plurality of targets configured for pivotal attachment to the center support so as to enable the targets to pivot between opposing sides of the center support about an axis which is less than vertical. 2. The target system of claim 1, further comprising a base which is configured for attachment to the center support. 3. The target system of claim 2, wherein the base comprises three feet. 4. The target system of claim 2, wherein the base is formed from plate steel. 5. The target system of claim 1, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion configured for pivotal attachment to the center support. 6. The target system of claim 1, wherein the targets are formed from a single piece of flat plate steel. 7. The target system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of mounting brackets configured for attachment to the center support, and wherein the targets are configured for pivotal attachment to the mounting brackets. 8. The target system of claim 7, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion and wherein the mounting brackets further comprise holes for receiving the protrusions thereby forming a hinge. 9. The target system of claim 1, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion configured to limit the pivotal movement of the target. 10. A modular bullet target system comprising: a plurality of targets configured for removable pivotal attachment to a center support and configured to pivot between a first position wherein the targets are disposed on a first side of the center support, through a middle position wherein the targets are disposed generally behind the center support, and to a second position wherein the targets are disposed on a second side of the center support, and wherein the target is biased towards the first and second positions and away from the middle position. 11. The target system of claim 10, further comprising a center support. 12. The target system of claim 11, wherein the center support is configured for removable attachment to a base. 13. The target system of claim 12, further comprising a base wherein the base comprises at least one foot formed from plat plate steel. 14. The target system of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of mounting brackets configured for removable attachment to the center support and wherein the targets are configured for pivotal attachment to the mounting brackets. 15. The target system of claim 14, wherein the each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion and wherein the mounting brackets further comprise holes for receiving the protrusions thereby forming a hinge. 16. The target system of claim 10, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion configured to limit the pivotal movement of the target. 17. The target system of claim 10, wherein the targets are formed from a flat piece of plate steel. 18. The target system of claim 10, wherein the targets are biased into either the first position or the second position by gravity. 19. The target system of claim 10, wherein the targets are slanted forwardly. 20. A modular bullet target system comprising: a center support configured for removable attachment to a base in a generally vertical position; a plurality of mounting brackets configured for removable attachment to the center support; and a plurality of targets configured for pivotal attachment to the plurality of mounting brackets wherein the plurality of targets are disposed on a pivotal axis which is less than vertical. 21. The target system of claim 20, further comprising a base, and wherein the base comprises at least one foot which is formed from plate steel. 22. The target system of claim 21, wherein the targets are formed from a plat piece of plate steel. 23. The target system of claim 20, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion, and wherein the mounting brackets further comprise holes for receiving the protrusions, thereby forming a hinge. 24. The target system of claim 20, wherein each of the targets further comprises at least one protrusion configured for limiting the pivotal movement of the target. 25. The target system of claim 24, wherein each of the mounting brackets further comprises at least one surface configured for contacting the protrusions and thereby limiting the pivotal movement of the targets. 26. The target system of claim 20, wherein the pivotal axis of the targets is disposed at an angle of between 10 and 30 degrees less than vertical. 27. A method of forming a modular bullet target system, the method comprising: selecting a base; selecting a center support; selecting at least one target; removably attaching the at least one target to the center support such that the at least one target is free to pivot from a first side of the center support, behind the center support, and to a second side of the center support; removably attaching the center support to the base such that the pivotal axis of the at least one target is disposed at an angle which is less than vertical. 28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the method further comprises selecting at least one mounting bracket, mounting the at least one mounting bracket to the center support, and mounting the at least one target to the at least one mounting bracket. 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises selecting at least one target wherein each of the at least one target has at least one protrusion and selecting at least one mounting bracket wherein the mounting bracket has a hole for receiving the protrusion and thereby forming a hinge. 30. The method according to claim 27, wherein the method further comprises selecting at least one target wherein each of the at least one target has at least one protrusion configured for forming a pivotal hinge. 31. The method according to claim 27, wherein the method further comprises selecting at least one target wherein each of the at least one target has at least one protrusion configured for limiting the pivotal rotation of the at least one target. | RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a Continuation-In-Part Application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 10/383,218, filed Mar. 6, 2003 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/362,744, filed Mar. 8, 2002. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a target used in shooting sports. In particular, the present invention relates to a portable target system, commonly referred to as a dueling tree, in which a plurality of targets are available to a pair of shooters wherein the targets move when they are hit by the shooters. 2. State of the Art The use of targets to enhance one's shooting ability is extremely common place. For hundreds of years, soldiers, police officers, and the like have used targets to improve their ability to shoot accurately in war time and other high pressure situations. A variety of different mechanisms have been used to simulate these situations in which the shooter's blood pressure will rise and affect his or her shooting ability. One common method for generating adrenaline and blood pressure increases in a shooter is to have a competition. The competition may be as simple as shooting at a plurality of clay pigeons or other targets. While isolated shooting at targets in competition situations provides a moderate increase in adrenaline flow, a much more significant increase is caused by head-to-head competition wherein both shooters are shooting a target at the same time. This is even more so if the competition is structured such that both shooters know how well the other shooter is doing. One system for significantly increasing pressure on the shooter during the competition is the use of a system called a dueling tree. Typically, a dueling tree includes a plurality of targets which are mounted on a central support. The targets are mounted such that if a target is hit by one shooter, the target moves into the firing line of the other shooter. Thus, a shooter attempts to strike the targets and move them into his competitors line of fire as quickly as possible. The first person to have all the targets disposed in their line of fire loses the competition. While a shooter may concentrate on hitting a particular target to move into his opponents line of fire, that concentration is readily broken when a target from the opponent moves over to his or her line of fire. This scenario quickly develops adrenaline and blood pressure increases and causes the shooter to react similarly to a real live situation in which the shooter's life may be in danger. One problem with some dueling trees is that a target may not completely move to the other side if hit. Other dueling trees are constructed so that even a grazing of the target will cause it to move. While attempts have been made to correct these problems, considerable improvements could be made. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the dueling tree includes a plurality of targets which are pivotably mounted to the center support so that when they are struck by a bullet, the target rotates 180 degrees and is disposed on the opposite side of the center support. The dueling tree is configured so that the target will generally not get stuck between either side. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the center support is disposed at an angle. This angle, preferably between 5 and 30 degrees short of vertical, and most preferably about 15 degrees, promotes the target to move forward towards the shooter and prevents the target from rotating to the other side of the central support unless it is solidly hit with a round. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the targets are also disposed at an angle short of vertical. The forward angle causes the target to channel bullets downwardly when impacted, thereby minimizing the risk of back splatter. In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, the center support has a splatter guard attached thereto. The splatter guard limits the movement of bullet fragments traveling toward the center support so as to avoid the fragments from ricocheting and hitting shooters or other individuals in the area. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the target is configured so that the target has a pin integrally formed therein which forms part of a hinge which enables the target to move between a first position and a second position. Because the pin is formed integrally with the target, it is less susceptible to breaking due to the vibrations of the target caused by the target being hit by bullets. This is in contrast to conventional structures wherein the hinge is welded or otherwise attached to the target. Such configurations often break under the repeated fatigue of the target being hit by a bullet. Furthermore, forming the pin and target from a single piece of material decreases expense, as less handling of the target is required. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the target is configured to move between a first position and a second position in such a manner than the target is biased into the first position or the second position, and away from a position therebetween, by gravity. Preferably, this is accomplished by the movement having a vertical component. Thus, the target must move upwardly and then back down as it moves from the first position to the second position and vice versa. This inhibits the target from stopping between the first position and the second position, and thereby encourages the target to be disposed in the line of fire of one of the shooters. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the dueling tree may be constructed in a modular form. The dueling tree may be designed with support feet and shooting target mounting brackets such that the feet and brackets bolt onto a central stand with conventional nuts and bolt. Carriage bolts may be used advantageously in that the rounded head of the carriage bolt may be placed on the outside of the stand where the bolt head may be possibly exposed to stray bullets, such configuration placing the nut on the inside of the stand where it is protected from stray bullets. This is advantageous in that the rounded head of the carriage is less susceptible to damage than an angular nut or bolt head, and it is not required to place a tool on the head of a carriage bolt for disassembly. A modular dueling tree is advantageous because a person may easily transport the dueling tree to a shooting range or other desired shooting location. A conventional dueling tree which is not modular is typically welded. The dueling tree is thus a large and heavy object which would be difficult to transport. It is also difficult to sell a non-modular dueling tree in a sporting goods store or other conventional sales outlet because the dueling tree must be pre-assembled and thus will be too large and heavy for many stores to accommodate and for many customers to transport. Thus, it is desirable to provide a modular dueling tree to facilitate use by sportsmen and the like. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 shows a front view of a dueling tree formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a side view of a dueling tree formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a dueling tree formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 4 shows an alternate embodiment of a dueling tree formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 5 shows a top view of the shooting plate assembly of a modular dueling tree in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 6 shows a side view of the shooting plate assembly of FIG. 5 with the support omitted; FIG. 7 shows a side view of a modular dueling tree in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and FIG. 8 shows a disassembled view of the individual pieces of a modular dueling tree in accordance with the principles of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the various elements of the present invention will be given numeral designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is to be understood that the following description is only exemplary of the principles of the present invention, and should not be viewed as narrowing the pending claims. Furthermore, it should be understood that all embodiments of the invention may not achieve all of aspects of the invention and the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments. Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a front view of a dueling tree, generally indicated at 6, formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The dueling tree 6 includes a center support 10, and a plurality of targets 14, which are pivotably mounted to the center support. Each of the targets 14 is mounted such that when the target is hit solidly with a round, the target will rotate approximately 180 degrees and be disposed on the opposing side of the center support 10. As will be explained in additional detail, this can be accomplished by providing a target which has an arm 18 with a portion of the arm forming a pin (not shown). The pin nests in the center support 10 so as to enable the target to rotate about the pin. During a shooting competition, a plurality of targets 14 are disposed on each side of the center support 10. For example, in FIG. 1, three plates are disposed on each side of the center support. When a shooter's bullet forcefully impacts a target 14, the target rotates to the opposing side of the center support 10. The first person to have all of the targets 14 disposed on their side of the center support 10, loses the competition. Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a side view of the dueling tree 6. The plurality of targets 14 are disposed along the center support 10 so that they are visible only along their ends. While the center support 10 can be made in variety of configurations, in a preferred embodiment, the center support 10 has a splatter guard 22, which is attached to a deflector plate 26 of the central support 10. The splatter guard 22 receives bullets that splatter laterally toward the center support 10 when impacting the targets 14. Thus, the splatter guard 22 limits the ability of bullet fragments to cross over the central support and injure shooters and by-standers alike. In a preferred embodiment, the splatter guard 22 is formed by a generally V-shaped rail plate 30 which is spaced apart from the deflector plate 26 between 1 to 3 inches. A mid-center rail 34 attaches the plate 30 to the deflector plate 26. Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a perspective view of the dueling tree 6. A plurality of rings 40 are attached to the deflector plate 26. The rings are configured to receive a pin 44 formed by a portion of the arm 18 of the target 14. (As shown in FIG. 3, the “pin” need not be cylindrical, and is typically flat. Rather, “pin” is used because the target rotates about an axis 3A-3A extending through the structure). As a target 14 is struck by a bullet, the target rotates about the pin 44 in rings 40 to the opposing side of the central support 10. It is preferred that the target and the rings 40 are formed from steel to increase longevity of the dueling tree. As shown in the above-referenced drawings, the dueling tree is preferably disposed in an orientation other than vertical. While the base 52 is disposed horizontally, the longitudinal axis 3B-3B of the central support 10 is disposed at an angle. The angle should be between about 10 and 30 degrees and preferably approximately 15 degrees from vertical (75 degrees from horizontal). This angle provides several advantages. First, the angle encourages the targets 14 to fall into forwardly into a position in which they extend outwardly from the central portion generally perpendicular to the line of fire. If the dueling tree 6 is disposed vertically, the targets have a tendency to bounce backward away from the line of fire and to be disposed where they are not fully presented to the shooter. In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, however, the targets 14 travel along a path in which they move vertically upward as they move horizontally between the first position and a second position disposed on an opposite side of the center support. Thus, the targets are drawn by gravity into either the first position or the second position and away from the area in-between. Providing the face 14a of the target 14 at the same angle, also helps to channel bullet fragments downwardly once they impact the target. This minimizes lateral scattering of the bullet fragments and decreases the risk that a ricochet may injure a shooter or by-stander. Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the invention. Rather than having the longitudinal axis of the central support 10a at an angle, the central support extends substantially vertically. The rings 54 which hold the targets 14, however, are not disposed perpendicular to the central support 10a as in the previous embodiment. Rather, the rings 54 are positioned to extend about between about 10 and 30 degrees above horizontal, or 60 to 80 degrees less than vertical. Preferably, the rings 45 are positioned at about 15 degrees above horizontal. This causes the pins of the targets to rotate about an axis 4A-4A which is 15 degrees less than of vertical (i.e. 75 degrees above horizontal). As with the prior embodiment, the angle tends to cause the targets to rotate forwardly into a position perpendicular to the line of fire. This also results in the face of the targets 14 being angled downwardly about 15 degrees, thereby deflecting bullets downwardly. Turning now to FIGS. 5-8, a modular dueling tree is shown. The modular dueling tree shown is constructed of flat plate steel, and is designed such that no welding is required in construction of the modular dueling tree. In addition, minimal bending is required to form the pieces of the modular dueling tree. This is advantageous in that the modular dueling tree is significantly easier and less costly to construct. Complex bending or shaping and welding adds significantly to the time and expense of producing a dueling tree. The design of the modular dueling tree shown in FIGS. 5-8 is also advantageous in that a target design that utilizes minimal welding or bending will be stronger than an equivalent design which does use welds and bends. Bending and welding metal can weaken the metal and provide a location where stress accumulates and where premature failure is more likely. Because the modular dueling tree shown is constructed without welds and with minimal bends, it is more durable and will last longer as compared to a design with more welds and bends. The modular dueling tree is also easier for an individual to transport to a shooting field or other shooting location. A dueling tree which is welded together or otherwise constructed in a non-modular form can not be disassembled for transport and will typically be quite large. In contrast, the modular dueling tree shown may be quickly disassembled for transportation to and from a shooting location. Additionally, the modular dueling tree may be sold disassembled and the purchaser may assemble the modular dueling tree as desired. Assembly is a simple and quick process as there are a minimal pieces to assemble, and the pieces are assembled with nut and bolts. Turning now to FIG. 5, a top view of the shooting plate assembly, indicated generally at 50, of a modular dueling tree made in accordance with the present invention is shown. Visible are the top bracket 52, the shooting plate 54, the support 56, and a bolt 58. The top bracket 52 and a bottom bracket (not shown) are nested together and attached to the support 56 with the bolt 58. Advantageously, the bolt 58 may be selected to be a carriage bolt, which has a rounded head instead of the common hex shaped bolt head. The bolt 58 may then be mounted such that the rounded head portion of the bolt 58 faces the front of the target. This is advantageous is that the rounded head portion of a carriage bolt does not accept a tool for attaching or removing the bolt, and as the bolt may be struck with stray bullets, the bolt may still be easily removed for disassembly or replacement because the nut (not shown), which accepts a tool for assembly and disassembly, is protected from bullets by the support 56. The top bracket 52 has a hole 60 formed therein for receiving a protrusion or pin 72 formed on the shooting plate 54. The hole 60 and pin 72, together with a corresponding hole and protrusion in connection with the bottom bracket form a hinge which allows the shooting plate 54 to pivot. The top bracket 52 also has a pair of stops 62 against which a stop protrusion 74 on the shooting plate 54 contacts to prevent further rotation of the shooting plate 54. The shooting plate 54 is thus free to rotate approximately 180 degrees between the two stops 62. In operation, the shooting plate 54 is biased by gravity to pivot towards one of the two stops 62 and not remain in a middle position, and will rest against the stop 62 until struck by a bullet. Striking the shooting plate 54 with a bullet will cause the shooting plate to rotate around and come to rest against the other stop 62. The top bracket 52 also has a rounded front portion 64 which is formed so as to not interfere with the rotation of the shooting plate 54. The front side edges 66 of the shooting plate 52 are typically formed at an angle so as to deflect bullets which may strike the edges 66 away from the shooter. The top bracket 52 is formed with a mounting portion 68 through which the bolt 58 passes to connect the top bracket 52, the bottom bracket, and the support 56 together. Although not shown in FIG. 5, the bottom bracket has a hole, angular front edges, stops, and a rounded front portion similar to that shown on the top bracket 52. Turning now to FIG. 6, a side view of the shooting plate assembly 50 is shown. The side shows the shooting plate 54, which typically has a target area 76, which may be of any desired shape, an attachment area 78, and a neck area 80 which connects the target area 76 to the attachment area 78. Also shown are the pair of pivot protrusions or pins 72, and the pair of stop protrusions 74. The view shows the top bracket 52 and the bottom bracket 82 in relation to each other. As seen, the mounting portion 68 of the top bracket 52 overlaps with the mounting area 84 of the bottom bracket 82. The bolt 58 passes through the mounting areas 68 and 84 and the support (not shown). A nut 86 is used in connection with the bolt 58 to firmly attach the top bracket 52 and bottom bracket 84 to the support. A notch 88 can be formed between the protrusions or pins 72 to facilitate access to the nut 86 with a socket, wrench, or other tool. Turning now to FIG. 7, a side view of a modular dueling tree in accordance with the present invention is shown. The modular dueling tree has a number of shooting plate assemblies 50 attached to the support 56. Multiple holes 90 are formed in the support 56 to allow placement of multiple shooting plate assemblies 50 in different locations as desired. The support 56 is attached to a plurality of feet 92 and 94. Typically, a single front foot 92 may be used. The front foot 92 extends directly forwards from the support 56. Two rear feet 94 are typically used, attaching together near the support 56 and extending rearwardly and to the two sides. The rear feet 94 may typically be placed at about a 135 degree angle from the front foot 92, as seen from the top, such that the rear feet will have approximately a 90 degree angle between each other as viewed from the top. The support 56 attaches to the feet 92 and 94 at an attachment point 96 in the rear feet 94. Typically, the joint 96 may be constructed such that the support 56 locks into a hole in the feet 92 and 94, is bolted to the feet 92 and 94, or both. It can be seen from FIG. 7 that the support 56 is mounted at a slight angle forwards of vertical. The support 56 is designed to lean slightly forwards in order to bias the shooting plates 54 forwards and to either side of the support 56. This is because the shooting plate 54 rises as it rotates backwards and falls slightly as it rotates forwards. It will be appreciated that although the shooting plates 54 are shown extending directly backwards of the support 56 in FIG. 7, gravity would tend to cause the shooting plates 54 to rotate towards either side of the support 56. Thus, in operation, the shooting plates 54 would be extending sideways from the support 56 until struck by a bullet, which would cause the shooting plates 54 to rotate backwards and continue rotation to the other side of the support 56. Turning now to FIG. 8, a disassembled view of the pieces required to construct the modular dueling tree of FIGS. 5-7 is shown. The front foot 92 is shown with two mounting holes 100. The front foot 92 is cut from flat plate steel. The mounting holes 100 allow the front foot 92 to be connected to the rear feet 94a and 94b via mounting holes 102 and 104. The rear feet 94a and 94b have a mounting portion 106 and 108 which is bent sideways such that when the rear feet 94a and 94b are attached together with the front foot 92, the rear feet 94a and 94b extend somewhat sideways and not directly backwards from the front foot 92. The rear feet 94a and 94b also are typically formed with support attachment portions 110 and 112. The support attachment portions 110 and 112 may include holes 114 and 116 for attachment to the support 56. The shooting plate 54 is shown. The shooting plate 54 is formed from a piece of plate steel, and is optimally formed without bends or welds so as to maximize the strength of the shooting plate 54. Of particular interest are the hinge protrusions 72 and the stop protrusions 74. Also shown is a notch 88 formed between the protrusions or pins 72 which allows for easier mounting and removal of the shooting plate assembly. The hinge protrusions 72 extend into the hole 60 of top bracket 52 and hole 118 of bottom bracket 82 and form a hinge which allows the shooting plate 54 to pivot. The stop protrusions 74 contact the stops 62 of the top bracket 53 and stops 120 of the bottom bracket 82. The top bracket 52 and bottom bracket 82 are formed with mounting holes 122 and 124 formed on a mounting portion 68 and 84, through which a bolt passes to attach the top bracket 52 and bottom bracket 82 to the support 56. The top mounting bracket 52 and bottom mounting bracket 82 are formed from plate steel which is bent into an L shape. The support 56 is also formed from plate steel, which is bent into an angular channel, as seen from end view 56a of the support 56. The support 56 has a number of holes 90 formed therein for attaching individual shooting plate assemblies 50. Although 6 holes 90 are shown, any number of holes 90 may be formed so that a desired number of shooting plate assemblies 50 may be attached to the support 56. The support 56 also has a hole or notch 126 formed in both sides of the channel at one end of the support. The holes or notches 126 formed in the bottom end of the support 56 allow for attachment of the feet 92, 94a, and 94b. Typically, corresponding holes or notches 114 and 116 are formed in one or more of the feet 92, 94a, and 94b. Preferably, the two rear feet 94a and 94b have the holes or notches 114 and 116 formed therein. As shown in FIGS. 5-8, a modular dueling tree may be formed completely from plate steel with no welding and minimal bending. Such construction is advantageous in that weak spots cause by welds and bends are minimized and the strength of the dueling tree is improved. Additionally, the modular dueling tree may be sold unassembled at any number of retail locations and assembled by the user at the desired location, and easily disassembled for transportation. The modular dueling tree may be quickly and inexpensively produced from a plate steel, and a harder plate may by used as compared to a design requiring more complicated forming processes. Thus there is disclosed an improved dueling tree and modular dueling tree. While the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 8 are currently preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications can still be made within the principles of the present invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a target used in shooting sports. In particular, the present invention relates to a portable target system, commonly referred to as a dueling tree, in which a plurality of targets are available to a pair of shooters wherein the targets move when they are hit by the shooters. 2. State of the Art The use of targets to enhance one's shooting ability is extremely common place. For hundreds of years, soldiers, police officers, and the like have used targets to improve their ability to shoot accurately in war time and other high pressure situations. A variety of different mechanisms have been used to simulate these situations in which the shooter's blood pressure will rise and affect his or her shooting ability. One common method for generating adrenaline and blood pressure increases in a shooter is to have a competition. The competition may be as simple as shooting at a plurality of clay pigeons or other targets. While isolated shooting at targets in competition situations provides a moderate increase in adrenaline flow, a much more significant increase is caused by head-to-head competition wherein both shooters are shooting a target at the same time. This is even more so if the competition is structured such that both shooters know how well the other shooter is doing. One system for significantly increasing pressure on the shooter during the competition is the use of a system called a dueling tree. Typically, a dueling tree includes a plurality of targets which are mounted on a central support. The targets are mounted such that if a target is hit by one shooter, the target moves into the firing line of the other shooter. Thus, a shooter attempts to strike the targets and move them into his competitors line of fire as quickly as possible. The first person to have all the targets disposed in their line of fire loses the competition. While a shooter may concentrate on hitting a particular target to move into his opponents line of fire, that concentration is readily broken when a target from the opponent moves over to his or her line of fire. This scenario quickly develops adrenaline and blood pressure increases and causes the shooter to react similarly to a real live situation in which the shooter's life may be in danger. One problem with some dueling trees is that a target may not completely move to the other side if hit. Other dueling trees are constructed so that even a grazing of the target will cause it to move. While attempts have been made to correct these problems, considerable improvements could be made. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the dueling tree includes a plurality of targets which are pivotably mounted to the center support so that when they are struck by a bullet, the target rotates 180 degrees and is disposed on the opposite side of the center support. The dueling tree is configured so that the target will generally not get stuck between either side. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the center support is disposed at an angle. This angle, preferably between 5 and 30 degrees short of vertical, and most preferably about 15 degrees, promotes the target to move forward towards the shooter and prevents the target from rotating to the other side of the central support unless it is solidly hit with a round. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the targets are also disposed at an angle short of vertical. The forward angle causes the target to channel bullets downwardly when impacted, thereby minimizing the risk of back splatter. In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, the center support has a splatter guard attached thereto. The splatter guard limits the movement of bullet fragments traveling toward the center support so as to avoid the fragments from ricocheting and hitting shooters or other individuals in the area. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the target is configured so that the target has a pin integrally formed therein which forms part of a hinge which enables the target to move between a first position and a second position. Because the pin is formed integrally with the target, it is less susceptible to breaking due to the vibrations of the target caused by the target being hit by bullets. This is in contrast to conventional structures wherein the hinge is welded or otherwise attached to the target. Such configurations often break under the repeated fatigue of the target being hit by a bullet. Furthermore, forming the pin and target from a single piece of material decreases expense, as less handling of the target is required. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the target is configured to move between a first position and a second position in such a manner than the target is biased into the first position or the second position, and away from a position therebetween, by gravity. Preferably, this is accomplished by the movement having a vertical component. Thus, the target must move upwardly and then back down as it moves from the first position to the second position and vice versa. This inhibits the target from stopping between the first position and the second position, and thereby encourages the target to be disposed in the line of fire of one of the shooters. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the dueling tree may be constructed in a modular form. The dueling tree may be designed with support feet and shooting target mounting brackets such that the feet and brackets bolt onto a central stand with conventional nuts and bolt. Carriage bolts may be used advantageously in that the rounded head of the carriage bolt may be placed on the outside of the stand where the bolt head may be possibly exposed to stray bullets, such configuration placing the nut on the inside of the stand where it is protected from stray bullets. This is advantageous in that the rounded head of the carriage is less susceptible to damage than an angular nut or bolt head, and it is not required to place a tool on the head of a carriage bolt for disassembly. A modular dueling tree is advantageous because a person may easily transport the dueling tree to a shooting range or other desired shooting location. A conventional dueling tree which is not modular is typically welded. The dueling tree is thus a large and heavy object which would be difficult to transport. It is also difficult to sell a non-modular dueling tree in a sporting goods store or other conventional sales outlet because the dueling tree must be pre-assembled and thus will be too large and heavy for many stores to accommodate and for many customers to transport. Thus, it is desirable to provide a modular dueling tree to facilitate use by sportsmen and the like. | 20040621 | 20060207 | 20050106 | 58690.0 | 2 | GRAHAM, MARK S | PORTABLE DUELING TREE | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,872,989 | ACCEPTED | Blood vessel detection device | A blood-vessel detecting device includes a partially-deforming device which can be inserted into the body cavity so as to come into contact with the tissue surface in order to deform a part of the tissue surface so that turbulence is generated in a blood flow within blood vessels extending underneath the tissue surface, thereby enabling detection of the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface. Turbulent sound due to the turbulence generated at a part of the tissue surface deformed by the partially-deforming device is converted into electric signals by a converting device, following which the electric signals are subjected to signal processing such as amplification and so forth by a signal processing device. | 1. A blood-vessel detection device for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface, the blood-vessel detection device comprising: a partially-deforming device which can be inserted into the body cavity so as to be in contact with the tissue surface in order to deform a part of the tissue surface, thereby generating turbulence in blood passing through blood vessels extending underneath the tissue surface; a converting device for converting turbulent sound due to the turbulence generated in a part of the tissue surface deformed by the partially-deforming device; and a signal processing device for performing signal processing including at least amplification for the electric signals. 2. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the converting device and the partially-deforming device for deforming a part of the tissue surface integrally form a single unit. 3. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the partially-deforming device also has a function serving as a resecting device for resecting the tissue which is to be resected. 4. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the partially-deforming device comprises a pressing device formed of a small-diameter rod. 5. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the partially-deforming device comprises a device for binding a part of the tissue using a rope. 6. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the partially-deforming device comprises a suctioning device formed of a generally cylindrical cup. 7. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 4, wherein the small-diameter rod also has a function serving as a tissue-resecting device for resecting the tissue. 8. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 7, wherein the tissue-resecting device comprises a needle knife. 9. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 5, wherein the rope also has a function serving as a tissue-resecting device for resecting the tissue. 10. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 9, wherein the tissue-resecting device comprises a high-frequency snare. 11. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 6, wherein the cup also has a function serving as a tissue-resecting device for resecting the tissue. 12. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 11, wherein the tissue-resecting device comprises a high-frequency snare integrally included within the cup. 13. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the converting device comprises a sound-wave detecting device for detecting sound waves while being in contact with the tissue. 14. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 13, wherein the sound-wave detecting device comprises a bimorph sensor using the piezo effect. 15. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 14, wherein the bimorph sensor is formed of a high-polymer piezo device. 16. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the converting device comprises a microphone serving as a non-contact-type wave-sound detector. 17. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 16, wherein the microphone comprises a piezo bimorph microphone using the piezo effect, or an electrostatic microphone using the electrostatic effect. 18. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the converting device is formed of a sound-interrupting unit for forming an acoustically isolated space with the part of the tissue surface as the bottom thereof, and a microphone disposed therewithin. 19. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the converting device includes a background noise sensor. 20. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 19, wherein the background noise sensor is disposed within a space distanced from the space including the acoustic sensor during observation in the body cavity. 21. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 19, wherein the signal processing device includes a differential output device for outputting differential signal between the electric signal and the output signal from the background noise sensor. 22. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing device includes an amplifying device for amplifying electric signals, and a signal processing device for converting the electric signals into digital signals. 23. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 22, wherein the signal processing device includes a Fourier transformation device, and a device for calculating after the Fourier transmission the mid-band frequency and the lower- and upper-side cutoff frequencies which are lower than that of the mid-band frequency by a predetermined decibel. 24. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 23, wherein the signal processing device includes a digital filter device designed using data such as the mid-band frequency and the lower- and upper-side cutoff frequencies which are lower than that of the mid-band frequency by a predetermined decibel calculated by the device for calculating the data. 25. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 22, wherein the signal processing device includes an autocorrelation-function computation device for computing the autocorrelation function of the electric signals. 26. A blood-vessel detection device for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface comprising: an endoscope including an inserting portion for being inserted into the body cavity; a partially-deforming device which is inserted into a channel of the endoscope, or is mounted onto the tip of the inserting portion thereof, for deforming a part of the surface of the tissue within the body cavity in order to generate turbulence in a blood flow passing through blood vessels extending underneath the tissue; a turbulent-sound sensor for detecting turbulent sound due to the turbulence; and a signal processing device for performing signal processing for notifying the surgeon of the presence or absence of turbulent sound, or for displaying such information, based upon the electric signals detected by the turbulent-sound sensor. 27. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 26, wherein an resecting tool is further inserted in another channel of the endoscope for resecting tissue such as an affected portion or the like which is to be resected. 28. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 26, wherein the partially-deforming device comprises a small-diameter rod which can be inserted into the channel, or a cylindrical member which is mounted onto the tip of the inserting portion. 29. A blood-vessel detection device for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface comprising: a partially-deforming device which can be inserted into a channel of an endoscope including an inserting portion for being inserted into the body cavity, or can be mounted onto the tip of the inserting portion thereof, for deforming a part of the surface of the tissue within the body cavity in order to generate turbulence in a blood flow passing through blood vessels extending underneath the tissue; a turbulent-sound sensor for detecting turbulent sound due to the turbulence; and a signal processing device for performing signal processing for notifying the surgeon of the presence or absence of turbulent sound, or for displaying such information, based upon the electric signals detected by the turbulent-sound sensor. 30. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 29, further comprising an resecting tool, which can be inserted in the channel formed on the endoscope, for resecting tissue such as an affected portion or the like which is to be resected. 31. The blood-vessel detection device according to claim 29, wherein the partially-deforming device comprises a small-diameter rod which can be inserted into the channel, or a cylindrical member which can be mounted onto the tip of the inserting portion. | This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2003-193164 filed on Jul. 7, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blood vessel detecting device for detecting blood vessels around tissue, in general, which is to be resected, such as an affected portion of mucosal tissue within the body cavity. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) has attracted attention as a standard medical treatment for early mucosal cancer, and the clinical usefulness thereof has been well known. In normal polypectomy, a bulging affected portion bulging therearound is resected using a high-frequency snare. On the other hand, in a case of non-bulging affected portion generally flat therearound, known resection methods include: a method wherein a tumor is caused to swell by injecting a physiological salt solution to the submucous membrane, and the tumor thus swollen is resected by a high-frequency snare; and a method wherein the affected portion is resected by the high-frequency snare while pulling up the affected portion with holding forceps using 2-channel scope; and the like. Note that other known methods include: a method wherein the affected portion is resected by a high-frequency snare while suctioning the affected portion using a silicone tube including an endoscope and the snare inserted therethrough, (EMR tube method); a method wherein the affected portion is resected by a high-frequency snare integrally included at the tip of a transparent cap mounted at the tip of a scope while suctioning the affected portion using the transparent cap (EMRC method), a method wherein tissue around the affected portion is incised so as to resect the affected portion using an IT knife (needle knife including a ceramic chip on the tip thereof) (IT knife method). On the other hand, in general diagnosis, blood vessels can be diagnosed by observing B-mode tomographic images or Doppler images obtained in ordinary ultrasonic endoscope diagnosis. In this case, there is the need to press an ultrasonic transducer into contact with the precise portion containing a mucous membrane which is to be resected, during transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves. Accordingly, in general, a method wherein the ultrasonic transducer is covered with a balloon filled with water is employed. Conventionally, as another method for detecting blood vessels and aneurysms occurring in the blood vessel, a method is known wherein turbulent sound occurring in the blood vessel, i.e., Korotokov sound, is detected. The measurement of blood pressure is known as a specific application example. Description will be made regarding the technique with reference to conventional arrangements. A sphygmomanometer disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-309894 employs a mechanism for detecting the aforementioned-Korotokov sound. With the aforementioned conventional sphygmomanometer, a cuff is wrapped around the upper arm of the subject, and the arteries are constricted by pressure in order to detect the Korotokov sound (K-sound). The conventional sphygmomanometer comprises a K-sound sensor for detecting the Korotokov sound (K-sound), a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure within the upper arm, a peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor, a pressure-sensor amplifier, and the like. In the measurement with the sphygmomanometer, the peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor is attached onto the portion peripheral to the cuff-wrapped portion, subsequently, the peripheral-vein pulse pressure (relative value) is measured by the peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor over the pressure of the cuff in the step of slow pressure reduction following pressure application, as well as measuring the pressure of the cuff. From the measurement results, the peak value of the peripheral-vein pulse pressure (relative value) is obtained, and the pressure of the cuff corresponding to the aforementioned peak value is determined to be the maximum peripheral-vein pulse pressure. On the other hand, in recent research, measurement results, which suggest that cardiac murmur can be detected in a patient affected by aortopathy due to turbulence within the blood vessels thereof, have been reported as described in the document (Kanai et al. “Measurement of spatial distribution of great velocity components of the myocardium and change in thickness of the local portion thereof”, J. Med. Ultrasonics, Vol. 29, No. 4, (2002) S235). As described above, it is known that turbulence causes turbulent sound in the blood vessels, and accordingly, the blood pressure and presence or absence of an aneurysm can be detected by detecting the sound, i.e., the Korotokov sound. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A blood-vessel detection device according to the present invention for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface includes a partially-deforming device which can be inserted into the body cavity so as to be in contact with the tissue surface in order to deform a part of the tissue surface, thereby generating turbulence in blood passing through blood vessels extending underneath the tissue surface. Furthermore, the blood-vessel detection device includes: a converting device for converting turbulent sound due to the turbulence generated in a part of the tissue surface deformed by the partially-deforming device; and a signal processing device for performing signal processing including at least amplification for the electric signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A through 3 show a first embodiment according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a diagram which shows mucous tissue containing early cancer tissue, and FIG. 1B is a diagram which shows a situation wherein a blood vessel is deformed by pressing force of a pressing rod forming a blood-vessel detecting probe, leading to generation of turbulent sound; FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows a configuration of a signal processing device of the blood-vessel detecting device; FIG. 3 is a block diagram which shows a detailed configuration of the signal processing device shown in FIG. 2; FIGS. 4 through 8 show a second embodiment according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 4 is a diagram which shows a configuration, operations, and the like, of principal components according to the second embodiment of the present invention by way of an example of use; FIG. 5A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows a suction cup serving as a principal component according to the second embodiment; FIG. 5B is a front view which shows the end face of the suction cup shown in FIG. 5A; FIG. 6A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows a suction cup serving as a principal component according to a first modification; FIG. 6B is a front view which shows the suction cup shown in FIG. 6A; FIG. 7 is a perspective view which shows a configuration of tip portion of the endoscope according to a second modification; FIG. 8 is a perspective view which shows a configuration of the tip portion of the endoscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 9 and 10 show a fourth embodiment according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 9 is a diagram which shows a configuration of the tip portion of the endoscope according to the fourth embodiment by way of an example of use; FIG. 10 is a block diagram which shows a configuration of a signal processing device; FIG. 11 is a diagram which shows a configuration of the tip portion of the endoscope according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 12 is a block diagram which shows a configuration of the signal processing device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Description will be made regarding embodiments according to the present invention with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) Description will be made regarding a first embodiment according to the present invention with reference to FIG. 1A through FIG. 3. The present embodiment may be applied to blood vessel detection for tissue within the body cavity, and accordingly, description will be made regarding the detection for tissue within the body cavity such as mucous tissue. In description regarding the first embodiment, first, description will be made regarding a mechanism for detecting blood vessels underneath tissue in the body cavity such as mucous tissue, following which description will be made regarding a configuration, operations, and advantages of the first embodiment. FIG. 1A shows a blood vessel 1 underneath mucous tissue 2 containing early cancer tissue 3, and a laminar blood flow 4 passing through the blood vessel 1. Note that the laminar blood flow 4 is a generally stationary flow, and accordingly, no turbulence occurs. In general, a fluid passing through a non-deformed tube exhibits a small Reynolds number, and accordingly, such a fluid has no turbulence. The Reynolds number Re of a viscous fluid is represented by: Re=VDρ/η, where V denotes average fluid speed, D denotes the diameter of the tube, ρ denotes the density of the fluid, and η is viscosity of the fluid. As can be understood from the above expression, the greater the flow speed, tube diameter, or density of the fluid is, or, the smaller the viscosity of the fluid is, the greater the Reynolds number Re is, and accordingly, turbulence readily occurs. In general, it is believed that a Reynolds number Re of 2000 or less leads to a laminar flow, and a Reynolds number Re of 3000 or more leads to a situation wherein turbulence readily occurs even in a case of a fluid passing through a non-deformed tube. In normal blood vessels without abnormal affected portions, no turbulence occurs in any normal blood vessel. However, in blood vessels containing deposits accumulated therein, or with aneurysms therein, the blood flow passes through such a restricted portion with an extremely high blood-flow speed V as compared with other portions. In some cases, this leads to turbulence which can be detected as turbulent sound. Known medical applications employing the aforementioned mechanism include: an arrangement wherein blood pressure is measured by detecting the Korotokov sound, an arrangement wherein cerebral aneurysms are detected by detecting turbulent sound propagating through the skull (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-204655), and the like. FIG. 1B shows the mucous tissue 2 of which a part is deformed so as to form a deformed portion 6 by pressing a long and narrow pressing rod 5, forming a blood-vessel detecting probe 9 according to the present embodiment, into contact therewith. As described above, in a case that the blood vessel 1 exists underneath mucous tissue, pressing the blood vessel 1 deforms a part of the blood vessel 1, leading to change from the laminar blood flow 4 to a turbulent blood flow 7. The turbulent flow 7 has a flow component orthogonal to the blood vessel wall, unlike the laminar blood flow 4, leading to constriction of the blood vessel in the diameter direction, resulting in displacement of the blood vessel while vibrating. The aforementioned displacement causes turbulent sound propagating through the mucous tissue 2, leading to vibration of the surface of the mucous tissue. The aforementioned vibration causes sound waves in a space within the body cavity. In FIG. 1B, the pressing rod 5 serves as partially-deforming means (or turbulence generating means) for deforming a part of the blood vessel 1 so as to generate turbulence. With the blood-vessel detecting probe 9 according to the present embodiment, the pressing rod 5 integrally includes a piezo-bimorph sensor (which will be simply referred to “bimorph sensor” hereafter) 8 formed of a high-polymer piezo device for detecting blood vessels. The bimorph sensor 8 of the blood-vessel detecting probe 9 is connected to a signal processing device 11 through an unshown signal line extending therefrom as shown in FIG. 2 so as to perform signal processing for electric signals due to turbulent sound in blood detected by the bimorph sensor 8, thereby notifying the surgeon of the presence or absence of blood vessels. The resonance frequency fr of the bimorph sensor 8 and the output voltage Vc in a case of applying vibration force F thereto are represented by: fr=(1.8752/(431/2π))(t/l)(Y/ρ)1/2 Vc=(3/8)g31Y(l/t)3Δx where t denotes the thickness of the bimorph sensor 8, 1 denotes the length thereof, Y denotes the Young's modulus thereof, and β denotes the density thereof. For example, the bimorph sensor 8 formed with Y of 2×109 [Pa], ρ of 1.77×103 [kg/m3], the length of 5 [mm], and the thickness of 125 [μm], exhibits resonance frequency fr of 425 [Hz]. On the other hand, in a case of the voltage output coefficient g31 of 23×10−12 [V/m], and the vibration displacement Δx of 0.001 [μm], the bimorph sensor 8 generates voltage Vc of 0.005 V. That is to say, in the event that the tissue surface vibrates with vibration displacement of 1 [nm] due to turbulent sound from the deformed blood vessel 1 in a situation wherein a part of the tissue is pressed with the small-diameter pressing rod 5 as shown in FIG. 1B, the bimorph sensor 8 outputs a voltage of 5 mV through the electrodes thereof. In other words, such an output voltage reveals presence of the blood vessel 1 underneath the mucous tissue 2 near the tip of the pressing rod 5. Next, description will be made regarding a configuration and operations of signal processing means according to the present embodiment for performing signal processing for the output voltage Vc obtained from the electrodes of the bimorph sensor 8, with reference to the signal processing device 11 shown in FIG. 2. The output signals from a turbulent-sound sensor 12 (more specifically, the bimorph sensor 8) are input to an amplifier 13 forming the signal processing device 11. The output signals from the amplifier 13 are converted into digital signals by an A/D converter 14. Furthermore, the digital signals are subjected to processing for extracting turbulent-sound components by a signal processing unit 15, following which the digital signals are output to a display device 16 so as to notify the surgeon of detection results for presence or absence of blood vessels. Next, description will be made in detail regarding a configuration of the signal processing unit 15 with reference to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the output signals from the A/D converter 14 are divided into two, wherein one is input to an FFT computation unit 21 for performing fast Fourier transformation (which will be abbreviate to “FFT”), and the other is input to a digital filter 24. The output signals from the FFT. computation unit 21 are further divided to two, wherein one is input to a mid-band frequency computation unit 22 for computing mid-band frequency from the frequency property serving as FFT computation output, and the other is input to a bandwidth computation unit 23 for computing the bandwidth thereof. Output signals from both the computation units 22 and 23 are used as filter property setting data for the digital filter 24. Thus, the signal processing unit 15 has a configuration wherein the filter property of the digital filter 24 is determined using the data from both the computation units 22 and 23, thereby enabling efficient detection (with a high S/N ratio) of the frequency components of turbulent sound which are to be detected from the divided output signals from the A/D converter 14 while suppressing noise. Next, description will be made regarding operations of the present embodiment. The surgeon presses the surface of mucous tissue near the early cancer tissue 3 which is to be resected, with the pressing rod 5, so as to deform a part of the surface of the mucous tissue before resection. Such pressing deforms the blood vessel 1, leading to generation of the turbulent flow 7, in a case that the blood vessel 1 extending underneath the mucous tissue has a diameter which is greater than that of capillaries, to the extent that a phenomenon occurs wherein in the event that the blood vessel 1 tears, blood spouts therefrom. The turbulent blood flow 7 has momentum components orthogonal to the blood vessel wall in flow components thereof, and accordingly, the blood vessel wall vibrates, leading to vibration propagating through the mucous tissue 2 and reaching the surface of the mucous tissue, resulting in vibration on the surface of the mucous tissue. The sound of the vibration is subjected to acoustoelectric conversion by the bimorph sensor 8, whereby electric turbulent signals are obtained. The bimorph sensor 8 is formed of a high-polymer piezo device having a high voltage-output coefficient g31, thereby enabling highly efficient vibration-displacement/voltage conversion while suppressing the size of the bimorph sensor 8. In addition, the bimorph sensor 8 having such a configuration has a wide frequency band property, thereby enabling efficient detection of turbulent sound from blood vessels with various diameters. Furthermore, the aforementioned high-polymer piezo device is formed of a flexible material containing fluorine which exhibits marked stability from the chemical perspective, thereby enabling smooth contact of the bimorph sensor 8 with the surface of tissue, and thereby preventing deterioration in the performance thereof due to material deterioration thereof. The turbulent-sound signals converted into electric signals by the bimorph sensor 8 are amplified by the amplifier 13 shown in FIG. 2, following which the electric signals are converted into digital signals by the A/D converter 14, which can be subjected to high-speed computation using various types of calculation algorithms. In general, the turbulent-sound signals contain various noise components. The signal processing unit 15 performs processing for the turbulent-sound signals in order to remove the noise components therefrom. First, the frequency property of the turbulent-sound signals is computed with frequency analysis processing performed in the FFT computation unit 21. That is to say, the FFT computation unit 21 computes the mid-band frequency taken as a feature value of the frequency property of the turbulent-sound signals; the −6 dB upper-side cutoff frequency which is lower than that of the mid-band frequency by a predetermined decibel, specifically lower by 6 dB; the −6 dB lower-side cutoff frequency which is lower than that of the mid-band frequency by −6 dB; and the frequency passing bandwidth between the lower- and upper-side frequencies of −6 dB of the mid-band frequency; and the like. Note that description has been made regarding an arrangement wherein the bandwidth is determined to be a specific width between the lower- and upper-side cutoff frequencies of −6 dB of the mid-band frequency, arrangements may be made wherein the bandwidth is determined to be a width therebetween of −20 dB and so forth. Subsequently, the user designs the digital filter 24 so as to have generally the same band property as with the turbulent sound signals using the frequency analysis processing results obtained by the FFT computation unit 21. The digital filter 24 processes the aforementioned amplified turbulent sound signals so as to efficiently remove the noise components having frequency components different from those of the turbulent sound signals. Thus, processing by the signal processing unit 15 realizes high S/N turbulent sound signals, thereby enabling detection of presence or absence of blood vessels underneath mucous tissue, having a relatively large diameter with a high S/N ratio by confirming presence or absence of the aforementioned turbulent sound signals. In this case, a comparator 25 makes a comparison between: the signals of the processed results from the signal processing unit 15; and a predetermined threshold Vt or the like serving as a reference value, and the comparison results are output on the display device 16, for example, thereby notifying the surgeon or the like, of the presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath the mucous tissue which is to be resected prior to performing the EMR method. As described above, with the present embodiment, the surgeon or the like is notified of presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath the mucous tissue prior to performing EMR method, thereby preventing unexpected bleeding. Thus, in a case of resection of an affected portion such as the early cancer tissue 3 or the like which is to be resected, the surgeon can easily confirm presence or absence of the blood vessel 1 extending underneath (within) the portion which is to be resected, using the blood vessel detecting device according to the present embodiment, thereby greatly reducing the load of the surgeon in such a case. While description has not been made regarding any specific configuration of resecting means with reference to the drawings in the present embodiment, specific description thereof will be made regarding the configuration thereof and the like in the following embodiment. Note that in a case that the aforementioned pressing rod 5 or the like is used under observation with an endoscope, the rod 5 or the like is formed with a diameter small enough to be inserted into an channel of the endoscope as described later. (Second Embodiment) Next, description will be made regarding a second embodiment with reference to FIGS. 4 through 7. Note that in the present embodiment, description will be omitted regarding configurations which are the same as with the first embodiment. FIG. 4 shows principal components forming a mucous-tissue resection device 31 according to a second embodiment serving as a tissue resection device according to the present invention, suitable for resection of mucous tissue within the body cavity. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram which shows a technique wherein a part of the mucous tissue 2 containing the early cancer tissue 3 is suctioned with a transparent and cylindrical suction cup 32 mounted at the tip of an unshown endoscope, a loop portion (ring portion) 33a of a high-frequency snare 33 is put on the neck of the mucous tissue protruding due to the aforementioned suctioning so as to be resected by cauterizing. Note that the endoscope has a configuration wherein channels are opened at the tip thereof for mounting the suction cup, the base of the channels are connected to a suction pump or the like, and suctioning force can be applied to the space within the suction cap by suctioning actions of the suction pump, as described later with reference to FIG. 7. In the event that the blood vessel 1 extends underneath the mucous tissue 2 containing the early cancer tissue 3 protruding due to suctioning force 34 (denoted by an outline arrow in FIG. 4) within the suction cup 32, the blood vessel 1 is deformed, as well, leading to formation of a deformed portion 35 underneath the mucous tissue. In the event that the blood vessel contained in the deformed portion 35 exists at a position which is to be resected by cauterizing with the high-frequency snare 33, resection thereof leads to a large amount of bleeding. On the other hand, a turbulent flow occurs in the blood vessel within the deformed portion 35, leading to turbulent sound 36a propagating through the blood vessel wall up to the surface of the mucous tissue so as to vibrate the surface of the mucous tissue, resulting in radiation sound 36b in a hollow portion 32a of the suction cup 32. With the present embodiment, the radiation sound 36b is detected by a bimorph sensor 37 formed of a high-sensitivity high-polymer piezo device, of which the tip is disposed within the hollow portion 32a. That is to say, the radiation sound vibrates the bimorph sensor 37 within the hollow portion 32a, and the bimorph sensor 37 converts the vibration into electric turbulent sound signals. The mucous-tissue resection device 31 according to the present embodiment features a configuration wherein the bimorph sensor 37 is not directly in contact with the surface of the mucous tissue, but the bimorph sensor 37 is disposed at a position within the hollow portion 32a, distanced from the surface of the mucous tissue for detecting sound. Vibration generated on the surface of the mucous tissue may contain the frequency components parallel to the direction along the surface of the mucous tissue which has no relation with the turbulent sound, as well as the frequency components orthogonal to the surface of the mucous tissue, i.e., the frequency components due to displacement of the surface of the mucous tissue in the direction orthogonal thereto due to the turbulent sound. The contact-type sensor for detecting turbulent sound has the disadvantage of detecting both vibration components, leading to great deterioration in the S/N ratio. With the present embodiment, the bimorph sensor 37 selectively detects only the frequency components orthogonal to the surface of the mucous tissue which can propagate through space, thereby realizing detection of turbulent sound with an excellent S/N ratio. On the other hand, with a configuration wherein such a sensor is disposed within the body cavity in an ordinary situation without any means for preventing sound generated in other portions, the sensor detects sound generated in all the portions within the body cavity. However, The mucous-tissue resection device 31 according to the present embodiment has a configuration wherein the bimorph sensor 37 is disposed within the suction cup 32 serving as the closed hollow portion 32a, thereby almost completely preventing sound propagating from the other portions within the body cavity, and thereby enabling detection of turbulent sound with an excellent S/N ratio, i.e., detecting presence or absence of blood vessels in the deformed portion 35 in a sure manner. The bimorph sensor 37 shown in FIG. 4 is formed in the shape of a rectangle, and more specifically, has a configuration as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the suction cup 32, and FIG. 5B is a front view which shows the end face thereof. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the suction cup 32 integrally includes the high-frequency snare 33 (the loop 33a thereof) at the end (tip) for contact with the mucous tissue 2, and accordingly, the early cancer tissue 3 is resected by cauterizing a region with the same diameter as with the suction cup 32. The mucous-tissue resection device 31 according to the present embodiment has a configuration wherein the rectangular bimorph sensor 37 is disposed at a position so as not to directly come in contact with the surface of the mucous tissue during suctioning, and the detected turbulent sound signals are output through a line 38a disposed along or near the inner wall of the suction cup 32 and a cable 38b extending from rear base of the suction cup 32. On the other hand, high-frequency signals are supplied to the high-frequency snare 33 through a wire 39a embedded within the inner wall of the suction cup 32 or the like, and a wire 39b extending from the rear end of the suction cup 32. FIGS. 6A and 6B show a principal portion of a mucous-tissue resection device 31B serving as a modification of the present embodiment. With the modification, a ring-shape bimorph sensor 40 is employed for detecting turbulent sound, instead of the rectangular bimorph sensor 37 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The bimorph sensor 40 is formed in the shape of a ring, and includes notches 40a so as to be readily bent and deformed. Note that the mucous-tissue resection device 31B has the same configuration as with the arrangement shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, except for the configuration of the bimorph sensor. Both the bimorph sensors 37 and 40, each of which are formed of a high-polymer piezo device, have a configuration so as not to inhibit suctioning. FIG. 7 shows a mucous-tissue resection device 41 serving as another modification of the present invention having a configuration wherein the transparent-cup EMRC method includes a turbulent sound detecting function. The mucous-tissue resection device 41 includes an narrow and long inserting portion 43 of an endoscope 42 which can be inserted into the body cavity, and a rigid tip 44 formed at the tip of the inserting portion 43 includes an observation window 45 having an objective optical system which allows the surgeon to perform optical observation, and an illumination window 46 (for casting illumination during observation), at the tip thereof. The objective optical system includes the end face of an image guide for transmitting optical images, or an image pickup face of a solid state image pickup device such as a charge coupled device (which will be abbreviated to “CCD”) at the focusing position thereof. On the other hand, the illumination window includes the end face of a light guide for transmitting illumination light, wherein the illumination light cast (from a light source device) to the base face of the light guide is transmitted through the light guide, and is output from the end face, whereby the region which is to be observed through the observation window 45 is illuminated. With an optical endoscope including an image guide of which the end face is disposed at the observation window 45 thereof, the user can observe optical images transmitted to the rear end face of the image guide through an eyepiece unit. On the other hand, with an electronic endoscope including a solid state image pickup device, the solid state image pickup device is connected to a video processor serving as a video signal processing device through a signal line, the image signals subjected to photoelectric conversion by the solid state image pickup device are converted into video signals by the video processor so as to be output to an image display device such as a monitor or the like, whereby an image focused on the image pickup face of the solid state image pickup device is displayed on a display screen of the image display device. Furthermore, the endoscope 42 includes a curving portion 47 curvably disposed at the base end of the tip 44 of thereof, wherein the user can curve the curving portion 47 in a desired direction by operating a curving knob disposed on an unshown operation unit disposed at the base end of the inserting portion 43, whereby the user can control the tip 44 so as to face a desired direction. That is to say, with the mucous-tissue resection device 41 according to the present embodiment, the user can control the tip 44 such that mucous tissue which is to be resected (containing the early cancer tissue 3) comes into the field of view of the observation window 45 disposed at the tip 44 by controlling the curving portion 47, and furthermore, medical treatment such as resection or the like can be made while observing the mucous tissue through the endoscope 42. Furthermore, the inserting portion 43 includes multiple channels for inserting forceps or the like along the longitudinal direction thereof, for example, wherein the channels lead to channel openings (which will be also referred to as “forceps opening”) 48a and 48b formed on the end face of the tip 44. The inserting portion 43 includes inserting openings around the base end thereof, each of which communicate with the corresponding channel for inserting forceps or the like. In this case, each channel forks into two near the inserting opening, wherein one extends to the operation unit, and the other communicates with a suctioning tube which is inserted into a universal cord extending on the side of the operation unit through the suctioning operation unit of the operation unit. In this case, the user connects a connector disposed at the end of the universal cord to the light source device, whereby the cap of the suctioning tube is connected to a suctioning pump disposed within the light source device. Thus, the user can perform suctioning by operating the suctioning operation unit, through the forceps openings 48a and 48b formed on the tip 44, which lead to the channels communicating with the suctioning tube. The mucous-tissue resection device 41 according to the present embodiment has a configuration wherein a transparent cup 49 is mounted onto the tip 44 with the base end thereof, and the high-frequency snare 33 extends from one forceps opening 48a for resection, as well as a turbulent sound sensor 50, e.g., the bimorph sensor 37, extending from the other forceps opening 48b. Note that the mucous-tissue resection device 41 according to the present embodiment includes two forceps openings 48a and 48b, and accordingly, an arrangement may be made wherein only one forceps opening 48b communicates with the suctioning tube, for example. Note that a commercially-available transparent cup may be employed as the transparent cup 49. More specifically, the transparent cup 49 includes a cylindrical main body formed of polycarbonate or the like, and an endoscope mounting portion 49a formed of polyvinyl chloride or the like, at the base end of the main body for mounting the tip 44 of the endoscope 42, which is fixed by adhesion or the like. The cable from the base end of the high-frequency snare 33 extends outside of the endoscope 42 through the inserting opening of the channel, and is connected to an unshown high-frequency power supply device for supplying high frequency current. Upon the user turning on a foot switch or the like, the high-frequency power supply device supplies a high-frequency current to the high-frequency snare 33 so as to cauterize and resect a portion surrounded by the loop portion 33a of the high-frequency snare 33. On the other hand, the cable from the turbulent sound sensor 50 (bimorph sensor 37) protruding from the forceps opening 48b extends outside of the endoscope 42 through the inserting opening of the channel, and is connected to the signal processing device 11 or the like shown in FIG. 2. As described above, the mucous-tissue resection device 41 according to the present embodiment has a function serving as a resection device for performing resection of a portion which is to be resected such as mucous tissue containing early cancer tissue or the like while observing through the endoscope 42, i.e., while observing the mucous tissue through the observation window 45 using illumination through the illumination window 46, and has a function wherein the surgeon can diagnose presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath (within) the portion which is to be resected prior to resection thereof using the turbulent sound sensor 50. With the present embodiment, at the time of medical treatment such as resection of early cancer tissue, the surgeon adjusts the loop portion 33a of the high-frequency snare 33 such that the diameter thereof is generally the same as the inner diameter of the cylindrical transparent cup 49. Subsequently, the surgeon controls the tip 49b of the transparent cup 49 such that the high-frequency snare 33 comes into contact with the early cancer tissue so as to encompass it, whereby the early cancer tissue is sealed in a generally closed space. Subsequently, upon the surgeon operating the suctioning operation unit (specifically, the suctioning button) of the endoscope 42 in order to start suctioning, the surface of the mucous tissue containing the early cancer tissue begins to bulge upwards due to suctioning force in the generally closed space. Thus, the suction cup 49 (and suctioning means) has a function serving as means for deforming a part of tissue. Such a configuration according to the present embodiment has the advantage that the surgeon can control the tip position of the bimorph sensor 37 by operating the operation unit of the endoscope 42, and can control the tip portion thereof so as to exhibit optimal contact state for detection of turbulent sound while observing detection signals. Furthermore, such a configuration according to the present embodiment has the advantage that a commercially-available suction cup may be employed as the suction cup 49 without modification. Note that with the suction cup 32 shown in FIG. 4, a commercially-available suction cup may be employed, as well. With the above-described embodiment (and modifications thereof), the mucous tissue containing the early cancer tissue which is to be resected is suctioned so as to protrude using the suction cup 32 or 49, and in the event that blood vessels having a relatively large diameter extends underneath the mucous tissue, the blood vessels contained in the portion which is to be resected by cauterizing using the high-frequency snare 33 are greatly deformed, leading to generation of turbulent sound The turbulent sound is emitted as sound waves from the surface of the mucous tissue over a space within the body cavity. With the present embodiment, the bimorph sensor 37 integrally included within the suction cup 32 or 49 detects the sound waves, thereby enabling determination whether or not blood vessels having a relatively large diameter extend underneath the mucous tissue. Sound components generated within the body cavity contain various frequency components due to various kinds of actions such as breathing, which have no relation with the aforementioned turbulent sound, leading to noise at the time of detection of turbulent sound. However, with the present embodiment, the bimorph sensor 37 is disposed within the suction cup 32 or 49 so as to prevent such noise, thereby enabling detection of turbulent sound with an excellent S/N ratio. As described above, with the present embodiment, the high-frequency snare 33 includes a blood vessel detection diagnostic probe near the resection means thereof for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath mucous tissue, and accordingly, the surgeon can diagnose whether or not blood vessels extend around the portion which is to be resected prior to resection, thereby facilitating suitable medical treatment. (Third Embodiment) Next, description will be made regarding a third embodiment according to the present invention with reference to FIG. 8. Note that in the present embodiment, description of configurations which are the same as with the first or second embodiments will be omitted or will be made in brief. The mucous-tissue resection device 51 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as with the second embodiment, wherein an endoscope-mounting portion 52a disposed at the base end of a suctioning cup 52 is connected to the tip 44 of the endoscope 42, whereby the suction cup 52 is mounted onto the endoscope 42. The suction cup 52 is formed with a greater length than that of the suction cup 49 according to the second embodiment, and has a configuration wherein a resonant tube 53 is disposed at a position over the range between: the generally middle portion of the suction cup 52 along the longitudinal direction thereof; and the base end thereof, and the resonant tube 53 includes a sound-wave microphone 54 in the shape of a membrane. That is to say, the difference in the present embodiment from the second embodiment is that the suction cup 52 includes two parts, wherein one is a front portion 52b generally corresponding to the suction cup 49 according to the second embodiment, and the other is a rear portion 52c serving as the base end thereof. Furthermore, the front portion 52b of the suction cup 52 includes the resonant tube 53 extending from the forceps opening 48b formed on the base end thereof positioned generally at the connecting portion between both the portion 52b and 52c, and the resonant tube 53 includes the sound-wave microphone 54 in the shape of a membrane. Note that reference numeral 53a in FIG. 8 denotes an opening formed at the tip of the resonant tube 53. Note that the sound-wave microphone 54 according to the present embodiment is not restricted to a piezo microphone using the piezo effect, rather, an arrangement may be made wherein an electrostatic microphone using the electrostatic effect is employed as the sound-wave microphone 54. With such an arrangement employing an electrostatic microphone as the sound-wave microphone 54, sound waves can be handled over a wider bandwidth than with an arrangement employing a piezo microphone, thereby enabling detection of turbulent sound singles in a wide frequency range. Note that the mucous-tissue resection device 51 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as with the second embodiment, except for the aforementioned configuration. Next, description will be made regarding operations of the present embodiment. The surgeon connects an unshown microphone line to the sound-wave microphone 54 extending up to the tip 44 of the endoscope 42 through the forceps opening 48b, following which the surgeon mounts the transparent suction cup 52 formed of the front and rear portions 52b and 52c onto the tip 44 of the endoscope 42 such that the field of view of the observation window 45 and the illumination window 46 are not obstructed. Subsequently, the surgeon adjusts the loop portion 33a of the high-frequency snare 33 extending outside of the tip 44 through the forceps opening 48a such that the diameter thereof is suitable for surrounding the early cancer tissue, following which the surgeon controls the tip 52d of the suction cup 52 such that both the tip 52d and the loop portion 33a come in contact with the mucous tissue containing the early cancer tissue. Subsequently, the surgeon performs suctioning of the mucous tissue through the suction cup 52 so as to form a protrusion. In this situation, in the event that there are any blood vessels extending underneath the protruding mucous tissue, the blood vessels contained therein are greatly deformed, leading to generation of turbulent sound. The turbulent sound reaches the microphone 54 through the resonant tube 53, following which the acoustic vibrations are converted into the electric signals by the microphone 54. The turbulent sound signals, which are converted electric signals, are subjected to signal processing by the signal processing device 11 described in the first embodiment. Upon detection of signals which reveals presence of the blood vessel 1 extending underneath the mucous tissue, the detection results thereof are displayed on the display device 16, thereby notifying the surgeon that the surgeon should stop resection with the high-frequency snare 33. As described above, the mucous-tissue resection device 51 according to the present embodiment has a configuration wherein the signal level of the turbulent sound is increased by the resonant tube 53, and the sound generated in the body cavity other than the turbulent sound is interrupted by the suction cup 52, thereby improving the S/N ratio of signal detection of turbulent sound. Thus, the mucous-tissue resection device 51 according to the present embodiment detects blood vessels extending underneath mucous tissue with an excellent S/N ratio. (Fourth Embodiment) Next, description will be made regarding a fourth embodiment with reference to FIGS. 9 through 10. Note that in the present embodiment, description of configurations the same as with the first through third embodiments will be omitted or will be made in brief. A mucous-tissue resection device 51′ according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 9 has basically the same configuration as with the mucous-tissue resection device 51 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, except for a configuration wherein the endoscope 42 further includes a background noise sensor 57. That is to say, the mucous-tissue resection device 51′ includes the background noise sensor 57 on the outer face of the tip 44 (for mounting the suction cup 52) of the endoscope 42 for detecting background noise. The detection signals detected by the background noise sensor 57 are input to a signal processing device 58, described later with-reference to FIG. 10, through an unshown signal line. In the present embodiment, description will be made regarding the mucous-tissue resection device 51′ in a situation wherein the surgeon determines presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath the mucous tissue prior to medical treatment of the early cancer tissue 3. In this case, the mucous tissue 2 containing the early cancer tissue 3 therein is suctioned through the suction cup 52 so as to form a protrusion, and at the same time, the loop portion 33a of the high-frequency snare 33 comes into contact with the mucous tissue 2 so as to surround the base portion of the protrusion thereof. In this situation, upon the surgeon applies a high-frequency current to the high-frequency snare 33, the mucous tissue 2 surrounded by the loop portion 33a is resected. In general, sound components generated from the surface of mucous tissue contain various frequency components including noise components in the body cavity other than turbulent sound signals. In many cases, the noise in the body cavity is generated due to beating of the heart, and accordingly, such noise has a constant cycle period, i.e., a constant cycle frequency. In many cases, the turbulent sound signals detected by the microphone 54 are superimposed on such noise signals generated in the body cavity. Accordingly, with the present embodiment, pure noise signals in the body cavity which contain no turbulent sound signals are detected from the turbulent sound signals containing the noise signals in the body cavity superimposed thereon, and the pure noise signals in the body cavity are subtracted from the turbulent sound signals containing the noise signals in the body cavity superimposed thereon, whereby pure turbulent sound signals are obtained. A configuration wherein the background noise sensor 57 is disposed within the suction cup 52 has difficulty in detecting such pure noise signals in the body cavity. Accordingly, the mucous-tissue resection device 51′ according to the present embodiment has a configuration wherein the background noise sensor 57 is disposed at a position near the suction cup 52 and outside thereof for detecting the noise in the body cavity as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 shows a configuration of the signal processing device 58 for performing signal processing for detection signals from the turbulent sound sensor 54 and the background noise sensor 57 so as to determine presence or absence of blood vessels extending underneath mucous tissue with high precision. The detection signals from the turbulent sound sensor 54 are input to one of input terminals of a differential computation unit 61 through the amplifier 13 and the A/D converter 14. On the other hand, the detection signals from the background noise sensor 57 are input to the other input terminal of the differential computation unit 61 through an amplifier 62 and an A/D converter 63 in the same way. The differential computation unit 61 computes differential signal between both the detection signals, following which the differential signal thus obtained is subjected to filter processing by a bandwidth filter computation unit 64. Furthermore, the bandwidth filter computation unit 64 determines whether or not the received differential signal exceeds a predetermined threshold, and in the event that determination has been made that the differential signal exceeds the predetermined threshold, the output signals are transmitted to the display device 16 in order to output notification signals. The mucous-tissue resection device 51′ according to the present embodiment has advantages described below. In the event that the mucous tissue protruding by actions of such a configuration according to the present embodiment contains blood vessels with a relatively great diameter, to the extent that a phenomenon occurs wherein in the event that the blood vessel 1 tears, blood spouts therefrom, such blood vessels are greatly deformed due to protrusion of the mucous tissue, leading to generation of turbulent sound. The sound waves thus generated are detected by the microphone 54 disposed within the suction cup 52, as well as detecting the background noise by the microphone 57 disposed outside of the suction cup 52, and differential output therebetween is obtained, thereby realizing detection of turbulent sound subjected to removal of noise due to beating of the heart, and thereby enabling detection of turbulent sound with high precision, i.e., with a high S/N. ratio. With the present embodiment, determination of the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath mucous tissue can be made with high precision, thereby preventing unexpected bleeding in the patient due to resection during Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR), and thereby improving QOL (Quality of Life) of the patient. (Fifth Embodiment) Next, description will be made regarding a fifth embodiment according to the present invention with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 shows a mucous-tissue resection device 71 according to the present embodiment in a situation immediately prior to resection. That is to say, FIG. 11 shows the mucous-tissue resection device 71 having an IT knife 72 serving as a needle knife integrally including a turbulent-sound detection vibration sensor and a ceramic chip serving as mucous-tissue resecting means, in a situation wherein the tip of the IT knife 72 is extracted from the forceps opening 48 formed on the endoscope 42 immediately prior to resection while optically observing mucous tissue through the observation window 45 of the endoscope 42. Note that the endoscope 42 according to the present embodiment may include only a single forceps opening 48. The aforementioned IT knife 72 integrally including the turbulent-sound detection vibration sensor comprises: a metal needle portion (needle portion) 74 including a ceramic ball 73 at the tip thereof; a curving displacement sensor chip 75 formed of a high-polymer piezo bimorph sensor in the shape of a rectangle, for example, for detecting small vibration; and a small-diameter rod 76 for fixedly supporting the IT knife 72 and the curving displacement sensor chip 75 so as to protrude from the end face thereof. The small-diameter rod 76 for supporting the bases of the needle portion 74 and the curving displacement sensor chip 75 protruding therefrom along the axial direction includes: a line 74a for supplying high-frequency electric power to the needle portion 74; and a line 75a for transmitting detection signals from the curving displacement sensor chip 75, contained therewithin. Next, description will be made regarding operations of the present embodiment. While the suctioning cup method described above has the disadvantage that only tumor tissue with a size within that of the cup can be resected, the IT knife method is an EMR method having the advantage of enabling resection of tissue with a diameter of 2 cm or more without remaining tumor tissue using the IT knife serving as treatment means for resecting a malignant tumor such as early cancer tissue. In medical treatment according to the IT knife method, first, the surgeon marks a line for incising, so as to surround the tumor, further out from the perimeter of the tumor by around 4 mm, using the tip of the IT knife 72. Subsequently, the surgeon injects a sodium-hyaluronate solution or the like underneath mucous tissue at a portion on the perimeter of the tumor in order to bulge the mucous tissue which is to be resected, surrounded by the aforementioned line. Furthermore, the surgeon incises the mucous tissue which is to be resected along the marked line with the IT knife 72, whereby the mucous tissue is incised along the line surrounding the tumor. Subsequently, the surgeon injects a physiological salt solution underneath the middle portion of the tumor in order to separate the entire tumor from the muscle layer, following which the surgeon performs snaring wherein the tip of the snare is pressed into contact with the groove formed by the aforementioned incision around the perimeter of the tumor so as to expand the groove for resection of the tumor, whereby resection of the tumor tissue is completed. In such a technique, in general, the needle portion 74 includes the ceramic ball 73 at the tip thereof for facilitating resection. However, in the event that there are blood vessels with a relatively great diameter underneath mucous tissue, the ceramic ball 73 may be caught on the blood vessel, and accordingly, the needle portion 74 may snag the blood vessel. In this case, the blood vessel thus snagged is greatly deformed, leading to turbulent sound which can be detected. With the present embodiment, the turbulent sound can be detected by the small-vibration-detecting curving displacement sensor chip 75 formed of a high-polymer piezo bimorph sensor disposed near the needle portion 74 or the ceramic ball portion 73. Thus, with the present embodiment, the detection signals are subjected to signal processing in order to detect the presence or absence of blood vessels, thereby notifying the surgeon of the presence or absence of the blood vessel. While needle portion 74 has a function for stopping some bleeding due to coagulating actions by high-frequency heating, it is difficult to handle a large amount of bleeding. The mucous-tissue resection device according to the present embodiment has the advantage of preventing such a large amount of bleeding due to unintentional severing of blood vessels having a relatively large diameter. (Sixth Embodiment) Next, description will be made regarding a sixth embodiment according to the present invention with reference to FIG. 12. The present embodiment relates to signal processing means and a signal processing method for improving an S/N ratio of turbulent sound signals, and may be applied to a sensor for detecting turbulent sound having any one of configurations described in the above embodiments. For example, the present embodiment may be applied to any one of the pressing probe 5 including the bimorph sensor 8 formed of a high-polymer piezo device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, the bimorph sensor 37 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the bimorph sensor 40 shown in FIG. 6, the turbulent sound sensor 50 shown in FIG. 7, and the microphone 54 shown in FIG. 8. The detection signals from any one of these turbulent sound sensors are detected over time, and more specifically, the detection signals are pulse signals which change over time. While the pulse signals contains noise signals due to beating of the heart, the pulse signals also contain noise signals occurring at random points in time. FIG. 12 shows a signal processing device 80 for removing such random noise. First, turbulent sound signals are converted into digital turbulent sound signals g(t) 81 by the A/D converter 14. Subsequently, the digital turbulent sound signals g(t) 81 are subjected to Fourier transformation by a Fourier spectrum computation unit 82, whereby the digital turbulent sound signals g(t) 81 are converted into frequency characteristic components G(f) 83. Furthermore, the power spectrum computation unit 84 performs computation wherein the square of the absolute value of the frequency characteristic component G(f) 83 is computed, whereby the power spectrum of the turbulent sound |G(f)|2 85 is generated. Furthermore, the power spectrum of the turbulent sound signals |G(f)|2 85 is subjected to inverse Fourier transformation by an inverse Fourier transformation computation unit 86, whereby the autocorrelation function φ87 is obtained. The autocorrelation function φ87 is input to the display device 16, and the display device 16 notifies the surgeon of the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath mucous tissue based upon the autocorrelation function φ87. The autocorrelation function φ87 represented by ∫g(t) g(t−τ) dt is used for a computation algorithm for removing noise at a high speed, thereby enabling detection of turbulent sound with an excellent S/N ratio by performing the aforementioned series of computation processing. On the other hand, the most general method for removal of noise employs a bandwidth filter described in the first embodiment. However, such a configuration needs to include computation means for computing the frequency property of the turbulent sound prior to filter processing. Furthermore, an arrangement may be made wherein detection signals are averaged in order to reduce noise, but such a configuration leads to increased computation period of time. With the present embodiment shown in FIG. 12, detection of turbulent sound signals can be made with an excellent S/N ratio by a simple series of computation processing. Note that the autocorrelation function φ87 is calculated by integration, and accordingly, the autocorrelation function φ87 may be computed by directly calculating the integration value. On the other hand, general-purpose programs using fast Fourier transformation (FFT) algorithm are available, and accordingly, an arrangement may be made wherein the autocorrelation function φ87 is computed using such a program, thereby enabling computation of the autocorrelation function φ87 with excellent reliability at high speed. As described above, with such embodiments, blood vessels having a relatively large diameter extending underneath mucous tissue near malignant tumor tissue which is to be resected are greatly deformed in Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR), and turbulent sound due to the deformation is detected with a high S/N ratio, thereby enabling determination of the presence or absence of blood vessels. Thus, Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) can be effectively performed. Note that all modifications formed of any combination of parts or the like of the above-described embodiments is encompassed by the present invention. For example, an arrangement may be made wherein the blood-vessel detecting probe 9 shown in FIG. 1B is inserted into the channel of the endoscope 42 shown in FIG. 7 (in this case, the suction cup 49 is not mounted onto the endoscope 42) so as to protrude from the forceps opening 48b formed on the tip thereof, and the surgeon diagnoses whether or not there are any blood vessels extending underneath the affected portion by observing the mucous tissue through the observation window 45. Furthermore, an arrangement may be made wherein the high-frequency snare 33 is disposed so as to protrude from the other forceps opening 48a as shown in FIG. 7, so that the surgeon can presses the loop portion 33a in contact with the mucous tissue so as to surround the portion deformed by pressing force from the pressing rod 5 of the aforementioned blood-vessel detecting probe 9. Note that the configurations disclosed in the present invention are not restricted to the medical application of EMR, rather, the configurations according to the present invention may be applied to any sort of medical applications of diagnosis for the body cavity using an endoscope, and have the advantage of preventing unintentional severing of blood vessels during operations of the treatment tool. In particular, the devices and methods according to the present invention are effectively applied to medical treatment wherein blood vessels may generate turbulent sound due to great deformation thereof by operations of the treatment tool. Furthermore, the devices and methods according to the present invention may be applied to medical treatment wherein, even if the surgeon cannot deform blood vessels, the endoscope can access near the affected portion, and blood vessels therearound generate turbulent sound due to blood vessel swelling or deposits accumulated therein. Accordingly, the mucous-tissue resection device according to the present invention detects turbulent sound due to blood vessels extending underneath the aforementioned deformed part of the tissue within the body cavity, containing an affected portion or the like which is to be resected, thereby enabling detection of blood vessels underneath the tissue with simple operations. Having described the preferred embodiments of the invention referring to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and various changes and modifications thereof could be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blood vessel detecting device for detecting blood vessels around tissue, in general, which is to be resected, such as an affected portion of mucosal tissue within the body cavity. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) has attracted attention as a standard medical treatment for early mucosal cancer, and the clinical usefulness thereof has been well known. In normal polypectomy, a bulging affected portion bulging therearound is resected using a high-frequency snare. On the other hand, in a case of non-bulging affected portion generally flat therearound, known resection methods include: a method wherein a tumor is caused to swell by injecting a physiological salt solution to the submucous membrane, and the tumor thus swollen is resected by a high-frequency snare; and a method wherein the affected portion is resected by the high-frequency snare while pulling up the affected portion with holding forceps using 2-channel scope; and the like. Note that other known methods include: a method wherein the affected portion is resected by a high-frequency snare while suctioning the affected portion using a silicone tube including an endoscope and the snare inserted therethrough, (EMR tube method); a method wherein the affected portion is resected by a high-frequency snare integrally included at the tip of a transparent cap mounted at the tip of a scope while suctioning the affected portion using the transparent cap (EMRC method), a method wherein tissue around the affected portion is incised so as to resect the affected portion using an IT knife (needle knife including a ceramic chip on the tip thereof) (IT knife method). On the other hand, in general diagnosis, blood vessels can be diagnosed by observing B-mode tomographic images or Doppler images obtained in ordinary ultrasonic endoscope diagnosis. In this case, there is the need to press an ultrasonic transducer into contact with the precise portion containing a mucous membrane which is to be resected, during transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves. Accordingly, in general, a method wherein the ultrasonic transducer is covered with a balloon filled with water is employed. Conventionally, as another method for detecting blood vessels and aneurysms occurring in the blood vessel, a method is known wherein turbulent sound occurring in the blood vessel, i.e., Korotokov sound, is detected. The measurement of blood pressure is known as a specific application example. Description will be made regarding the technique with reference to conventional arrangements. A sphygmomanometer disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-309894 employs a mechanism for detecting the aforementioned-Korotokov sound. With the aforementioned conventional sphygmomanometer, a cuff is wrapped around the upper arm of the subject, and the arteries are constricted by pressure in order to detect the Korotokov sound (K-sound). The conventional sphygmomanometer comprises a K-sound sensor for detecting the Korotokov sound (K-sound), a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure within the upper arm, a peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor, a pressure-sensor amplifier, and the like. In the measurement with the sphygmomanometer, the peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor is attached onto the portion peripheral to the cuff-wrapped portion, subsequently, the peripheral-vein pulse pressure (relative value) is measured by the peripheral-vein pulse pressure sensor over the pressure of the cuff in the step of slow pressure reduction following pressure application, as well as measuring the pressure of the cuff. From the measurement results, the peak value of the peripheral-vein pulse pressure (relative value) is obtained, and the pressure of the cuff corresponding to the aforementioned peak value is determined to be the maximum peripheral-vein pulse pressure. On the other hand, in recent research, measurement results, which suggest that cardiac murmur can be detected in a patient affected by aortopathy due to turbulence within the blood vessels thereof, have been reported as described in the document (Kanai et al. “Measurement of spatial distribution of great velocity components of the myocardium and change in thickness of the local portion thereof”, J. Med. Ultrasonics, Vol. 29, No. 4, (2002) S235). As described above, it is known that turbulence causes turbulent sound in the blood vessels, and accordingly, the blood pressure and presence or absence of an aneurysm can be detected by detecting the sound, i.e., the Korotokov sound. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A blood-vessel detection device according to the present invention for detecting the presence or absence of blood vessels underneath the tissue surface includes a partially-deforming device which can be inserted into the body cavity so as to be in contact with the tissue surface in order to deform a part of the tissue surface, thereby generating turbulence in blood passing through blood vessels extending underneath the tissue surface. Furthermore, the blood-vessel detection device includes: a converting device for converting turbulent sound due to the turbulence generated in a part of the tissue surface deformed by the partially-deforming device; and a signal processing device for performing signal processing including at least amplification for the electric signals. | 20040621 | 20090210 | 20050210 | 93563.0 | 0 | NATNITHITHADHA, NAVIN | BLOOD VESSEL DETECTION DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,024 | ACCEPTED | Power apparatus for wheelchairs | The disclosed invention used power-assist wheelchair hubs and an array of sensors to provide obstacle-avoidance features on a wheelchair. In a power-assisted manual wheelchair, the traditional rear wheels are replaced with motorized hubs that magnify the force applied to the rear wheels by the user. The present invention uses sensors to detect obstacles and drop-offs near the wheelchair, and uses the power-assist hubs to alter wheelchair movement in response to these sensor readings. | 1. A system for collision-free mechanical transportation comprising: (a) a wheeled mechanism; (b) means to detect forces applied to the wheels of said wheeled mechanism; (c) at least one sensor capable of detecting obstacles in the environment; (d) means to alter forces applied to said wheels of said wheeled mechanism; and (e) a controller that (i) receives and processes information about the forces applied to said wheels of said wheeled mechanism and about obstacles in the environment from said sensor; (ii) determines the risk of collision with obstacles; and (iii) alters the forces applied to said wheels to avoid said risk of collision. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said wheeled mechanism is a manual wheelchair frame. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein further comprising: (a) power-assisted wheels on said manual wheelchair; (b) means to detect forces applied to the pushrims of said power-assisted wheels; (c) means to interpret forces applied to said pushrims of said power-assisted wheels to determine a desired direction and speed of travel; and (d) means to control the motor and brakes of said power-assisted wheels. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said sensor interfaces with said controller in a modular manner. 5. The system of claims 1 or 2, having a plurality of sensors from the group of ultrasound sensors, infrared sensors, laser range finder sensors, touch sensitive sensors and imaging based sensors. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein each of said sensors is oriented to detect the plain in front of said wheelchair frame at a distance different from the distance detected by another of said sensors. 7. The system of claim 1 having a plurality of sensors having analog or digital cameras and software for analyzing an image from said cameras for the presence of obstacles. 8. The system of claim 7, further comprising means for projecting at least one laser line in the proximity to said wheeled mechanism and means for using discontinuities in said laser line to indicate the presence of obstacles or the edge of the plain in front of said wheeled mechanism. 9. The system of claim 5, wherein said touch-sensitive switches are housed in the wheelchair footrests or bumpers attached thereto. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein said means to alter the forces applied to said wheels are servo motors. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein said servo motors have encoders which measure the speed and direction of rotation for each said servo motor. 12. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller comprises a microprocessor adapted to run software algorithms for processing data provided by said sensor to avoid collisions. 13. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller uses software that has a case-based decision method for interpreting said sensor data and said wheeled mechanism speed and direction of travel to determine the risk of collision. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller uses Hidden Markov Model techniques to interpret data provided by said sensor and said wheeled mechanism's speed and direction of travel to determine the risk of collision. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller detects features of the environment, and alters the behavior in ways intended to be appropriate to said environmental features. 16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a means to provide information to a user, through audio, visual, or haptic means, of obstacles or drops. 17. A power-assisted manual wheelchair comprising: (a) means to detect forces applied to the pushrims of power-assisted wheels to determine the user's desired direction and speed of travel’ (b) at least one sensor capable of detecting obstacles and voids in the environment; (c) means to control the motor and brakes of said power-assisted wheels; and (d) a controller that (i) receives and processes information about the forces applied to said wheels of said wheeled mechanism and about obstacles in the environment from said sensor; (ii) determines the risk of collision with obstacles; and (iii) alters the forces applied to said wheels to avoid said risk of collision. 18. A power-assisted manual wheelchair comprising: (a) means to detect forces applied to the pushrims of power-assisted wheels to determine the user's desired direction and speed of travel; (b) a plurality of sensors capable of detecting obstacles and voids in the environment wherein such sensors are taken from the group of ultrasound sensors, infrared sensors, laser range finder sensors, touch sensitive sensors and imaging based sensors; (c) means to control the motor and brakes of said power-assisted wheels; and (d) a controller that (i) receives and processes information about the forces applied to said wheels of said wheeled mechanism and about obstacles in the environment from said sensor; (ii) determines the risk of collision with obstacles; and (iii) alters the forces applied to said wheels to avoid said risk of collision. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates primarily to mobility devices for people with disabilities and secondarily to mobile robotics, and specifically to an automated obstacle avoidance device and system for a manual wheelchair. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART The American Federation for the Blind (AFB) has estimated that 9.61% of all individuals who are legally blind also use a wheelchair or scooter, and an additional 5.25% of individuals who have serious visual impairment (but are not legally blind) also use a wheelchair or scooter. Currently, most individuals who are blind and also need a mobility device are seated in a manual wheelchair and pushed by another person. Depending on the extent of useful vision, individuals with low-vision can operate an unmodified manual wheelchair, powered wheelchair or scooter, but the risk of an accident increases with increased visual impairment. There are reports of individuals using a white cane (Pranghofer 1996) or guide dog (Greenbaum, Fernandes, & Wainapel, 1998) along with a wheelchair, but this is not common practice. The proposed invention provides navigation assistance to wheelchair users with visual impairments by detecting obstacles in the environment and automatically taking action to avoiding those detected obstacles. Electronic travel aids (“ETAs”) for people with visual impairments can be categorized as primary or secondary mobility aids. A primary mobility aid is one that provides the user with sufficient information for safe travel. Guide dogs and long canes are examples of primary mobility aids. A secondary mobility aid must be used in conjunction with a primary aid, and its role is to provide additional information to the user about such things as head height obstacles and overhangs. Most, but not all, ETAs for individuals with visual impairments are secondary mobility aids. A variety of such aids exist including U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,956 which describes a handheld ultrasound obstacle detector, which provides auditory alerts of potential obstacles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,320,496 and 5,807,111 describe tactile interfaces to an electronic compass. U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,294 describes a system which provides information about landmarks of interest in the environment, if those landmarks have been equipped with radio-frequency markers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,136 and 3,996,950 describe ETA's which are rolled along the ground in front of a person with visual disability, detect obstacles using a variety of sensors, and provide auditory or tactile alerts to the user. The PAM-AID (Lacey et al. 1999; www.haptica.com) provides additional navigation assistance for ambulatory individuals. The PAM-AID consists of a mobile robot base to which sonar sensors, a laser range finder and a pair of handles (oriented like bicycle handles) have been added. The PAM-AID is being developed to assist elderly individuals who have both mobility and visual impairments, and has two different control modes. In the manual mode, the user has complete control over the walker. Voice messages describing landmarks and obstacles are given to the user. In the automatic mode, the device uses the sensor information along with the user input to negotiate a safe path around obstacles. The central processing unit controls motors that can direct the front wheels of the walker away from obstacles. The PAM-AID, like most ETA's, is designed for ambulatory individuals. The Wheelchair Pathfinder (Kelly, 1999), however, is an example of a commercial product sold by Nurion Industries that can be attached to a manual or power wheelchair. The Wheelchair Pathfinder uses sonar sensors to identify obstacles to the right, left or front of the wheelchair and a laser range finder to detect drop-offs in front of the wheelchair. Feedback to the user is provided to the user through vibrations or differently-pitched beeps which requires the user to respond to the messages and take appropriate avoidance action. A number of systems have been developed that provide navigational assistance to power wheelchairs, but those systems are not adaptable to manual wheel chairs that have a power assist component. Unlike the Wheelchair Pathfinder which relies on the user to take corrective action, the present invention, upon detecting an obstacle, alters the speed and/or direction of the wheelchair. Further, the present invention has superior sensor coverage to the systems currently used in conjunction with a manual wheelchair extension or a power wheelchair. A number of systems have been developed which provide navigation assistance on power wheelchairs. Two North American companies, KIPR (Lindsey Square, Bldg. D; 1818 W. Lindsey Dr.; Norman, Okla. 73069) and Applied AI (Suite 600; 340 March Road; Kanata, Ontario; Canada K2K 2E4), sell smart wheelchair prototypes for use on power wheelchairs. The CALL Center (callcentre.education.ed.ac.uk/Smart_WheelCh/smart_wheelch.html) of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, has developed a power wheelchair with bump sensors and the ability to follow tape tracks on the floor for use within a wheeled-mobility training program (Nisbet et al. 1995). Permobil (www.permobil.se/) offers an add-on module for some of its power wheelchair models that can follow tape tracks on the floor and makes use of sonar sensors to stop the chair before colliding with obstacles, but this system is only compatible with Permobil wheelchairs, and is limited in the types of obstacles that can be detected. All the above devices were designed for electric powered wheelchairs rather than manual wheelchairs, whereas the invention described herein is deigned for use on a manual wheelchair frame, using the pressure exerted by the user on the pushrims to determine the desired path of travel. Several existing patents described wheelchairs or similar mobility devices with obstacle avoidance features. U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,988 uses sensor data to compute an array of vectors which indicate a safe path among environmental obstacles. This vector-based path selection method is not used in the system described here. The vector-based approach requires a larger number of sensors and more processing capability then the approach used by the described invention, and therefore the vector-based systems are not as cost-effective as the present invention. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,363,933 and 6,108,592 use voice- or breath-based commands to control a power wheelchair with obstacle-detecting sensors, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,056 uses a pushbutton interface to control a chair with obstacle-detecting sensors. In contrast, the present invention uses input from the wheelchair pushrims rather than the user's voice or pushbuttons. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,900 uses image processing to generate categorical depth maps using passive defocus sensing. In contrast, the present invention does not rely on vision analysis or passive defocus sensing. Although others have attempted to address mobility problems of visually impaired users of manual wheelchairs, none of the prior art describe or disclose se patents describe systems which incorporate power-assist wheels to provide obstacle avoidance features on a manual wheelchair. Power-assist wheels have only recently become available, and have not previously been used as the basis for a manual wheelchair with navigation assistance features. In a power-assisted manual wheelchair, the traditional rear wheels are replaced with motorized hubs that serve to magnify the force applied to the rear wheels by the user. Power-assist hubs meet the mobility needs of a population of users that (1) need a mobility aid, (2) lack the upper-body strength or function to propel a manual wheelchair, and (3) do not want a powered mobility device. A number of U.S. patents describe power-assist wheels. However, none of these systems provides obstacle avoidance features or incorporates environmental sensors. Many systems which provide navigation assistance features have been developed based on power wheelchair bases. However, no systems exist for a manual wheelchair frame which can autonomously act to avoid collisions with obstacles. Because the present invention is based on a manual wheelchair frame, it is smaller, lighter and easier to transport than a power wheelchair with similar navigation assistance features. The present invention also allows a user to retain or improve arm function by encouraging continued use of one or both arms. The present invention differs from existing navigation-assist wheelchairs by providing haptic feedback to the user through the force applied to the rear wheels via the power assist hubs. Thus, the visually impaired user receives a “picture” of his or her environment through the compliance/stiffness of the rear wheels in different directions of travel. The control software of the present invention also differs from traditional mobile robot or navigation-assist wheelchair obstacle avoidance techniques in that the manual wheelchair receives momentary “ballistic” control signals rather than continuous control signals from a joystick. Unlike ETA's which provide auditory or tactile alerts of potential obstacles, the present invention actively prevents collisions after an obstacle is detected. The present invention will benefit individuals with hemiplegia, a condition which is often caused by stroke or a spinal cord injury. Hempligia refers to paralysis of one side of the body; for example, of the right arm and right leg. Currently, hemiplegic individuals using a manual wheelchair must use a wheelchair in which the rear wheels are mechanically linked. This does nothing to decrease the amount of force that must be applied to move the wheelchair, but does make it necessary to decouple the rear wheels each time a turn is made. The present invention will serve as an “intelligent one-arm drive” which allows one wheel to automatically match the force applied to the other wheel, and automatically performs course corrections that would otherwise require decoupling the wheels. In addition, the present invention is useful for individuals who experience difficulty in moving a wheelchair inside a van, or in other confined spaces such as elevators and bathrooms. It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for visually impaired manual wheelchair users to avoid obstacles without the intervention of the wheelchair user. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a means for allowing mechanically linked wheels of a manual power-assisted wheelchair to perform a course correction independent of the linked wheel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for any mechanical device or system to have an automated correction function. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The disclosed invention uses power-assist wheelchair hubs and an array of sensors to provide obstacle-avoidance features on a manual wheelchair. In a power-assisted manual wheelchair, the traditional rear wheels are replaced with motorized hubs that serve to magnify the force applied to the rear wheels by the user. As with the existing power-assist wheelchair hubs, the invention utilizes instrumented wheelchair pushrims to detect user input (i.e., pressure applied to the pushrims) and the motors in the hubs provide amplified movement when the environment is clear. However, the present invention also provides active braking in the presence of obstacles. Modular sensors detect obstacles (such as furniture or walls) and drop-offs (such as descending staircases or curbs) in the environment. Information from these sensors is provided to central control circuitry (including a microprocessor and motor driver) which decides whether an obstacle is present, and what action if any must be taken in response. The control circuitry then overrides the power-assist motors, activating their brakes. These brakes are typically used to regulate the speed of the wheelchair (e.g. when descending a steep ramp) but are used in the present invention also to prevent collisions. The present invention is able to sense (1) the propulsive force applied to each rear wheel of the wheelchair, (2) the magnitude and velocity of rotation of each rear wheel, and (3) the location of obstacles and drop-offs relative to the wheelchair. Information from all sensors is collected by a microprocessor which: (1) integrates information about the user's input and the surrounding environment, (2) determines whether there is a risk of collision and adjusts the command signal accordingly, and (3) passes the resulting command signals to the motors of the power-assist hubs. The present invention can have several types of sensors integrated therein. These sensors are used for tracking the state of the wheelchair and locating obstacles and drop-offs in the wheelchair's environment. Examples of sensors to track the state of the wheelchair are encoders to measure wheel velocity. Examples of sensors for locating obstacles and drop-offs in the environment could include sonar sensors, infrared range-finders, contact switches for bump detection, laser range-finders, or sensors that rely on imaging techniques. The invention's control software provides smooth travel while modifying the direction and speed of travel of the wheelchair to avoid obstacles. The control software combines a power-assist control algorithm (to translate user input into signals to the power-assist motors) with obstacle avoidance software designed for navigation-assist power wheelchairs (LoPresti et al. 2003). Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following description and drawings. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the invention as claimed. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware parts of each wheel. FIG. 2 depicts an overview of a preferred embodiment of the present invention as applied to a power-assisted wheelchair. FIG. 3 depicts placement of sensor modules for a preferred embodiment on a manual wheelchair frame. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 mounted on a commercially available manual wheelchair frame. This embodiment uses the instrumented pushrims of a commercially available power-assist wheelchair hub to sense the propulsive force applied to each rear wheel of the wheelchair. The instrumented pushrims measure these propulsive forces using linear compression springs and a simple potentiometer that senses the relative motion between the pushrim and the hub. The pushrim signals are provided to the system's control electronics, which are based upon an electronic board interfaced to a custom printed circuit board design. In a preferred embodiment, this microprocessor is substituted for the microprocessor which typically coordinates the power-assist hubs. The microprocessor controls a permanent magnet direct-current motor attached to each rear wheel. The control signal provided to the motor by the microprocessor is determined by the signals received from the pushrims and other sensor information (e.g., information related to obstacles in the environment). An overview of the interaction between the microprocessor, the pushrim sensors, the motors, and the obstacle-detecting sensors is shown in the block diagram in FIG. 2. Several types of sensors are integrated into the device. Sensors can include a propulsive force sensing circuit which detects forces applied to the wheelchair pushrim, a speed and direction identification circuit which measures the speed of the motors, and a collection of obstacle avoidance sensors which monitor the environment for potential obstacles. The present invention includes at least one propulsive force sensor and at least one type of obstacle avoidance sensor. A preferred embodiment, described herein, uses a sensor to detect the speed and direction of the hub motors is and to provide additional information for the navigation assistance software. Information from all sensors is collected by the microprocessor, which integrates information about the user's input and the surrounding environment, and passes command signals to the motor drivers. The propulsive force sensing circuit detects forces applied to the wheelchair pushrim. The torque applied to the rear wheels is translated into a voltage. The voltage output from the potentiometer circuit on the rotating portion of the wheel is transmitted to the stationary portion of the wheelchair. The output signals of the secondary (stationary) coil is sent to an AC/DC converter, and the DC component is sent to an instrumentation amplifier. This electronic circuit is used for sensing the user's intended speed and direction of each rear wheel. While the pushrim sensors indicate the user's intended speed and direction of movement, the speed and direction identification circuit measures the actual speed of the motors. The actual velocity of each DC motor is detected by optical encoders mounted to the transmission gears of the motor. For speed detection a high-frequency filter is employed in which the capacitive reactance value increases or decreases depending on the encoder signal frequency. The output of the filter is interfaced to the A/D converter of the microcontroller through a multiplexer. Obstacle avoidance sensors in a preferred embodiment include seven standard sonar sensors, one wide-angle sonar sensor, seven infrared range finders, and four contact switches. Each of the foregoing sensors is used to detect potential obstacles in the wheelchair user's environment. In addition to detecting obstacles (such as walls or furniture), the sensors can be used to detect drop-offs (such as descending staircases or curbs) by observing the absence of an object (i.e., the ground). In this embodiment, a combination of sonar and infrared sensors are used to capitalize on the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of each sensor modality, and therefore provide redundancy. Sonar sensors tend to have a longer range and wider detection angle. Infrared range finders provide better resolution at shorter distances. Infrared range finders have difficulty detecting dark-colored or clear surfaces, while sonar sensors have difficulty detecting smooth surfaces. Having both sensor types available increases the range of materials which can be detected. Contact switches are included as a further source of redundancy. If an obstacle is undetected by the sonar and infrared sensors and the wheelchair collides with the obstacle, contact with the front or rear bumpers will activate one or more switches and immediately prevent further movement in the direction of the obstacle, reducing potential damage. A collection of sonar and infrared sensors such as those depicted in a preferred embodiment detects obstacles as large as a wall or as thin as 2.5 cm in width. A drop-off detector consisting of infrared and wide-beam sonar sensors detect drops as shallow as 5 cm (the height of a common curb which should be navigable by the wheelchair) while still allowing travel down a ramp with angle of descent less than 20°. The modular nature of the present invention allows more sensors to be added to provide even greater detection. In some preferred embodiments, the number of sensors are limited in number to reduce the cost of the system. The modular nature of the system of the present invention also allows other sensor modalities to be used; including, but not limited to laser scanners, laser strip detectors, short-range radar, or a global positioning system. In one preferred embodiment, three sonar and three infrared sensors are mounted to an auxiliary aluminum bar which is attached to the armrests and extends in front of the wheelchair. Two standard sonar, two infrared, and one wide-angle sonar sensor are attached to the wheelchair backrest and monitor the rear of the chair. Two sonar and two infrared sensors are mounted to the frame of the wheelchair near the footrests, and monitor the corners of the wheelchair. The contact switches are mounted in two custom-made footrest extensions and a rear bumper. This arrangement provides basic coverage of all sides and corners of the wheelchair. Other arrangements of sensors can be based on the needs of a particular user. Data from all analog sensors (pushrim sensors, motor encoders, sonar obstacle sensors, and infrared obstacle sensors) are passed to the microcontroller by an analog to digital convertor through a multiplexer. The interface between the sensors and the microcontroller allows for a modular system of sensors, which can be customized to the number, type, and arrangement of sensors which is best for an individual user. This system could also be extended to include other sensor types, such as laser rangefinders or computer vision. The control electronics provide sensor interfacing and a power amplifier for the motor drives. The microcontroller runs the embedded system software, described below. Voltage regulators provide voltage supply lines to the sensors, motors, and other electronic components. Some preferred embodiments include either a single nickel-cadmium battery (NiCd) or a nickel-metal hydride battery (NIMH) as the power supply. Other embodiments use other power sources. The control electronics for one preferred embodiment include an H-bridge motor driver. The microcontroller sends PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control signals to a pair of H-Bridge drivers designed for motion control applications. Each H-Bridge driver controls a motor with a rare earth magnet. Each motor is attached to a ring gear, with a resulting gear reduction. The motor control signals provided by the microcontrollers are determined by the sensor signals in accordance with the system's embedded control software. This software is designed to share control of the wheelchair with the wheelchair operator. The wheelchair operator is responsible for choosing when—and in which direction—the wheelchair moves, while the software modifies the speed of the wheelchair based on the proximity of obstacles in the wheelchair's current direction of travel. The navigation assistance software runs on the microprocessor. The software reads the values of the pushrim sensors, motor encoders, and obstacle avoidance sensors. If an obstacle is detected and the wheelchair is moving or turning toward it, the software adjusts the signal to the hub motors to avoid a collision. Decisions about collision risk based on sensor data are made using a case-based decision method for interpreting sensor data and wheelchair speed and direction of travel. Data from each sensor is compared to a voltage threshold for that sensor. These thresholds are different for each sensor, depending on the type of sensor (sonar or infrared), the position of the sensor (e.g. the front sensors must look beyond the footrests, while the rear sensors are at the edge of the chair), and the orientation of the sensors (e.g. whether the sensor beam is directed along the path of the wheelchair or at an angle). If an obstacle is detected and the wheelchair is moving or turning toward it, the software adjusts the motor signal to avoid a collision by slowing or stopping the wheelchair's movement in that direction. Example cases and wheelchair responses are listed in Table 1, where sensor numbers are based on FIG. 3. It would be consistent with this case-based decision method for the software to detect features of the environment, including but not limited to hallways, curbs, or doorways, and alters its navigation assistance in ways intended to be appropriate to said environmental features. In addition to or in place of the case-based decision method, the system could use Hidden Markov Model techniques to interpret sensor data and wheelchair speed and direction of travel in order to determine the risk of collision. Tactile feedback is provided to the user as the wheelchair resists movements which would cause collision with obstacles. Auditory and visual methods to provide feedback about the presence and location of obstacles are compatible with the system electronics. The invention includes a user override mechanism that allows the user to quickly and easily disengage the obstacle avoidance feature in an emergency. TABLE 1 Example cases for wheelchair response to obstacles. And the sensors Case If the pushrim signal indicates: indicate: Wheelchair response Obstacle in front of Forward movement Sensors 1, 2, or 3 Prevent forward movement. chair exceed “stop” threshold Obstacle behind chair Backward movement Sensors 6, 7, or 8 Prevent backward exceed “stop” threshold movement Obstacle at right, left Turning right Sensors 3 or 5 exceed Turn left, away from is clear “stop” threshold obstacle Obstacle at left, right Turning left Sensors 2 or 4 exceed Turn right, away from is clear “stop” threshold obstacle Obstacles at both Turning either direction One of sensors 2, 4, or Prevent turning. sides 8 AND one of sensors 3, 5, or 7 exceed “stop” threshold | <SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention relates primarily to mobility devices for people with disabilities and secondarily to mobile robotics, and specifically to an automated obstacle avoidance device and system for a manual wheelchair. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The disclosed invention uses power-assist wheelchair hubs and an array of sensors to provide obstacle-avoidance features on a manual wheelchair. In a power-assisted manual wheelchair, the traditional rear wheels are replaced with motorized hubs that serve to magnify the force applied to the rear wheels by the user. As with the existing power-assist wheelchair hubs, the invention utilizes instrumented wheelchair pushrims to detect user input (i.e., pressure applied to the pushrims) and the motors in the hubs provide amplified movement when the environment is clear. However, the present invention also provides active braking in the presence of obstacles. Modular sensors detect obstacles (such as furniture or walls) and drop-offs (such as descending staircases or curbs) in the environment. Information from these sensors is provided to central control circuitry (including a microprocessor and motor driver) which decides whether an obstacle is present, and what action if any must be taken in response. The control circuitry then overrides the power-assist motors, activating their brakes. These brakes are typically used to regulate the speed of the wheelchair (e.g. when descending a steep ramp) but are used in the present invention also to prevent collisions. The present invention is able to sense (1) the propulsive force applied to each rear wheel of the wheelchair, (2) the magnitude and velocity of rotation of each rear wheel, and (3) the location of obstacles and drop-offs relative to the wheelchair. Information from all sensors is collected by a microprocessor which: (1) integrates information about the user's input and the surrounding environment, (2) determines whether there is a risk of collision and adjusts the command signal accordingly, and (3) passes the resulting command signals to the motors of the power-assist hubs. The present invention can have several types of sensors integrated therein. These sensors are used for tracking the state of the wheelchair and locating obstacles and drop-offs in the wheelchair's environment. Examples of sensors to track the state of the wheelchair are encoders to measure wheel velocity. Examples of sensors for locating obstacles and drop-offs in the environment could include sonar sensors, infrared range-finders, contact switches for bump detection, laser range-finders, or sensors that rely on imaging techniques. The invention's control software provides smooth travel while modifying the direction and speed of travel of the wheelchair to avoid obstacles. The control software combines a power-assist control algorithm (to translate user input into signals to the power-assist motors) with obstacle avoidance software designed for navigation-assist power wheelchairs (LoPresti et al. 2003). Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following description and drawings. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the invention as claimed. | 20040621 | 20070417 | 20051222 | 98398.0 | 0 | PHAN, HAU VAN | POWER APPARATUS FOR WHEELCHAIRS | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,108 | ACCEPTED | Developing cartridge for electophotographic image forming apparatus | A developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes, a toner housing, a toner storage chamber, a toner feeding chamber, a feeding roller, a developing roller and a shielding device. One side of the toner housing has an opening, and the toner storage chamber and the toner-feeding chamber communicate with each other through a communication hole. The shielding device is installed within the toner storage chamber so as to move from a shielding position where it shields the communication hole to an opening position where it opens the communication hole. Accordingly, since the shielding member is capable of moving within the toner storage chamber, the user can save trouble of separating and removing the shielding member from the toner housing. | 1. A developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: a toner housing having a toner storage chamber and an opening at one side thereof; a toner-feeding chamber formed between the toner storage chamber and the opening; a communication hole communicating between the toner storage chamber and the toner-feeding chamber; a feeding roller included in the toner-feeding chamber; a developing roller included in the opening to contact the feeding roller; and a shielding device included in the toner storage chamber to be moveable from a shielding position, in which the shielding device shields the communication hole, to an open position in which the shielding device opens the communication hole. 2. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the shielding device comprises: a rotary shaft rotatably supported at opposite ends by opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing; a shielding member selectively connected to the rotary shaft to open and close the communication hole; and connecting means for selectively connecting the shielding member to the rotary shaft, wherein when the shielding member is connected to the rotary shaft and cooperates with the rotary shaft in the shielding position the shielding member shields the communication hole, and when the shielding member is released from the cooperation with the rotary shaft in the opening position the shielding member opens the communication hole. 3. The developing cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the shielding member comprises a shielding section shielding the communication hole, and a pair of swivel supporting sections engaged to opposite ends of the shielding section, to be elastically deformable, in which at least one of the swivel supporting sections is provided with a shape-mating hole, wherein the connecting means comprises one shape-mating part provided at one end of the rotary shaft on one of the opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing and compression projections projected from one of the inner lateral walls of the toner housing, and wherein the swivel supporting sections are elastically deformed by the compression projections, and the shape-mating hole is mated with the shape-mating part, thereby being connected to the rotary shaft in the shielding position, and the shape-mating hole is disengaged from the shape-mating part if the swivel supporting sections swivel in cooperation with the rotary shaft and elastically return to the original form, thereby breaking away from the compression projections at the opening position. 4. The developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing is provided with a fixing projection in order to prevent the swivel supporting sections from being rotated from a state in which the swivel supporting sections break away from the rotary shaft. 5. The developing cartridge according to claim 3, further comprising an agitator connected to the rotary shaft. 6. The developing cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the shielding member comprises a shielding section shielding the communication hole, and a pair of swivel supporting sections engaged to opposite ends of the shielding section, to be elastically deformable, in which at least one of the swivel supporting sections is provided with a shape-mating hole, wherein the connecting means comprises a pair of shape-mating parts provided at opposite ends of the rotary shaft to be spaced from the opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing, and compression projections projected from the inner lateral walls of the toner housing, and wherein the swivel supporting sections are elastically deformed by the compression projections, and the shape-mating holes are mated with the shape-mating parts, thereby being connected to the rotary shaft in the shielding position, and the shape-mating holes are disengaged from the shape-mating parts if the swivel supporting sections swivel in cooperation with the rotary shaft and elastically return to the original form, thereby breaking away from the compression projections at the opening position. 7. The developing cartridge according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing is provided with a fixing projection in order to prevent the swivel supporting sections from being rotated from a state where the swivel supporting sections break away from the rotary shaft. 8. The developing cartridge according to claim 6, further comprising an agitator connected to the rotary shaft. 9. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the shielding device comprises: a guide wall installed in the toner storage chamber so that a guide slot is formed between an inner front wall of the toner housing and the guide wall; and a shielding member installed to vertically move along the guide slot, wherein the shielding member comprises: a shielding section for shielding the communication hole; and a head section provided at a top of the shielding section, the head section being arranged so that it is latched onto at least one of the inner front wall and the guide wall in the opening position where the communication hole is opened as the shielding section is upwardly moved along the guide slot. 10. The developing cartridge according to claim 9, wherein one side of the toner housing is formed with a throughhole, and an operation cable is connected to the head section, the operation cable being exposed to the outside of the toner housing through the throughhole. 11. The developing cartridge according to claim 10, wherein a sealing member is provided on at least one of an inner and outer portions of the toner housing to seal the throughhole. 12. The developing cartridge according to claim 9, wherein an agitator is installed within the toner storage chamber. 13. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: a restraint blade installed at the opening of the toner housing to shield a part of the opening along with the developing roller; and a shielding membrane installed at the opening of the toner housing to shield a remaining part of the opening along with the developing roller. 14. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: a photosensitive drum housing connected to the toner housing having the opening; a photosensitive drum installed within the photosensitive drum housing to be fed with toner through the developing roller; and an electrification roller installed within the photosensitive drum housing to electrify the photosensitive drum. 15. A cartridge comprising: a toner housing comprising a toner storage chamber and a toner feeding chamber, the toner storage chamber having an opening at one side thereof; a communication hole communicating the toner storage chamber with the toner feeding chamber; and a guarding device located in the toner storage chamber moveable from a guarding position closing the communication hole to an open position opening the communication hole. 16. The cartridge according to claim 15, wherein the guarding device comprises: a rotary shaft rotatably supported at opposite ends by inner lateral walls of the toner housing; and a guarding member connected to the rotary shaft to open and close the communication hole; and a connector connecting the guarding member to the rotary shaft. 17. The cartridge according to claim 16, wherein the guarding member comprises a guarding section for guarding the communication hole, and a pair of swivel supporting sections engaged to opposite ends of the guarding section, to be elastically deformable, in which at least one of the swivel supporting sections is provided with a shape-mating hole, wherein the connector comprises one shape-mating part provided at one end of the rotary shaft and compression projections projecting from one of the inner lateral walls of the toner housing, and wherein the swivel supporting sections are elastically deformed by the compression projections, and the shape-mating hole is mated with the shape-mating part, thereby being connected to the rotary shaft in the guarding position, and the shape-mating hole is disengaged from the shape-mating part if the swivel supporting sections swivel in cooperation with the rotary shaft and elastically return to the original form, thereby breaking away from the compression projections at the opening position. 18. The cartridge according to claim 17, wherein at least one of the opposite inner lateral walls of the toner housing is provided with a fixing projection in order to prevent the swivel supporting sections from being rotated from a state where the swivel supporting sections break away from the rotary shaft. 19. The cartridge according to claim 17, further comprising an agitator connected to the rotary shaft. 20. The cartridge according to claim 16, wherein the guarding member comprises a guarding section for covering the communication hole, and a pair of swivel supporting sections engaged to opposite ends of the guarding section, to be elastically deformable, in which at least one of the swivel supporting sections is provided with a shape-mating hole, wherein the connector comprises a pair of shape-mating parts provided at opposite ends of the rotary shaft to be spaced from the inner later walls of the toner housing, and compression projections projecting from the inner lateral walls of the toner housing, and wherein the swivel supporting sections are elastically deformed by the compression projections, and the shape-mating holes are mated with the shape-mating parts, thereby being connected to the rotary shaft in the guarding position, and the shape-mating holes are disengaged from the shape-mating parts if the swivel supporting sections swivel in cooperation with the rotary shaft and elastically return to the original form, thereby breaking away from the compression projections at the opening position. 21. The cartridge according to claim 20, wherein at least one of the inner lateral walls of the toner housing is provided with a fixing projection to prevent the swivel supporting sections from being rotated from a state where the swivel supporting sections breaks away from the rotary shaft. 22. The cartridge according to claim 20, further comprising an agitator connected to the rotary shaft. 23. The cartridge according to claim 15, wherein the shielding device comprises: a guide wall installed in the toner storage chamber so that a guide slot is formed between an inner front wall of the toner housing and the guide wall; and a guarding member installed to vertically move along the guide slot, wherein the guarding member comprises: a guarding section closing the communication hole; and a head section provided at a top of the guarding section, the head section being arranged so that it is latched onto at least one of the inner front wall and the guide wall in the opening position where the communication hole is opened as the guarding section is upwardly moved along the guide slot. 24. The cartridge according to claim 23, wherein one side of the toner housing is formed with a through hole, and an operation cable is connected to the head section, the operation cable being exposed to the outside of the toner housing through the through hole. 25. The cartridge according to claim 24, wherein a sealing member is provided on at least one of an inner and outer portions of the toner housing to seal the through hole. 26. The cartridge according to claim 23, wherein an agitator is installed within the toner storage chamber. 27. The cartridge according to claim 15, further comprising: a restraint blade installed at the opening of the toner housing to close a part of the opening along with the developing roller; and a guarding membrane installed at the opening of the toner housing to close a remaining part of the opening along with the developing roller. 28. The cartridge according to claim 15, further comprising: a photosensitive drum housing connected to the toner housing having the opening; a photosensitive drum installed within the photosensitive drum housing to be fed with toner through the developing roller; and an electrification roller installed within the photosensitive drum housing to electrify the photosensitive drum. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2003-86250, filed Dec. 1, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art As is well known in the art, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is a printing apparatus, in which a toner is deposited on a photosensitive medium, where an electrostatic latent image is formed when a laser beam scans the photosensitive medium, thereby forming a toner image, and transferring the toner image to a paper being fed. Accordingly, a desired image is printed out. Since the electrophotographic image-forming apparatus has to be continuously fed with the toner, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is usually provided with a separate toner storage means. The toner storage means is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus body for replacement. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 comprises an exposure device 110, a developing cartridge 200, a transfer roller 120, a fixation device 130 and a paper-feeding device 140. In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 as constructed above, when a printing command is applied to the image forming apparatus 100, a laser beam in the exposure device 110 scans photosensitive drum 221 provided within the developing cartridge 200. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 221, and the toner is deposited on the electrostatic latent image, thereby forming a toner image. When a paper is fed from the paper-feeding device, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 221 is transferred to the paper by the transfer roller 120. The toner image transferred to the paper is fixed on the paper as the paper passes through the fixation device 130. In the above construction, the developing cartridge 200 has a predetermined lifespan, and is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus body 101 for replacement. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional developing cartridge 200 is generally divided into a toner housing 210 and a photosensitive drum housing 220. The toner housing 210 comprises a hopper housing 211 and a developing housing 212. The hopper housing 211 is provided with a toner storage chamber 211a, into which a toner is charged. A toner feeding chamber 212a is provided within the developing housing 212, and an agitator 213, a feeding roller 214 and a developing roller 215 are provided within the toner feeding chamber 212a. The toner feeding chamber 212a is opened to feed the toner to the photosensitive drum housing 220, in which the opened part is shielded by the developing roller 215, a restraint blade 216 and a shielding membrane 217. In addition, a photosensitive drum 221 and an electrification roller 222 for electrifying the photosensitive drum 221 are provided within the photosensitive drum housing 220. The above-constructed conventional developing cartridge 200 is tested by examining an image produced using the developing cartridge 200, after the photosensitive drum housing 220 and the developing housing 212 are assembled, and a small amount of toner is fed thereto, while being manufactured. If the developing cartridge 200 is in good order, a hopper housing 211 filled with toner is assembled to the developing housing 212. At that time, a shielding film 230 seals the toner storage chamber 211a of the hopper housing 211a to prevent leakage of the toner. If the toner storage chamber 211a communicates with the toner feeding chamber 212a, the pressure of toner moving to the opened part of the toner feeding chamber 211a increases. As a result, the toner may leak out due to vibration or external impact that can be caused during the transportation of the developing cartridge 200. As can be appreciated from the above, in the conventional cartridge 200, the toner storage 211a and the toner feeding chamber 212a are partitioned by the shielding film, and therefore, the toner feeding chamber 212a is not used. Therefore, there is a limit in space for storing toner, which shortens a life span of the developing cartridge 200. In order to increase the toner-storing space, the size of the hopper housing 211 can be increased. However, this approach is not preferable since it will also increase the whole size of the image forming apparatus 100. In addition, inconvenience will be caused when using the conventional cartridge 200 because a user has to detach and remove the shielding film 230 before mounting the cartridge to the image forming apparatus body 101. Furthermore, when the shielding film 230 is removed, the toner adhered to the shielding film 230 may be dispersed, thereby contaminating surroundings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above and/or other mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, improved in construction to facilitate a use of the developing cartridge and to increase the space for storing toner without increasing the size of the developing cartridge. In order to achieve the above aspect, there is provided a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a toner housing, a toner storage chamber, a toner feeding chamber, a feeding roller, a developing roller and a shielding device or guarding device, wherein an opening is formed on one side of the toner housing and the toner storage chamber and the toner feeding chamber communicating with each other through a communication hole. The shielding device or guarding device is installed within the toner storage chamber to be displaceable from a shielding or guarding position where the shielding device shields the communication hole to an open position where the shielding device opens the communication hole. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the shielding or guarding device includes a rotary shaft, a shielding or guarding member and a compression projection. The shielding or guarding member consists of a shielding section for shielding the communication hole, and at least one swivel supporting section connected to the shielding section to be elastically deformable, in which the swivel supporting section is provided with a shape-mating hole. The swivel supporting section is elastically deformed by the compression projection in the shielding position, by which the shape-mate hole can be mated with the shape-mating part. If the rotary shaft rotates, the swivel supporting section also rotates in cooperation with the rotary shaft, breaks away from the compression projection, and then elastically returns to its original shape. Thus, the swivel supporting section can be disengaged from the rotary shaft. A fixing projection may be provided on an inner wall of the toner housing to prevent the swivel supporting section disengaged from the rotary shaft from rotating. The rotary shaft may be also provided with an agitator. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the shielding or guarding device comprises a guide wall and a shielding or guarding member. The shielding or guarding member consists of a shielding section and a head section. The guide wall forms a guide slot along with the inner wall of the toner housing, and the shielding member while shielding the communication hole can be lifted along the guide slot, thereby opening the communication hole. A throughhole is formed at one side of the toner housing. The head section may be connected to an operation cable exposed to the outside of the toner housing through the throughhole. In addition, a sealing member is provided on at least one of the inner and outer portions of the toner housing to seal the throughhole. The developing cartridge may also include a restraint blade and a shielding or guarding membrane. The restraint blade shields a part of the opening along with the developing roller. The shielding or guarding membrane shields or guards the remaining part of the opening along with the developing roller. Furthermore, the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a photosensitive drum housing, a photosensitive drum and an electrification roller which are installed within the photosensitive drum housing. Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a construction of a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus; FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a construction of a developing cartridge for the conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus; FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a construction of a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner housing extracted from the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of main parts extracted from the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective and front views illustrating a shielding member of the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively; FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective and front views for describing the operation of the shielding member of the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively; and FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. Hereinbelow, a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 3, a developing cartridge 300 for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprises a toner housing 310, a feeding roller 320, a developing roller 330, a photosensitive drum housing 340, a photosensitive drum 350 and a shielding device 370. The toner housing 310 is provided with a toner storage chamber 310a and a toner feeding chamber 310b as shown in FIG. 4. The toner storage chamber 310a and the toner feeding chamber 310b communicate with each other through communication hole 310c. The toner storage chamber 310a is filled with a toner, and the toner moves to the toner feeding chamber 310b through the communication hole 310c. An opening 310d is formed in one side of the toner feeding chamber 310b. The toner within the toner feeding chamber 310b can move out of the toner housing 310 through the opening 310d. The feeding roller 320 deposits the toner onto the surface of the developing roller 330 in which the feeding roller 320 is rotatably installed in the toner feeding chamber 310b. The developing roller 330 is installed in the opening 310d to be in contact with the feeding roller 320. A restraint blade 311 is installed above the developing roller 330. The restraint blade 311 restrains the thickness of toner deposited on the surface of the developing roller 330, and shields an upper part of the opening 310d together with the developing roller 330, to prevent the toner within the toner-feeding chamber 310b from flowing out of the toner-feeding chamber 310b. Under the developing roller 330, a shielding membrane 312 is provided to be in contact with the developing roller 330. The shielding membrane 312 shields the lower part of the opening 310d together with developing roller 330, thereby preventing the toner within the toner-feeding chamber 310b from flowing out of the toner-feeding chamber 310b. The photosensitive drum housing 340 is connected to one end of the toner housing 310 covering the opening 310d of the toner housing 310, as shown in FIG. 3, and one side of the photosensitive drum housing 340 is formed with a waste toner collection chamber 340a. One side of the interior of the photosensitive drum housing 340 is provided with the photosensitive drum 350 to be in contact or not with the developing roller 330. The photosensitive drum 350 is fed with the toner through the developing roller 330. A part of the photosensitive drum 350 is exposed to the outside of the photosensitive drum housing 340, and a toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 350 is transferred to a paper from the exposed part. In addition, one side of the interior of the toner housing 310 is provided with an electrification roller 360 for electrifying the surface of the photosensitive drum 350 and to be in contact with one side of the photosensitive drum 350. Furthermore, the other side of the toner housing 310 is provided with a cleaning blade 341 so that the cleaning blade 341 is in contact with the other side of the photosensitive drum 350, in order to remove the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 350 not being transferred to the paper. The toner removed from the photosensitive drum 350 by the cleaning blade 341 is collected into the waste toner collection chamber 340a. According to the present invention, the toner housing 310 and the photosensitive drum housing 340 may be formed in a single chamber. In that case, the toner housing 310 and the photosensitive drum housing 340 may be defined with respect to the opening 310d of the toner feeding chamber 310b. The shielding device 370 comprises a rotary shaft 371, a shielding member 375 and compression projections 379a, 379b (FIG. 5). The shielding device 370 is included within the toner storage chamber 310a. As shown in FIG. 5, the rotary shaft 371 comprises a large diameter part 372 and small diameter parts 373a, 373b, and shape-mating parts 374a, 374b. The rotary shaft is rotatably supported by the opposite inner lateral walls 313a, 313b of the toner housing 310. Although not shown, at least one of the small diameter parts 373a, 373b, which are the opposite end parts of the rotary shaft 371, may be provided with a gear for receiving a driving force from the outside. An agitator 380 is connected to the large diameter part 372. The agitator 380 swivels about the rotary shaft 371, thus agitating toner charged within the toner storage chamber 310 so that the toner does not lump. In addition, the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, which are provided between the opposite ends of the large diameter part and the small diameter parts 373a, 373b, respectively, are spaced from the inner lateral walls 313a, 313b of the toner housing 310. The cross-sectional shape of the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b is not limited to a square as shown in FIG. 5, and may be formed in a triangular, a pentagonal, or other polygonal shapes. In the present embodiment, it is illustrated that the cross-sectional area of the large diameter part 372 is larger than those of the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, and the cross-sectional areas of the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b are larger than those of the small diameter parts 373a, 374b. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the rotary shaft 371 according to the present invention may comprise a shaft member having a constant diameter without being divided into the large diameter part 372 and the small diameter parts 373a, 373b, and the shape-mating parts provided at the opposite ends of the shaft member may have a cross-sectional area larger than that of the shaft member. In this case, the shape-mating parts are also spaced from the opposite inner lateral walls 313a, 313b of the toner housing 310. The shielding member 375 includes a shielding section 376 and a pair of swivel supporting sections 377, 378, as shown in FIG. 6A. The shielding section 376 has an area larger than that of the communication hole 310c (FIG. 5) so that the former can shield the communication hole 310c. The swivel supporting sections 377, 378 are formed at the opposite ends of the shielding section 376, respectively. The swivel parts 377, 378 are formed with shape-mating holes 377a, 378a, respectively. The shape-mating holes 377a, 378a may be formed in square, triangle or any other polygonal shape to correspond to the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, respectively. If the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b are mated with the shape-mating holes 377a, 377b, respectively, the rotary shaft 371 and the shielding member 375 are connected with each other. If the rotary shaft 371 rotates, the shielding member 375 can be swiveled in cooperation with the rotary shaft 371. In addition, the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 are elastically deformable in the longitudinal direction of the shielding section 376, as shown in FIG. 6B. Therefore, the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 are deformed in the inwardly opposite directions when external forces are applied to both of the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 as indicated by arrows, and return to their initial positions shown in solid line in FIG. 6B. The compression projections 379a, 379b are provided on the opposite inner lateral walls 313a, 313b of the toner housing 310, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5. The compression projections 379a, 379b compress both of the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 of the shielding member 375, so that the shape-mating slots 377a, 378a are mated with the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, respectively. In addition, the compression projections 379a, 379b cooperate with the fixing projections 314a, 314b each provided on one of the inner lateral walls 313a, 314b of the toner housing 310, in such a way of preventing the shielding member 375 from playing. As shown in FIG. 8, when the shielding member 375 is positioned in the open position, the compression projection 379a and the fixing projection 314a of one inner lateral wall 313a of the toner housing 310 support swivel supporting section 377 and the compression projection 379b and the fixing projection 314b of the other inner lateral wall 313b support swivel supporting section 378. Although it is described that a pair of shape-mating parts 374a, 374b are provided in the rotary shaft 371 and the shielding member 375 is provided with a pair of shape-mating slots 377a, 378a corresponding to the shape-mating parts 377, 378, respectively, in the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto. It is possible to establish connection between the rotary shaft 371 and a shielding member 375 with one shape-mating part and one shape-mating hole. Hereinbelow, the operation of the developing cartridge 300 according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. When manufacturing the developing cartridge 300, toner is placed into both of the toner feeding chamber 310b and the toner storage chamber 310a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the shielding member 375 is disposed in the shielding position for shielding the communication hole 310c between the toner feeding chamber 310b and the toner storage chamber 310a. As a result, the toner in the toner storage chamber 310a cannot flow into the toner feeding chamber 310b and the toner pressure is low. As shown in greater detail in FIGS. 5 and 7, the opposite swivel supporting sections 377 and 378 of the shielding member 375 are compressed by the compression projections 379a, 379b, respectively, thereby being elastically deformed, in the case of which the shape-mating holes 377a, 378a (FIG. 6A) of the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 are mated with the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, respectively. When the shielding member 375 is in the shielding position in this manner, the toner in the toner feeding chamber 310b seldom flows out of the toner housing through the gap between the developing roller 330 and the restraint blade 311 (FIG. 3) or the gap between the developing roller 330 and the shielding membrane 312 (FIG. 3) although vibration or impact is applied to the developing cartridge when transporting the cartridge 300. If the rotary shaft 371 receives a driving force through the driving section of the image forming apparatus body 101 and rotates in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 8 after the developing cartridge 300 is mounted to the image forming apparatus body 101 (FIG. 1), the shielding member 375 swivels in the direction indicated by arrow B in cooperation with the rotary shaft 371. If the swivel supporting sections 377, 378 rotate and break away from the compression projections 379a, 379b, respectively, the shape-mating holes 377a, 377b of the respective swivel supporting sections 377, 378 break away from the shape-mating parts 374a, 374b, respectively, as shown in dotted line in FIG. 7. At this time, the shielding section 376 of the shielding member 375 is released from the communication hole 310c, by which the communication hole 310c is opened. In addition, the connection between the shielding member 375 and the rotary shaft 371 is disengaged, and the shielding member 375 is in the state of idling. Accordingly, the shielding member 375 is not swiveled even if the rotary shaft 371 rotates. When the shielding member 375 is in the opening position as shown in FIG. 8, the compression projections 379a, 379b and the fixing projections 314a, 314b, both provided on the opposite inner lateral walls 313a, 313b of the toner housing 310, support the respective swivel supporting sections 377, 378, thereby preventing the shielding member 375 from moving. Further, the agitator 380 connected to the rotary shaft 371 swivels within the toner storage chamber 310a and agitates the toner within the toner storage chamber 310b (FIG. 3) in order to prevent the toner from lumping. The toner of the toner storage chamber 310a freely moves to the toner feeding chamber 310b through the communication hole 310c. FIG. 9 illustrates a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the developing cartridge 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises a toner housing 410, a feeding roller 420, a developing roller 430, a photosensitive drum housing 440, a photosensitive drum 450, an electrification drum 460 and a shielding device 470. A toner storage chamber 410a and a toner feeding chamber 410b are provided within the toner housing 410. The toner storage chamber 410a and the toner feeding chamber 410b communicate with each other through a communication hole 410c, and one side of the toner feeding chamber 410b has an opening 410d for moving the toner out of the toner housing 410. An agitator 411 is rotatably installed within the toner storage chamber 410a. In addition, a feeding roller 420 is installed within the toner feeding chamber 410b and a developing roller 430 is installed within the opening 410d to be in contact with the feeding roller 420. Installed at one side of the opening 410d is a restraint blade 412 that restrains the thickness of the toner deposited on the surface of the developing roller 430 and shields a part of the opening 410d along with the developing roller 430. Further, installed to be in contact with the developing roller 430 at the other side of the opening 410d is a shielding membrane 413 that shields the other part of the opening 410d along with the developing roller 430. The photosensitive drum housing 440, the photosensitive drum 450 and the electrification roller 460 are similar to those of the aforementioned embodiment, and thus description thereof will be omitted. The shielding device 470 comprises a guide wall 471 and a shielding member 472. The guide wall 471 is installed within the toner storage chamber 410a to be spaced from the inner front wall 414 of the toner housing 410, and a guide slot 471a is formed between the guide wall 471 and the inner front wall 414 of the toner housing 410. The shielding member 472 comprises a shielding section 472a and a head section 472b. The shielding section 472a moves along the guide slot 471a and shields the communication hole 410c. In addition, the head section 472b is provided at the top end of the shielding section 472a. The head section 472b is arranged in such a way that it is latched onto the top end of the guide wall 471 when the shielding section 472a is lifted along the guide slot 471a and placed in an opening position for opening the communication hole 410c. Accordingly, the shielding member 472 is not able to move downwardly, thereby being anchored in the opening position. In addition, an operation cable 480 is connected to the head section 472b for a user to manipulate. The operation cable 480 is exposed to the outside of the toner housing 410 through a throughhole 410e formed at one side of the top of the toner housing 410. The user manipulates the shielding member 472 using the operation cable 480. A sealing member 490 seals the throughhole 410e. With the developing cartridge 400 of the above construction, the shielding member 472 shields the communication hole 410c with the toner storage chamber 410a and the toner feeding chamber 410b filled with the toner. Therefore, the toner does not flow between the toner storage chamber 410a and the toner feeding chamber 410b, and a low toner pressure is maintained within the toner feeding chamber 410b. Accordingly, even if vibration or external impact is applied to the developing cartridge 400 during the transportation of the developing cartridge 400, the toner within the toner feeding chamber 410b seldom passes through the gap between the developing roller 430 and the restraint blade 412 or through the gap between the developing roller 430 and the shielding membrane 413. As a result, the toner does not leak out from the toner housing 410. The user may lift the shielding member 472 using the operation cable 480 after installing the developing cartridge 400 into the image forming apparatus body 101 (FIG. 1). The shielding member 472 is lifted along the guide slot 471a, and the communication hole 410c is opened. In the opening position of the shielding member 472, the toner within the toner storage chamber 410a freely moves to the feeding chamber 410b. As described above, according to the present invention, the shielding members 375, 472 are interposed between the toner storage chambers 310a, 410a and the toner feeding chambers 310b, 410b, and therefore, the toner does not move between the toner storage chamber and the toner feeding chamber. Accordingly, since the toner pressure within the toner feeding chamber 310b, 410b, which has a volume smaller than that of the toner storage chamber 310a, 410a, is low, the toner within the toner feeding chamber 310b, 410b seldom passes through the gap between the developing roller 330, 430 and the restraint blade 311, 412 or through the gap between the developing roller 330, 430 and the shielding membrane 312, 413, and also seldom leaks out from the toner housing 310, 410 even if vibration or external impact is applied to the developing cartridge 300, 400 during the transportation of the developing cartridge 300, 400. In addition, according to the present invention, since not only the toner storage chambers 310a, 410a but also the toner feeding chambers 310b, 410b can be filled with toner at the time of manufacturing the developing cartridges 300, 400, toner storage space of the developing cartridge 300, 400 can be increased. Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the shielding member for shielding a toner storage chamber and a toner-feeding chamber moves between an opening position and a shielding position both located within the toner storage chamber, the user can avoid problems when handling the shielding member. Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art As is well known in the art, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is a printing apparatus, in which a toner is deposited on a photosensitive medium, where an electrostatic latent image is formed when a laser beam scans the photosensitive medium, thereby forming a toner image, and transferring the toner image to a paper being fed. Accordingly, a desired image is printed out. Since the electrophotographic image-forming apparatus has to be continuously fed with the toner, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is usually provided with a separate toner storage means. The toner storage means is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus body for replacement. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1 , the conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 comprises an exposure device 110 , a developing cartridge 200 , a transfer roller 120 , a fixation device 130 and a paper-feeding device 140 . In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 as constructed above, when a printing command is applied to the image forming apparatus 100 , a laser beam in the exposure device 110 scans photosensitive drum 221 provided within the developing cartridge 200 . Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 221 , and the toner is deposited on the electrostatic latent image, thereby forming a toner image. When a paper is fed from the paper-feeding device, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 221 is transferred to the paper by the transfer roller 120 . The toner image transferred to the paper is fixed on the paper as the paper passes through the fixation device 130 . In the above construction, the developing cartridge 200 has a predetermined lifespan, and is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus body 101 for replacement. As shown in FIG. 2 , the conventional developing cartridge 200 is generally divided into a toner housing 210 and a photosensitive drum housing 220 . The toner housing 210 comprises a hopper housing 211 and a developing housing 212 . The hopper housing 211 is provided with a toner storage chamber 211 a , into which a toner is charged. A toner feeding chamber 212 a is provided within the developing housing 212 , and an agitator 213 , a feeding roller 214 and a developing roller 215 are provided within the toner feeding chamber 212 a . The toner feeding chamber 212 a is opened to feed the toner to the photosensitive drum housing 220 , in which the opened part is shielded by the developing roller 215 , a restraint blade 216 and a shielding membrane 217 . In addition, a photosensitive drum 221 and an electrification roller 222 for electrifying the photosensitive drum 221 are provided within the photosensitive drum housing 220 . The above-constructed conventional developing cartridge 200 is tested by examining an image produced using the developing cartridge 200 , after the photosensitive drum housing 220 and the developing housing 212 are assembled, and a small amount of toner is fed thereto, while being manufactured. If the developing cartridge 200 is in good order, a hopper housing 211 filled with toner is assembled to the developing housing 212 . At that time, a shielding film 230 seals the toner storage chamber 211 a of the hopper housing 211 a to prevent leakage of the toner. If the toner storage chamber 211 a communicates with the toner feeding chamber 212 a , the pressure of toner moving to the opened part of the toner feeding chamber 211 a increases. As a result, the toner may leak out due to vibration or external impact that can be caused during the transportation of the developing cartridge 200 . As can be appreciated from the above, in the conventional cartridge 200 , the toner storage 211 a and the toner feeding chamber 212 a are partitioned by the shielding film, and therefore, the toner feeding chamber 212 a is not used. Therefore, there is a limit in space for storing toner, which shortens a life span of the developing cartridge 200 . In order to increase the toner-storing space, the size of the hopper housing 211 can be increased. However, this approach is not preferable since it will also increase the whole size of the image forming apparatus 100 . In addition, inconvenience will be caused when using the conventional cartridge 200 because a user has to detach and remove the shielding film 230 before mounting the cartridge to the image forming apparatus body 101 . Furthermore, when the shielding film 230 is removed, the toner adhered to the shielding film 230 may be dispersed, thereby contaminating surroundings. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above and/or other mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, improved in construction to facilitate a use of the developing cartridge and to increase the space for storing toner without increasing the size of the developing cartridge. In order to achieve the above aspect, there is provided a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a toner housing, a toner storage chamber, a toner feeding chamber, a feeding roller, a developing roller and a shielding device or guarding device, wherein an opening is formed on one side of the toner housing and the toner storage chamber and the toner feeding chamber communicating with each other through a communication hole. The shielding device or guarding device is installed within the toner storage chamber to be displaceable from a shielding or guarding position where the shielding device shields the communication hole to an open position where the shielding device opens the communication hole. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the shielding or guarding device includes a rotary shaft, a shielding or guarding member and a compression projection. The shielding or guarding member consists of a shielding section for shielding the communication hole, and at least one swivel supporting section connected to the shielding section to be elastically deformable, in which the swivel supporting section is provided with a shape-mating hole. The swivel supporting section is elastically deformed by the compression projection in the shielding position, by which the shape-mate hole can be mated with the shape-mating part. If the rotary shaft rotates, the swivel supporting section also rotates in cooperation with the rotary shaft, breaks away from the compression projection, and then elastically returns to its original shape. Thus, the swivel supporting section can be disengaged from the rotary shaft. A fixing projection may be provided on an inner wall of the toner housing to prevent the swivel supporting section disengaged from the rotary shaft from rotating. The rotary shaft may be also provided with an agitator. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the shielding or guarding device comprises a guide wall and a shielding or guarding member. The shielding or guarding member consists of a shielding section and a head section. The guide wall forms a guide slot along with the inner wall of the toner housing, and the shielding member while shielding the communication hole can be lifted along the guide slot, thereby opening the communication hole. A throughhole is formed at one side of the toner housing. The head section may be connected to an operation cable exposed to the outside of the toner housing through the throughhole. In addition, a sealing member is provided on at least one of the inner and outer portions of the toner housing to seal the throughhole. The developing cartridge may also include a restraint blade and a shielding or guarding membrane. The restraint blade shields a part of the opening along with the developing roller. The shielding or guarding membrane shields or guards the remaining part of the opening along with the developing roller. Furthermore, the developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a photosensitive drum housing, a photosensitive drum and an electrification roller which are installed within the photosensitive drum housing. Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. | 20040623 | 20060919 | 20050602 | 68238.0 | 0 | TRAN, HOAN H | DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE FOR ELECTOPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,118 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus of remote server console redirection | An apparatus of remote server console redirection is described. The apparatus provides multi-managers to control remote server computers simultaneously. The apparatus includes at least one monitoring computer and a console redirection proxy service server (CRPSS). The monitoring computer executes a browser program and assigns a remote server computer to be controlled. The CRPSS determines whether the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring. If the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring, the CRPSS directly sends display images of the assigned remote server computer to the monitoring computer. If the assigned remote server computer is not on monitoring, the CRPSS issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the assigned remote server computer. Therefore, the display images of the assigned remote server computer are sent to the monitoring computer by way of the CRPSS. | 1. An apparatus of remote server console redirection simultaneously controlling a plurality of server computers with a baseboard management controller (BMC), the apparatus comprising: a monitoring computer, which executes a browser program and assigns one of the server computers to be controlled; and a console remote proxy service server (CRPSS), which determines whether the assigned server computer is on monitoring when receiving an image monitoring command sent out by one of the monitoring computers; wherein when the assigned server computer is on monitoring, display images of the assigned server computer are transmitted to the monitoring-computer that sends out the image monitoring command and are monitored using the browser program running thereon; and when the assigned server computer is not on monitoring, the CRPSS issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the BMC of the assigned server computer, with the console redirection command modifying the console redirection function in the basic input/output system (BIOS) system of the assigned server computer as ON and the reboot command starting the console redirection function of the assigned server computer, the display images of the assigned server computer are transmitted to the CRPSS and, through the CRPSS, further to the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command, and the display images of the assigned server computer are monitored using the browser program running on the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the browser program is a web-based browser program independent of the platform. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the console redirection command contains a network port of the CRPSS for the CRPSS and the BMC of the assigned server computer to transmit the display images. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reboot command starts the console redirection function on the assigned server computer using the power on self test (POST) thereof. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the BMC of the server computer uses a user datagram protocol (UDP) 623 port of a network interface controller (NIC) shared with the system to transmit the display images to the CRPSS, the packets for the UDP 623 port being transmitted to the BMC whereas other packets to the system. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command further downloads a Java Applet via the CRPSS from a network and executes it to establish a transmission connection for the display images with the CRPSS. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory is selected from the group comprising complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) random access memory (RAM) and CMOS NVRAM (non-versatile RAM). 8. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a computer management mode selected from the group comprising a single-main-manager mode and a multiple-main-manager mode. 9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a baseboard management controller (BMC) which controls the server computer to execute the console redirection command and the reboot command and to transmit the display images. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the console redirection command and the reboot command are control command written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that complies with the remote management control protocol (RMCP). 11. A system of remote control console redirection comprising: a plurality of server computers, each of which contains: a basic input/output system (BIOS); a memory coupling to the BIOS for recording settings of the BIOS; a baseboard management controller (BMC) coupling to the BIOS and the memory for controlling the server computer; and a system network interface controller (NIC) coupling to the BMC to use a plurality of user datagram protocol (UDP) ports to perform an out of band data transmission, wherein a packet of a specific UDP port is transmitted to the BMC and others to the system; a monitoring computer, executing a browser program and assigning one of the server computers to be controlled; and a console remote proxy service server (CRPSS), which couples among the server computers and the monitoring computers to receive a server image monitoring command sent out from the monitoring computers and determines whether the assigned server computer is on monitoring; wherein when the assigned server computer is on monitoring, display images of the assigned server computer are transmitted to the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command and are monitored using the browser program running thereon; and when the assigned server computer is not on monitoring, the CRPSS issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the BMC of the assigned server computer, with the console redirection command modifying the console redirection function in the basic input/output system (BIOS) system of the assigned server computer as ON and the reboot command starting the console redirection function of the assigned server computer, the display images of the assigned server computer are transmitted to the CRPSS and, through the CRPSS, further to the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command, and the display images of the assigned server computer are monitored using the browser program running on the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the browser program is a web-based browser program independent of the platform. 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the console redirection command contains a network port of the CRPSS for the CRPSS and the BMC of the assigned server computer to transmit the display images. 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the reboot command starts the console redirection function on the assigned server computer using the power on self test (POST) thereof. 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the monitoring computer that sends out the image monitoring command further downloads a Java Applet via the CRPSS from a network and executes it to establish a transmission connection for the display images with the CRPSS. 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the UDP port is the UDP623 port. 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the console redirection command and the reboot command are control command written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that complies with the remote management control protocol (RMCP). 18. A method of remote server console redirection comprising the steps of: sending a server image monitoring command from a monitoring computer to a console remote proxy service server (CRPSS) and assigning a server computer; determining whether the assigned server computer is on monitoring and when the assigned server computer is not on monitoring; sending a console redirection command and a reboot command from the CRPSS to the baseboard management controller (BMC) of the server computer; providing a network port to the BMC of the server computer; modifying the console redirection function in the BIOS memory of the server computer as ON; rebooting the server computer to start the console redirection function using power on self test (POST); transmitting display images of the server computer from the user datagram protocol (UDP) port of the server computer to the network port of the CRPSS; transmitting the display images to the monitoring computer; and using a browser program to monitor the display images. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein if the step of determining whether the assigned server computer is on monitoring finds that the server computer is on monitoring the display images of the server computer are directly transmitted to the monitoring computer, followed by the step of using a browser program to monitor the display images. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the console redirection command and the reboot command are control command written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that complies with the remote management control protocol (RMCP). | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention The invention relates to an apparatus of remote server console redirection and, in particular, to an apparatus of remote server console redirection for multiple users. 2. Related Art As computers become popular and with the rapid development in network technology, people can quickly obtain desired information and various kinds of services through the Internet. The development of computer network indeed brings us convenient and comfortable life. Transmission technology utilizing the network has a lot of progress in recent years. Therefore, computer systems comprised of few centralized computers or equipment are getting insufficient in practice. The computer system used in a normal company no longer contains only a few computers. Instead, they are often composed of computers and devices, such as the workstations, servers, databases, routers, and backup devices, distributed at different locations but connected by way of the network in order to provide various services. In order to effectively manage computers at different locations, remote control becomes important. Remote server management generally has a two-tier structure and usually adopts the one-to-one management mode. However, as the software functions and hardware structure of servers become more complicated, it is often difficult for a single manager to fix problems or perform settings on the servers. In particular, the server problems may not be only on the software or hardware side. It is more likely that a problem is caused by software failure that also results in hardware breakdown. Therefore, it would be a problem if the management, maintenance, and problem shooting of remote servers only rely on a few managers. It will be highly desirable that one can effectively combine the efforts of several software and hardware managers along with server users, salesmen, and manufacturers, and even the system designers and integrators to maintain the servers. This will make the server management and problem solving much easier and faster. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, we know that the conventional management of remote server computers is performed in the one-to-one mode. That cannot provide sufficient supports for network managers to solve problems when facing the increasingly complicated software and hardware on the servers. We are therefore eager to find an apparatus of remote server console redirection that provides multiple managers to control remote server computers simultaneously. It can effectively increase the problem solving ability and lower the costs required for remote management. It further renders the remote server management more popular and efficient. An objective of the invention is to provide an apparatus of remote server console redirection that enables multiple managers to control remote server computers simultaneously. This makes the server problem shooting and solving more convenient and efficient. Another objective of the invention is to provide an apparatus of remote server console redirection which uses a baseboard management controller (BMC) and a network interface controller (NIC) shared with the system to perform network packet transmissions. This can lower the cost of remote server management. A further objective of the invention is to use a three-tier network management mode to enable multi-manager controls of remote servers. A web-based browser program independent of the platform is provided to allow a manager to control remote servers on various kinds of platforms. In accord with the above-mentioned objective, the invention provides an apparatus of remote server console redirection to enable several monitoring computers to control several server computers. The apparatus of remote server console redirection contains at least one monitoring computer and a console redirection proxy service server (CRPSS). The monitoring computer executes a web-based browser program that is independent of the platform and assigns a remote server computer to be controlled. After receiving the above-mentioned control command, the CRPSS determines whether the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring. If the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring, the CRPSS directly sends display images of the assigned remote server computer to the monitoring computer. The monitoring computer uses the above-mentioned browser program to monitor the display images of the server. If the assigned remote server computer is not on monitoring, the CRPSS issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the BMC of the assigned remote server computer. The console redirection command corrects the function of the console redirection in the basic input/output system (BIOS) memory of the assigned remote server to be ON. The reboot command makes the console redirection function of the assigned remote server start functioning. The display images of the assigned remote server are transmitted to the CRPSS, which further sends the images to the monitoring computer. The console redirection command contains a network port number for data transmissions between the CRPSS and the BMC of the remote server. The reboot command uses power on self test (POST) to start the console redirection function of the remote server. The BMC of the remote server uses a user data gram protocol (UDP) 623 port of a NIC shared with the system to communicate with the network port set by the CRPSS. The monitoring computer downloads a Java Applet from the CRPSS and executes it in order to establish the connection with the CRPSS for display image transmissions. The server computer further contains a baseboard management controller (BMC) to execute the command transmitted from the monitoring computer. These commands are the control commands written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that satisfies the remote management control protocol (RMCP). Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of remote server console redirection. The method includes the following steps. A monitoring computer sends out a server image monitoring command. A CRPSS determines whether the assigned remote server is on monitoring. If the assigned remote server is not on monitoring, a console redirection command and a reboot command are sent to the assigned remote server computer. At the same time, a network port is provided to a BMC of the server computer. The console redirection function of the BIOS memory in the server computer is modified to be ON. The server computer is rebooted. A POST is used to start the console redirection function. The UDP 623 port of the BMC of the server computer transmits the display images of the remote server computer to the above-mentioned network port. The display images are then transmitted to the monitoring computer. If the remote server is already on monitoring, the display images are directly sent to the monitoring computer for direct control. The disclosed apparatus and method of remote server console redirection simultaneously enables multiple server computers to be managed by several monitoring computers through a CRPSS. The BMC and the NIC shared with the system are further employed to lower the management cost of remote server computers. The efficiency of solving problems on the servers is raised because multiple server managers can access the servers at the same time. The invention makes use of the managing privilege of managers to avoid the remote server control from being chaotic. Consequently, the disclosed apparatus and method of remote server console redirection not only effectively reduce the hardware cost for remote server control, but also facilitate the server management. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection; and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the three-tier management structure according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The specification discloses an apparatus of remote server console redirection that not only effectively enables multiple managers to perform online control on remote servers, but also use a baseboard management controller (BMC) and a network interface controller (NIC) shared with the system to lower the monitoring costs for the remote servers. The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. As shown in FIG. 1, the disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection can simultaneously monitor several server computers and enable management by multiple managers. The server 1 (110) and server 2 (120) represent two server computers being controlled. Through the redirection of the console redirection proxy service server (CRPSS) 130, the two servers are connected to a monitoring computer A (140), a monitoring computer B (150), a monitoring computer C (160), a monitoring computer D (170), and a monitoring computer E (180). That is, many monitoring computers manage the remote servers simultaneously by way of the CRPSS 130. The monitoring computer A (140), the monitoring computer B (150), the monitoring computer C (160), the monitoring computer D (170), and the monitoring computer E (180) can represent either five different computers or five browser windows on the same computer. The CRPSS 130 can also be integrated inside any monitoring computer without departing from the spirit of the invention. With reference to FIG. 2, the present remote server console redirection apparatus is a three-tier management structure. The three-tier management structure of the invention has a monitoring tier 270, a proxy tier 280, and a managed tier 290. We use a single server 210 as an example to explain the functions of the managed tier 290. As described above, the disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection can simultaneously control multiple remote servers. The monitoring tier 270 will be explained using the monitoring computer A (240), the monitoring computer B (250), and the monitoring computer C (260) as an example. When we want to perform remote controls on the server 210, any of the monitoring computers A, B and C sends a command to the CRPSS 230. Suppose a server manager uses the monitoring computer A (240) to remotely control the server 210, he or she sends a command to the CRPSS 230. The monitoring computer A (240) uses a browser that provides the platform independent network monitoring function to monitor the server. After the CRPSS 230 receives the command from the monitoring computer A (240), it determines that the server 210 is not currently on monitoring. Through the connection 232, the CRPSS 230 issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the BMC of the server 210 using the remote management control protocol (RMCP). These two commands are control commands written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that satisfies the RMCP. The BMC of the server 210 obtains the two control commands via the user datagram protocol (UDP) 623 port of the NIC 215 shared with the system. The console redirection command further contains a predetermine port for the BMC 214 of the server computer 210. For example, the UDP 623 port is an out of band data input/output (IO) port. That is, when a packet is received, it is transmitted to BMC if its destination port is UDP 623 and to the system 210 otherwise. At the same time, the monitoring computer A (240) downloads a Java Applet from the CRPSS 230 in the proxy tier 280 and executes it. It also establishes the connection 242. The server 210 executes the above-mentioned two control commands. First, the BMC 214 sets memory 216 in the basic input/output system (BIOS) 212. Such memory can be complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) random access memory (RAM). The console redirection function of the server set in the memory 216 is turned on. Afterwards, the server is rebooted in order to establish a monitoring connection 218 with the CRPSS 230 using the predetermine port sent from the CRPSS 230. When the BIOS 212 performs the power on self test (POST), it detects that the console redirection function of the server as ON. The power on images are transmitted to the BMC 214 and to the CRPSS 230 via the monitoring connection 218. The CRPSS 230 further transmits the power on images to the monitoring computer A (240) via the connection 242. At the moment, the monitoring computer A (240) uses the same connection to send a control command to the server 210. If another server manager wants to use the monitoring computer B (250) to control the server 210, it first notifies the CRPSS 230 about the image monitoring. It further downloads the Java Applet from the CRPSS 230 to establish a connection 252. After the CRPSS 230 determines that the server 210 is already on monitoring, it does not start the console redirection function on the server 210 again. The CRPSS 230 directly passes the images transmitted to the monitoring computer A (240) over to the monitoring computer B (250). In this case, both the server managers at the monitoring computer A (240) and the monitoring computer B (250) can obtain the power on images of the server 210 and perform problem solving or settings. Using the disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection, two server managers at different locations can simultaneously obtain the required image data and monitor the server for solving possible problems. Therefore, the problem solving efficiency increases and lowers costs decrease during the breakdown of servers. Simultaneously, the monitoring computer C (260) can monitor the server 210 using a connection 262 in the same way as the monitoring computer B (250). In other words, different experts can use the disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection to obtain the required image data for monitoring and solving problems on the server 210. When many managers are monitoring the server at the same time, it is crucial to avoid confusions at the server 210 as different people enter their own commands. The disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection also provides the function of management according to manager's privileges. For example, it only allows a single main manager to send commands whereas other managers are only given the monitoring function. This is so until the main manager transfer or quit the privilege, and another auxiliary manager then obtains the command input privilege. This is the management mode with a single main manager. The auxiliary manager who obtains the command input privilege can be determined by the original main manager or randomly selected. It can also be determined according to the login order of the managers. In general, the invention also allows multiple main managers and multiple auxiliary managers to control the server. Again, the main managers are endowed with the command input privilege and the auxiliary managers with only the monitoring privilege. This is the management mode with multiple main managers. The commands are executed according to the first-in-first-execute management mode. Using the IPMI standard, the system can rapidly perform remote maintenance. Using the disclosed three-tier apparatus of remote server console redirection, multiple-manager and multiple-server management and problem solving are enabled to increase the efficiency. The CRPSS of the invention can simultaneously provide the information of several servers being monitored for a monitoring computer to assign a server to be controlled. The disclosed apparatus of remote server console redirection not only provides the multiple-manager server monitoring ability to effectively increase the problem solving efficiency, it can further use the BMC and the NIC shared with the system to reduce the cost of remote server controls. The management according to the manager's privilege makes the remote server control more conveniently. While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of Invention The invention relates to an apparatus of remote server console redirection and, in particular, to an apparatus of remote server console redirection for multiple users. 2. Related Art As computers become popular and with the rapid development in network technology, people can quickly obtain desired information and various kinds of services through the Internet. The development of computer network indeed brings us convenient and comfortable life. Transmission technology utilizing the network has a lot of progress in recent years. Therefore, computer systems comprised of few centralized computers or equipment are getting insufficient in practice. The computer system used in a normal company no longer contains only a few computers. Instead, they are often composed of computers and devices, such as the workstations, servers, databases, routers, and backup devices, distributed at different locations but connected by way of the network in order to provide various services. In order to effectively manage computers at different locations, remote control becomes important. Remote server management generally has a two-tier structure and usually adopts the one-to-one management mode. However, as the software functions and hardware structure of servers become more complicated, it is often difficult for a single manager to fix problems or perform settings on the servers. In particular, the server problems may not be only on the software or hardware side. It is more likely that a problem is caused by software failure that also results in hardware breakdown. Therefore, it would be a problem if the management, maintenance, and problem shooting of remote servers only rely on a few managers. It will be highly desirable that one can effectively combine the efforts of several software and hardware managers along with server users, salesmen, and manufacturers, and even the system designers and integrators to maintain the servers. This will make the server management and problem solving much easier and faster. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In view of the foregoing, we know that the conventional management of remote server computers is performed in the one-to-one mode. That cannot provide sufficient supports for network managers to solve problems when facing the increasingly complicated software and hardware on the servers. We are therefore eager to find an apparatus of remote server console redirection that provides multiple managers to control remote server computers simultaneously. It can effectively increase the problem solving ability and lower the costs required for remote management. It further renders the remote server management more popular and efficient. An objective of the invention is to provide an apparatus of remote server console redirection that enables multiple managers to control remote server computers simultaneously. This makes the server problem shooting and solving more convenient and efficient. Another objective of the invention is to provide an apparatus of remote server console redirection which uses a baseboard management controller (BMC) and a network interface controller (NIC) shared with the system to perform network packet transmissions. This can lower the cost of remote server management. A further objective of the invention is to use a three-tier network management mode to enable multi-manager controls of remote servers. A web-based browser program independent of the platform is provided to allow a manager to control remote servers on various kinds of platforms. In accord with the above-mentioned objective, the invention provides an apparatus of remote server console redirection to enable several monitoring computers to control several server computers. The apparatus of remote server console redirection contains at least one monitoring computer and a console redirection proxy service server (CRPSS). The monitoring computer executes a web-based browser program that is independent of the platform and assigns a remote server computer to be controlled. After receiving the above-mentioned control command, the CRPSS determines whether the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring. If the assigned remote server computer is on monitoring, the CRPSS directly sends display images of the assigned remote server computer to the monitoring computer. The monitoring computer uses the above-mentioned browser program to monitor the display images of the server. If the assigned remote server computer is not on monitoring, the CRPSS issues a console redirection command and a reboot command to the BMC of the assigned remote server computer. The console redirection command corrects the function of the console redirection in the basic input/output system (BIOS) memory of the assigned remote server to be ON. The reboot command makes the console redirection function of the assigned remote server start functioning. The display images of the assigned remote server are transmitted to the CRPSS, which further sends the images to the monitoring computer. The console redirection command contains a network port number for data transmissions between the CRPSS and the BMC of the remote server. The reboot command uses power on self test (POST) to start the console redirection function of the remote server. The BMC of the remote server uses a user data gram protocol (UDP) 623 port of a NIC shared with the system to communicate with the network port set by the CRPSS. The monitoring computer downloads a Java Applet from the CRPSS and executes it in order to establish the connection with the CRPSS for display image transmissions. The server computer further contains a baseboard management controller (BMC) to execute the command transmitted from the monitoring computer. These commands are the control commands written in the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) standard format that satisfies the remote management control protocol (RMCP). Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of remote server console redirection. The method includes the following steps. A monitoring computer sends out a server image monitoring command. A CRPSS determines whether the assigned remote server is on monitoring. If the assigned remote server is not on monitoring, a console redirection command and a reboot command are sent to the assigned remote server computer. At the same time, a network port is provided to a BMC of the server computer. The console redirection function of the BIOS memory in the server computer is modified to be ON. The server computer is rebooted. A POST is used to start the console redirection function. The UDP 623 port of the BMC of the server computer transmits the display images of the remote server computer to the above-mentioned network port. The display images are then transmitted to the monitoring computer. If the remote server is already on monitoring, the display images are directly sent to the monitoring computer for direct control. The disclosed apparatus and method of remote server console redirection simultaneously enables multiple server computers to be managed by several monitoring computers through a CRPSS. The BMC and the NIC shared with the system are further employed to lower the management cost of remote server computers. The efficiency of solving problems on the servers is raised because multiple server managers can access the servers at the same time. The invention makes use of the managing privilege of managers to avoid the remote server control from being chaotic. Consequently, the disclosed apparatus and method of remote server console redirection not only effectively reduce the hardware cost for remote server control, but also facilitate the server management. | 20040623 | 20070619 | 20050414 | 67838.0 | 0 | EHNE, CHARLES | APPARATUS OF REMOTE SERVER CONSOLE REDIRECTION | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,152 | ACCEPTED | Process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor packages including an electrical test in a matrix of a leadless leadframe | A process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages includes an electrically testing step to test encapsulated chips in a matrix of a leadless leadframe. Firstly, a leadless leadframe having at least a packaging matrix is provided. The packaging matrix defines a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets between the units. The leadless leadframe has a plurality of leads in the units and a plurality of connecting bars connecting the leads along the cutting streets. A plated metal layer is formed on the upper surfaces of the leads and the upper surfaces of the connecting bars. After die-attaching, wire-bonding connection, and encapsulation, the leadless leadframe is etched to remove the connecting bars, then two sawing steps are performed. During the first sawing step, the plated metal layer on the upper surface of the connecting bars is cut out to electrically isolate the leads. Therefore, a plurality of chips sealed by an encapsulant on the packaging matrix can be electrically tested by probing which is performed between the first sawing and the second sawing. Thereafter, the encapsulant is cut to form a plurality of individual package bodies of the leadless semiconductor packages during the second sawing. | 1. A process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages, comprising: providing a leadless leadframe having a packaging matrix, the packaging matrix having a plurality of units and a plurality of connecting bars, wherein each unit has a plurality of leads connected to the connecting bars, a plated metal layer is formed on the upper surfaces of the leads and the upper surfaces of the connecting bars; disposing a plurality of chips in the units; wire-bonding the chips and the leads of the leadless leadframe; forming an encapsulant on the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe to cover the chips and the plated metal layer on the upper surfaces of the leads and the connecting bars; removing portions of the connecting bars to form a plurality of grooves corresponding to the connecting bars; performing a first sawing step to cut out the plated metal layer in the grooves; probing the lower surfaces of the leads after performing the first sawing step for electrically testing the packaged chips; and performing a second sawing step after the electrical testing, the encapsulant being cut along the grooves to form a plurality of individual package bodies of the leadless semiconductor packages. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the connecting bars are removed by a wet etching process. 3. The process of claim 1, further comprising: attaching a photo-sensitive tape to the lower surfaces of the leads, wherein the photo-sensitive tape is exposed and developed to expose the connecting bars for etching. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the leadless leadframe has a plurality of indentations between the leads and the connecting bars. 5. The process of claim 4, wherein the indentations are filled with the encapsulant. 6. The process of claim 1, wherein a back tape is attached to the lower surface of the leadless leadframe for forming the encapsulant. 7. The process of claim 6, wherein the back tape is removed after forming the encapsulant. 8. The process of claim 1, wherein the plated metal layer is silver. 9. The process of claim 1, wherein the leadless leadframe is a QFN leadframe. 10. The process of claim 1, wherein the lower surfaces of the leads are coplanar. 11. The process of claim 1, wherein the leadless leadframe has a plurality of chip pads in the units. 12. The process of claim 1, wherein each package body has a sidewall perpendicular to the lower surfaces of the leads after the second sawing step. 13. A process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages, comprising: providing a leadless leadframe having a packaging matrix, the packaging matrix defining a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets, a plated metal layer being formed on the units and the cutting streets; disposing a plurality of chips in the units; electrically connecting the chips with the plated metal layer; forming an encapsulant on the packaging matrix to cover the chips, the units and the cutting streets; etching the leadless leadframe; performing a first sawing step to cut out the plated metal layer along the cutting streets; electrically testing the encapsulated chips through the plated metal layer by probing after the first sawing step; and performing a second sawing step after the electrically testing step, the encapsulant being cut along the cutting streets to form a plurality of individual package bodies of the leadless semiconductor packages. 14. The process of claim 13, wherein the leadless leadframe is etched to expose the plated metal layer. 15. The process of claim 13, wherein the leadless leadframe has a plurality of indentations on the lower surface of the leadless leadframe corresponding to the cutting streets. 16. The process of claim 15, wherein the indentations are filled with the encapsulant. 17. The process of claim 13, wherein a back tape is attached to the lower surface of the leadless leadframe. 18. The process of claim 17, wherein the back tape is removed after forming the encapsulant. 19. The process of claim 13, wherein the plated metal layer is unetchable. 20. The process of claim 13, wherein the leadless leadframe is a QFN leadframe. 21. The process of claim 13, wherein each package body has a sidewall perpendicular to its bottom after the second sawing step. 22. The process of claim 13, further comprising: forming a plurality of outer terminals connecting the plated metal layer. 23. A process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages, comprising: providing a leadless leadframe having a packaging matrix, the packaging matrix having a plurality of units and a plurality of connecting bars, wherein each unit has a plurality of leads connected to the connecting bars, a plated metal layer is formed on the upper surfaces of the leads and the upper surfaces of the connecting bars; bonding a plurality of chips to the units and electrically connecting the chips to the plated metal layer on the leads; forming an encapsulant on the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe to cover the plated metal layer on the upper surfaces of the leads and the connecting bars; etching the connecting bars to form a plurality of grooves exposing portions of the plated metal layer; performing a first sawing step to cut out the exposed plated metal layer in the grooves; electrically testing the encapsulated chips after the first sawing step; and performing a second sawing step after the electrical testing, the encapsulant being cut along the grooves to form a plurality of individual package bodies of the leadless semiconductor packages. 24. The process of claim 23, wherein the chips are flip-chip bonded to the plated metal layer on the upper surfaces of the leads. 25. The process of claim 23, wherein the plated metal layer is Ni/Pd/Au. 26. The process of claim 23, wherein the lower surfaces of the leads are coplanar. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor packages and, more particularly, to a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor packages including an electrical test in a matrix of a leadless leadframe. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As well-known in the field of semiconductor packaging, a leadless leadframe is used as a die carrier in a leadless semiconductor package for smaller footprint and lower manufacturing cost. However, after singulation, a leadless semiconductor package still needs to go through final test via individual test socket for the verification of the electrical performance, therefore, the cost of final test cannot be reduced. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,218, a conditional leadless semiconductor package and its manufacturing process flow are revealed. As shown in FIG. 1, the leadless semiconductor package has a leadless leadframe 10. In each unit, the leadless leadframe 10 has a plurality of leads 11 and a chip pad 12. A plated metal layer 13, such as silver, nickel/gold, is deposited on the upper surface of the leads 11 and the chip pad 12 for enhancing connection of bonding wires 30 between the leadless leadframe 10 and a semiconductor chip 20. The semiconductor chip 20 is attached to the chip pad 12, then a plurality of bonding wires 30 connect the leads 11 of the leadless leadframe 10 with the semiconductor chip 20. Thereafter, an encapsulant 40 seals the semiconductor chip 20 and the bonding wires 30. The process flow for manufacturing the leadless semiconductor packages is shown in FIG. 2, including the step 1 of “providing a leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix”, the step 2 of “attaching a plurality of semiconductor chips to the leadless leadframe”, the step 3 of “electrically connecting the semiconductor chips with the leadless leadframe”, the step 4 of “encapsulating the packaging matrix with an encapsulant”, the step 5 “singulating the leadless leadframe”, and the step 6 “electrically testing the singulated leadless semiconductor packages”. First of all, in step 1, a leadless leadframe 10 with a packaging matrix is provided, a plurality of units are arranged in an array in the packaging matrix. Moreover, the plated metal layer 13 is formed on the upper surface of the leadless leadframe 10 including the cutting streets between the units. Thereafter, in step 2, a plurality of semiconductor chips 20 are attached to the chip pads 12, and then, in step 3, a plurality of bonding wires 30 connect the leads 11 of the leadless leadframe 10 with the semiconductor chips 20. Thereafter, in step 4, an encapsulant seals the packaging matrix to cover a plurality of units, which is the precursor of the package bodies 40 before singulation. Next, in step 5, a plurality of individual leadless semiconductor packages are formed by sawing the encapsulant along the cutting streets instead of punching method. In order to saw the encapsulant easily, a metal layer 14 is plated on the lower surface of the leadless leadframe 10 except for the cutting streets. The cutting streets are exposed from the metal layer 14. Therefore, the metal layer 14 is used as an etching mask. After etching the cutting streets, a plurality of package bodies 40 are easily formed by sawing the thinned encapsulant. However, the upper metal layer 13 is also not removed by etching as same as the lower metal layer 14, therefore, the leads 11 electrically connect each other and the leadless semiconductor packages 40 still can not be electrically tested in a matrix of a leadless leadframe before sawing. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A main purpose of the present invention is to provide a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor packages including an electrical test in a matrix of a lead less leadframe. A leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix is provided, the packaging matrix defines a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets. After die attaching, wire bonding, and encapsulating, the support bars of the leadless leadframe on the cutting streets are removed. Next, a first sawing step is performed and a second sawing step is followed, an electrically testing step is interposed between the first and second sawing steps. During the first sawing step, the plated metal layer on the cutting streets is cut out, but the leadless semiconductor packages are not singulated. After testing the encapsulated chips on the packaging matrix, the individual leadless semiconductor packages are singulated during the second sawing step. Therefore, a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages can be tested at the matrix of the leadless leadframe. According to the present invention, a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor package including an electrical test in a matrix of a leadless leadframe is provided for lower test cost. A leadless leadframe has at least a packaging matrix, the packaging matrix defines a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets. Moreover, the leadless leadframe has a plurality of leads and a plurality of connecting bars. The leads are arranged inside the units, and the connecting bars connect the leads along the cutting streets. There is a plated metal layer formed on the upper surfaces of the leads and on the upper surfaces of the connecting bars. Thereafter, a plurality of chips are attached to the units of the leadless leadframe, then, a plurality of bonding wires connect the leads of the leadless leadframe and the dies. Thereafter, the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe is encapsulated with an encapsulant to cover the upper surface of the leads and the upper surface of the connecting bars. Thereafter, the connecting bars in the cutting streets are removed by an etching process so that the leadless leadframe has a plurality of grooves at the cutting streets. The plated metal layer in the cutting streets is cut out during the first sawing step, but after the first sawing step, the leadless semiconductor packages are not singulated. So the encapsulated semiconductor chips can be tested in matrix by probing at the lower surface of the leads. Finally, after the electrical test, the second sawing step is performed so that the encapsulant is singulated to form the individual packages. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a well-known leadless semiconductor package manufactured by a leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix. FIG. 2 is the process for manufacturing a well-known leadless semiconductor package with a leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix. FIG. 3 is the process for manufacturing a leadless semiconductor package including testing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages on packaging matrix of a leadless leadframe in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A to 4J are the cross-sectional views of a leadless leadframe during the manufacturing process in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the leadless leadframe in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is the enlargement plan view of the leadless leadframe in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A to 7J are the cross-sectional views of a leadless leadframe during manufacturing process in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is the cross-sectional view of a leadless leadframe during a first sawing step of a manufacturing process in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Please refer to the drawings attached, the present invention will be described by means of embodiments below. As shown in FIG. 3, a process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages from a leadless leadframe having a packaging matrix, including: the step 101 of “providing a leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix”, the step 102 of “attaching a plurality of chips to the leadless leadframe”, the step 103 of “electrically connecting the chips with the leadless leadframe”, the step 104 of “encapsulating the packaging matrix with an encapsulant”, the step 105 of “etching the leadless leadframe”, the first sawing step 106, the step 107 of “electrically testing the chips in the packaging matrix”, and the second sawing step 108. Accord to the first embodiment of the present invention, firstly in the step 1, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 5, a leadless leadframe 110 with a packaging matrix 111 is provided such as a quad flat non-leaded (QFN) leadframe. The leadless leadframe is made of metal or metal alloy containing copper or iron. There is at least one packaging matrix 111 on the leadless leadframe 110, as shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the leadless leadframe 110 has a plurality of packaging matrixes 111 in linear arrangement. Each packaging matrix 111 defines a plurality of units 112 and a plurality of cutting streets 113. Moreover, the leadless leadframe 110 has a plurality of leads 114 and a plurality of connecting bars 116. A plurality of leads 114 are arranged at the periphery of each unit 112. The plurality of connecting bars 116 are formed inside the packaging matrix 111 along the cutting streets 113 to connect the leads 114. In this embodiment, a plurality of the chip pads 115 are formed in the corresponding units 112 and are connected with the leadless leadframe 110 by the tie bars, as shown in FIG. 6. The plurality of chip pads 115 are surrounded by the leads 114, as shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 4A a plated metal layer 117, such as silver, nickel/gold, is formed on the upper surface 114a of the leads 114 and the upper surface 116a of the connecting bars 116. Preferably, an indentation 118 is formed between the leads 114 and the connecting bars 116. Moreover, a back tape 210 is attached to the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114, the lower surfaces 115b of the chip pads 115, and the lower surfaces 116b of the connecting bars 116 to reinforce the strength of the leadless leadframe during the packaging process and to prevent mold flash of the encapsulant. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4B, a plurality of chips 120 are disposed in the units 112 of the leadless leadframe 110 in step 102. Each chip 120 has an active surface 121 and a backside surface 122. A plurality of bonding pads 123 are formed on the active surfaces 121 of the chips 120. The backside surfaces 122 of the chips 120 are attached to the upper surface 115a of the chip pads 115 through an adhesive tape or glue, not shown in the figure. Next, the bonding pads 123 of the chips 120 are electrically connected to the leads 114 of the leadless leadframe 110 by a plurality of bonding wires 130 in step 103. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4C, an encapsulant 140 is used to seal the packaging matrix 111 of the leadless leadframe 110 as shown in step 104. The encapsulant 140 can be manufactured by means of molding or printing to fully cover the upper surfaces 114a and the sides 114c of the leads 114, and the upper surfaces 116a and the sides 116c of the connecting bars 116. Moreover, the encapsulant 140 also completely fills the indentations 118 to bond the leads 114 and to prevent the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114 from over-etching during etching the lower surfaces 116b of the connecting bars 116. In this embodiment, the top 141 of the encapsulant 140 is higher than the active surface 121 of the chips 120 and the loop height of the bonding wires 130. The bottom 142 of the encapsulant 140 is formed on the back tape 210 without covering the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114. After step 104, as shown in FIG. 4D, the back tape 210 is removed for the next etching step 105. The lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114 and the lower surfaces 115b of the chip pads 115 are exposed from the encapsulant 140. In this embodiment, the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114 and the lower surfaces 115b of the chip pads 115 are coplanar. Thereafter, in step 105, the leadless leadframe 110 passes through an etching process to remove the connecting bars 116 corresponding to the cutting streets 113 as shown in FIGS. 4E and 4F. In FIG. 4E a photo-sensitive tape 220 is attached to the leadless leadframe 110 and the lower surface 142 of the encapsulant 140. Then the photo-sensitive tape 220 is exposed and patterned to remove a portion of the photo-sensitive tape 220 corresponding to the cutting streets 113 so that the lower surface 116b of the connecting bars 116 is exposed. Next, as shown in FIG. 4F the connecting bars 116 in the cutting streets 113 is removed by a wet etching process, so that a plurality of groove 119 are formed on the bottom 142 of the encapsulant 140 corresponding to the cutting streets 113. The grooves 119 expose the plated metal layer 117 on the connecting bars 116. The thickness from the groove 119 to the top 141 of the encapsulant 140 is smaller than the total thickness of the encapsulant 140 so that the following sawing steps 106 and 108 can be easily performed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4G, the first sawing step 106 is performed. A sawing blade 230 cuts the plated metal layer 117 in the grooves 119 (the cutting streets 113) from the bottom 142 of the encapsulant 140. Thus the leads 114 are electrically isolated, also the chip pads 115 are electrically isolated, but the encapsulant 140 is not separated. Therefore, an electrical testing step 107 can be performed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4H, the encapsulated chips 120 in the packaging matrix 111 are electrically tested in step 107 after the first sawing step 107. The probes 240 of a semiconductor tester probe at the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114 and the lower surfaces 115b of the chip pads 115 so that the chips 120 inside the encapsulant 140 can be electrically tested at matrix type. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 41, after finishing the electrical testing step 107, the second sawing step 108 is performed. The sawing blade 230 cuts the encapsulant 140 along the grooves 119 (cutting streets 113) to form a plurality of individual package bodies 143 of the leadless semiconductor packages which are electrically tested, as shown in FIG. 4J. After the second sawing step 108, each individual package bodies 143 has a sidewall 144 perpendicular to the lower surfaces 114b of the leads 114. Therefore, according to the present invention, the electrically testing step 107 is performed between the first sawing step 106 and the second sawing step 108. Prior to the second sawing step 108 to singulate the encapsulant 140, the encapsulated chips 120 are tested in matrix type in step 107. The conventional indexing time including loading and unloading the packages during socket type testing is saved, therefore, the testing cost can be reduced. Moreover, in the second sawing step 108, the sawing blade 230 can easily cut from the grooves 119 to the top 141 of the encapsulant 140 to reduce the wearing of the sawing blade and increase the sawing efficiency. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7A, another leadless leadframe 310 with a packaging matrix in step 101 is provided. There is at least a packaging matrix, not shown in the figure, in the leadless leadframe 310. The packaging matrix defines a plurality of units 311 and a plurality of cutting streets 312. Moreover, the leadless leadframe 310 has a plurality of leads 313 and a plurality of connecting bars 314. The leads 313 are formed in the units 311 and are connected with the connecting bars 314 along the cutting streets 312. A plated metal layer 315, such as gold-palladium-nickel-palladium or other unetchable metal layer, is deposited on the upper surface 313a of the leads 313 and the upper surface 314a of the connecting bars 314, preferably, an indentation 316 is formed on the lower surfaces 314b of the connecting bars 314 corresponding to the cutting streets 312. A back tape 410 is attached to the lower surface of the leadless leadframe 310. In the present embodiment, the leadless leadframe 310 is not necessary to have chip pads because that the chip 320 can be attached to the back tape 410 directly. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7B, a plurality of chips 320 are disposed in the units 311 of the leadless leadframe 310 in step 102 by attaching the backside surface 322 of the chip 320 to the back tape 410. Each chip 320 has a plurality of bonding pads 323 on its active surface 321. Then, in step 103, a plurality of bonding wires 330 connect the bonding pads 323 of the chip 320 with the leads 313 of the leadless leadframe 310 by. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7C, an encapsulant 340 is molded or printed on the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe 310 to cover the plated metal layer 315 on the upper surface 313a of the leads 313 and the upper surfaces 314a of the connecting bars 314 in step 104. Moreover, the encapsulant 340 also completely fills the indentations 316. Then, as shown in FIG. 7D, the back tape 410 is removed so that the leadless leadframe 310 can be etched. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7E, in this embodiment, the leads 313 of the leadless leadframe 310 is removed by a wet etching process in step 105. Then, as shown in FIG. 7F, a plurality of solder balls 350 are placed on the plated metal layer 315 as outer terminals, which is formed on the bottom of the encapsulant 340 in step 105 or the other steps. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7G, a sawing blade 420 cuts off the plated metal layer 315 along the cutting streets 312 in the first sawing step 106 so that the plated metal layer 315 on the upper surfaces 313a of the leads 313 are electrically isolated in step 106. Then an electrically testing can be performed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7H, after the first package sawing step 106, the probes 430 or test sockets of a semiconductor tester connect the solder balls 350 to electrically connect to the separated plated metal layer 315 to electrically test the chip 320 sealed by the encapsulant 340 in step 107. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 71, after the electrically testing step 107, the second sawing step 108 is performed. The sawing blade 420 cut the encapsulant 340 along the cutting streets 312 to form a plurality of individual package bodies 343 of leadless semiconductor packages which have been electrically tested, as shown in FIG. 7J. Each package body 343 has a sidewall 342 which is formed after the second sawing step 108. The sidewall 342 is perpendicular to the bottom 342 of the package body 343. According to a third embodiment of the present invention, a process for manufacturing a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages from a leadless leadframe having a packaging matrix includes the steps similar to the steps as shown in FIG. 3, except the chip-attaching step 102 and the wire-bonding step 103 are replaced with a flip-chip bonding step. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8, a leadless leadframe 510 is provided in step 101, which has a packaging matrix including a plurality of leads 511 in each units and a plurality of connecting bars 512 between the units. The leads 511 are connected to the connecting bars 512. A plated metal layer 513 is formed on the upper surfaces of the leads 511 and on the upper surfaces of the connecting bars 512, the plated metal layer 513 is Ni/Pd/Au in this embodiment. A plurality of chips 520 are flip-chip bonded to the units of the leadless leadframe 510, skipping the step 102 and 103. Bumps 521 of the chips 520 connect the plated metal layer 513 on the leads 511 so as to electrically connect the chips 520 and the leadless leadframe 510. An encapsulant 530 is formed on the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe 510 to cover the plated metal layer 513 on the upper surfaces of the leads 511 and the connecting bars 512 in the step 104. The connecting bars 512 are etched off to form a plurality of grooves 514 in the step 105, so that portions 513a of the plated metal layer 513 are exposed out of the grooves 514. In the first sawing step 106, using a sawing blade 610, the exposed plated metal layer 513a in the grooves 514 are cut out to electrically isolate the chips 520. Thus the electrically testing step 107 can be performed to test the encapsulated flip chips 520 in matrix type by means of contact of a probe card (not shown in figure). Next, the second sawing step 108 is performed, the encapsulant 530 is cut along the grooves 514 to form a plurality of individual package bodies of the leadless semiconductor packages. The above description of embodiments of this invention is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>As well-known in the field of semiconductor packaging, a leadless leadframe is used as a die carrier in a leadless semiconductor package for smaller footprint and lower manufacturing cost. However, after singulation, a leadless semiconductor package still needs to go through final test via individual test socket for the verification of the electrical performance, therefore, the cost of final test cannot be reduced. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,218, a conditional leadless semiconductor package and its manufacturing process flow are revealed. As shown in FIG. 1 , the leadless semiconductor package has a leadless leadframe 10 . In each unit, the leadless leadframe 10 has a plurality of leads 11 and a chip pad 12 . A plated metal layer 13 , such as silver, nickel/gold, is deposited on the upper surface of the leads 11 and the chip pad 12 for enhancing connection of bonding wires 30 between the leadless leadframe 10 and a semiconductor chip 20 . The semiconductor chip 20 is attached to the chip pad 12 , then a plurality of bonding wires 30 connect the leads 11 of the leadless leadframe 10 with the semiconductor chip 20 . Thereafter, an encapsulant 40 seals the semiconductor chip 20 and the bonding wires 30 . The process flow for manufacturing the leadless semiconductor packages is shown in FIG. 2 , including the step 1 of “providing a leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix”, the step 2 of “attaching a plurality of semiconductor chips to the leadless leadframe”, the step 3 of “electrically connecting the semiconductor chips with the leadless leadframe”, the step 4 of “encapsulating the packaging matrix with an encapsulant”, the step 5 “singulating the leadless leadframe”, and the step 6 “electrically testing the singulated leadless semiconductor packages”. First of all, in step 1 , a leadless leadframe 10 with a packaging matrix is provided, a plurality of units are arranged in an array in the packaging matrix. Moreover, the plated metal layer 13 is formed on the upper surface of the leadless leadframe 10 including the cutting streets between the units. Thereafter, in step 2 , a plurality of semiconductor chips 20 are attached to the chip pads 12 , and then, in step 3 , a plurality of bonding wires 30 connect the leads 11 of the leadless leadframe 10 with the semiconductor chips 20 . Thereafter, in step 4 , an encapsulant seals the packaging matrix to cover a plurality of units, which is the precursor of the package bodies 40 before singulation. Next, in step 5 , a plurality of individual leadless semiconductor packages are formed by sawing the encapsulant along the cutting streets instead of punching method. In order to saw the encapsulant easily, a metal layer 14 is plated on the lower surface of the leadless leadframe 10 except for the cutting streets. The cutting streets are exposed from the metal layer 14 . Therefore, the metal layer 14 is used as an etching mask. After etching the cutting streets, a plurality of package bodies 40 are easily formed by sawing the thinned encapsulant. However, the upper metal layer 13 is also not removed by etching as same as the lower metal layer 14 , therefore, the leads 11 electrically connect each other and the leadless semiconductor packages 40 still can not be electrically tested in a matrix of a leadless leadframe before sawing. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A main purpose of the present invention is to provide a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor packages including an electrical test in a matrix of a lead less leadframe. A leadless leadframe with a packaging matrix is provided, the packaging matrix defines a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets. After die attaching, wire bonding, and encapsulating, the support bars of the leadless leadframe on the cutting streets are removed. Next, a first sawing step is performed and a second sawing step is followed, an electrically testing step is interposed between the first and second sawing steps. During the first sawing step, the plated metal layer on the cutting streets is cut out, but the leadless semiconductor packages are not singulated. After testing the encapsulated chips on the packaging matrix, the individual leadless semiconductor packages are singulated during the second sawing step. Therefore, a plurality of leadless semiconductor packages can be tested at the matrix of the leadless leadframe. According to the present invention, a process for manufacturing leadless semiconductor package including an electrical test in a matrix of a leadless leadframe is provided for lower test cost. A leadless leadframe has at least a packaging matrix, the packaging matrix defines a plurality of units and a plurality of cutting streets. Moreover, the leadless leadframe has a plurality of leads and a plurality of connecting bars. The leads are arranged inside the units, and the connecting bars connect the leads along the cutting streets. There is a plated metal layer formed on the upper surfaces of the leads and on the upper surfaces of the connecting bars. Thereafter, a plurality of chips are attached to the units of the leadless leadframe, then, a plurality of bonding wires connect the leads of the leadless leadframe and the dies. Thereafter, the packaging matrix of the leadless leadframe is encapsulated with an encapsulant to cover the upper surface of the leads and the upper surface of the connecting bars. Thereafter, the connecting bars in the cutting streets are removed by an etching process so that the leadless leadframe has a plurality of grooves at the cutting streets. The plated metal layer in the cutting streets is cut out during the first sawing step, but after the first sawing step, the leadless semiconductor packages are not singulated. So the encapsulated semiconductor chips can be tested in matrix by probing at the lower surface of the leads. Finally, after the electrical test, the second sawing step is performed so that the encapsulant is singulated to form the individual packages. | 20040623 | 20061024 | 20051229 | 63034.0 | 0 | ZARNEKE, DAVID A | PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING LEADLESS SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGES INCLUDING AN ELECTRICAL TEST IN A MATRIX OF A LEADLESS LEADFRAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,352 | ACCEPTED | Oscillating brushhead attachment system for a personal care appliance | The brushhead attachment system includes a hub member which is secured to a drive shaft of a personal care appliance for oscillating action. The hub member includes a number of spaced locking elements in the form of protrusions around the periphery thereof. An annular outer brushhead portion with a first group of bristles includes a plurality of spaced grooves in the outer surface thereof which mate with extending pins in the body of the appliance for insertion and removal of the outer brushhead portion. An inner brushhead portion is configured to fit within the annular opening of the outer brushhead portion and includes a plurality of depending legs which mate with the protrusions on the drive member for resulting oscillating action of the inner brushhead portion when the drive member oscillates, at least some of the legs having latch elements which fit onto an interior lip of the outer brushhead portion in such a manner that the inner and outer brushhead portions may be installed and removed as a unit, while permitting the inner brushhead portion to be freely rotatable relative to the outer brushhead portion. | 1. A brushhead assembly attachment system for a personal care appliance, comprising: a hub member adapted to be secured to a driven shaft of a personal care appliance, the hub member including a plurality of locking elements around the periphery thereof; an outer brushhead portion having a first cleaning member extending therefrom, the outer brush assembly having a connecting structure for removably joining the outer brushhead assembly the personal care appliance; and an inner brushhead portion having a second cleaning member extending therefrom, configured to fit with the outer brushhead assembly, wherein the inner brushhead assembly includes depending legs, at least some of which mate with the locking elements on the hub member, such that oscillating movement of the hub member results in similar movement of the inner brushhead member, wherein at least some of the depending legs are configured to removably latch onto a portion of the outer brushhead portion, providing a joining relationship therebetween, wherein the inner brushhead portion and the outer brushhead portion are configured relative to each other and to the hub member such that attaching the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body by means of said connecting structure results in both connection of the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body and connection of the inner brushhead portion to the hub member. 2. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the first and second cleaning members are bristles. 3. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the first and second cleaning members are foam. 4. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the depending legs are configured to latch onto a portion of the hub member. 5. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the outer brushhead portion is in the form of an annular ring and the inner brushhead portion is circular, fitting within the outer brushhead portion, and wherein the cleaning members on the first and second brushhead portions are in the same plane when the brushhead assembly portions are in place on the appliance. 6. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the outer brushhead portion is in the form of an annular ring and the inner brushhead portion is circular, fitting within the outer brushhead portions, and wherein the cleaning members on the first and second brushhead portions are in different but parallel planes when the brushhead assembly portions are in place on the appliance. 7. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the body of the appliance includes a plurality of extending pins in the opening for the brushhead assembly, and wherein the connecting structure in the outer brushhead portion includes a plurality of matching grooves therein for mating with the extending pins to secure the outer brushhead portion to the body of the appliance. 8. The attachment system of claim 7, wherein the grooves are arranged and configured to provide a small over-travel characteristic for the outer brushhead portion as the outer brushhead portion is installed by rotation of the outer brushhead portion, the grooves being further configured to permit a slight outward movement of the outer brushhead assembly under spring action when the outer brushhead portion is released. 9. The attachment system of claim 7, wherein the grooves are arranged and configured to aid in removal of the outer brushhead portion which in turn results in removal of the inner brushhead portion from its operative relationship with the hub member. 10. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the depending legs of the inner brushhead portion includes a first set of spaced legs, each comprising split portions which can flex toward each other slightly, and which include latching elements on an outside surface thereof for latching onto a portion of the inner surface of the outer brushhead portion to temporarily secure the outer and inner brushhead portions longitudinally together while permitting rotational movement of the inner portion, wherein the latching portions are configured so that the inner brushhead portion can be inserted onto and removed from the outer brushhead portion by a user. 11. The attachment system of claim 10, wherein the depending legs include a second set of spaced legs alternating with said first set of legs, wherein the second set of legs mates with matching projections on the hub member in an interference fit to provide for rotational action thereof. 12. The attachment system of claim 11, wherein the locking elements on the hub member comprise a plurality of diamond-shaped spaced projections on the exterior surface of the hub member and are configured to provide an interference fit with the second set of spaced legs, and are further configured to provide a snap-type connection with the first set of spaced legs. 13. The attachment system of claim 12, wherein the exterior surface of the hub member on which the projections are mounted is slightly outwardly tapered so as to force the depending legs outwardly, increasing a secure fit between the depending legs and the hub member. 14. The attachment system of claim 1, wherein the outer brushhead portion includes finger grips spaced around an upper periphery thereof to aid a user in installation of the brushhead assembly onto the appliance. 15. The attachment system of claim 1, including openings in the hub member to permit additional air to reach the cleaning member in the brushhead assembly. 16. A powered skin cleansing appliance, comprising: an appliance body; a driving system in the appliance body for a brushhead assembly of the appliance; a first brushhead portion of the brushhead assembly which includes a first cleansing member, the first brushhead portion remaining stationary in operation; and a second brushhead portion which includes a second cleansing member, the second cleansing member oscillating through a selected angle by means of the driving system when the appliance is in operation. 17. The cleansing appliance of claim 16, wherein the selected angle is within the range of 8°-26°. 18. The cleansing appliance of claim 16, wherein the appliance has a frequency of operation within the range of 120-220 Hz. 19. The cleansing appliance of claim 16, wherein the first brushhead portion is in the form of an annular ring and the second brushhead portion is circular, fitting within the first brushhead portion. | TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates generally to large brushhead structures for a personal care appliance, such as a skin cleaning apparatus, and more specifically relates to an attachment system for such a brushhead to a driving member in the appliance. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In personal care appliances, including those having a relatively large brushhead assembly, such as those used for cleaning skin, the brushhead must be readily removable and installable by a user, because of regular replacement requirements, and when installed, must have a solid, positive connection with a drive member for the appliance, such as a rotating shaft, with no or little loss of motion between the drive member and the brushhead. With conventional brushheads, these objectives are accomplished with a variety of attaching structures, including screw-on connections, or snap connections which have tabs to mate with matching openings in the body of the appliance. However, with complicated brushhead designs, reliable and convenient attachment becomes more problematic. For instance, in a brushhead having two or more parts, with each operating differently, such as different motions, there is difficulty in maintaining the two parts in the required relationship to produce the different actions, while also permitting installation of the complete brushhead into the appliance body with a convenient, single easy action. In the embodiment disclosed herein, one portion of the brushhead is movable in operation of the appliance, while the other portion remains stationary. In this particular arrangement, the movable part must engage the drive member, while the other part is positioned and held such that it does not move with the drive member, yet the two separate parts must be removable and installable as a single unit. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is a brushhead assembly attachment system for a personal care appliance, comprising: a hub member adapted to be secured to a driven shaft of a personal care appliance, the hub member including a plurality of locking elements around the periphery thereof; an outer brushhead portion having a first cleaning member extending therefrom, the outer brush assembly having a connecting structure for removably joining the outer brushhead assembly to the personal care appliance; and an inner brushhead portion having a second cleaning member extending therefrom, configured to fit with the outer brushhead assembly, wherein the inner brushhead assembly includes depending legs, at least some of which mate with the locking elements on the hub member, such that oscillating movement of the hub member results in similar movement of the inner brushhead member, wherein at least some of the depending legs are configured to removably latch onto a portion of the outer brushhead portion, providing a joining relationship therebetween, wherein the inner brushhead portion and the outer brushhead portion are configured relative to each other and to the hub member such that attaching the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body by means of said connecting structure results in both connection of the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body and connection of the inner brushhead portion to the hub member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially exploded view of a personal care appliance with which the brushhead attachment system of the present invention can be used. FIG. 2 shows the appliance of FIG. 1, ready to receive a brushhead assembly. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an outer stationary portion of the brushhead assembly system described herein. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an inner movable portion of the brushhead assembly described herein. FIG. 5 shows the connection between the inner and outer brushhead portions of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 6 shows the connection between the inner portion of the brushhead assembly and a driving hub of the appliance. FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing the relationship of the inner and outer portions of the brushhead assembly and the driving hub portion of the appliance. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIGS. 1 and 2 show a personal care appliance 10 which is described in more detail in co-pending application titled “Motor Providing Oscillating Action for a Personal Care Appliance” and “Brush Configuration for a Powered Skin Cleansing Brush Appliance”, both owned by the assignee of the present invention, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. As shown, personal care appliance 10 is for skin cleaning applications, particularly facial skin. However, appliance 10, as well as the brushhead attachment mechanism shown and described herein, can be used in a variety of other applications, including other skin care applications, such as acne and blackhead treatment; athlete's foot treatment; calloused skin and psoriasis treatment; treatment of razor bumps and related skin applications, such as wound cleansing and treatment of slow or non-healing wounds; scalp cleansing and chemical peel procedures, and shaving cream applicators. The personal care appliance 10 includes an oscillating motor structure in the body thereof which drives an armature through a total angle of 8°-26°, at a frequency in the range of 120-220 Hz. This angle can be varied, however, depending upon the particular application. The personal care appliance 10 includes a wave washer 12 above a motor bracket 13, the washer 12 providing a spring action directed upwardly in FIG. 1. Positioned on top of wave washer 12 is a seal 14 which protects wave washer 12. An interference washer 16 provides a low friction interface between seal 14 and the brushhead assembly, as discussed in detail below. A driving hub 18 is attached (locked) to the top end of the armature drive member in the appliance and oscillates therewith. Drive hub 18 is particularly configured for use with the brushhead assembly and is part of the overall attachment system for the brushhead assembly to the appliance. Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 7, the brushhead attachment mechanism includes three portions, drive hub 18, an outer brushhead portion 22, which remains stationary during operation of the appliance, and an inner brushhead portion 24 which oscillates through a selected angle during operation of the appliance. The inner brushhead portion 24 has an operative relationship with drive hub 18 such that as drive hub 18 oscillates through a selected angle, so does inner brushhead portion 24. In the embodiment shown, outer brushhead portion 22 is annular, with an outside diameter of approximately 1.975 inches, with a central opening 28. Outer brushhead portion 22 includes a base portion 30 with a rim 32 around the top periphery thereof which includes a plurality of spaced finger grips 34, which helps the user in the installation and removal of the brushhead assembly. Extending upwardly from base portion 30 are outer brushhead bristles 33, which in the embodiment shown, are two concentric, adjacent, complete bristle tuft rings. The outer ring of bristles has a diameter of approximately 1.53 inches, while the diameter of the inner ring of bristles is approximately 1.39 inches. The arrangement of the bristles is circular, which is preferred, although not necessary. Arranged in the exterior surface of the outer brushhead portion are three pin grooves 35, separated by 120°. Matching pins 36 on inner surface 38 of a boundary wall defining the opening for the brushhead assembly provide the desired mating relationship between outer brushhead portion 22 and the appliance body 10. Pin grooves 35 shown in FIG. 3 are configured to permit the outer brushhead portion 22 to be positioned within the opening in the appliance body 10 such that pins 36 on inner surface 38 are at the entry point of pin grooves 35. Pin grooves 35 extend at a small upward angle (toward the bristles) in the exterior surface 39 of the outer brushhead portion 22 as they also extend peripherally, approximately 1.1 inches. At the end of each pin groove 35 is a small portion 35a which angles downwardly toward lower edge 37 of base 30 of the outer brushhead portion 22. This arrangement provides an “over-travel” capability for outer brushhead portion 22 as it is moved onto the appliance body 10, and assists in obtaining a secure, solid physical relationship between the inner brushhead portion 24 and the drive hub 18, as explained in more detail below. Inner brushhead portion 24 is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. It has a generally circular configuration and is arranged to fit into the central opening 28 of outer brushhead portion 22. There could be a gap (space) between the bristles and the inner and outer brushhead portions, in the range of 0.050-0.125 inches, preferably 0.084 inches. Inner brushhead portion 24 includes a plurality of inner brushhead bristles 41 which extend upwardly from a base portion 43, with the bristles 41 arranged in a circular pattern covering the entire upper surface of base portion 43. The inner brushhead portion 24 in the embodiment shown includes two sets of depending legs on the outer periphery thereof. The first set of three legs 42-42, spaced at 120° intervals, each leg comprising a pair of snap portions 44 and 46, defined by a slot 47 which extends down the middle of each snap leg 42. The two snap portions of each snap leg are configured and arranged to slightly flex toward each other during installation of the inner brushhead portion 24 on the driving hub 18, with the outside edges of the free tips of the snap portions 44, 46 having outward bulges 49-49 which snap back (with the snap portions) after they pass over a pointed portion of the drive hub 10, as explained in more detail below, helping to tightly engage the drive hub 18 and retain the inner brushhead portion 24 on drive hub 18. Extending outwardly from outer surface 48 of each snap portion is locking snap elements 50. Locking snap elements, as shown in more detail in FIG. 6, are triangular-shaped elements, which include a slightly V-shaped upper surface 53 thereof, assisting in aligning and latching the inner brushhead portion 24 to the outer brushhead portion 22, as described in more detail below. The inner brushhead portion 24 further includes a second trio of spaced drive legs 56-56. Drive legs 56 alternate with snap legs 42 around the periphery of inner brushhead portion 24 and are also separated by 120° intervals. Drive legs 56 taper slightly from their base to their free ends, which are rounded, designed to provide a close tolerance fit between them and the drive hub. FIG. 5 shows the attachment arrangement between inner brushhead portion 24 and outer brushhead portion 22. Snap legs 42 and drive legs 56 of the inner brushhead portion 24 are moved down into annular opening 28 of the outer brushhead portion, with snap legs 42 being moved slightly inwardly in the process. When inner brushhead portion 24 is moved into the outer brushhead portion a sufficient distance, the locking snap elements 50 on each of the snap portions 44 and 46 clear a circular lip 57 on the internal surface of the outer brushhead portion 22 and then rebound slightly outwardly, underneath leg 57. This action joins the two brushhead portions together. The inner brushhead portion 24 may be separated from the outer brushhead portion 22 by forcing the snap portions 44, 46 inwardly until they clear lip 57, at which point the inner brushhead portion 24 is separated from the outer brushhead portion 22 and can be lifted clear of the outer brushhead portion 22. When the two brushhead portions are joined together, as described above, the inner brushhead portion 24 cannot fall off/away from the outer brushhead portion 22, but is free to rotate relative to the outer brushhead portion 22. This is an important structural feature of the brushhead attachment arrangement disclosed herein. FIGS. 6 and 7 shows the physical connection between the inner brushhead portion, in particular, snap legs 42-42 and drive legs 56-56 and drive hub 18. Drive hub 18, as previously indicated, is generally circular in configuration, with an upper surface 62, a depending circular wall 64 and a series of diamond-shaped projections 66 on the wall at spaced intervals, separated by clearance space into which the snap legs 42 and drive legs 56 can fit. In the embodiment shown, drive hub 18 includes a number of openings 66 in the upper surface 62 thereof, to facilitate cleaning and draining of the bristles in the outer and inner brushhead portions. Circular wall 64 is tapered slightly outwardly from top to bottom to produce a splaying effect on all the legs of the inner brushhead portion 24, to assure a snug fit between the inner brushhead portion 24 and the drive hub 18. The diamond-shaped projections 68 on the wall 64 each include two angled upper edge surfaces 70, 72 which come to a point at the top edge 73 of wall 64. At the lower end of edge surfaces 70 and 72 are lower edge surfaces 74 and 76 which angle inwardly toward each other over a short distance to lower edge 78 of drive hub 18. The diamond-shaped projections 68 thus have two maximum width points 80 and 82 which define the maximum width of the projections, located a short distance above the lower edge of the drive hub 18. Further, semi-circular openings 86 are defined in wall 64, between successive projections 68 around the periphery of the hub to aid in cleaning and drying. The configuration of the projections 68 in association with the configuration of the two sets of depending legs 42, 56 on the inner brushhead portion 24 provide a reliable and secure attachment between drive hub 18 and the inner brushhead portion 24, such that there is little or no lost motion between drive hub action and the inner brushhead action. The two sets of legs 42, 56 perform distinctly different functions as described herein, with the snap legs 42 primarily latching the two brushhead portions together and the drive legs 56 transferring the rotational energy of the hub to the brushhead. Each drive leg 56 contacts the maximum width points 80, 82 of two adjacent projections on the drive hub, providing efficient transfer of rotational movement, with an interference fit therebetween. As indicated above, snap-legs 42 include bulge portions 49 at the tips thereof which move slightly outwardly with the snap portions 44, 46 after they pass maximum width points 80 and 82 of the projection. This arrangement also helps to provide a reliable connection between drive hub 18 and the inner brushhead portion 24. As indicated above, outer wall 64 of drive hub 18 is tapered relative to all the depending legs of the inner brushhead portion 24, so that the legs tend to be forced outwardly as the inner brushhead portion 24 is moved downwardly onto the drive hub 18, again ensuring a snug, reliable fit between drive hub 18 and the inner brushhead portion 24. The combination of the diamond configuration of projections 68, the tapered wall 64 of the drive hub 18, and the configuration of the two sets of legs 42 and 56 of the inner brushhead portion 24 provide a reliable, tight, interference fit between the inner brushhead portion 18 and the drive hub, so that both an efficient transfer of rotational motion and secure retention of the two brushhead portions is provided. An important aspect of the brushhead attachment system disclosed herein is the arrangement by which the brushhead assembly as a whole (the outer and inner portions) is installed into the appliance, while at the same time producing the desired structural connection between the drive hub 18 and the inner brushhead portion 24 described above when the installation is made. This is accomplished by the pin and pin groove arrangement between the appliance body 10 and the outer brushhead portion 22 and the relative position of the joined inner and outer brushhead portions 22, 24 and the drive hub 18. The complete brushhead assembly is initially positioned in the corresponding opening in the appliance body, toward drive hub 18, which is secured to the oscillating spring drive member of the appliance. The brushhead assembly is inserted into the opening, using the finger grips 34 on the outer brushhead portion 22, positioning the outer brushhead portion so that pins 36 in the body 10 of the personal care appliance mate with the openings to the pin grooves 35 in the outer surface of the outer brushhead portion 22. Pin and pin groove alignment is straightforward. Special alignment or orientation is not required. The outer brushhead portion 22 can be arbitrarily placed inside the opening in the appliance body 10 and then rotated until the pins 36 begin to engage the grooves 35. The outer brushhead portion is then rotated in a clockwise direction, which draws the outer brushhead portion 22 a distance inwardly, with the inner brushhead portion 24 moving along with it. As the outer brushhead portion 22 is drawn inwardly, the inner brushhead portion 24 encounters installation resistance of the hub 18. When this occurs, the V-shaped upper surfaces 53 on the locking snap elements 50 axially align the inner brushhead portion 24 with the outer brushhead portion 22 and the snap elements 50 engage lip 57-57 of the outer brushhead portion 22. Further rotation of the outer brushhead portion causes legs 42 and 56 of the inner brushhead portion 24 to move into operative relationship with drive hub 18. The geometry of the various parts is arranged with over-travel so that prior to the outer brushhead portion reaching the end of its rotational travel defined by the pins 36 in the pin grooves 35, the inner brushhead portion 24 has been snugly fitted to the drive hub 18. At the end of the rotational travel, the outer brushhead portion 22 is released, and the wave washer 12 tends to force the outer brushhead portion 22 slightly outwardly until the pins 26 on the appliance body 10 are positioned at the very end 35a of the pin grooves 35. This last movement of the outer brushhead portion 22 provides the required operational clearance between the outer brushhead portion 22 and the inner brushhead portion 24. In this position, outer brushhead portion 22 is locked in a selected rotational position relative to inner brushhead portion 24, and the upper bristle surface of the outer brushhead portion 22 is substantially coplanar with the upper bristle surface of the inner brushhead portion 24. The bristles could be arranged, however, such that the bristle surfaces are in different but still parallel planes. While the outer brushhead portion 22 is now locked in position rotationally, the inner brushhead portion 24 is free to oscillate, surrounded by the outer brushhead portion 22, driven by drive hub 18. This arrangement thus has the important advantage of having both portions of the brushhead assembly, i.e. the fixed outer portion 22 and the movable inner portion 24 installed in the appliance in one operation. To remove the complete brushhead assembly, it is only necessary to depress the outer brushhead portion 22 against the wire spring 12 action and rotate the outer brushhead portion counterclockwise. This action reverses the installation procedure. As the brushhead is rotated, the cam action of pins 36 in the pin grooves 35 drives the complete brushhead assembly outward. With continued rotation, the outer brushhead 22 comes free of the pins 36, at which point the entire brushhead assembly can be removed, in one action, because the inner brushhead portion 24 is still joined to the outer brushhead portion 22 by the locking projections 53 on the snap legs 42 relative to the lip 57 on the interior surface of the outer brushhead portion. Accordingly, a brushhead attachment system has been disclosed which can attach a brushhead assembly having two portions, one oscillating and one not oscillating in operation, to an appliance body with one installation action. Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in the embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined by the claims which follow. For instance, while the cleaning member has been disclosed as bristles, it could be other arrangements, including various foam members, elastomeric members, etc. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In personal care appliances, including those having a relatively large brushhead assembly, such as those used for cleaning skin, the brushhead must be readily removable and installable by a user, because of regular replacement requirements, and when installed, must have a solid, positive connection with a drive member for the appliance, such as a rotating shaft, with no or little loss of motion between the drive member and the brushhead. With conventional brushheads, these objectives are accomplished with a variety of attaching structures, including screw-on connections, or snap connections which have tabs to mate with matching openings in the body of the appliance. However, with complicated brushhead designs, reliable and convenient attachment becomes more problematic. For instance, in a brushhead having two or more parts, with each operating differently, such as different motions, there is difficulty in maintaining the two parts in the required relationship to produce the different actions, while also permitting installation of the complete brushhead into the appliance body with a convenient, single easy action. In the embodiment disclosed herein, one portion of the brushhead is movable in operation of the appliance, while the other portion remains stationary. In this particular arrangement, the movable part must engage the drive member, while the other part is positioned and held such that it does not move with the drive member, yet the two separate parts must be removable and installable as a single unit. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention is a brushhead assembly attachment system for a personal care appliance, comprising: a hub member adapted to be secured to a driven shaft of a personal care appliance, the hub member including a plurality of locking elements around the periphery thereof; an outer brushhead portion having a first cleaning member extending therefrom, the outer brush assembly having a connecting structure for removably joining the outer brushhead assembly to the personal care appliance; and an inner brushhead portion having a second cleaning member extending therefrom, configured to fit with the outer brushhead assembly, wherein the inner brushhead assembly includes depending legs, at least some of which mate with the locking elements on the hub member, such that oscillating movement of the hub member results in similar movement of the inner brushhead member, wherein at least some of the depending legs are configured to removably latch onto a portion of the outer brushhead portion, providing a joining relationship therebetween, wherein the inner brushhead portion and the outer brushhead portion are configured relative to each other and to the hub member such that attaching the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body by means of said connecting structure results in both connection of the outer brushhead portion to the appliance body and connection of the inner brushhead portion to the hub member. | 20040622 | 20080617 | 20051222 | 84448.0 | 6 | KARLS, SHAY LYNN | OSCILLATING BRUSHHEAD ATTACHMENT SYSTEM FOR A PERSONAL CARE APPLIANCE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,361 | ACCEPTED | Anhydrous processing of methane into methane-sulfonic acid, methanol, and other compounds | Anhydrous processing to convert methane into oxygenates (such as methanol), liquid fuels, or olefins uses an initiator to create methyl radicals. These radicals combine with sulfur trioxide to form methyl-sulfonate radicals. These radicals attack fresh methane, forming stable methane-sulfonic acid (MSA) while creating new methyl radicals to sustain a chain reaction. This system avoids the use or creation of water, and liquid MSA is an amphoteric solvent that increasing the solubility and reactivity of methane and SO3. MSA from this process can be sold or used as a valuable chemical with no mercaptan or halogen impurities, or it can be heated and cracked to release methanol (a clean fuel, gasoline additive, and chemical feedstock) and sulfur dioxide (which can be oxidized to SO3 and recycled back into the reactor). MSA also can be converted into gasoline, olefins, or other valuable chemicals. | 1. A method for converting methane into an oxygenated derivative, comprising the steps of: a. removing hydrogen atoms from methane, thereby generating methyl radicals, each having an unpaired electron; b. contacting the methyl radicals with a selected oxide compound, under conditions that enable the methyl radicals to react with the selected oxide compound to form methylated oxide radicals having sufficient reactivity to remove hydrogen atoms from methane; and, c. reacting the methylated oxide radicals with methane, under conditions that enable the methylated oxide radicals to remove hydrogen atoms from the methane, thereby forming said oxygenated derivative and additional methyl radicals. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein a series of reaction steps is initiated by treating methane with at least one radical initiator compound to create the methyl radicals, and then sustained by adding additional quantities of the oxide compound and additional methane to at least one reactor device containing the methylated oxide radicals. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected oxide compound comprises sulfur trioxide. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the methylated oxide radicals comprise methanesulfonic acid radicals. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the stabilized methylated oxide molecules comprise methanesulfonic acid. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the methanesulfonic acid is treated to release methanol and sulfur dioxide. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the sulfur dioxide is oxidized to convert it into said selected oxide compound, and at least a portion of said selected oxide compound is recycled into a reactor vessel that contains methyl radicals. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the reaction steps are carried out using essentially anhydrous conditions. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the series of reaction steps, taken together, generate non-recyclable byproducts in a total quantity of less than 10 percent, by weight, of stabilized methylated oxide molecules formed by the method. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein, in step (a), hydrogen atoms are initially removed from methane by means that comprise contacting methane with a radical-initiator compound that has been converted into at least one unstable intermediate having an unpaired electron. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the unstable intermediate is formed from a peroxide compound. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the radical-initiator compound is characterized by absence of metallic ions or salts. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the radical-initiator compound comprises a symmetric inorganic di-acid compound having a peroxide linkage, and wherein said symmetric inorganic di-acid compound will generate two identical oxygen radicals if the peroxide linkage is broken. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the symmetric inorganic di-acid is selected from the group consisting of peroxy-disulfuric acid and peroxy-diphosphoric acid. 15. A process for converting methane into a methylated oxide compound, said process comprising the steps of: (i) reacting a methyl radical with a selected oxide compound to create a methylated oxide radical; (ii) reacting the methylated oxide radical with methane, creating a reaction mixture that contains methane, methyl radicals, said selected oxide compound, and a methylated oxide compound; and, (iii) removing the methylated oxide compound from the reaction mixture. 16. The process of claim 15, wherein said process is carried out within a reactor vessel that allows continuous addition of methane and said selected oxide compound to said reaction mixture, and continuous removal of said methylated oxide from the reactor vessel. 17. The process of claim 15, wherein the selected oxide compound comprises sulfur trioxide. 18. The process of claim 15, wherein the methylated oxide radicals comprise methylsulfonic acid radicals. 19. The process of claim 15, wherein all reactions are carried out using essentially anhydrous conditions. 20. The process of claim 15, wherein the series of reaction steps, taken together, generate non-recyclable byproducts in a total quantity of less than 10 percent, by weight, of stabilized methylated oxide molecules that are removed by the process. 21. A process for converting a lower alkane into an alkylated compound, said process comprising the steps of: a. generating alkane radicals; b. contacting the alkane radicals with a selected inorganic alkylatable compound under conditions that enable the alkane radicals to bond to the selected inorganic alkylatable compound, thereby forming alkylated radicals; c. adding additional quantities of the lower alkane to the alkylated radicals, under conditions that enable the alkylated radicals to remove hydrogen atoms from the lower alkane, thereby forming said alkylated compound while also generating newly-formed alkane radicals. 22. The process of claim 21, wherein: a. the process is initiated by removing hydrogen atoms from at least one lower alkane; and, b. the process is sustained, as a continuous reaction, by continuously adding quantities of the lower alkane and the selected inorganic alkylatable compound to a reactor device, and continuously removing quantities of said alkylated compound from the reactor device. 23. The process of claim 21, wherein the selected inorganic alkylatable compound comprises an inorganic oxide. 24. The process of claim 23, wherein the inorganic oxide comprises sulfur trioxide. 25. The process of claim 21, wherein the alkylated radicals comprise alkylated sulfonic acid radicals. 26. The process of claim 21, wherein the alkylated compound comprise alkylated sulfonic acid. 27. The process of claim 21, wherein all reagents and products are essentially anhydrous. 28. The process of claim 21, wherein the method is carried out on a continuous basis that generates non-recyclable byproducts in a total quantity of less than 10 percent, by weight, of stabilized alkylated molecules formed by the method. 29. The process of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the alkylated compound is treated in a manner that causes it to release an alkyl alcohol. 30. A process for converting methane into a heavier methyl compound, comprising the step of forming methyl radicals, by means of reacting methane with at least one radical initiator compound that does not contain metal or a salt, under essentially anhydrous conditions. 31. The process of claim 30, wherein the process allows said heavier methyl compound to be removed continuously from a reactor device. 32. The process of claim 30, wherein the methane is converted into said methyl compound by steps that comprise: a. converting the methane into methyl radicals, and, b. contacting the methyl radicals with a selected inorganic oxide, to generate methylated oxide radicals having sufficient reactivity to remove hydrogen atoms from methane. 33. The process of claim 30, wherein the methylated oxide radicals comprise methanesulfonic acid radicals. 34. A reaction mixture comprising at least one selected alkane reagent, alkane radicals, at least one selected oxide reagent, and alkylated oxide radicals, wherein said reaction mixture will produce an oxygenated alkane if additional quantities of the selected alkane reagent and the selected oxide reagent are added to the reaction mixture, and wherein said oxygenated alkane can be removed from the reaction mixture. 35. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein the selected alkane reagent comprises methane. 36. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein the selected oxide reagent comprises sulfur trioxide. 36. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein the alkylated oxide radicals comprise methanesulfonic acid radicals. 37. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein the oxygenated alkane comprises methanesulfonic acid. 38. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein all components of the reaction mixture are essentially anhydrous. 39. The reaction mixture of claim 34, wherein the reaction mixture is capable of continuously producing an oxygenated alkane while generating unwanted byproducts in a total quantity of less than 10 percent, by weight, of the oxygenated alkane produced by the reaction mixture. 40. A chemical processing system for converting at least one lower alkane into at least one oxygenated alkyl derivative, comprising at least one reactor vessel designed to process a mixture of at least one alkane, alkane radicals, a selected oxide compound, and alkylated oxide radicals, under conditions that: (i) enable the alkane radicals to react with the selected oxide compound, thereby forming alkylated oxide radicals; (ii) enable the alkylated oxide radicals to react with at least one lower alkane, under conditions that cause removal of hydrogen atoms from the lower alkane, thereby forming alkylated oxide molecules while also generating newly-formed alkane radicals; and, (iii) enable removal of alkylated oxide molecules from the reactor vessel. 41. The chemical processing system of claim 40, wherein the system is designed to process a mixture of methane, methyl radicals, sulfur trioxide, and methanesulfonic acid radicals, in a manner that generates stabilized methanesulfonic acid on a continuous basis, and that enables the stabilized methanesulfonic acid to be continuously removed from at least one reactor vessel. 42. The chemical processing system of claim 40, wherein the chemical processing system is designed to carry out anhydrous processing of all compounds in all reactor vessels in the chemical processing system. 43. The chemical processing system of claim 40, wherein the chemical processing system is designed to process all compounds in all reactor vessels in the chemical processing system without generating any metallic ions or compounds, or any salts. 44. The chemical processing system of claim 40, wherein at least one reactor vessel is designed to generate alkane radicals by contacting them with a radical initiator compound. 45. A method of reacting a lower alkane with a selected alkylatable compound, by adding said lower alkane and said selected alkylatable compound to a reactor device containing alkylated radicals, at flow rates that sustain essentially steady concentrations of the lower alkane, the alkylated radicals, and the selected alkylatable compound, while producing a stable alkylated compound that can be continuously removed from the reactor device. 46. The method of claim 45, wherein the lower alkane comprises methane. 47. The method of claim 45, wherein the selected alkylatable compound comprises sulfur trioxide. 48. The method of claim 45, wherein the alkylated radicals comprise methanesulfonic acid radicals. 49. The method of claim 45, wherein the stable alkylated compound comprises methanesulfonic acid. 50. The method of claim 45, which is capable of producing a stable alkylated compound while generating unwanted byproducts in a total quantity of less than 10 percent, by weight, of the stable alkylated compound. | RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) based on provisional application 60/480,183, filed on Jun. 21, 2003. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to organic chemistry, hydrocarbon chemistry, and processing of methane gas. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Because there have been no adequate chemical methods for converting methane gas into liquids that can be transported efficienty to commercial markets, very large quantities of methane gas are wasted every day, by flaring, reinjection, or other means, at fields that produce crude oil. In addition, numerous gas fields are simply shut in, at numerous locations around the world. Skilled chemists have tried for at least 100 years to develop methods for converting methane gas into various types of liquids. While various efforts in the prior art could produce relatively small quantities and low yields of methanol or other liquids, none of those efforts ever created yields that were sufficient to support commercial use at oil-producing sites. Such efforts prior to 1990 are described in reviews such as Gesser et al 1985 and Olah 1987 (full citations to all articles and books are provided below), and efforts after 1990 are described in articles such as Periana et al 1993, 1998, and 2002, Basickes et al 1996, Lobree et al 2001, and Mukhopadhyay 2002 and 2003. As a result, oil and chemical companies are investing (as of early 2004) huge amounts of money to design and build facilities that will use either “liquified natural gas” (LNG), or a processing system called “Fischer-Tropsch”. However, both of those systems are very inefficient and wasteful. LNG processing burns about 40% of a methane stream, to refrigerate the remainder to somewhere between −260 and −330° F., causing it to liquefy so it can be loaded into specialized ocean-going tankers. After a tanker reaches its destination, another large portion of the methane must be burned, to warm the methane back up to temperatures that allow it to be handled by normal pipes and pumps. Therefore, LNG wastes roughly half of a methane stream. Nevertheless, as of early 2004, oil companies had committed an estimated $30 billion to build LNG facilities. Similarly, Fischer-Tropsch processing burns about 30% of a methane stream to convert the remainder into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, called “synthetic gas” or “syngas”. The syngas is then converted (using expensive catalysts) into heavy oils and paraffins, which then must be cracked and/or distilled to convert them into gasoline and other products. The syngas conversion, the catalyst costs, and the fact that the process makes thick and heavy oils and waxes that require still more processing, all create major inefficiencies, but as of early 2004, companies have committed to building Fischer-Tropsch facilities costing tens of billions of dollars. The waste and inefficiencies of LNG and Fischer-Tropsch systems, which are receiving billions of dollars in investments, prove the assertion that any methane-to-methanol systems previously proposed, based on small-scale laboratory work, have not been regarded as commercially practical, by any major companies. In addition, it should be noted that most processing systems proposed to date generate large quantities of acidic and hazardous byproducts and toxic wastes. Even if they can be recycled, those byproducts and wastes poses major obstacles to efficient and economic use. Additional background information is provided in Patent Cooperation Treaty application number WO 2004/041399, arising from application PCT/US03/035396, filed in November 2003 by the same Applicant and Inventor herein. The contents of that published application are incorporated herein by reference. PRIOR ART METHODS FOR MAKING MSA Because of its role in processes described herein, attention must be given to a compound called methanesulfonic acid, abbreviated as MSA and having the formula H3C—SO3H. MSA has been known for many decades, and is sold as a commodity chemical, mainly for use in processes such as metal cleaning, electroplating, and semiconductor manufacturing. One set of prior art that relates to MSA is contained in several patents issued to John Snyder and Aristid Grosse, based on work they did for the Houdry Process Company in the 1940's. Those patents include U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,983 (“Methanol Production”), U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,038 (“Reaction of Methane with Sulfur Trioxide”), U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,576 (“Production of Organic Compounds from Methane Sulfonic Acid”), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,984 (“Organic Reactions”, focused largely on the formation of liquid hydrocarbons from methanol). Although their chemical insights were groundbrealing, and provided key insights and building blocks that were used by the Applicant herein, the work by Snyder and Grosse in the 1940's never led to good yields of desired products, and never led to commercial use of those processes. In addition, much of their work used catalysts such as mercury, which is highly toxic. Accordingly, their methods of making MSA are not in use today, and other methods have been developed. Briefly, there are three main methods that have been used commercially in the prior art, for manufacturing MSA. All three methods are described and compared in a technical sales brochure published by the BASF company (Ludwigshafen, Germany), by M. Eiermann et al, entitled, “The influence of the quality of methanesulphonic acid in electronic and electroplating applications” (2002, BASF brochure E-EVD/GK-I 550). That brochure describes various advantages of the BASF method over the two other prior commercial methods of manufacture. One prior art method uses chloroxidation of methylmercaptan, to form MSA chloride, which is then hydrolyzed to release MSA. The two main reactions are: H3C—SH+3 Cl2+2H2O—>H3C—SO2Cl+5 HCl H3C—SO2Cl+H2O—>H3C—SO3H+HCl The disadvantages of that system, according to BASF, included: (1) the raw materials are toxic and expensive; (2) large amounts of hydrochloric acid wastes are formed; and, (3) the MSA product must be purified by extraction and stripping. The second prior art method is called “the salt process”, and uses the following reaction: SO2(OCH3)2+2 NaHSO3+2 NaOH+3H2SO4—>2H3C—SO3H+4 NaHSO4+2H2O The disadvantages of that system, according to BASF, included: (1) large amounts of salt wastes are formed; (2) solids must be removed from the system; and (3) it must be carried out using batch processing, rather than in a continuous-flow steady-state reaction. The BASF system uses a two-step reaction, starting with methanol, elemental sulfur, and hydrogen, to get dimethyl-disulfide, which is then catalytically oxidized into MSA, as follows: 2H3COH+H2+2S—>H3C—S—S—CH3+2H2O H3C—S—S—CH3+5/2O2+H2O—>2H3C—SO3H Although that system does indeed offer a number of advantages over the two other systems, it should be noted that pure methanol, pure hydrogen gas, and pure elemental sulfur are all comparatively expensive, compared to the reagents used in the process disclosed herein. In addition, the BASF brochure indicates that its MSA product contains 7 parts per million (ppm) sulfate impurities, and 1 to 2 ppm chloride impurities. Their MSA product also requires distillation, to separate it from at least nine identified possible impurities, including H3CS(O)CH3, H3CS(O2)CH3, H3CS(O2)SCH3, H3CS(O2)OCH3, H3CS(O2)S(O)CH3, and sulfuric acid; and, because of chemical similarities, various of those impurities may be present, at low but potentially significant quantities, in the final distilled product. The process disclosed herein for making MSA is believed to provide an improved method of manufacture which appears capable of creating preparations of MSA that contain no residual “mercaptan” compounds (having the general formula R—SH), and no residual halogen atoms, such as chloride or fluoride atoms. Since mercaptan or halogen impurities can create substantial problems when MSA is used for high-tech manufacturing purposes (especially in making semiconductor materials), the absence of mercaptan or halogen impurities, in MSA made by the methods herein, appears to offer an important and valuable advance in the art. In addition, this new method of manufacture begins with methane, rather than methanol. Since methanol does not occur naturally in any substantial quantities, it must be manufactured somehow, to make MSA via the BASF process, and the total transportation costs are likely to be considerable (for example the largest BASF plant used to make MSA is in Germany, and Germany has no natural supplies of methane or crude oil). By contrast, methane gas is available in huge quantities around the world, and roughly $100 million worth of methane is flared or reinjected, every day, as an unwanted, explosive, and dangerous byproduct of crude oil production, at thousands of sites where it is not feasible or economical to transport the methane to distant markets. It must be recognized that the world market for MSA is only a tiny fraction of the world market for methanol (which can be used as a clean-burning liquid fuel, as a gasoline additive, as a chemical feedstock, and for various other uses). Therefore, the main utility and value of this invention, which produces high-purity MSA, will come from either: (1) “cracking” the MSA, to release methanol (which has unlimited markets) and sulfur dioxide (which can be regenerated into SO3 and recycled back into the reactor that converts methane into MSA), or (2) processing the MSA in other ways, such as by passing it through porous catalysts such as Zeolite or “SAPO”, to convert it into liquid fuels, olefins, or other compounds, as described below. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the process disclosed herein can be used to make hugh-purity, high-quality MSA, as a commodity chemical that can be sold and used directly for electroplating, semiconductor manufacturing, or other industrial or commercial purposes. Therefore, one object of this invention is to disclose a system for converting methane into high-quality MSA that contains no mercaptan or halogen impurities. Another object of this invention is to disclose a system for converting methane into methanol, via a pathway that uses MSA as an intermediate, in a more efficient and selective and less expensive manner than any prior known system, with thermodynamic barriers that are lower than ever previously known. Another object is to disclose a system that converts methane into MSA or methanol, while creating only very small quantities of waste or byproducts, by using a combination of (i) radical-initiated chain reactions that lead from methane to MSA, and (ii) recycling methods that recover and reuse any inorganic reagents, catalysts, or intermediates. These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent through the following summary, description, and figures. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Reagents and methods that utilize radicals (highly reactive atoms or molecules with an unpaired electron) are disclosed, for converting small hydrocarbons such as methane into oxygenated compounds, such as methanol. The reaction system uses any of several known pathways to efficiently remove a hydrogen atom (both a proton and an electron) from methane (CH4), generating methyl radicals (H3C*). The methyl radicals combine with sulfur trioxide (SO3), to form methyl-sulfonate radicals. The methyl-sulfonate radicals attack methane that is being added to the reactor, and remove hydrogen atoms. This forms stable methane-sulfonic acid (MSA, H3C—SO3H), and also creates new methyl radicals, which can sustain a chain reaction while methane and SO3 are continuously added to the reactor vessel. This system uses anhydrous conditions to avoid the use or creation of water or other unnecessary molecules, and liquid MSA also functions as an amphoteric solvent, which increases the solubility and reaction rates of the methane and SO3. MSA that is removed from the reactor can be used in any of several ways. It can be sold as a valuable chemical that will not contain mercaptan or halogen impurities. Alternately, it can be heated to release methanol (which has unlimited markets as a clean fuel, gasoline additive, and chemical feedstock) and sulfur dioxide (which can be oxidized to SO3 and recycled back into the reactor). Alternately, MSA can be converted into gasoline or other hydrocarbon liquids (using Zeolite catalysts), olefins (using SAPO catalysts), or other valuable chemicals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 depicts several known chemical reactions that can “activate” methane (CH4) by removing a hydrogen atom (both a proton and an electron), to convert the methane into a methyl radical (H3C*, where the asterisk represents an unpaired electron). FIG. 2 depicts a reaction system that combines methyl radicals (H3C*) and sulfur trioxide, to form methane-sulfonic acid (MSA) by a multi-step process that creates a new methyl radical. This establishes a chain reaction, and the newly-created methyl radicals will react with newly-added SO3. MSA can be removed from the vessel and sold as a product, used as a reagent, or “cracked” to release methanol (which can be shipped as a liquid, or used as a feedstock for other reactions) and sulfur dioxide (which can be oxidized to SO3 and recycled back into the reactor). FIG. 3 depicts a methanol plant that uses Marshall's acid (with two sulfuric acid groups linked by a peroxide bond) to generate sulfuric acid radicals, which will efficiently remove hydrogen atoms from methane to create methyl radicals. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing steps for converting methane into liquid hydrocarbon fuel, via a pathway that cracks MSA to release methanol, which is passed through a Zeolite or other porous catalyst. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing steps for converting methane into liquid hydrocarbon fuel, by passing MSA directly through a porous catalyst. FIG. 6 depicts condensation of 1,2-octene, with molecules of MSA inserting methylene (—CH2—) groups into the double bond of a growing olefin chain. FIG. 6 depicts MSA reacting with ammonia to create methyl-amines. FIG. 7 depicts MSA reacting with toluene to form para-xylene, which can be oxidized to form terephthalic acid, a monomer used to manufacture plastics, which can be treated again with MSA to form dimethyl terephthalate, another valuable monomer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As briefly summarized above, anhydrous pathways that use radicals (atoms or molecules with an unpaired electron) are disclosed for converting small hydrocarbons (such as methane) into oxygenated or other intermediates or products (such as methane-sulfonic acid, which can be heated to release methanol). As depicted in FIG. 1, several methods are known for creating methyl radicals (H3C*, with the asterisk depicting an unpaired electron). The chemical methods require radical initiators that are substantially stronger than hydroxy radicals of the type that are released by hydrogen peroxide, HOOH. One method involves manufacturing a compound called Marshall's acid, the common name for peroxy-disulfuric acid, which has the formula HO3SO—OSO3H. This compound can be synthesized by methods such as: (1) reacting hydrogen peroxide with SO3 to form peroxy-monosulfuric acid, HO3SOOH, which has the common name Caro's acid, and (2) adding more sulfur trioxide to the Caro's acid, to convert it to Marshall's acid. More information on methods, equipment, and reaction conditions for making Marshall's acid is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,189 (Jayawant 1975). When Marshall's acid is treated by a suitable energy input (such as mild heating, ultraviolet (UV) light, or a laser beam with a “tuned” wavelength), in the presence of a catalyst if desired (such as solid catalytic surfaces as described in articles such as Lie et al 2002, and in other works cited in footnotes 22-52 in Lie et al 2002), the peroxide bond will break, releasing two identical radicals with the formula HO3SO*. These can be regarded either as Marshall's acid radicals (since they came from Marshall's acid), or as sulfuric acid radicals (since they are sulfuric acid that is missing a hydrogen atom). These radicals are much stronger than conventional hydroxy radicals (HO*), and unlike hydroxy radicals, they can efficiently remove hydrogen atoms from methane, to convert the methane into methyl radicals, while also creating stabilized sulfuric acid. Because a small quantity of Marshall's acid will trigger a chain reaction that will keep going and convert a large quantity of methane into MSA and/or methanol, the amount of sulfuric acid waste will be small, if Marshall's acid is used as the radical initiator. Other methods for creating methyl radicals are known, and include the following, as examples: (1) using other known chemicals that contain sulfur, phosphorous, or nitrogen structures that can be activated by an energy source such as heating, UV radiation, or a tuned laser beam, to release “strong radicals” that are strong enough to efficiently remove hydrogen atoms from methane; or, (2) using heat, UV, laser, or other energy input to break apart a halogen gas (such as fluorine or chlorine gas, F2 or Cl2, etc.) into radicals that will remove hydrogen atoms from methane; Various types of energy-transfer devices can be used to break apart susceptible chemicals into radicals. One class of devices can be referred to as “radical guns” or “radical pumps”, since these devices can shoot or pump radicals out of a nozzle that contains very hot heating elements (such as white-hot electrical filaments inside protective sleeves made of quartz or similar materials that will conduct heat but not electricity). These devices can inject radicals directly into a stream of methane and/or sulfur trioxide, minimizing any chances for the radicals to react in undesired ways. Radical guns with heating elements are described in articles such as Danon et al 1987, Peng et al 1992, Chuang et al 1999, Romm et al 2001, Schwarz-Selinger et al 2001, Blavins et al 2001, and Zhai et al 2004. Similar devices can be developed with nozzles that use ultraviolet or laser radiation (in combination with catalytic surfaces, if desired) to break apart molecules passing through the nozzle, in ways that form radicals that can efficiently remove hydrogen from methane. Any such devices can be evaluated for use as disclosed herein, with any candidate radical initiator compound. One such compound is azomethane, H3C—N═N—CH3. If energized in a suitable manner, azomethane will release methyl radicals, along with nitrogen gas, N2, which is relatively inert, nontoxic, and present in large quantities in the atmosphere. Other candidate radical initiators include anhydrides of MSA, which include sulfene, H2C═SO2, an “inner anhydride” formed by removing water from a single molecule of MSA), and an “outer anhydride” formed by combining two molecules of MSA while removing a molecule of water. Accordingly, various methods for creating methyl radicals are known, and are generally represented by FIG. 1. The methyl radicals are used, inside a continuous flow reactor vessel (described below) to initiate a chain reaction that will convert methane gas into methane-sulfonic acid (MSA), as shown in FIG. 2. As illustrated, the methyl radicals bond to sulfur trioxide, to form methane-sulfonic acid (MSA) radicals (possibly mixed with some quantity of isomers or other species, such as methyl bisulfite radicals, as discussed below). These radicals then remove hydrogen atoms from fresh methane that is being pumped into the reactor. This forms complete and stable MSA, which is a liquid that can be removed from the reactor by various means. It also creates a new supply of methyl radicals, which will keep the chain reaction going so long as methane and sulfur trioxide are added to the reactor at appropriate rates. Certain types of computer modeling have raised a question as to whether methyl bisulfite (H3C—O—SO2H, an isomer of MSA with an oxygen between the carbon and sulfur) will also be formed. Tests carried out to date, using small closed batch reactors (such as described in the Examples below) have indicated that the bisulfite isomer does not occur in substantial quantities, and the MSA comprises at least about 99% of the organic portion of the liquid that is formed. Nevertheless, the possibility of forming bisulfites or other isomers or variants must be kept in mind as the process disclosed herein is tested and scaled up for continuous-flow reactors. It should also be noted that if methyl bisulfite is heated to a thermal cracking temperature, it will release methanol and SO2, the same products released by MSA. Therefore, methyl bisulfite, if present, should not severely hinder the production of methanol from methane, but any intended products other than methanol will need careful evaluation, if an MSA mixture will be processed into such other products. It should also be noted that various alternative compounds that may behave in similar ways can also be evaluated, for possible use as disclosed herein. For examples, other lower alkanes (such as ethane, propane, etc.) can be tested in place of methane, and various selected inorganic oxide compounds (such as various oxides of nitrogen or phosphorus, for example) can be tested in place of sulfur trioxide. Accordingly, methane and other compounds that will react and perform as disclosed herein are referred to, in some claims below, as alkane or lower alkyl compounds, sulfur trioxide and other compounds that will react and perform as disclosed herein are referred to, in some claims below, by terms such as “a selected inorganic alkylatable compound”. Similar, methanol and other products thay can be created by such processing are referred to in some claims by terms such as “heavier” methylated or alkylated compounds. MSA is both a product of the reaction shown in FIG. 2, and a solvent that helps keep that system running. It is an “amphoteric” solvent, since each molecule of MSA has two different domains. The methyl domain will help methane gas become dissolved in the liquid mixture (this process of dissolving methane in a liquid mixture can be accelerated by other means as well, such as (1) using emulsion reactors that generate high “shearing” forces to create foam-type emulsions, as described below, and possibly (2) using supercritical carbon dioxide, in liquid form). The sulfonic acid domain of MSA will help SO3 mix rapidly with the liquid in the reactor. Fresh methane and SO3 will be continuously pumped into the reactor, and MSA will be continuously removed from the outlet. MSA has a number of manufacturing uses, and it can be sold, if desired, but the markets for MSA are small and limited, and the costs of tranporting hundreds or thousands of tons of SO3 in an acid liquid are considerable. Since the MSA reactor will need a constant supply of SO3 to keep running, a preferred use for MSA, in most cases, will involve either of two pathways. In one pathway, the MSA can be heated to about 250 to 350° C., causing it to break apart, in a reaction called “thermolysis” or “cracking”. This will split MSA into methanol and sulfur dioxide: H3C—SO3H—>H3COH+SO3 The methanol can be transported as a liquid through pipelines, tankers, etc. It has unlimited markets as a clean fuel, gasoline additive, or chemical feedstock. The SO2 is oxidized back to SO3, which is recycled back into the reactor, to reduce costs and avoid waste. This keeps the sulfur cycling through the reactor, entering as SO3, and emerging as SO2. Various methods can be used to oxidize SO2 to SO3. At the current time, the most widely used commercial method uses vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) as a catalyst, and recent improvement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,835 (MacArthur et al, assigned to Chemithon). However, the Applicant herein is currently working on what appears likely to offer an improved system. Although that aspect of this disclosure is regarded as a separate invention, in a separate field of chemistry (which is being described in more detail in a separate and simultaneously-filed provisional application), it is also summarized herein, to ensure that the “disclosure of the best mode” requirement of the patent law is met. Briefly, the reactor system, as currently contemplated by the Applicant herein, may be able to use porous “monolith” materials (which have essentially linear and parallel flow channels, as developed by various researchers, notably including Lanny Schmidt at the University of Minnesota), having an improved catalyst that is coated onto the interior surfaces of the flow channels that pass through the porous monolith. One promising catalyst that has been identified, through computer modeling, is vanadium perfluoro-diformate. Other candidate catalysts that will be evaluated include per-bromo, per-chloro, and per-iodo analogs, as well as other candidate catalysts that take vanadium to a +4, +5, or potentially +6 state. This may include compounds that replace the formate carbon atoms of the diformate compounds with other electronegative atoms, such as nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorus, and compounds that contain a peroxide bridge between two adjacent vanadium atoms. Since formic acid derivatives with halogen atoms can be relatively unstable, chemists who are interested in such catalysts should evaluate articles such as Gilson 1994, and Li et al 1997, which describe methods for coating various fluorine-containing materials onto solid supports. The conversion of SO2 to SO3 is an oxidation reaction that is highly exothermic, and it releases large quantities of heat. To remove excess heat from the SO3 regenerator, and to make proper and efficient use of that energy, the tubing that contains the monolith reactor material preferably should be surrounded by an annular shell, which will function as a heat exchanger. This annulus will carry liquid MSA from the MSA reactor vessel, to a cracking (thermolysis) reactor. The MSA will enter the annular heat exchanger at a temperature that is likely to be in the range of about 70° C. or less, and it will need to be heated up to greater than 300° C. for thermolytic cracking, to release methanol and sulfur dioxide. Accordingly, a preferred system design should transfer the exothermic heat that is released by the SO2 to SO3 conversion, directly into MSA that needs to be heated up in order to crack it and release methanol. More information on catalytic monolith materials can be obtained from sources such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,192 (Schmidt et al 1999), articles such as Raja et al 2000, and books such as Hayes et al 1997. Items that played key roles in establishing a foundation that supported the Applicant's analysis and development of improved vanadium catalysts were (1) FIG. 11, on page 114 of Dunn et al 1998, and (2) FIG. 4, and especially FIG. 4a, on page 214 of Giakoumelou et al 209. However, it must be emphasized that extensive and detailed study and analysis of numerous other published articles was also required, to enable the Applicant to move from certain starting points that were gleaned from those cited articles, toward the practical development of better catalytic materials and devices. It must also be kept in mind that MSA can be processed directly into liquid hydrocarbons (such as gasoline), olefins, or other products or intermediates. Those pathways are described below. Several factors should be noted about this method for converting methane into MSA, as illustrated in FIG. 2: 1. The pathway is anhydrous, and avoids or at least minimizes any presence, creation, or use of water (some small quantity of water may become present, if sulfuric acid or certain other sulfur species are created, and if some portion of those sulfur species breaks apart, such as into H2O and SO3). It also avoids using metal or other salts. This anhydrous, non-salt approach makes the system more efficient, less corrosive, and less subject to fouling by mineral deposits inside vessels and pipes. It also reduces formation of byproducts and waste. 2. Because the pathways use radicals that are highly reactive, they have low thermodynamic barriers, and can run at relatively low temperature and pressure combinations, which can provide high efficiency, selectivity, and yields if the number of candidate reactants in the vessel are kept to a minimum. 3. By using chain reactions, these pathways generate large quantities of product with only small quantities of initiators and waste. 4. These pathways allow endless recycling of all sulfur compounds used or produced by the system. Even if MSA is directly converted into liquids or other compounds without passing through methanol, most such products do not contain sulfur, and the sulfur from MSA will be released by the processing system in ways that allow it to be recovered and reused. 5. Because of certain types of electron behavior, a methyl radical (H3C*) that is missing a hydrogen atom will not readily give up a second hydrogen atom. This is unlike various other reactions involving methane. For example, if methane is treated with a halogen such as chlorine, displacement of a first hydrogen atom can enable or even accelerate the loss of additional hydrogen atoms, leading to mixtures of carbon chlorides with one, two, three, or four chlorine atoms, which must then be separated if a single purified product is desired. However, the opposite happens when methane loses a hydrogen atom and becomes a radical. These advantages are valuable, and can help enable high-yield processing and manufacturing operations with minimal hazards and wastes. Furthermore, as mentioned in the Background section, it is believed that the reaction pathway disclosed herein can be designed and run in ways that completely avoid any use, presence, or formation of halogen or mercaptan compounds. Therefore, this method is believed to provide ways for manufacturing relatively pure preparations of MSA, which are characterized by the absence of any halogen or mercaptan compounds. Since the prior known methods for manufacturing MSA all suffered from some halogen or mercaptan impurities, this is believed to be a highly useful aspect of this invention. Accordingly, this application discloses and claims compositions of matter, comprising purified MSA preparations that are characterized by the absence of any halogen or mercaptan impurities. It should also be noted that MSA, if made available in pure form and large quantities at sites that are widely distributed around the world, is likely to find a number of new and additional uses, as a research or manufacturing reagent or solvent. Because of the commercial importance of the system disclosed herein, the behavior and properties of MSA, as an amphoteric solvent, are likely to receive more careful attention and analysis, by chemists who previously have not previously paid any serious attention to MSA as a candidate solvent or reagent. After studying this systeni for more than a year, the Applicant has become convinced that MSA can play important roles in making better and more efficient use of numerous types of organic compounds, beyond those disclosed herein. Accordingly, the disclosure herein of an efficient and inexpensive way to manufacture large quantities of MSA, in relatively pure form that does not contain mercaptan or halogen impurities, is likely to promote the development of additional uses for MSA, beyond the uses and modes described herein. Manufacturing System (Plant Layout) FIG. 3 provides a schematic layout of a manufacturing system 100 (often called a “plant” in the petrochemical industry) that can be used to carry out the reactions of this invention, if the Marshall's acid pathway is used. This illustration depicts the essential components of a simple and basic layout for creating methanol. This basic layout can be expanded, enhanced, and improved, in ways that will become apparent to those who design and build such facilities, depending on factors such as whether additional facilities for more complex processing of the MSA will be provided at this same facility. If other types of radical sources or initiators (other than the Marshall's acid system) are used, the only modifications that will be required in the illustrated plant layout, to handle that particular aspect of the overall process, will involve the devices in the upper left corner of FIG. 3, while the other components can remain essentially the same. In a system that uses Marshall's acid, reagent supply container 110 contains hydrogen peroxide, H2O2. Reagent supply container 120 contains stabilized anhydrous liquid SO3, or an alternate sulfonating agent that can be converted into Caro's acid and/or Marshall's acid. Both of these reagents are pumped into a suitable acid formation vessel 150, where they will combine and react to initially form Caro's acid (peroxy-mono-sulfuric acid, HO3SO—OH). Additional SO3 is then added at a subsequent inlet, and the Caro's acid is converted into Marshall's acid (peroxy-di-sulfuric acid, HO3SO—OSO3H). Acid formation vessel 150 is modelled after a similar vessel having annular reaction zones, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,360 for creating Caro's acid, modified by an additional inlet for SO3 to convert the Caro's acid to Marshall's acid. Marshall's acid will emerge from the bottom of acid formation vessel 150, and it will be heated, subjected to UV or laser radiation, or otherwise treated, to split it into HSO4* radicals, as shown in FIG. 1. These radicals will be pumped, presumably in the form of a fine mist, entrained liquid, etc., into a main reactor vessel 200, which preferably should contain internal baffles, agitators, and/or other structures that will promote high levels of liquid/gas contact and interaction. Main reactor vessel 200 will be receiving a steady supply of both methane and SO3, from supply tanks 210 and 220 (via pump 225), and also from one or more recycling conduits 250 that will collect any unreacted methane or SO3 that emerge from reactor 200. In most facilities that will deal with large volumes of methane that has been separated from crude oil at an oil field, methane supply tank 210 presumably will receive its supply of methane gas from a storage or surge tank that receives and holds pressurized methane gas, after the gas has been removed from crude oil in a separation vessel. In cases in which sulfonated products are not removed and sold, the SO3 supply will be continuously recycled; therefore, the “makeup” volumes that will be required to replace small and gradual losses will not be nearly as large as the volumes of methane that will be processed. However, as noted above, MSA is a valuable chemical in its own right; indeed; it is worth roughly 10 times more than methanol, on an equal-weight basis. Therefore, it can be sold as a product, or used as a chemical feedstock, by sending some or all of the MSA that leaves the main reactor vessel 200 to a storage tank, rather than to a heating and cracking vessel 300 that will break the MSA into methanol and SO2. If MSA or any other sulfonated product is removed from the system, the supplies of SO3 that must be added will need to be increased, in a corresponding manner. Any known method or machine for increasing the contact and interactions between the reagents inside the main reactor vessel 200 can be evaluated, using routine experiments, to determine their suitability for use as disclosed herein. For example, methane and SO3 from supply pumps 210 and 220 might be pre-mixed, before they enter reactor vessel 200; alternately, they might be introduced in a counterflow manner, by introducing gaseous methane into the bottom of vessel 200, so that it will bubble and rise upward, while liquid SO3 is pumped into the top of vessel 200 so that it will flow downward due to gravity. Similarly, any known or hereafter-discovered system, type, or combination of baffles, trays, meshes, fluidized particulate bed reactors, rotating or centrifugal reactors, loop reactors, oscillatory flow baffle reactors, high-shear reactors, SO3-coated particulates, and other devices, methods, or formulations can be evaluated for use as disclosed herein, to determine whether they can improve the yields of the reactions disclosed herein. In particular, three classes of candidate reactor vessels deserve mention, since any of them may be well-suited to carrying out various particular reactions. One class can be referred to as rotating, spinning, or centrifugal bed reactors. These are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,255 (Ramshaw et al 1981, assigned to Imperial Chemicals), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,513 (Quarderer et al 2000, assigned to Dow Chemical Company). These devices normally use a fairly wide and thick disk that spins at high speed, to generate centrifugal force that will drive gases and liquids from one or more inputs near the center axle, toward the outside of the bed. They often use porous metallic mesh as the media, with supporting wires made of stainless steel or other relatively strong but inexpensive material, coated with a thin layer of an expensive catalyst, such as a soft or noble metal. Another class of candidate reactor vessels that merit attention are often called “loop” reactors, or Buss (pronounced “boose”) reactors, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,092 (Leuteritz 1992, assigned to Buss AG of Switzerland). This includes a subcategory called “monolithic” loop reactors, as described in Broekhuis et al 2001. Loop reactors typically use a combination of (1) a main reactor vessel, which contains a catalyst bed or other component that cannot be removed from the main vessel, and (2) a separate and usually smaller “secondary” vessel, which receives a liquid or gas stream that has been removed from the main vessel. The secondary vessel treats the portion of the liquid or gas stream which passes through it, and then returns it to the main reactor vessel. This allows the secondary vessel to help control and regulate what passes through the main vessel, without disrupting a catalyst bed or other system or device that operates inside the main vessel. As mentioned above, monolithic materials contain tiny but essentially parallel flow channels, to promote intimate contact between a liquid or gas and the solid surfaces of the material, without creating extremely high pressure drops. A third class of candidate reactor devices that merit attention can be referred to as emulsion reactors, or high-shear reactors. “Emulsion” refers to a liquefied mixture that contains two distinguishable substances (or “phases”) that will not mix and dissolve together readily. Most emulsions have a “continuous” phase (or matrix), which holds discontinuous droplets, bubbles, or particles of the other phase or substance. Emulsions can be highly viscous, such as slurries or pastes, and they can be foams, with tiny gas bubbles suspended in a liquid. Emulsions are widely used in foods (such as salad dressings), cosmetics (including many lotions, creams, and ointments), paints, and other products, and high-shear emulsifiers are available from companies such as IKA, which has a website (www.ikausa.com) that illustrates the internal mechanisms of various emulsifiers. One of the challenges of methane-to-MSA conversion is the mass transfer “bottleneck” that will occur when large quantities of methane gas must be dissolved in a liquid (mainly SO3 and MSA). This challenge can be met by devices that create foam-type emulsions, as disclosed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,824 (Nagano et al 1994) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,392 (Holl and McGrevy 2002). Those systems involve two cylinders, one positioned inside the other, with an internal spinning cylinder (usually called a rotor) surrounded by a non-rotating cylinder (usually called a stator). A narrow controlled gap, in the shape of a cylindrical “annulus”, is provided between the rotor and stator surfaces. If a liquid-gas mixture is pumped into this reactor, at or near one of the annulus, it will quickly form a foam, due to the high-shear mixing caused by the rapidly moving rotor surface a short distance away from the stator surface. The foaming action will create millions of tiny gas bubbles, surrounded by the viscous liquid. This creates a large gas-liquid interface area, and the large interface, combined with the shearing actions inside the foam, will cause a gas and liquid to react rapidly, as they travel through the cylinder before exiting the other end. As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,392 (Holl and McGrevy 2002), if the cylinders are polished and smooth, and if the width of the gap between the cylinders, and the speed of rotation of the rotor, are properly controlled, a reactor can inhibit a certain type of liquid turbulence known as “Taylor vortices”. Alternately, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,891 (Imamura et al 1994), other designs can deliberately create turbulence that can promote greater mixing among some types of ingredients. These types of emulsion reactors can be modified in ways that may increase methane-to-MSA reactions. For example, the width of the annular gap can be varied in different parts of a reactor, to provide varying levels of shearing force, and a series of gas or liquid input ports can be provided, to create sequential reaction zones. Because of how certain dimensions and operating parameters function and interact in each of the above-listed types of reactors, it is likely that a (1) a reasonably small reactor will provide the most efficient, lowest-cost-per-ton output of MSA, and (2) the preferred way to “scale up” these types of reactors, to allow them to handle large production rates at large oil fields, will be to assemble a bank or array of numerous relatively small reactors, operating in parallel flow with each other. Each reactor in an array can operate with optimal diameters, speeds, and other parameters. Piping manifolds and metered pumps can subdivide the gas and liquid reagents into as many flow streams as desired, with each portion passing through a single relatively small reactor. The MSA (possibly including other species) generated within the main reactor vessel 200 can be collected by any suitable means, such as condensate traps. If MSA is to be “cracked” to release methanol and SO2, it will be sent to a heating vessel 300, which may contain a catalyst. If methanol is created, it generally will be pumped into a collection or holding tank 500, for subsequent pumping into a pipeline, tanker truck or ship, nearby factory, etc. Depending on various factors (including the purity of the methane stream being processed, as well as reaction parameters inside vessels 200 and 300), other organic compounds (such as lower alkanes or derivatives, olefins or other unsaturated compounds, and aromatic compounds) may be entrained in the methanol stream. If desired, these can be separated out by, for example, a reactor bed 510 that contains a “Zeolite” (aluminosilicate) or other porous catalyst or molecular sieve material, such as “ZSM-5”, sold by the ExxonMobil Corporation. The separated outputs can be sent to collection tanks 512. Gaseous SO2 also will emerge from vessel 300. It can be passed through reactor 400, which will receive oxygen from supply vessel 410 (which can use a pressure swing absorber, for concentrating oxygen from the air) to oxidize the SO2 to SO3. Reactor 400 can contain a catalyst to promote SO3 formation. As noted above, vanadium pentaoxide is widely used commercially for this purpose, but other catalysts and reactor designs have been identified and are being evaluated, and may be preferable to V2O5. The SO3 will be returned to reactor 200. Devices, methods, and reagents to facilitate the regeneration and handling of SO3 are known, including (for example): (i) using derivatives of boron, phosphorous, or sulfur to stabilize SO3 in liquid form, as described in sources such as Gilbert 1965; and, (ii) using solid supports (such as small particles in a fluidized or constrained “bed”, column, or other device), to create relatively thin layers of liquid SO3 that will coat the surfaces of the particles. Any such device, method, or reagent can be evaluated to determine its suitability for use as disclosed herein. Hydrocarbon Liquids and Olefins Pathways are also disclosed herein for converting methane into hydrocarbons that are liquids at normal temperatures and pressures (or at relatively low pressures that can be sustained inexpensively). The discussion below focuses on gasoline, as an exemplary mixture. This is not limiting, and people skilled in hydrocarbon formulations will recognize how these teachings can be adapted to other liquids such as kerosene, naphthas, aviation fuels, diesel fuel, and fuel oils. The term “hydrocarbon” must be addressed, since it can be used in different and potentially conflicting ways. To some chemists and chemical engineers, a “hydrocarbon” contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms, and no other atoms such as oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, etc. (often called “hetero” atoms). To other chemists and engineers, “hydrocarbon” is more flexible, and may include some quantity of other atoms, provided that such quantities are sufficiently low that they will not seriously alter the nature or behavior of a compound or mixture. As examples, methyl or ethyl alcohol, as pure liquids, would not be regarded as “hydrocarbons” by most chemists or engineers, since the presence of an oxygen atom in those light alcohols greatly alters their properties, compared to methane or ethane, and will turn a gas into a liquid. However, if a gasoline mixture contains 10% ethanol, it will still be regarded as gasoline, and it will still be regarded as a hydrocarbon liquid by most chemists and engineers, despite the presence of a relatively small quantity of oxygen in the mixture. Similarly, if a single oxygen atom is added to a fairly long hydrocarbon molecule that is already a liquid, the resulting molecule might still be regarded as a hydrocarbon, by at least some chemists and chemical engineers. “Hydrocarbon” is used herein in a flexible rather than rigid manner, to include molecules and mixtures that are predominantly hydrocarbons, but which in some cases may contain relatively small quantities of oxygen or other “hetero” atoms. Although the main value of this aspect of the technology is its ability to create true hydrocarbons (with no hetero atoms) in liquid form such as gasoline, at lower costs than prior known processes that start with methane, the methods, reagents, and catalysts disclosed herein can be modified and adapted, in ways that will be recognized by those skilled in the art, to create hydrocarbon derivatives with oxygen (such as alcohols, ethers, etc.) or other heteroatoms. The pathways herein are believed to be best suited for making relatively light and non-viscous liquids, generally having about 3 to about 8 to 10 carbon atoms. However, these methods can be adapted for making heavier molecules if desired, for fuels and/or chemical feedstocks. It should be noted that propane and butane (with 3 and 4 carbon atoms, respectively) are liquids only under pressure; however, the pressures required are not very high, and usually range up to about 10 times atmospheric pressure, which can be sustained in relatively inexpensive tanks. Therefore, propane, butane, and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, a mixture of mainly propane and butane) are important liquid fuels that can be made by the methods disclosed herein, and any references herein to liquids may include propane and/or butane. It should also be noted that methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl alcohol are liquids that can be transported conveniently. Indeed, propyl alcohol should be regarded as a preferred fuel, for a number of reasons described below. Processes used before the 1970's to make gasoline, diesel fuel, and other liquids from methane are described in papers posted on a website run by chemists involved in Fischer-Tropsch technology (www.fischer-tropsch.org). The Bergius process (which is no longer used commercially) used finely-divided coal, which was mixed with recycled oil and an iron catalyst, hydrogenated at high temperature and pressure to create a synthetic crude oil, which was then distilled into gasoline or aviation fuel. Fischer-Tropsch processing initially converts methane into a “synthetic gas” or “syngas” mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which is then converted, using catalysts, into heavy oils and paraffins, which are then cracked to produce lighter liguid fractions. In addition, John Snyder and Aristid Grosse developed some relevant processes in the 1940's, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,983 (“Methanol Production”), U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,038 (“Reaction of Methane with Sulfur Trioxide”), U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,576 (“Production of Organic Compounds from Methane Sulfonic Acid”), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,984 (“Organic Reactions”, focused largely on forming liquid hydrocarbons from methanol). The Snyder and Grosse patents are more closely relevant to this invention than Bergius or Fischer-Tropsch processes; however, their work never created good yields of the desired products, and it was not commercialized. Methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) processing changed greatly in the 1970's, when Clarence Chang and his coworkers at Mobil Oil Corporation (now Exxon-Mobil) were testing various types of Zeolite materials being developed by Mobil researchers. “Zeolite” refers to porous materials that contain silicon, aluminum, and oxygen, in crystalline lattices. The lattices have cages (cavities) connected by smaller tunnels (channels), in repeating geometric formations, and the lattice can be embedded or “doped” with catalytic atoms, ions, or molecules. Because of their structures and embedded catalysts, Zeolites and other porous catalysts can cause organic molecules to react in controllable ways. Chang and his coworkers discovered that if methanol is passed through certain types of Zeolite, methylene groups (—CH2—) from the methanol will begin forming chains, creating hydrocarbon liquids that can be used as gasoline. Early patents include U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,544 (Chang et al 1975), U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,761 (Chang et al 1978) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,442 (Chang et al 1979). Reviews include a book by Chang, Hydrocarbons From Methanol (Dekker, 1983), a chapter by Chang in Methanol Production and Use (W. Cheng & H. H. Kung, editors, Dekker, 1994), and Stocker 1999. Stocker 1999 provides a detailed summary, with citations to 350 articles published by other authors. It is immediately followed, in the same journal, by Keil 1999, which reviews both the historical development of MTG processing, and a number of commercial MTG installations around the world. Related efforts also led to “methanol-to-olefin” (MTO) processing, using Zeolites that also contain phosphorus (often called “SAPO” materials, since they contain silicon, aluminum, phosphorus, and oxygen) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,041 (Kaeding et al 1975). Reviews of MTO processing include Liu et al 1999, Sassi et al 2002, and Dubois et al 2003. Zeolite or SAPO processing of methanol (which can be made from methane, via MSA) into gasoline or olefins is of interest herein, and is illustrated by the flow chart in FIG. 4. By combining (1) the radical-initiated MSA pathway for creating methanol, with (2) MTG or MTO processing of methanol on porous catalysts such as Zeolite or SAPO, this invention is believed to offer better methods for creating gasoline or olefins, from methane gas, than were ever known previously. However, this invention is also believed to offer even better pathways for making gasoline or olefins from methane, by directly treating MSA on Zeolite, SAPO, or similar porous catalysts, to convert the MSA directly into liquid fuels or olefins, without using methanol as an intermediate. These pathways, for MSA-to-gasoline or MSA-to-olefin processing, are shown in the flowchart in FIG. 5. Based on computer modeling and known facts concerning electron shells and bondings of sulfur, oxygen, and carbon, it is believed that the carbon-sulfur bond in MSA can be broken more easily than the carbon-oxygen bond in methanol. Therefore, it is anticipated that porous catalysts can be identified that will provide good yields, allowing hydrocarbon fuels or olefins to be formed by passing MSA across Zeolite, SAPO, or similar catalysts that have been screened and selected for efficiency in direct processing of MSA. The design and selection of specific Zeolite or SAPO formulations optimized for MSA processing can be done by experts who specialize in such materials. Such experts can be readily identified and located, through: (1) organizations such as The International Zeolite Association (www.iza-online.org); (2) vendor companies that sell Zeolite or SAPO materials, and that have technical specialists on their staffs or as consultants; and, (3) technical journals that publish articles in this field, such as Microporous and Mesoporous Materials. Machines also have been created for rapid and automated screening of candidate porous catalysts, described in articles such as Muller et al 2003. Such devices use, for example, reactors with multiple tubes or wells, with each tube or well holding a different candidate catalyst. When a certain reagent or mixture of reagents is passed through the tubes or loaded into the wells, the product generated in each individual tube or well is collected, and delivered to an automated device such as a spectrometer or chromatograph. The tubes or wells that provide the best yields of the desired compound can be identified, and the exact content of the catalysts in the best-performing tubes or wells can be identified, studied, and used as a “baseline” or “centerpoint” in subsequent tests that use variants of the best-performing catalysts from earlier tests. Those variants can have known and controlled compositions, or “combinatorial chemistry” methods and reagents can be used to generate random or semi-random variants. Accordingly, automated systems can rapidly identify porous catalyst formulations that can promote desired reactions using known starting materials. Any type of porous catalyst can be evaluated for potential use as disclosed herein. Such materials include, for example: (1) “monolith” materials, which contain tiny flow channels that are generally linear and parallel, passing through a silicate or other ceramic-type material; and, (2) porous materials that contain carbon atoms, such as buckyballs or nanotubes, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,339 (Talin et al 2003) and numerous other patents. Voltage-assisted reactions (as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,214,195 and 6,267,864 (Yadav et al 2001)) also can be evaluated for this type of processing. After experts who specialize in porous catalysts have seen the disclosures herein, they will be able to identify catalyst formulations that can convert MSA into liquid hydrocarbon, liquid oxygenates, and/or liquid olefins, in commercial quantities. Therefore, the disclosures herein will enable the development of better methods for converting methane gas into liquid hydrocarbons, oxygenates, and olefins than have previously been available, by passing MSA directly through or across porous catalysts, without having to go through methanol as an intermediate. Accordingly, FIG. 6 depicts a stepwise condensation of MSA using a Zeolite, SAPO, or other porous catalyst, under conditions that enable molecules of MSA to contribute methylene groups to a growing hydrocarbon chain. This drawing presumes that the conditions and chosen catalyst will initially cause an ethene molecule to form, to provide what will become a “condensation nucleus” for subsequent lengthening of the chain (alternately, the catalyst can be “seeded” with ethene, to help the chain formation get started). Because of certain electron-related factors, it is believed that subsequently additional MSA molecules will most likely insert their methylene groups into the electron-rich site provided by the double bond, in a manner that effectively (1) pushes out the #2 carbon atom in the double bond, so that it joins the growing chain, (2) replaces the old #2 carbon atom with a new #2 carbon atom, and (3) forms a new double bond, which will provide a good site of insertion for the next MSA molecule to insert another methylene group, thereby leading to mixtures that will contain enriched quantities of alpha olefins. The stepwise condensation of longer hydrocarbon chains into liquids can be terminated as soon as the chains reach a desired length. (which will depend on economic and market factors at any particular site). This offers a major advantage over Fischer-Tropsch processing, which “overshoots” the gasoline range and creates thick and heavy oils and paraffins, which then must be distilled and/or cracked (at additional cost) to reduce them to desired lengths. Other Classes of Chemicals The methods disclosed herein for processing methane into other compounds can be expanded, adapted, and otherwise developed into methods for manufacturing other organic compounds, using the pathways described below and illustrated in the named figures, or using alternate pathways that will be apparent to those skilled in the art after they have seen the disclosures herein. The following subsections offer a number of examples. Alkylamines The synthesis of three progressively larger methylamines (mono-methylamine, di-methylamine, and tri-methylamine) is illustrated in FIG. 7. All of these share a straightforward reaction pathway, indicated in simple form near the top of FIG. 7, showing the synthesis of mono-methyl-amine (usually referred to simply as methylamine). MSA, synthesized as described above and illustrated in FIG. 2, is reacted with ammonia (either in its NH3 form, or in its ionic form, NH4+) at temperature and pressure combinations such as described in articles such as Mochida et al 1983 and Sagawa et al 1991. Methyl groups from MSA can displace one or more of the hydrogen atoms in ammonia. If one methyl group displaces a single hydrogen atom on ammonia, the product will be (mono-)methylamine; if two methyl groups from MSA displace two hydrogen atoms on ammonia, di-methylamine will be formed, etc. When MSA donates its methyl group to ammonia, the “leaving group” will be SO3H, in radical or ionic form (for convenience, any group with at least one sulfur atom and at least one oxygen atom is referred to as a sulfate group, regardless of what its oxidation state may be; this includes sulfite groups, and it applies regardless of whether a sulfate group is in a radical, ionic, pendant moiety, or other form). The sulfate radical or ion that leaves MSA will establish an acidic equilibrium with hydrogen ions in solution (including hydrogen atoms that have been displaced from the ammonia, as well as hydrogen atoms that have spontaneously dissociated from molecules of MSA. This generates sulfurous acid, H2SO3, which can be removed from the reactor by condensation or adsorption. As shown near the bottom of FIG. 7, sulfurous acid can be thermally cracked at high temperature (“thermolysis”), to release SO2 and water. The SO2 can be oxidized to SO3 and recycled back into the reactor that is converting methane into MSA, to prevent or minimize waste. If a limited quantity of MSA is added to a surplus of ammonia, the predominant product will be mono-methylamine. This product can be separated from ammonia by distillation, allowing unreacted ammonia to be recycled through the reactor. If a mixture of mono-methylamine, di-methylamine, and tri-methylamine is created, they can be separated from each other by distillation or other processing. Accordingly, any ratio of MSA to ammonia can be tested, and used if found to be economically preferable for a particular operation. Various stoichiometric ratios of MSA to ammonia can be tested to determine which will provide the preferred yields at any particular location, which will depend on economic and market factors. Aromatic Compounds Various aromatic compounds can be methylated; using MSA as a methyl donor. One example, shown in FIG. 8, converts toluene (with a single methyl group attached to a benzene ring) into para-xylene (two methyl groups attached to opposite ends of a benzene ring). If desired, para-xylene can be oxidized into a compound called terephthalic acid (TPA), which has two carboxylic acid groups at opposite ends of the benzene ring. TPA is useful as a monomer in the plastics industry. As also shown in FIG. 8, if a second MSA treatment step is used, TPA can be converted into dimethyl-terephthalate (DMT), another valuable monomer used in the plastics industry. Unsaturated Compounds In addition to being able to create olefins, MSA also can be used to add methyl or methylene groups to various unsaturated compounds. For example, MSA can convert methacrylic acid into methyl-methacrylate, a compound used to make plastics and polymers. A methyl group from MSA will displace the hydrogen on the hydroxy group of methacrylic acid, creating a pendant methyl group that is attached to a carbon atom through an ester linkage, which is useful in various reactions and products. This type of methylation is described in reports such as Porcelli et al 1986. Chemists will recognize other pathways that can use MSA at one or more steps of a reaction pathway, to create other valuable compounds. Dimethyl Ether Dimethyl ether (DME, H3COCH3) has two methyl groups, with an oxygen atom between them. It can be prepared from MSA in any of several ways. If MSA is cracked to release methanol, the methanol can be converted to DME by a dehydrating agent such as zinc chloride (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,984, Grosse & Snyder 1950), or by passing the methanol through a suitable Zeolite (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,134, Mattox 1962). Alternately, MSA may be converted into DME by direct processing, to avoid a methanol intermediate. This assertion is supported by comments in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,109 (Olah 1983), Olah 1987, and Zhou et al 2003, which describe products formed by substituted alkanes passed through Zeolites containing certain metal oxides. It is believed that MSA can be induced to behave in ways comparable to other substituted methyl compounds having electronegative atoms bonded to carbon, which have shown repeatedly that they can be split apart by Zeolites. Formation of DME may require addition of oxygen to a Zeolite. If necessary, it can be accomplished by pumping ozone, oxygen gas, air, nitrous or nitric or other inorganic oxides, or other oxygen donor compounds into the porous lattice. Formaldehyde Various pathways can be used to convert MSA or methanol into formaldehyde. For example, methanol formed from MSA can be converted by iron-molybdenum, silver, vanadium, or other catalysts described in Lefferts et al 1986, Hara et al 1996, and Tatibouet 1966 and 1996. Alternately, if MSA is converted into DME, the DME can be converted into formaldehyde using bismuth, molybdenum, or iron catalysts, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,439,624 and 4,442,307 (Lewis et al 1984) or Liu and Iglesia 2002. EXAMPLES Example 1 Equipment and Reagents The initial confirmatory tests, described in Examples 1-6, were done in the laboratories of Prof. Ayusman Sen, in the Chemistry Department at Pennsylvania State University. Experiments were carried out under inert gas (nitrogen, N2) in a glovebox or glovebag. Except as noted below, the reactions were carried out in a sealed vessel designed to withstand high pressures (commonly referred to in chemistry labs as “bombs”), containing a glass liner (this liner, which can be easily removed for cleaning and sterilization, will not break when high pressures are reached inside the bomb, because pressures are equal on both sides of the walls of a liner). The bomb used has {fraction (3/8)} inch stainless steel walls, and an internal chamber 1.5 inches in diameter and 4.5 inches high. The glass liner had an internal diameter of 1.24 inches, a height of 4 inches, and a wall thickness of {fraction (1/16)} inch. A 1-inch stirring bar was used in some tests. In a number of experiments, a vial was placed inside the liner, to prevent any direct mixing of a first liquid in the bottom of the liner, and a second liquid in the vial. The vial had a 1-inch outside diameter, a wall thickness of {fraction (1/16)} inch, and a height of 2.25 inches. The diameter of the vial opening (with threads to accommodate a screw cap) was {fraction (5/8)} inch. A {fraction (1/2)} inch stirring bar was used in some tests. Example 2 Preparation of Marshall's Acid To prepare Marshall's acid, gaseous SO3 in N2 was loaded into a vessel containing 70% H2O2 in water, at 13 to 15° C. The reaction continued with stirring until essentially all liquid reagents had been consumed, confirmed by presence of a consistent viscous solution with solid crystals and no inhomogeneous liquids. In Run #1, 6.9 g (86.3 mmol) of SO3 was absorbed in 1.1 g of 70% H2O2 (22.7 mmol) in water (17.7 mmol), for 5.5 hours. After accounting for the diversion of some SO3 into H2SO4, the molar ratio of SO3 to H2O2 was 3:1. It was presumed that all H2O2 was converted to Marshall's acid (H2S2O8), and all water was converted to H2SO4. Calculations and assumptions indicated Marshall's acid at 22.7 mmol (56.2% of the total solution, by weight), and sulfuric acid at 17.7 mmol (21.3%), with unreacted SO3 present at 23.2 mmol (22.5%). In Run 2, 5.2 g (65 mmol) of SO3 was absorbed in 1.2 g of 70% H2O2 (25 mmol) in water (19.4 mmol), for 5.5 hours. Calculations and assumptions as described above indicated Marshall's acid at 20.6 mmol (62.5%), sulfuric acid at 19.4 mmol (29.7%), and Caro's acid at 4.4 mmol (7.8%). In Run 3, 8.3 g (103.8 mmol) of SO3 was absorbed in 1.8 g of 70% H2O2 (37.0 mmol) in water (30.0 mmol), for 7 hours. Calculations and assumptions indicated Marshall's acid at 37.0 mmol (71.3%), and sulfuric acid at 30 mmol (28.7%). In Run 4, 8.3 g (103.8 mmol) of SO3 was absorbed in 2.1 g of 70% H2O2 (43.2 mmol) in water (35.0 mmol), for 7 hours. Calculations and assumptions indicated Marshall's acid at 25.6 mmol (47.7%), sulfuric acid at 35 mmol (33%), and Caro's acid at 17.6 mmol (19.2%). Example 3 Procedures for Testing MSA Formation The tests described below used MSA/SO3 mixtures as the liquid media (gaseous SO3 can be absorbed in MSA at ratios up to about 10:1). A solution of SO3, dissolved in a known quantity of liquid MSA that acted as an amphoteric solvent, was placed in a glass vial, described above. 1 to 2 grams of Marshall's acid solution (Example 2) was placed in the same vial. The vial was placed in the larger glass liner inside the bomb, and 3 to 5 g of stabilized liquid SO3 was loaded into the liner. This approach (dividing the SO3 into two separate zones) was taken to prevent the Marshall's acid from being overloaded with SO3, since high concentrations of SO3 can degrade Marshall's acid, releasing oxygen and destroying its peroxide bond. The bomb was sealed and pressurized with 800-1400 psi of methane. It was heated to 48-52° C., and pressure was monitored. Heating was continued until the pressure dropped to an asymptotic level. The bomb was allowed to cool gradually to room temperature, pressure was released slowly, the bomb was opened, and the solution in the vial was diluted with 5-10 mL of water. The liquid was then analyzed, via 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In most cases, MSA was the only product found in the liquid phase, as indicated by NMR. It was quantified, using integration of peak intensity compared to a dimethyl sulfoxide standard in a capillary tube, to confirm that additional MSA had indeed been formed, in addition to the solvent MSA in the liquid that was initially loaded into the vial. The gas mixture in the cooled bomb was analyzed by gas chromatography. No CO2 was detected in any runs. Example 4 First Run: Methane Yield 40.4%, SO3 Yield 96.0% In the first reaction test, 1.0 gram of Marshall's acid preparation (Marshall's acid 56.2%, sulfuric acid 21.3%, SO3 22.5%) was added to 50 mmol of MSA and 63 mmol of SO32.8 g (35 mmol) of stabilized liquid SO3 was added to the liner, outside the vial. The bomb was pressurized to 800 psi with methane, and heated at 48-52° C. 70 psi of pressure drop was observed within 2 hours, and the vessel was recharged with 50 additional psi of methane. The total pressure drop was 120 psi over the next 2 hours (i.e., after 4 hours total), and the vessel was recharged with an additional 50 psi of methane. Total pressure drop was 250 psi over 14 hours. Total methane injected into the bomb was measured and calculated at 240 mmol, and total SO3 in the liquid media (i.e., dissolved in MSA and placed inside the vial) was 101 mmol. Yield of newly-formed MSA was measured and calculated as 97 mmol (147 mmol total, minus 50 mmol already present in the MSA/SO3 liquid media). This indicated a methane conversion yield of 40.4%, and an SO3 conversion yield of 96.0%. Example 5 Subsequent Runs: Methane Yields 33 TO 43%, SO3 Yields 92 TO 99% In runs 2, 3, and 4, carried out in essentially the same manner as run 1 with slightly varying quantities of Marshall's acid solution from the preparations described above and varying quantities (pressures) of methane and SO3, methane conversion yields were determined to be 40.6%, 43.3%, and 33.6%, and SO3 conversion yields were determined to be 99.1%, 92.6%, and 92.6%, respectively. Examination and comparison of the data indicated that concentration of methane in the bomb was the rate determining factor, since increasing methane pressure increased the rate of the reaction. It also appeared that the key step for increasing the rate of the reaction would involve increasing the solubility of CH4 in a liquid phase. In addition, various calculations (including a calculated rate constant of 3.0×10−5 per second, for homolysis of Marshall's acid in SO3 at 50° C.) indicated that the rate of conversion of methane to MSA was about 20 times faster than the rate of homolysis of Marshall's acid. This helped explain why the pressure continued to drop over spans of 10 hours (in the laboratory test conditions that were used), and why conversion of SO3 was very high, up to 99%. The data indicated that if the process is scaled up to industrial levels, with continuous-flow reactors designed for high throughputs rather than small-volume batch reactors, efficient reaction levels could be achieved in minutes or even seconds, rather than over a span of hours. Example 6 No Conversion by Potassium Salt of Marshall's Acid As a comparative experiment, 270 mg of the potassium salt of Marshall's acid (K2S2O8; 1.0 mmol) was loaded into the vial, and 13.5 g of stabilized SO3 was loaded into the liner, using procedures identical to the testing of the free acid form of Marshall's acid, as disclosed above. The bomb was pressurized with 800 psi of methane, and heated at 48-52° C. for 20 hours. However, no pressure drop was observed. The temperature was increased to 75-80° C. for an additional 16 hours, but still no pressure drop was observed. The absence of any pressure drop indicates that the potassium salt of Marshall's acid failed to initiate any reaction between the methane, and the SO3. Example 7 Subsequent Tests in Larger Batch Reactor After the initial confirmatory tests described above had been completed at Penn State University, subsequent tests were carried out at SLI Technologies, Inc., in Milton, Fla., using comparable but larger equipment. The product was analyzed by an outside laboratory, and the organic phase was found to consist of at least 99.5% pure MSA. Thus, there has been shown and described new and improved methods, devices, reagents, and catalysts means for creating methanol and other derivatives, intermediates, and products from methane gas. Although this invention has been exemplified for purposes of illustration and description by reference to certain specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, alterations, and equivalents of the illustrated examples are possible. Any such changes which derive directly from the teachings herein, and which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention, are deemed to be covered by this invention. REFERENCES Basickes, N., et al, J Am Chem Soc 118: 13111 (1996) Blavins, J. J., et al, J Org Chem 66: 4285 (2001) Broekhuis, R. R., et al, Catalysts Today 69: 887 (2001) Chuang, T. J., et al, J Electron Spectroscopy & Related Phenomena 98-99: 149 (1999) Danon, A., et al, Rev Sci Instrum 58: 1724 (1987) Dubois, D. R., et al, Fuel Proc. Technology 83: 203 (2003) Dunn, J. P., et al, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 19: 103 (1998) Gesser, H. D., et al, Chem Rev 85: 235 (1985) Giakoumelou, I., et al, Catalysis Letters 78: 209 (2002) Gilbert, G. E., Sulfonation and Related Reactions (Interscience Publishers, 1965) Gilson, T. R., J Solid State Chemistry 117: 136 (1995) Hayes, R. E., et al, Introduction to Catalytic Combustion (Gordon & Breach Science Publ., Amsterdam, 1997) Keil, F. J., Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 29: 49 (1999) Lefferts, L., et al, Applied Catalysis 23: 385 (1986) Li, P., et al, Surface Science 380: 530 (1997) Li, A-H,. et al, Chem Rev 97: 2341 (1997) Lie, L. H., et al, J Phys Chem B 106: 113 (2002) Liu, W., AlChE Journal 48: 1519 (2002) Liu, W., et al, Ind Eng Chem Res 41: (2002) Liu, Z. and Liang, J., Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science 4: 80 (1999) Liu, H., et al, J Catalysis 208: 1 (2002) Lobree, L. J., et al, Ind Eng Chem Res 40: 736 (2001) Mukhopadhyay, S., et al, Angew Chem Int Ed 42: 2990 (2003) Mukhopadhyay, S., et al, Amer Chem Soc 2002: A-E (2002) Muller, A., et al, Catalysis Today 81: 337 (2003) Olah, G. A., Acc Chem Res 20: 422 (1987) Peng, X-D., et al, Rev Sci Instrum 63: 3930 (1992) Periana, R. A., et al, Science 259: 340 (1993) Periana, R. A., et al, Chem Commun 2002: 2376 (2002) Periana, R. A., et al, Science 280: 560 (1998) Porcelli, R. V., et al, Hydrocarbon Proc., March 1986: 37 (1986) Raja, L. L., et al, Catalysis Today 59: 47 (2000) Romm, L., et al, J Phys Chem A 105: 7025 (2001) Sagawa, K., et al, J Catalysis 131: 482 (1991) Sassi, A., J Phys Chem B 106: 8768 (2002) St{overscore (o)}cker, M., Microporous Mesoporous Materials 29: 3 (1999) Tatibouet, J. M., et al, J Catalysis 161: 873 (1966) Tatibouet, J. M., et al, Applied Catalysis 148: 213 (1996) te Velde, G., et al, J Comput Chem 22: 931 (2001) Won, T-J., et al, Inorganic Chemistry 34: 4499 (1995) Zhai, R—S., et al, preprint downloaded from American Chemical Society website (Langmuir), Zhou, X., et al, Chem Commun: 2294 (2003) | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Because there have been no adequate chemical methods for converting methane gas into liquids that can be transported efficienty to commercial markets, very large quantities of methane gas are wasted every day, by flaring, reinjection, or other means, at fields that produce crude oil. In addition, numerous gas fields are simply shut in, at numerous locations around the world. Skilled chemists have tried for at least 100 years to develop methods for converting methane gas into various types of liquids. While various efforts in the prior art could produce relatively small quantities and low yields of methanol or other liquids, none of those efforts ever created yields that were sufficient to support commercial use at oil-producing sites. Such efforts prior to 1990 are described in reviews such as Gesser et al 1985 and Olah 1987 (full citations to all articles and books are provided below), and efforts after 1990 are described in articles such as Periana et al 1993, 1998, and 2002, Basickes et al 1996, Lobree et al 2001, and Mukhopadhyay 2002 and 2003. As a result, oil and chemical companies are investing (as of early 2004) huge amounts of money to design and build facilities that will use either “liquified natural gas” (LNG), or a processing system called “Fischer-Tropsch”. However, both of those systems are very inefficient and wasteful. LNG processing burns about 40% of a methane stream, to refrigerate the remainder to somewhere between −260 and −330° F., causing it to liquefy so it can be loaded into specialized ocean-going tankers. After a tanker reaches its destination, another large portion of the methane must be burned, to warm the methane back up to temperatures that allow it to be handled by normal pipes and pumps. Therefore, LNG wastes roughly half of a methane stream. Nevertheless, as of early 2004, oil companies had committed an estimated $30 billion to build LNG facilities. Similarly, Fischer-Tropsch processing burns about 30% of a methane stream to convert the remainder into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, called “synthetic gas” or “syngas”. The syngas is then converted (using expensive catalysts) into heavy oils and paraffins, which then must be cracked and/or distilled to convert them into gasoline and other products. The syngas conversion, the catalyst costs, and the fact that the process makes thick and heavy oils and waxes that require still more processing, all create major inefficiencies, but as of early 2004, companies have committed to building Fischer-Tropsch facilities costing tens of billions of dollars. The waste and inefficiencies of LNG and Fischer-Tropsch systems, which are receiving billions of dollars in investments, prove the assertion that any methane-to-methanol systems previously proposed, based on small-scale laboratory work, have not been regarded as commercially practical, by any major companies. In addition, it should be noted that most processing systems proposed to date generate large quantities of acidic and hazardous byproducts and toxic wastes. Even if they can be recycled, those byproducts and wastes poses major obstacles to efficient and economic use. Additional background information is provided in Patent Cooperation Treaty application number WO 2004/041399, arising from application PCT/US03/035396, filed in November 2003 by the same Applicant and Inventor herein. The contents of that published application are incorporated herein by reference. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Reagents and methods that utilize radicals (highly reactive atoms or molecules with an unpaired electron) are disclosed, for converting small hydrocarbons such as methane into oxygenated compounds, such as methanol. The reaction system uses any of several known pathways to efficiently remove a hydrogen atom (both a proton and an electron) from methane (CH 4 ), generating methyl radicals (H 3 C*). The methyl radicals combine with sulfur trioxide (SO 3 ), to form methyl-sulfonate radicals. The methyl-sulfonate radicals attack methane that is being added to the reactor, and remove hydrogen atoms. This forms stable methane-sulfonic acid (MSA, H 3 C—SO 3 H), and also creates new methyl radicals, which can sustain a chain reaction while methane and SO 3 are continuously added to the reactor vessel. This system uses anhydrous conditions to avoid the use or creation of water or other unnecessary molecules, and liquid MSA also functions as an amphoteric solvent, which increases the solubility and reaction rates of the methane and SO 3 . MSA that is removed from the reactor can be used in any of several ways. It can be sold as a valuable chemical that will not contain mercaptan or halogen impurities. Alternately, it can be heated to release methanol (which has unlimited markets as a clean fuel, gasoline additive, and chemical feedstock) and sulfur dioxide (which can be oxidized to SO 3 and recycled back into the reactor). Alternately, MSA can be converted into gasoline or other hydrocarbon liquids (using Zeolite catalysts), olefins (using SAPO catalysts), or other valuable chemicals. | 20040621 | 20071016 | 20050331 | 71856.0 | 2 | PARSA, JAFAR F | ANHYDROUS PROCESSING OF METHANE INTO METHANE-SULFONIC ACID, METHANOL, AND OTHER COMPOUNDS | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,562 | ACCEPTED | Thermostat with mechanical user interface | A thermostat having a thermostat housing and a rotatable selector disposed on the thermostat housing. The rotatable selector adapted to have a range of rotatable positions, where a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. The rotatable selector rotates about a rotation axis. A non-rotating member or element, which may at least partially overlap the rotatable selector, may be fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member(s). The one or more support member(s) may be laterally displaced relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. The non-rotatable member or element may include, for example, a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, a temperature indicator, and/or any other suitable device or component, as desired. | 1. A thermostat having a thermostat housing, comprising: a rotatable selector having a front surface and a back surface, and further having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector being rotatable about a rotation axis; and a non-rotating element at least partially overlapping the front face of the rotatable selector, the non-rotating element fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member, the one or more support member being laterally offset relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 2. A thermostat according to claim 1, wherein the rotatable selector is coupled to a mechanical to electrical translator. 3. A thermostat according to claim 2, wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is a potentiometer. 4. A thermostat according to claim 3, wherein the potentiometer is disposed along the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 5. A thermostat according to claim 3, further comprising a circuit board that is fixed relative to the thermostat housing, and wherein the potentiometer is mounted to the circuit board. 6. A thermostat according to claim 1, wherein the non-rotating element intersects the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 7. A thermostat according to claim 6, wherein the non-rotating element comprises a scale plate. 8. A thermostat according to claim 7, wherein the face plate includes a temperature scale. 9. A thermostat according to claim 8, wherein the rotatable selector includes a pointer. 10. A thermostat according to claim 9, wherein the non-rotating element comprises a temperature indicator. 11. A thermostat according to claim 10, wherein the temperature indicator includes a pointer. 12. A thermostat according to claim 11, wherein the temperature indicator includes a bi-metal thermometer. 13. A thermostat according to claim 11, wherein the non-rotating element includes a logo region with a logo provided thereon. 14. A thermostat according to claim 1, further comprising a housing ring having an aperture therein, wherein the aperture is adapted to accept the rotatable selector. 15. A thermostat according to claim 1, wherein the one or more support member extends through an opening or slot in the rotatable selector. 16. A thermostat according to claim 1, wherein the one or more support member extends through an elongated opening in the rotatable selector that extends in an arc about the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 17. A thermostat having a selected temperature set point and a temperature sensor, the temperature sensor providing a temperature indicator and the thermostat providing a control signal that is dependent at least in part on the selected temperature set point and the temperature indicator, the thermostat comprising: a thermostat housing; a rotatable selector having a front surface and a back surface, and further having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a set point is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector rotatable about a rotation axis; a potentiometer coupled to the rotatable selector and disposed along the rotation axis of the rotatable selector; and a non-rotating element at least partially overlapping the front face of the rotatable selector, the non-rotating element fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member, the one or more support member being laterally offset relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 18. A thermostat according to claim 17, wherein the one or more support member extends through an opening or slot in the rotatable selector. 19. A thermostat according to claim 17, wherein the one or more support member extends through an elongated opening in the rotatable selector that extends in an arc about the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 20. A thermostat according to claim 17 wherein the thermostat housing defines a housing cross-sectional surface area, and wherein the housing cross-sectional surface area has a housing centroid, and wherein the rotation axis of the rotatable selector is at or substantially at the housing centroid. 21. A thermostat comprising: a thermostat base; a rotatable selector having a front face being rotatable about a rotation axis relative to the thermostat base, the rotatable selector having an elongated opening or slot that extends in an arc about the rotation axis of the rotatable selector; and a non-rotating element at least partially overlapping the front face of the rotatable selector, the non-rotating element fixed relative to the thermostat base via one or more support member, wherein the one or more support member extends through the elongated opening or slot. 22. A thermostat according to claim 21 wherein as the rotatable selector is rotated about the rotation axis, the one or more support member moves along a length of the elongated opening or slot. 23. A thermostat according to claim 22, wherein the rotatable selector is coupled to a mechanical to electrical translator. 24. A thermostat according to claim 23, wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is a potentiometer. 25. A thermostat having a thermostat housing, comprising: a rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector being rotatable about a rotation axis; and a non-rotating element at least partially overlapping the rotatable selector, the non-rotating element fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member, the one or more support member being laterally displaced relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 26. A thermostat according to claim 25, wherein the rotatable selector includes a shaft or is coupled to a shaft that extends along the rotation axis. 27. A thermostat according to claim 25, wherein the rotatable selector is coupled to a mechanical to electrical translator. 28. A thermostat according to claim 27, wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is a potentiometer. 29. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the rotatable selector has a front face and a back face, and wherein the non-rotating element overlaps at least a portion of the front face of the rotatable selector. 30. A thermostat according to claim 29, wherein the non-rotating element overlaps the rotatable selector to an extent such that at least part of the non-rotating element intersects the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. 31. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the rotatable selector has a front face and a back face, and wherein the non-rotating element overlaps at least a portion of the back face of the rotatable selector. 32. A thermostat, comprising: a mechanical to electrical translator having a rotating element situated about an aperture or opening; and a rotatable selector coupled to the rotating element of the mechanical to electrical translator and having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. 33. A thermostat according to claim 32 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is a potentiometer. 34. A thermostat according to claim 32 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is an encoder. 35. A thermostat, comprising: one or more non-rotating elements; a mechanical to electrical translator having a rotating element situated about an aperture; a support member extending through the aperture of the mechanical to electrical translator to support the one or more non-rotating elements; a rotatable selector coupled to the rotating element of the mechanical to electrical translator and having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. 36. A thermostat according to claim 35 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is a potentiometer. 37. A thermostat according to claim 35 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator is an encoder. | BACKGROUND Thermostats are widely used in dwellings and other temperature-controlled spaces. In many cases, thermostats are mounted on a wall or the like to allow for the measurement and control of the temperature, humidity and/or other environmental parameter within the space. Thermostats come in a variety of shapes and with a variety of functions. Some thermostats are electromechanical in nature, and often use a bimetal coil to sense and control the temperature setting, typically by shifting the angle of a mercury bulb switch. These thermostats typically have a mechanical user interface, such as a rotating knob or the like, to enable the user to establish a temperature set point. More advanced electronic thermostats have built in electronics, often with solid state sensors, to sense and control various environmental parameters within a space. The user interface of many electronic thermostats includes software controlled buttons and/or a display. It has been found that while electronic thermostats often provide better control, thermostats with a mechanical user interface can often be more intuitive to use for some users. Many users, for example, would be comfortable with a rotating knob that is disposed on a thermostat for setting a desired set point or other parameter. However, to provide increased functionality and/or user feedback, it has been found that locating non-rotating parts such as displays, buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, temperature indicators, and/or other suitable devices or components near and/or inside the rotating knob or member can be desirable. The present invention provides methods and apparatus for locating a non-rotating part or parts near or inside of a rotating knob or member, while still allowing the rotating knob or member to set and/or control one or more parameters of the thermostat. SUMMARY The present invention relates generally to an improved thermostat that includes a rotatable user interface selector. In one illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector has a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. The rotatable selector may rotate about a rotation axis. A non-rotating member or element, which may at least partially overlap the rotatable selector, may be fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member(s). The one or more support member(s) may be laterally displaced relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. The non-rotatable member or element may include, for example, a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, a temperature indicator, and/or any other suitable device or component, as desired. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector includes a shaft, or is attached to a shaft, that extends along the rotation axis. The rotatable selector may be coupled to a mechanical to electrical translator, such as a potentiometer. The mechanical to electrical translator may translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to a corresponding electrical signal that can be used by the thermostat. In some illustrative embodiments, the rotatable selector may include an elongated opening or slot. The elongated opening or slot may, for example, extend in an arc about the rotation axis. The one or more support member(s), which fix the non-rotating member or element relative to the thermostat, may extend through the elongated opening or slot. In some embodiments, as the rotatable selector is rotated about the rotation axis, the one or more support member(s) move along a length of the elongated opening or slot. In some embodiments, the non-rotating member is adapted to overlap a front and/or back face of the rotatable selector. For example, and in one illustrative embodiment, the non-rotating member overlaps at least a portion of the front face of the rotatable selector, and in some cases, overlaps to an extent that at least a portion of the non-rotating member intersects the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an illustrative thermostat in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of an illustrative thermostat that includes a display; FIG. 3 through FIG. 8 are perspective views of various components of the illustrative thermostat of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are perspective views of various components of another illustrative thermostat mechanical interface in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 11 is a top schematic view of another illustrative embodiment of the present invention, looking down plane B-B of FIG. 12; and FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 11 taken along line A-A of FIG. 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are numbered in like fashion. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Although examples of construction, dimensions, and materials are illustrated for the various elements, those skilled in the art will recognize that many of the examples provided have suitable alternatives that may be utilized. FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an illustrative thermostat 200 in accordance with the present invention. The illustrative thermostat includes a base plate 210 which is configured to be mounted on a wall by any suitable fastening means such as, for example, screws, nails, adhesive, etc. The illustrative base plate 210 has a circular shape, however the base plate 210 can have any shape, as desired. In an illustrative embodiment, the base plate has a diameter in the range of 8 cm to 12 cm. The base plate 210 can include a printed circuit board 220. In the embodiment shown, the printed circuit board 220 is affixed to the base plate 210. One or more wires may be used to interconnect a remote HVAC system (e.g. furnace, boiler, air conditioner, humidifier, etc.) to the base plate 210 at terminal blocks 213a and 213b. In this illustrative embodiment, a variety of switches are disposed on the base plate 210 and in electrical connection with the printed circuit board 220. A fuel switch 241 is shown located near the center of the base plate 210. The fuel switch 241 can switch between E (electrical) and F (fuel). A FAN ON/AUTOMATIC switch 242 and corresponding lever 243 is shown disposed on the base plate 210. The FAN ON/AUTOMATIC switch 242 can be electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 220. A COOL/OFF/HEAT switch 244 and corresponding lever 245 is shown disposed on the base plate 210. The COOL/OFF/HEAT switch 245 can be electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 220. The printed circuit board 220 can be electrically coupled to a second printed circuit board 260 by a plurality of pins 225 that are fixed relative to the second printed circuit board 260. The plurality of pins 225 may extend through a PCB shield 247 before sliding into a connector 230 on the first printed circuit board 220. The second printed circuit board 260 can be disposed adjacent to the base plate 210. In the illustrative embodiment shown, a potentiometer 252 is disposed on (the opposite side shown) and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 260. While a potentiometer 252 is shown, it is contemplated that any mechanical to electrical translator may be used. In the illustrative embodiment, the potentiometer 252 is positioned at or near a center of the second printed circuit board 260, but this is not required. In the illustrative embodiment, the potentiometer 252 is coupled to a controller (not shown) on the second printed circuit board 260, which provides one or more control signals to a remote HVAC system. A temperature sensor, or in the illustrative embodiment, a thermistor (not shown) is disposed on and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 260. In one embodiment, the temperature sensor or thermistor can be located near an edge of the second printed circuit board 260, however it is contemplated that the thermistor can be located at any position on or near the second printed circuit board 260, or elsewhere, as desired. A light source 256 is also shown disposed on and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 260. The light source can be, for example, an LED. In the illustrative embodiment, the light source 256 is shown positioned adjacent to a light guide 257. The light guide 257 is shown extending away from the second printed circuit board 260, and may extend through an intermediate housing 270 for viewing by a user of the thermostat, if desired. The intermediate housing 270 is shown disposed over the second printed circuit board 260 and base plate 210. In the illustrative embodiment, the intermediate housing 270 includes one or more support members 275 that are laterally offset from a center 271 of the intermediate housing 270, and extending up and away from the intermediate housing 270. In one illustrative embodiment, the center 271 of the intermediate housing 270 is disposed along a rotation axis of a rotatable selector 280, but this is not required. A potentiometer shaft 272 is shown extending from the potentiometer 252 and through the intermediate housing 270. In one embodiment, the potentiometer shaft 272 may be disposed along the rotation axis of the rotatable selector 280, which may or may not correspond or be near the center or centroid of the intermediate housing 270. The rotatable selector 280 can then be disposed about and/or coupled to the potentiometer shaft 272. The illustrative rotatable selector 280 is shown having a circular shape, however, any suitable shape may be used. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector 280 can include a planar portion 289, and a sleeve 282 disposed along the inner edge of the planar portion 289, if desired. The sleeve 282 is shown extending up and away from the planar portion 289 about the rotation axis of the rotatable selector 280. The sleeve 282 can be configured to engage the potentiometer shaft 272 so that the potentiometer shaft 272 rotates as the rotatable selector 280 rotates. The sleeve 282 may provide additional support to the rotatable selector 280 near the potentiometer shaft 272. In one illustrative embodiment, the support member 275 (one or more as desired) can extend through an opening or slot in the rotatable selector 280 as shown. In some embodiments, the opening or slot may extend in an arc about the rotation axis of the rotatable selector 280. The opening or slot is shown as an elongated hole that extends through the rotatable selector 280. However, it is contemplated that the opening or slot may be defined by the shape of the rotatable selector 280. That is the opening or slot may extend all the way to an outer or inner perimeter of the rotatable selector 280, if desired. In the illustrative embodiment, an interface support 290 is fixed to the support member(s) 275. The interface support 290 can overlap the rotatable selector 280, and in some cases, may intersect the rotation axis of the rotatable selector 280. A scale plate 283 is disposed adjacent the planar portion 289 of the rotatable selector 280, and in some cases, may be fixed to the interface support 290. The scale plate 283 can include indicia such as, for example, temperature indicia for both a current temperature and a set point temperature. A current temperature indicator 284 can also be fixed to the interface support 290, and in some cases, can be formed of a bimetal coil. A set point temperature indicator 285 can be fixed to the planar portion 289 of the rotatable selector 280. Thus, in this illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector 280 and set point temperature indicator 285 may rotate relative to the interface support 290 (and thus the intermediate housing 270 and base plate 210) when the rotatable selector 280 is rotated. The current temperature indicator 284 may be fixed to the interface support 290. An outer housing 295 can be disposed about the intermediate housing 270. The illustrative embodiment shows the outer housing 295 having an annular shape, however the outer cover 295 may have any shape, as desired. In some embodiments, a display (e.g. LCD display), one or more buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, and/or other devices and/or components may be fixed to the support member(s) 275, if desired, wherein the rotatable selector 280 may rotate relative to these other devices and/or components. For example, FIG. 2 shows an illustrative thermostat that includes a display 297, which is fixed relative to the support member(s) 275, sometimes via the interface support 290, wherein rotatable selector 280 may rotate about the display 297. In some illustrative embodiments, a desired parameter value (e.g. temperature set point) is displayed on the display 297, and in some cases, the desired parameter value that is displayed on the display 297 changes as the rotatable selector 280 is rotated. In some embodiments, the current temperature and/or the temperature set point may be displayed on the display 297, as well as other information as desired. The illustrative thermostat of FIG. 2 also shows a logo region 291 and a back light button 293, both of which may also be fixed relative to the support member(s) 275, wherein rotatable selector 280 may rotate about the logo region 291 and back light button 293. FIG. 3 through FIG. 8 are perspective views of various components of the illustrative thermostat of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, the intermediate housing 270 is fixed relative to the base housing 210. As noted above, the potentiometer shaft 272 may extend from a potentiometer 252 (FIG. 1) through the intermediate housing 270, as shown. While a potentiometer is used in this illustrative embodiment, it is contemplated that any mechanical to electrical translator may be used to translate the position of the rotatable selector 280 to a corresponding electrical signal that can be used by the thermostat controller (e.g. an encoder or other sensor). The one or more support members 275 are shown extending up and away from the intermediate housing 270. The one or more support members 275 are laterally offset from the rotation axis 281 of the rotatable selector 280. In some embodiments, one or more of the support members 275 extend orthogonally away from the intermediate housing 270, but this is not required in all embodiments. FIG. 4 shows the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 3 with the rotatable selector 280 connected to the potentiometer shaft 272. In the embodiment shown, the rotatable selector 280 has a circular shape, but it is contemplated that rotatable selector 280 may have any suitable shape as desired. As noted above, the rotatable selector 280 has a rotation axis 281 that extend through the sleeve 282. In the illustrative embodiment, the sleeve 282 is coupled to the potentiometer shaft 272. In one embodiment, the potentiometer 252 (FIG. 1) is positioned below the rotatable selector 280 and along the rotation axis 281. The rotation axis 281 may be disposed along the intermediate housing 270 centroid, but this is not required. A set point temperature indicator 285 is shown fixed to the rotatable selector 280. In one embodiment, the rotatable selector 280 and set point temperature indicator 285 rotate together. A support member aperture, opening or slot 286 is shown extending through the rotatable selector 280. In the illustrative embodiment, the support member aperture 286 extends in an arc about 180 degrees around the rotation axis 281 of the rotatable selector 280, and is laterally offset from the rotation axis 281. The support member aperture, opening or slot 286 can extend any number of degrees about the rotation axis 281, and can be continuous or discontinuous, as desired. In one illustrative embodiment, the support member aperture, opening or slot 286 defines a range of rotatable positions for the rotatable selector 280. The support member 275 may move along the length of the support member aperture, opening, or slot 286, as the rotatable selector 280 is rotated through the range of rotatable positions. In the illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector 280 may have a planar portion 289 having a front surface 288 and an opposing back surface 287. Non-rotating elements can at least partially overlap the front or back surface 288 of the rotatable selector 280. FIG. 5 shows a scale plate 283 disposed on or adjacent to the rotatable selector 280. The scale plate 283 can be fixed to the support member 275 and/or interface support 290 shown in FIG. 6, and thus may not rotate with the rotatable selector 280. Referring to FIG. 6, the interface support 290 may be fixed to the support member 275. In some embodiments, the interface support 290 extends orthogonally from the support member 275, and in some cases, may overlap and intersect the rotation axis 281 of the rotatable selector 280. In one illustrative embodiment, the scale plate 283 is fixed to the interface support 290. FIG. 7 shows a current temperature indicator 284 fixed to the interface support 290. In the illustrative embodiment shown, the current temperature indicator 284 is formed of a bimetal coil, but this is not required. For example, and as shown in FIG. 2, the temperature indicator can be displayed on a display 297. A monogram support 287 can fix the current temperature indicator 284 to the interface support 290. FIG. 8 shows a monogram logo element 296 disposed over the current temperature indicator 284 and can be fixed to the scale plate 283, monogram support 287, interface support 290, and/or support member 275, as desired. Thus, in at least one illustrative embodiment, the monogram logo element 296, current temperature indicator 284, scale plate 283, monogram support 287, interface support 290, and support member 275 do not rotate with the rotatable selector 280, while the set point temperature indicator 285 does rotate with the rotatable selector 280. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are perspective views of various components of another illustrative thermostat mechanical interface in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a scale plate 383 disposed on or adjacent to the intermediate housing 370. A potentiometer shaft 372, or any other suitable mechanical to electrical translator, can be disposed along a rotation axis of the rotatable selector 380 (FIG. 10). The scale plate 383 is shown spaced from the rotation axis of the rotatable selector 380. A current temperature indicator 384 can also be provided, and may also be spaced from the rotation axis 381 of the rotatable selector 380. FIG. 10 shows a rotatable selector 380 coupled to the potentiometer shaft 372 along the rotation axis 381 of the rotatable selector 380. Like above, and in the illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector 380 can include a planar portion 389 disposed above and adjacent to the scale plate 383. The planar portion 389 can, for example, be formed of a transparent material that allows a user to view the scale plate 383 through the rotatable selector 380. In another embodiment, the planar portion 389 can have an opening (not shown) that allows a user to view the scale plate 383 through the rotatable selector 380. FIG. 11 is a top schematic view of another illustrative embodiment of the present invention, looking down plane B-B of FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 11 taken along line A-A of FIG. 11. FIGS. 11-12 show a printed circuit board 400 with an aperture 402 formed therethrough. Extending through the aperture 402 is a support member 404. The support member 404 may extend up from a housing 406, through the aperture 402 in the printed circuit board 400, and may support one or more non-rotating elements 408. The one or more non-rotating elements generally shown at 408 may include, for example, a scale plate, a temperature indicator (e.g. bi-metal coil), a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, and/or any other suitable device or component, as desired. In the illustrative embodiment, a potentiometer, encoder or other suitable device 410 that includes an aperture extending therethrough can be fixed relative to the printed circuit board 400, as shown. The aperture in the potentiometer, encoder or other suitable device 410 can be aligned with the aperture 402 in the printed circuit board 400. The potentiometer, encoder or other suitable device 410 may include a rotatable element 412, which may be coupled to a rotatable member 414. The rotatable member 414 may extend around and rotate about the support member 404. In some cases, the potentiometer, encoder or other suitable device 410 may include a non-rotatable element 416 adjacent the rotatable element 412 to provide additional support to the rotatable element 412. Illustrative potentiometers and encoders include, for example, center space rotary potentiometers having model numbers EWVYE, EWVYF, EWVYG, and center space rotary encoders having model number EVQWF, all commercially available from Panasonic Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, Secaucus, N.J. During use, the rotatable member 414 may be rotated by a user about the support member 404. The support member 404 may support one or more non-rotating elements 408. The potentiometer, encoder or other suitable device 410 may translate the mechanical position of the rotatable member to a corresponding electrical signal, which can then be provided to a controller on the printed circuit board 400, if desired. Having thus described the several embodiments of the present invention, those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that other embodiments may be made and used which fall within the scope of the claims attached hereto. Numerous advantages of the invention covered by this document have been set forth in the foregoing description. It will be understood that this disclosure is, in many respects, only illustrative. Changes may be made in details, particularly in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts without exceeding the scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Thermostats are widely used in dwellings and other temperature-controlled spaces. In many cases, thermostats are mounted on a wall or the like to allow for the measurement and control of the temperature, humidity and/or other environmental parameter within the space. Thermostats come in a variety of shapes and with a variety of functions. Some thermostats are electromechanical in nature, and often use a bimetal coil to sense and control the temperature setting, typically by shifting the angle of a mercury bulb switch. These thermostats typically have a mechanical user interface, such as a rotating knob or the like, to enable the user to establish a temperature set point. More advanced electronic thermostats have built in electronics, often with solid state sensors, to sense and control various environmental parameters within a space. The user interface of many electronic thermostats includes software controlled buttons and/or a display. It has been found that while electronic thermostats often provide better control, thermostats with a mechanical user interface can often be more intuitive to use for some users. Many users, for example, would be comfortable with a rotating knob that is disposed on a thermostat for setting a desired set point or other parameter. However, to provide increased functionality and/or user feedback, it has been found that locating non-rotating parts such as displays, buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, temperature indicators, and/or other suitable devices or components near and/or inside the rotating knob or member can be desirable. The present invention provides methods and apparatus for locating a non-rotating part or parts near or inside of a rotating knob or member, while still allowing the rotating knob or member to set and/or control one or more parameters of the thermostat. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The present invention relates generally to an improved thermostat that includes a rotatable user interface selector. In one illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector has a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. The rotatable selector may rotate about a rotation axis. A non-rotating member or element, which may at least partially overlap the rotatable selector, may be fixed relative to the thermostat housing via one or more support member(s). The one or more support member(s) may be laterally displaced relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. The non-rotatable member or element may include, for example, a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, a temperature indicator, and/or any other suitable device or component, as desired. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector includes a shaft, or is attached to a shaft, that extends along the rotation axis. The rotatable selector may be coupled to a mechanical to electrical translator, such as a potentiometer. The mechanical to electrical translator may translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to a corresponding electrical signal that can be used by the thermostat. In some illustrative embodiments, the rotatable selector may include an elongated opening or slot. The elongated opening or slot may, for example, extend in an arc about the rotation axis. The one or more support member(s), which fix the non-rotating member or element relative to the thermostat, may extend through the elongated opening or slot. In some embodiments, as the rotatable selector is rotated about the rotation axis, the one or more support member(s) move along a length of the elongated opening or slot. In some embodiments, the non-rotating member is adapted to overlap a front and/or back face of the rotatable selector. For example, and in one illustrative embodiment, the non-rotating member overlaps at least a portion of the front face of the rotatable selector, and in some cases, overlaps to an extent that at least a portion of the non-rotating member intersects the rotation axis of the rotatable selector. | 20040622 | 20070109 | 20051222 | 98236.0 | 1 | NORMAN, MARC E | THERMOSTAT WITH MECHANICAL USER INTERFACE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,583 | ACCEPTED | Lyase treatment for P. carinii | Infection by P. carinii can be treated by administering methioninase optionally in combination with additional therapeutic agents, such as antibiotics. | 1. A method to treat Pneumocystis carinii (P. carinii) infection in a subject which method comprises administering to a subject in need of such treatment an amount of methioninase (METase) effective to lower levels of methionine in the blood of said subject and to treat said infection. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the methioninase is recombinantly produced. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the methioninase is coupled to a polymer. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the methioninase is that encoded by the genome of Pseudomonas putida. 5. The method of claim 1, which further includes administering to said subject an effective amount of an additional therapeutic agent. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said agent is an antibiotic. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said antibiotic is pentamidine or is the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein said methioninase and therapeutic agent are administered substantially simultaneously. 9. A pharmaceutical composition for treating P. carinii infection in a subject which comprises a dosage of methioninase effective to treat said infection in combination with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient. 10. The composition of claim 9, wherein the methioninase is recombinantly produced. 11. The composition of claim 9, wherein the methioninase is coupled to a polymer. 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the methioninase is that encoded by the genome of Pseudomonas putida. 13. The composition of claim 9, which further includes at least one therapeutic agent. 14. The composition of claim 13, wherein the agent is an antibiotic. 15. The composition of claim 14, wherein said antibiotic is pentamidine or is the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. 16. A kit for the treatment of P. carinii infection in a subject which kit comprises a composition comprising methioninase and a composition comprising at least one therapeutic agent. 17. The kit of claim 16, wherein the methioninase is recombinantly produced. 18. The kit of claim 16, wherein the methioninase is coupled to a polymer. 19. The kit of claims 16, wherein the methioninase is that encoded by the genome of Pseudomonas putida. 20. The kit of claim 16, wherein the therapeutic agent is an antibiotic. 21. The kit of claim 16, wherein said antibiotic is pentamidine or is the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to provisional application U.S. Ser. No. 60/482,047 filed 23 Jun. 2003. The contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is in the field of treatment for infection, in particular infection by Pneumocystis carinii. More specifically, the invention concerns utilization of various lyases to effect such treatment. BACKGROUND ART P. carinii is the fungus that causes P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) in people with depressed immune systems such as AIDS patients, patients undergoing chemotherapy, or transplant patients being treated with immunosuppressants. The currently used drugs that seem most effective are pentamidine and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. These treatments have severe side effects and the mortality rate remains high. Thus, alternative, more successful treatments for this condition are needed. A known characteristic of P. carinii is that it has an absolute requirement for S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) and is unable to synthesize this compound. It apparently scavenges this material from the blood of the infected host. See, Merali, S., et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2000) 275:14958-14963. By depleting methionine concentration in the blood, the availability of AdoMet in the blood is also depleted, thus inhibiting the infectious agent. The uptake of AdoMet by P. carinii is verified by the inverse correlation of the level of infection and plasma levels of AdoMet in infected subjects. See, Skelly, M., et al., Lancet (2003) 361:1267-1277. Thus, the levels of AdoMet in plasma may be used as a diagnostic method for this infection. The use of L-methionine-α-deamino-γ-mercaptomethane lyase (methioninase, METase) for the treatment of methionine-dependent tumors, the production of recombinant METase, and modification of METase to reduce antigenicity and enhance half-life by coupling to a polymer such as polyethylene glycol have been described previously in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,231,854; 6,461,851; 5,888,506; 5,690,292; 5,891,704; and 5,715,835, all incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the use of expression of the gene-encoding methioninase for tumor treatment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,571, also incorporated herein by reference. According to the present invention, methioninase, optionally in combination with additional antibiotics, is employed in the control of P. carinii infection. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The invention takes advantage of the ability of methioninase to deplete the levels of methionine in the blood and thus to deprive the infectious parasite P. carinii of its required metabolite, S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet). Thus, in one aspect, the invention is directed to treat a P. carinii infected or potentially infected (exposed) subject which method comprises administering to said subject an amount of methioninase effective to lower the levels of methionine in the blood of said subject and thereby to treat or prevent the P. carinii infection. In preferred embodiments, the methioninase is modified to lengthen its biological half-life and reduce antigenicity by coupling the methioninase to a polymer, most conveniently polyethylene glycol. In another aspect, the invention is directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising methioninase as an active ingredient in a unit dosage amount effective to treat P. carinii infections. The methioninase may be used in combination with other antibiotics and other drugs known to be effective against this fungus. Even though many of such effective drugs have severe side effects, the use of methioninase in the course of treatment permits sufficient reduction in the supplied amounts of these ancillary drugs to reduce or eliminate these side effects. Thus, in an additional aspect, the invention is related to a method to treat P. carinii infected subjects by administering to said subjects, simultaneously or sequentially, amounts of methioninase and at least one additional therapeutic agent effective to treat this condition. In another aspect, the invention is directed to compositions or kits that are combinations of methioninase with an additional drug, preferably an antibiotic. MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The basis for the present invention is depletion of methionine in blood and/or cells. Methionine is a precursor of the AdoMet required by P. carinii. P. carinii has two AdoMet transporters—one of high affinity (Km of 54.5 mM) and the other of low affinity (Km of 5,333 mM). The high affinity transporter has a pH optimum of 7.5 and no related natural compounds compete for uptake. The invention, in all of its aspects, employs a pharmaceutically acceptable form of methioninase. In one embodiment, the methioninase is prepared using recombinant technology as described in the above-cited U.S. patents. In one embodiment, the methioninase is derived from Pseudomonas putida; this is a homotetrameric enzyme of 172 kD. METases in general require pyridoxal 5′ phosphate (PRP) as a cofactor for activity, and catalyze the hydrolysis of methionine to form α-ketobutyrate, methylmercaptan, and ammonia. Using the techniques described in the above-cited patents, the recombinantly produced methioninase can be provided in a high degree of purity and substantially free of endotoxins. It is also advantageous, as described, to couple methioninase with a polymer to reduce antigenicity and to enhance half-life in the blood. A particularly convenient formulation is obtained by coupling polyethylene glycol (PEG) to this enzyme. The methioninase used in the treatment methods of the invention may be administered in appropriate formulations for enzymatically active proteins such as those described in the standard formulary Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, latest edition, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa., incorporated herein by reference. Typically, the enzyme is administered by injection, including intravenous, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intraperitoneal and the like. Alternatively, the enzyme may be administered using transmucosal or transdermal techniques. Oral administration is also possible, provided appropriate formulation is able to protect the enzyme from degradation in the digestive tract. The invention also includes kits which contain compositions of methioninase and optionally compositions containing at least one additional therapeutic agent, such as an antibiotic. Typically, if more than one active ingredient is involved, the components are packaged separately as separate compositions. In the kits, the active ingredient compositions are preferably packaged in unit dosage form, for example, already contained in a syringe or other container suitable for effecting administration of the drug. Generally, the nature of the formulation will depend on the mode of administration. Suitable dosage levels depend on the severity of the infection, the nature of the subject, whether additional antibiotics are included in the treatment, and ultimately on the judgment of the practitioner. Suitable dosage ranges for methioninase administration are in the range of 0.01 mg-500 mg, more usually 0.1 mg-100 mg per typical 70 kg subject per day when administered alone. However, administration at levels outside this range may also be used depending on the factors set forth above. The specific dosage for an individual subject is determined by routine optimization taking account of response as measured by the level of infection and/or the levels of AdoMet circulating in the blood. Suitable subjects for treatment include humans, primates in general, and mammalian and avian subjects. The success of treatment can be monitored by assessing the levels of AdoMet in blood once the treatment with METase has been cleared. As noted above, the AdoMet plasma concentration is generally inversely correlated with the number of P. carinii in the lungs, thus providing a method to assess the success of treatment. (Merali, S., et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2000) 275:14958-14963, cited above.) However, during treatment, of course, levels of AdoMet in plasma are diminished. By “treating” is meant ameliorating the symptoms of the infection, reducing the titer of the infectious organism in the subject, or preventing enhanced levels of titers or preventing enhanced levels of symptomology. Thus, “treatment” includes a general improvement in the condition of the subject as related to the progress (or lack thereof) of the infection. By “effective amount” is meant an amount which is able to effect successful treatment under the protocol prescribed. Thus, an effective amount of methioninase when administered with an additional therapeutic agent may be less than what is effective if the methioninase is administered alone. Similarly, the effective amount of the additional therapeutic agent may have a smaller lower limit when it is administered with methioninase than would have been the case had it been administered alone. As noted above, it may be advantageous to provide methioninase in combination with additional therapeutic agents, typically antibiotics. Currently known effective drugs include pentamidine, and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. These drugs apparently have problematic side effects when used and a sole method of treatment; however, in combination with methioninase, the required levels of administration may be reduced to levels which have an acceptable incidence of side effects. Preparation A: Preparation of PEGylated Methioninase Methioninase was prepared recombinantly from the encoding nucleotide sequence isolated from Pseudomonas putida and purified as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,704, referenced above. The purified methioninase was coupled with methoxypolyethylene glycol succinimidyl glutarate-500 at various ratios of the PEGylation reagent to recombinant methioninase. Unreacted PEG was removed with Amicon 30K Sentry Prep concentrators or by Sephacryl™ S-300 HR gel filtration chromatography; unreacted METase was removed by DEAE Sepharose® FF anion exchange chromatography. The resulting PEGylated compositions were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to determine the number of PEG molecules associated with the enzyme. The PEGylated methioninase was injected into mice to determine half-life and depletion time, and antigenicity was determined by titers of IgG and IgM raised by the PEGylated form as compared to recombinant METase lacking PEGylation. The results of these determinations are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 PEGylation PEG/ Fold* Fold* Fold* agent/ METase Fold* increase in decrease decrease METase ratio in increase in Depletion IgG PEG- IgM PEG- ratio product Half-Life Time METase METase 120/1 8-10 20x 10 x 10−4 10−3 60/1 5-7 10−7 10−3 30/1 2-4 2 x 4x 10−8 10−4 *Compared to METase alone. As shown, the PEGylated product containing 8-10 molecules of PEG per molecule of METase gave a 20-fold increase in half-life, a 10-fold increase in depletion time and showed reduced antigenicity as compared to METase that has not been coupled to PEG. The derivatized product resulting from the 30/1 ratio had an enzyme activity approximately 70% of unmodified METase. PEGylation increases the serum half-life in rats to about 160 minutes compared to 80 minutes for unmodified METase and the PEGylated form depletes serum methionine levels to <0.1 μM for about 8 hours compared to 2 hours for METase itself. The PEG-METase injected intravenously into mice had a tumor/blood retention ratio of about ⅙ compared to {fraction (1/10)} of unmodified enzyme. See, Tan, Y., et al., Protein Expression and Purification (1998) 12:45-52. After IV administration to nude mice, the distribution of PEG-METase was in the decreasing order blood:kidney:liver:spleen:heart:lung:tumor:intestine:muscle. However, significant levels accumulated in tumor tissue and one hour after injection of 60 units, levels were about 0.026 units/mg protein in human colon tumor growing subcutaneously in nude mice compared to 0.017 units/mg for free METase. See, Tan, et al., supra. In addition, the PEGylation of METase appears to protect against loss of the PRP cofactor. Both METase and PEGylated METase deplete plasma levels of methionine to less than 5 μM in nude mice. In addition, studies in macaque monkeys using single IV administration of recombinant METase at dosages ranging from 1,000-4,000 U/kg, plasma methionine levels were depleted to an undetectable level by 30 minutes and remained undetectable for four hours. Depletion to less than 1 μM of plasma methionine level at eight hours could be achieved with 4,000 U/kg dosages. However, the un-PEGylated recombinant METase was eliminated rapidly with a halftime of 2.49 hours and some subjects exhibited allergic responses engendered by immune responses to repeated high dosage levels. The benefits of coupling METase to polymer are evident from these results. Preparation B: Culture of P. carinii The cells are cultured according to the method of Merali, S., et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2000) 275:14958-14963, cited above. P. carinii cells are maintained in minimum essential medium with Earle's salts supplemented with 20% horse serum and the following: putrescine, ferric pyrophosphate, L-cysteine, and glutamine. 3×106 cells are placed on 24-mm collagen-coated, 0.4-mm membrane pore size Transwell inserts in 6-well plates. 2.5 ml of medium is added to the wells below the inserts. The Transwell system allows changes of medium without disturbing the cells within the inserts. The medium is changed twice daily and at each change AdoMet stock is added at a final concentration of 500 mM. Cultures are incubated at 31° C. in room temperature. The following example is offered to illustrate but not to limit the invention. EXAMPLE 1 A rat model of PCP is prepared according to the methods of Merali, S., et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. (1995) 39:1442-1444. Pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley rats are placed in a barrier colony, and given multiple antibiotics to avoid other opportunistic infections. The rats are immunosuppressed by the addition of dexamethasone to the drinking water (1.5 mg liter−1). The rats are then infected with the cultured P. carinii of Preparation B. The rats in the control group are provided only excipient. Rats in test groups are provided various dosages of recombinant METase coupled with polyethylene glycol at various dosages. The rats in the test group show diminished symptoms of P. carinii infection. | <SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>P. carinii is the fungus that causes P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) in people with depressed immune systems such as AIDS patients, patients undergoing chemotherapy, or transplant patients being treated with immunosuppressants. The currently used drugs that seem most effective are pentamidine and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. These treatments have severe side effects and the mortality rate remains high. Thus, alternative, more successful treatments for this condition are needed. A known characteristic of P. carinii is that it has an absolute requirement for S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) and is unable to synthesize this compound. It apparently scavenges this material from the blood of the infected host. See, Merali, S., et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2000) 275:14958-14963. By depleting methionine concentration in the blood, the availability of AdoMet in the blood is also depleted, thus inhibiting the infectious agent. The uptake of AdoMet by P. carinii is verified by the inverse correlation of the level of infection and plasma levels of AdoMet in infected subjects. See, Skelly, M., et al., Lancet (2003) 361:1267-1277. Thus, the levels of AdoMet in plasma may be used as a diagnostic method for this infection. The use of L-methionine-α-deamino-γ-mercaptomethane lyase (methioninase, METase) for the treatment of methionine-dependent tumors, the production of recombinant METase, and modification of METase to reduce antigenicity and enhance half-life by coupling to a polymer such as polyethylene glycol have been described previously in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,231,854; 6,461,851; 5,888,506; 5,690,292; 5,891,704; and 5,715,835, all incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the use of expression of the gene-encoding methioninase for tumor treatment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,571, also incorporated herein by reference. According to the present invention, methioninase, optionally in combination with additional antibiotics, is employed in the control of P. carinii infection. | 20040622 | 20070904 | 20050210 | 70962.0 | 0 | DEVI, SARVAMANGALA J N | LYASE TREATMENT FOR P. CARINII | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,675 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for improved mobile station and hearing aid compatibility | A mobile station includes an adjustable member for increasing a separation distance between an audio signal output device and an electronic circuit to reduce EMI proximate the audio signal output device caused by the electronic circuit. In one embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a slide member that extends at least a portion of the audio signal output device away from the electronic circuit to increase the separation distance. In another embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a pivot member that rotates the electronic circuit (or audio signal output device) away from the audio signal output device (or electronic circuit) to increase the separation distance. In any event, increasing the separation distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit decreases the EMI proximate the audio signal output device, and therefore EMI effects on external circuits proximate the mobile station, such as a hearing aid. | 1. A mobile station comprising: an audio signal output device; an electronic circuit generating electro-magnetic interference proximate said audio signal output device; and an adjustable member selectively movable between a first use position for voice communications defining a first separation distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and a second use position for voice communications defining a second separation distance greater than the first separation distance to reduce electro-magnetic interference proximate the audio signal output device caused by the electronic circuit. 2. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member comprises a pivot member that includes one of the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit. 3. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member comprises a slide member that includes the audio signal output device. 4. The mobile station of claim 1 further comprising a position detection circuit to detect the use position of the adjustable member. 5. The mobile station of claim 4 wherein the position detection circuit comprises one of a magnetic field dependent position detection circuit, a mechanical position detection circuit, and an electrical contact position detection circuit. 6. The mobile station of claim 4 wherein the electronic circuit includes a primary display screen circuit and a secondary display screen circuit and wherein one of the primary and secondary display screen circuits is activated based on the detected position of the adjustable member. 7. The mobile station of claim 4 further comprising an audio processor for selectively controlling an audio signal applied to the audio signal output device based on the detected position of the adjustable member. 8. The mobile station of claim 7 wherein the audio processor includes a frequency controller and wherein the frequency controller controls a frequency of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device based on the detected position of the adjustable member. 9. The mobile station of claim 7 wherein the audio processor includes an equalizer and wherein the equalizer controls an equalization setting of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device based on the detected position of the adjustable member. 10. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the audio signal output device comprises at least one of a speaker, a T-coil, and an acoustic channel output port. 11. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the audio signal output device projects at least one of an acoustic signal and an electro-magnetic signal based on an audio signal applied to the audio signal output device. 12. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the electronic circuit comprises at least one of a display screen circuit, a processing circuit, and a transceiver circuit. 13. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member is part of a flip-type cellular telephone. 14. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein adjustable member is part of a stick-type cellular telephone. 15. The mobile station of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member is part of a swivel-type cellular telephone. 16. A method of reducing electro-magnetic interference proximate an audio signal output device of a mobile station including the audio signal output device and an electronic circuit that generates electro-magnetic interference, the method comprising: mounting one of the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit to an adjustable member; and mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station for movement between a first use position for voice communications defining a first separation distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and a second use position for voice communications defining a second separation distance greater than the first separation distance to reduce electro-magnetic interference proximate the audio signal output device caused by the electronic circuit. 17. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station mounting a pivot member to the mobile station. 18. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station comprises mounting a slide member to the mobile station. 19. The method of claim 16 further comprising detecting the use position of the adjustable member with a position detection circuit. 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising controlling an audio signal applied to the audio signal output device based on the detected use position of the adjustable member. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein controlling the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device comprises controlling a frequency of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device. 22. The method of claim 20 wherein controlling the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device comprises controlling an equalization of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device. 23. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station comprises mounting the adjustable member to a flip-type cellular telephone. 24. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station comprises mounting the adjustable member to a stick-type cellular telephone. 25. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the adjustable member to the mobile station comprises mounting the adjustable member to a swivel-type cellular telephone. 26. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the audio signal output device to the adjustable member comprises mounting at least one of a speaker, a T-coil, and an acoustic channel output port to the adjustable member. 27. The method of claim 16 wherein mounting the electronic circuit to the adjustable member comprises mounting at least one of a display screen circuit, a processor circuit, and an antenna circuit to the adjustable member. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to reducing electro-magnetic interference between a mobile station and a hearing aid. Hearing aids typically include electronic circuits for amplifying audible sounds, such as those provided by a speaker, a voice, an instrument, etc., so that a hearing impaired individual can better hear. A hearing aid may also include processing circuits for processing the audible sounds to improve the quality of the sound heard by the individual by, for example, filtering noise from the audible sounds received by the hearing aid. However, in noisy environments, such as a shopping mall, a city street, concert halls, etc., the hearing aid may have difficulty removing the noise without also removing the desired audible sounds. To address this problem, some hearing aids may include electro-magnetic processing circuits in addition to the audio amplification and processing circuits. The electro-magnetic processing circuits sense and process electro-magnetic signals received by an electro-magnetic receiver in the hearing aid, such as a T-coil, to create sound waves that enable the hearing impaired individual to hear sound corresponding to the received electro-magnetic signals. This feature is particularly useful in any environment where desired audio signals are used to generate electro-magnetic signals. For example, an individual may switch the audio amplification circuits off and switch the electro-magnetic processing circuits on while talking on a cellular telephone. In so doing, the individual hears audible sound generated by the hearing aid in response to electro-magnetic signals produced by the cellular telephone speaker while effectively blocking out the “audible” environmental sounds. Unfortunately, electro-magnetic processing circuits also detect other electro-magnetic signals, such as the electro-magnetic signals produced by various electronic circuits associated with the cellular telephone. As a result, sound generated by the electro-magnetic processing circuits in the hearing aid may be distorted. Further, while the electro-magnetic signals generated by the cellular telephone circuits do not generally interfere with the operation of the cellular telephone, they may interfere with the operation of a nearby electronic circuit external to the cellular telephone, i.e., the audio amplification circuits and/or the electro-magnetic processing circuits of a hearing aid. Therefore, electro-magnetic interference (EMI) generated by a cellular telephone typically degrades the performance of a hearing aid. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a method and apparatus that reduces electro-magnetic interference (EMI) proximate an audio signal output device by selectively increasing a distance between the audio signal output device and an electronic circuit that generates the EMI. According to the present invention, a mobile station includes an adjustable member that selectively moves between a first use position and a second use position. The first use position defines a first separation distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit. The second use position defines a second separation distance, greater than the first separation distance, between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit. By moving the adjustable member to the second use position, the user increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, decreases the EMI proximate the audio signal output device that is caused by the electronic circuit. In one embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a slide member that includes at least part of the audio signal output device. Extending the slide member from the first use position to the second use position increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, reduces EMI proximate the audio signal output device. In another embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a pivot member that includes at least part of the audio signal output device. Alternatively, the pivot member may include the electronic circuit. In either case, rotating the pivot member from the first use position to the second use position increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, reduces EMI proximate the audio signal output device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile station according to the present invention. FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate an exemplary stick-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate another exemplary stick-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate another exemplary stick-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate another exemplary stick-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an exemplary flip-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate an exemplary flip-type mobile station with a pivot member according to the present invention. FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate an exemplary stick-type mobile station with a pivot member according to the present invention. FIGS. 9A-9D illustrate another exemplary flip-type mobile station with a pivot member according to the present invention. FIGS. 10A-10D illustrate another exemplary flip-type mobile station with a pivot member according to the present invention. FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate an exemplary swivel-type mobile station with a slide member according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile station 100 according to the present invention. As used herein the term “mobile station” may include cellular telephones, satellite telephones, personal communication services (PCS) devices, personal data assistants (PDAs), palm-top computers, laptop computers, pagers, and the like. Mobile station 100 includes controller 110, transceiver 112, antenna 114, memory 116, audio processing circuit 120, and user interface 130. Controller 110 controls the operation of mobile station 100 according to the programs stored in memory 116. Controller 110 may comprise a single microprocessor or multiple microprocessors. Suitable microprocessors may include, for example, both general purpose and special purpose microprocessors and digital signal processors. Transceiver 112 is a fully functional cellular radio transceiver for transmitting signals and receiving signals via antenna 114. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that transceiver 112 may operate according to any known communication standard. Memory 116 represents the entire hierarchy of memory in a mobile station 100, and may include both random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). Data and computer program instructions-required for operation are stored in non-volatile memory, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and/or flash memory, which may be implemented as discrete devices, stacked devices, or integrated with controller 110. User interface 130 enables a user to exchange information with the mobile station 100, and includes a display 132, an input device 134, an audio signal input device 136, and an audio signal output device 140. Display 132, such as a liquid crystal display, allows operators to see dialed digits, images, call status, menu options, and other service information. Input device 134 enables the user to enter data, to enter commands, and to select options, and may comprise a keypad, touchpad, joystick, pointing device, switches, pushbuttons, or any other form of computer input device. Mobile station 100 may use two or more input devices to perform the same or different functions. Audio signal input device 136, such as a microphone, converts speech into electrical audio signals for processing by audio processor 120. Audio signal output device 140, such as a speaker 142 and/or a T-coil 146, converts audio signals provided by audio processor 120 into acoustic signals, such as audible sounds, and/or electro-magnetic signals that are projected from mobile station 100. As shown in FIG. 1, audio processor 120 may include a frequency controller 122 for controlling the level of a specific frequency of the audio signal that drives the audio signal output device 140. Audio processor 120 may also include an equalizer 124 for controlling the signal equalization settings of the acoustic and/or electro-magnetic signals output by mobile station 100. As understood by those skilled in the art, various electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100, such as controller 110, transceiver 112, display 132, etc., emit electro-magnetic interference (EMI) when the phone is operational. When the EMI generating electronic circuits are located near the audio signal output device 140, the EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140 may be large enough to interfere with the operation of a nearby external circuit, such as a hearing aid. The mechanical design of conventional mobile stations provides some separation between the audio signal output device 140 and the EMI generating electronic circuits by placing components of the mobile station to maximize a separation distance. However, the decreasing size of mobile stations limits the actual separation distance, and therefore the control of the EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140, achievable by component placement alone. The present invention reduces the EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140, and therefore reduces EMI effects on a hearing aid (not shown), by selectively increasing the distance between the audio signal output device 140, such as a speaker 142, and the electronic circuit associated with the mobile station 100, such as circuits associated with a controller 110, a transceiver 112, a display 132, etc., that causes the EMI. In an exemplary embodiment, the mobile station 100 of the present invention includes an adjustable member that varies the separation distance between the audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuit to vary the EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140. In particular, the adjustable member enables a user to increase the separation distance between the audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuit to reduce the EMI proximate audio signal output device 140. FIGS. 2-11 illustrate various embodiments of a mobile station 100 that implements an adjustable member according to the present invention. In FIGS. 2-5, mobile station 100 comprises a stick-type mobile station and the adjustable member comprises a slide member 150 that includes at least a portion of the audio signal output device 140. Extending the slide member 150 outwardly from the body of mobile station 100 increases the distance between the audio signal output device 140 and one or more electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100, such as the circuits associated with display 132. As a result, EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140 is reduced. In one exemplary embodiment, shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, slide member 150 includes an acoustic channel 144 that operates as a conduit for audible sound projected by speaker 142. When slide member 150 is positioned in a first use position, shown in FIG. 2A, speaker 142 and an output port 145 of acoustic channel 144 are in close proximity to each other. However, positioning slide member 150 in a second use position, shown in FIGS. 2B-2C, increases the separation distance between the speaker 142 and the output port 145 of acoustic channel 144, which in turn increases the separation distance between the output port 145 of acoustic channel 144 and the electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100. By increasing the separation distance between the output port 145 of acoustic channel 144 and the electronic circuits of mobile station 100, slide member 150 has decreased the EMI at the output port 145 of acoustic channel 144. As a result, a hearing aid positioned proximate the output port 145 of the acoustic channel 144 when slide member 150 is positioned in the second use position experiences less EMI than when slide member 150 is positioned in the first use position. FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate an alternative embodiment where slide member 150 includes speaker 142. In this embodiment, moving slide member 150 from the first use position, shown in FIG. 3A, to the second use position, shown in FIGS. 3B-3C, increases the distance between speaker 142 and the electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100. As with the embodiment of FIGS. 2A-2C, increasing the separation distance between the speaker 142 and the electronic circuits decreases the electro-magnetic effects of the electronic circuits on a hearing aid disposed proximate the speaker 142. In addition to projecting audible sound in response to an audio signal applied to the speaker 142, speaker 142 may also project an audio electro-magnetic signal in response to the applied audio signal. As a result, a hearing aid with an electro-magnetic receiver, such as a T-coil, may detect and process the audio electro-magnetic signal, independently of the acoustic signal projected by speaker 142, to provide audible sound to the user. As discussed above, this feature is particularly useful when hearing aids are used with mobile stations in a loud environment. By enabling the T-coil in the hearing aid, the hearing aid can block out the loud environment and focus on only the audible sound generated by the T-coil in the hearing aid in response to the projected audio electro-magnetic signal. However, the audio electro-magnetic signal generated by speaker 142 is not always strong enough to be adequately received or processed by the T-coil in a hearing aid. To address this problem, mobile station 100 may include a booster T-coil 146 to replace or supplement the audio electro-magnetic signal provided by speaker 142. When booster T-coil 146 is included as part of audio signal output device 140, slide member 150 may also include booster T-coil 146 with speaker 142, as shown in FIGS. 4A-4C. Alternatively, slide member 150 may only include booster T-coil, as shown in FIGS. 5A-5C. Further, while not shown, the slide member 150 of FIGS. 2A-2C may also include booster T-coil 146. In any event, extending slide member 150 from the first use position (FIGS. 4A and 5A) to the second use position (FIGS. 4B-4C and 5B-5C) increases the distance between the booster T-coil 146 and the electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100, which reduces the EMI proximate the booster T-coil 146 and/or speaker 142. As a result, a hearing aid positioned proximate the booster T-coil 146 when slide member 150 is positioned in the second use position experiences less EMI than when slide member 150 is positioned in the first use position. FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate a flip-type mobile station 100 that also uses slide member 150 to increase the separation distance between the audio signal output device 140 and the EMI generating electronic circuits, i.e., display 132. Flip-type mobile station 100 comprises a flip member 102, a base member 104, and a rotational coupler 106 that couples flip member 102 to base member 104. The flip member 102 moves between a closed position (FIG. 6A) and an open position (FIGS. 6B-6C). The open position, shown in FIGS. 6B-6C, is referred to herein as a “use position.” Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the closed position may also represent a “use position” when the mobile station 100 is closed but operating in a non-idle voice communication mode. As used herein, the term “use position” is defined as a non-idle operating position where mobile station 100 operates in a voice communications mode. When flip-type mobile station 100 is opened, as shown in FIGS. 6B-6C, a user has access to slide member 150, which may include speaker 142. While not shown, those skilled in the art will appreciate that slide member 150 of flip-type mobile station 100 may alternatively include acoustic channel 144, booster T-coil 146, or any combination thereof. As with the previously described embodiments, moving slide member 150 from the first use position, shown in FIG. 6B, to the second use position, shown in FIG. 6C, decreases the EMI proximate audio signal output device 140, i.e., speaker 142, which improves the performance of a hearing aid positioned proximate audio signal output device 140. The above-described embodiments use a slide member 150 to increase the separation distance between audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100. However, other adjustable members may be used to increase the separation distance. FIGS. 7-10 illustrate various embodiments using a pivot member 152 to increase the separation distance. Pivot member 152 includes at least part of the audio signal output device 140 or one or more of the EMI generating electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100. By rotating pivot member 152 from a first use position to a second use position, the distance between the audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuits within the mobile station 100 increases. As a result, EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140 is reduced. As an example, consider the flip-type mobile station 100 of FIGS. 7A-7B, which includes a pivot member 152 connected to the mobile station 100 by hinge 154 or other rotational coupler. As shown in FIGS. 7A-7B, pivot member 152 includes audio signal output device 140, such as speaker 142. However, it will be appreciated that pivot member 152 may alternatively include acoustic channel 144, booster T-coil 146, or any combination thereof. In any event, rotating pivot member 152 about hinge 154 from a first use position, shown in FIG. 7A, to a second use position, shown in FIG. 7B, increases the separation distance between the audio signal output device 140 and electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100, such as display 132 with display circuitry, controller 110, transceiver 112, etc. As a result, EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140 is reduced. Alternatively, pivot member 152 may include an electronic circuit, i.e., display 132 and any corresponding circuitry, as shown by the stick-type mobile station 100 of FIGS. 8A-8D. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that pivot member 152 may also include other electronic circuits, such as controller 110, transceiver 112, etc. Rotating pivot member 152 about hinge 154 from the first use position, shown in FIG. 8A to the second use position, shown in FIGS. 8C and 8D, increases the separation distance between the display circuit 132 and the audio signal output device 140. FIGS. 9A-9D illustrate another exemplary flip-type mobile station 100 that uses a pivot member 152 to reduce EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140. As with the stick-type mobile station 100 of FIG. 8, flip-type mobile station 100 uses pivot member 152 to rotate electronic circuits from the first use position, shown in FIG. 9A, to the second use position away from the audio signal output device 140, shown in FIGS. 9C and 9D to reduce EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that pivot member 152 may rotate about hinge 154, as described above, or about rotational coupler 106, where rotational coupler 106 comprises a double hinge or other specialty rotational coupler to enable pivot member 152 to rotate independently from flip member 102 and base member 104. As shown in FIG. 9C-9D, rotating pivot member 152 to the second use position positions the display 132 proximate the base member 104. As a result, the user cannot view the display when pivot member 152 is positioned in the second use position. To address this, mobile station 100 may include a primary display 132a located on one side of pivot member 152, and a secondary display 132b located on the opposite side of pivot member 152, as shown in FIGS. 10A-10D. In general, primary display 132a provides the user with information when the flip-type mobile station 100 is open, while secondary display 132b generally provides the user with display information when the flip-type mobile station 100 is closed. However, primary and secondary displays 132a, 132b may also be used to provide information to the user based on the position of the pivot member 152. For example, when pivot member 152 is positioned in the first use position, shown in FIG. 10A, primary display 132a generally provides information to the user. However, when pivot member 152 is positioned in the second use position, shown in FIGS. 10C and 10D, primary display 132a is positioned adjacent the keypad, while secondary display 132b faces the user and generally provides display information to the user. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that rotating pivot member 152 to the second use position leaves an opening 154 in flip member 102, as shown in FIG. 10D. This opening 154 may or may not be present in the other pivot member and/or slide member embodiments described above. While the above describes the invention in terms of a stick-type or flip-type mobile station 100, the present invention is not so limited. Indeed, any of the adjustment members of the present invention may be implemented on any type of mobile station 100. For example, the present invention may use a jack-knife or swivel-type mobile station 100, such as the one shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. Swivel-type mobile station 100 comprises a swivel member 102, a base member 104, and a swivel coupler 107 that couples swivel member 102 to base member 104. The swivel-type mobile station 100 moves between the open and closed positions by spinning swivel member 102 about swivel coupler 107. As with the flip-type mobile station discussed above, the swivel-type mobile station 100 is in a use position whenever it is operating in a non-idle voice communication mode. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, swivel type mobile station 100 uses a slide member 150, like the one shown in FIG. 4C, to increase the separation distance between audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuits associated with mobile station 100. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any of the slide members 150 and/or pivot members 152 described above may be used to increase the separation distance between the audio signal output device 140 and the electronic circuits of the swivel-type mobile station 100. The above describes various embodiments of an adjustable member used to reduce EMI proximate an audio signal output device 140 by increasing the distance between the audio signal output device 140 and electronic circuits associated with the mobile station 100. Because moving one or more mobile station components may change the acoustics or other acoustic signal properties of the mobile station 100, and therefore the quality of the projected acoustic signal, the mobile station 100 of the present invention may also include audio processing circuitry to modify the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device 140 based on the position of the adjustable member. To that end, mobile station 100 may include a position detection circuit 126, as shown in FIG. 1, to detect the position of the adjustable member. Mobile station 100 may use any position detection means known in the art. For example, moving the adjustable member from the first use position to the second use position, or vice versa, may actuate an electrical or mechanical switch. Further, a user may independently activate a switch after moving the adjustment member to improve the acoustics of the audio output. Alternatively, position detection circuit 126 may comprise a magnetic field dependent position sensor, such as a Hall effect sensor. A Hall effect sensor generates an output position signal in response to the detected changes in a magnetic field, as is well understood in the art. When the adjustable member includes an iron element having a magnetic field and when the Hall effect sensor is appropriately positioned proximate the magnetic iron element, the Hall effect sensor detects movement of the adjustable member by detecting changes in the magnetic field of the iron element. In the embodiments where the adjustable member moves speaker 142, using iron to construct at least a portion of the speaker coil provides a magnetic iron element. In these embodiments, the Hall effect sensor may monitor the position of the adjustable member by monitoring the magnetic field associated with the speaker coil. In any event, position detection circuit 126 provides the position signal to audio processor 120 based on the detected position of the adjustable member. Audio processor 120 then modifies the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device 140 based on the position signal provided by the audio processor 120. For example, based on the detected position of the adjustable member, a frequency controller 122 may modify the electrical level of a specific frequency of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device 140. Similarly, an equalizer 124 may modify the equalization settings of the audio signal applied to the audio signal output device 140 based on the detected position of the adjustable member. The above describes an adjustment member that may be used to increase a separation distance between an audio signal output device -140 and electronic circuits associated with a mobile station 100 to reduce EMI proximate the audio signal output device 140. Preliminary tests of a mobile station 100 that uses the above-described adjustment member has shown >3 dB reductions in EMI. Further, EMI reductions have been observed when the separation distance has been increased by one inch or more. While the above describes explicit first and second use positions, those skilled in the art will appreciate that moving the adjustable member may be a continuous operation and that moving the adjustable member to any position having a second separation distance greater than the first separation distance reduces the electro-magnetic interference. For example, slide member 150 need not be fully extended to be in a second use position. Similarly, pivot member 152 need not be fully rotated to be in a second use position. For example, the pivot member positions illustrated in FIGS. 8B, 9B, and 10B may also constitute second use positions. Further, it will be appreciated that the above-described adjustable members are not limited to the mobile stations used to illustrate the invention. The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other ways than those specifically set forth herein without departing from essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates generally to reducing electro-magnetic interference between a mobile station and a hearing aid. Hearing aids typically include electronic circuits for amplifying audible sounds, such as those provided by a speaker, a voice, an instrument, etc., so that a hearing impaired individual can better hear. A hearing aid may also include processing circuits for processing the audible sounds to improve the quality of the sound heard by the individual by, for example, filtering noise from the audible sounds received by the hearing aid. However, in noisy environments, such as a shopping mall, a city street, concert halls, etc., the hearing aid may have difficulty removing the noise without also removing the desired audible sounds. To address this problem, some hearing aids may include electro-magnetic processing circuits in addition to the audio amplification and processing circuits. The electro-magnetic processing circuits sense and process electro-magnetic signals received by an electro-magnetic receiver in the hearing aid, such as a T-coil, to create sound waves that enable the hearing impaired individual to hear sound corresponding to the received electro-magnetic signals. This feature is particularly useful in any environment where desired audio signals are used to generate electro-magnetic signals. For example, an individual may switch the audio amplification circuits off and switch the electro-magnetic processing circuits on while talking on a cellular telephone. In so doing, the individual hears audible sound generated by the hearing aid in response to electro-magnetic signals produced by the cellular telephone speaker while effectively blocking out the “audible” environmental sounds. Unfortunately, electro-magnetic processing circuits also detect other electro-magnetic signals, such as the electro-magnetic signals produced by various electronic circuits associated with the cellular telephone. As a result, sound generated by the electro-magnetic processing circuits in the hearing aid may be distorted. Further, while the electro-magnetic signals generated by the cellular telephone circuits do not generally interfere with the operation of the cellular telephone, they may interfere with the operation of a nearby electronic circuit external to the cellular telephone, i.e., the audio amplification circuits and/or the electro-magnetic processing circuits of a hearing aid. Therefore, electro-magnetic interference (EMI) generated by a cellular telephone typically degrades the performance of a hearing aid. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention comprises a method and apparatus that reduces electro-magnetic interference (EMI) proximate an audio signal output device by selectively increasing a distance between the audio signal output device and an electronic circuit that generates the EMI. According to the present invention, a mobile station includes an adjustable member that selectively moves between a first use position and a second use position. The first use position defines a first separation distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit. The second use position defines a second separation distance, greater than the first separation distance, between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit. By moving the adjustable member to the second use position, the user increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, decreases the EMI proximate the audio signal output device that is caused by the electronic circuit. In one embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a slide member that includes at least part of the audio signal output device. Extending the slide member from the first use position to the second use position increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, reduces EMI proximate the audio signal output device. In another embodiment, the adjustable member comprises a pivot member that includes at least part of the audio signal output device. Alternatively, the pivot member may include the electronic circuit. In either case, rotating the pivot member from the first use position to the second use position increases the distance between the audio signal output device and the electronic circuit, and therefore, reduces EMI proximate the audio signal output device. | 20040622 | 20120110 | 20060112 | 65647.0 | H04B100 | 0 | AYOTUNDE, AYODEJI O | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVED MOBILE STATION AND HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | H04B | 2,004 |
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10,873,792 | ACCEPTED | Medical device including actuator | An actuating medical device and methods for making and using the same. The actuating medical device may include a proximal shaft portion having a distal end region, an actuating shaft portion attached to the distal end region, one or more actuating members coupled to or otherwise disposed adjacent the actuating shaft portion, and a distal shaft portion attached to the actuating shaft portion. The actuating shaft portion may include a shape memory material and may be adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration. Using the actuating medical device may include positioning the actuating medical device in a blood vessel and shifting the actuating shaft portion between the first and second configurations. | 1. A medical device, comprising: an elongate shaft including: a proximal shaft portion having a proximal end and a distal end, a distal shaft portion having a proximal end and a distal end, an actuating shaft portion having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the distal end of the actuating shaft portion is attached to the proximal end of the distal shaft portion and wherein the proximal end of the actuating shaft portion is attached to the distal end of the proximal shaft portion, and wherein the actuating shaft portion includes a shape memory material and is configured to shift from a first configuration to a second configuration; and an actuating member disposed on the shaft adjacent the actuating shaft portion, the actuating member being configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into the first or second configuration. 2. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the elongate shaft is a guidewire. 3. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the proximal shaft portion is a guidewire. 4. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the actuating shaft portion includes nickel-titanium alloy. 5. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the actuating shaft portion includes a first section including a shape memory material and a second section made from a different material. 6. The medical device of claim 5, further comprising an electrically conducting lead attached to the first section and extending proximally therefrom. 7. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the actuating shaft portion includes a first section including a shape memory material, a second section including a shape memory material, and an insulator disposed therebetween. 8. The medical device of claim 7, further comprising an electrically conducting lead attached to the first section and extending proximally therefrom. 9. The medical device of claim 8, further comprising a second electrically conducting lead attached to the second section and extending proximally therefrom. 10. The medical device of claim 1, further comprising one or more electrically conductive leads attached to the actuating shaft portion, the one or more leads being configured to selectively activate a region of the actuating shaft portion. 11. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is an elongated configuration and wherein the second configuration is a shortened configuration. 12. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a shortened configuration and wherein the second configuration is an elongated configuration. 13. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a curved configuration and wherein the second configuration is a substantially straightened configuration. 14. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a substantially straightened configuration and wherein the second configuration is a curved configuration. 15. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the actuating member includes a coil. 16. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the actuating shaft portion includes a coil. 17. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the distal shaft portion includes a distal ring. 18. The medical device of claim 1, further comprising means for shifting the actuating shaft portion between the first and second configurations. 19. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the elongate shaft is a guidewire. 20. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the elongate shaft is a catheter. 21. A medical device, comprising: a proximal shaft portion having a distal end region; a shape memory shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the proximal shaft portion and having a distal end region, the shape memory shaft portion being adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration; an actuating member having a first end coupled to the proximal end region of the shape memory shaft and having a second end coupled to the distal end region of the shape memory shaft; wherein the actuating members are configured to bias the shape memory shaft into the first configuration; and a distal shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the shape memory shaft portion and having a distal end region, the distal shaft portion including a distal ring. 22. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the shape memory shaft portion includes nickel-titanium alloy. 23. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the shape memory shaft portion includes a first section including a shape memory material and a second section made from a different material. 24. The medical device of claim 23, further comprising an electrically conducting lead attached to the first section and extending proximally therefrom. 25. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the shape memory shaft portion includes a first section including a shape memory material, a second section including a shape memory material, and an insulator disposed therebetween. 26. The medical device of claim 25, further comprising an electrically conducting lead attached to the first section and extending proximally therefrom. 27. The medical device of claim 26, further comprising a second electrically conducting lead attached to the second section and extending proximally therefrom. 28. The medical device of claim 21, further comprising one or more electrically conductive leads attached to the shape memory shaft portion, the one or more leads being configured to selectively activate a region of the shape memory shaft portion so that the activated region of the shape memory shaft portion shifts from the first configuration to the second configuration. 29. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the first configuration is an elongated configuration and wherein the second configuration is a shortened configuration. 30. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the first configuration is a shortened configuration and wherein the second configuration is an elongated configuration. 31. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the first configuration is a curved configuration and wherein the second configuration is a substantially straightened configuration. 32. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the first configuration is a substantially straightened configuration and wherein the second configuration is a curved configuration. 33. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the actuating members include a coil. 34. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the shape memory shaft portion includes a coil. 35. The medical device of claim 21, further comprising means for shifting the shape memory shaft from the first configuration to the second configuration. 36. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the proximal shaft portion, shape memory shaft portion, and distal shaft portion define a guidewire. 37. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the proximal shaft portion, shape memory shaft portion, and distal shaft portion define a catheter. 38. A method for making an intracorporal device, the method comprising: providing a proximal shaft portion having a distal end region; attaching a proximal end region of an actuating shaft portion to the distal end region of the proximal shaft portion, the actuating shaft portion including a shape memory material and being adapted to shift from a first configuration to a second configuration through a thermally induced shape memory effect; attaching a first end of an actuating member to the proximal end region of the actuating shaft portion and a second end of the actuating member to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion, the actuating member being configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into the first configuration; and attaching a distal shaft portion to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the intracorporal medical device is a guidewire. 40. The method of claim 38, wherein the intracorporal medical device is a catheter. 41. A method for clearing debris from a catheter, the catheter including a lumen and a distal opening, the method comprising: advancing an actuating medical device through the lumen of the microcatheter, the actuating medical device comprising: a proximal shaft portion having a proximal end region and a distal end region, an actuating shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the proximal shaft portion and having a distal end region, wherein the actuating shaft portion is adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration, one or more actuating members each having a first end coupled to the proximal end region of the actuating shaft portion and each having a second end coupled to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion, wherein the actuating members are configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into the first configuration, and a distal shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion and having a distal end region; positioning the actuating medical device within the lumen of the catheter so that the distal shaft portion is positioned adjacent the distal opening of the catheter; and repeatedly activating the actuating shaft portion so that the actuating shaft portion repeatedly shifts between the first configuration and the second configuration. 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the actuating medical device is a guidewire. 43. The method of claim 41, wherein the actuating medical device is a catheter. 44. A method for bending an elongate medical device, the method comprising: providing an elongate medical device, the medical device comprising: an elongate shaft having a proximal end region and a distal end region, an actuating shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the shaft and having a distal end region, wherein the actuating shaft portion is adapted to shift between a generally straightened configuration and a curved configuration, one or more actuating members each having a first end coupled to the proximal end region of the actuating shaft portion and each having a second end coupled to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion, wherein the actuating members are configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into the straightened configuration, and a distal shaft having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion and having a distal end region; heating the actuating shaft portion so that it shifts from the straightened configuration to the curved configuration. 45. The method of claim 44, wherein the elongate medical device is a guidewire. 46. The method of claim 44, wherein the elongate medical device is a catheter. 47. A method for straightening an elongate medical device, comprising the steps of: providing an elongate medical device, the medical device comprising: a proximal shaft portion having a proximal end region and a distal end region, an actuating shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the proximal shaft portion and having a distal end region, wherein the actuating shaft portion is adapted to shift between a generally straightened configuration and a curved configuration, one or more actuating members each having a first end coupled to the proximal end region of the actuating shaft portion and each having a second end coupled to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion, wherein the actuating members are configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into the curved configuration, and a distal shaft portion having a proximal end region attached to the distal end region of the actuating shaft portion and having a distal end region; heating the actuating shaft portion so that shifts from the curved configuration to the straightened configuration. 48. The method of claim 47, wherein the elongate medical device is a guidewire. 49. The method of claim 47, wherein the elongate medical device is a catheter. 50. A medical device, comprising: a proximal shaft member; an intermediate shaft member attached to the proximal shaft member, the intermediate shaft member having an exterior and opposing first and second ends; a distal shaft member attached to the intermediate shaft member; and one or more actuating members disposed along the exterior of the intermediate shaft member and attached to the first and second ends. 51. A medical device, comprising: a proximal shaft portion; a distal shaft portion; an actuating shaft portion including a shape memory material disposed between the proximal and distal shaft portions; and wherein the actuating shaft portion being configured to shift between a martensite form and an austenite form. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to intracorporal medical devices, for example, intravascular medical devices. More particularly, the invention relates to intracorporal medical devices that include an actuating section or portion including shape memory materials, which may have desirable moving, shifting, and bending characteristics. BACKGROUND A wide variety of intracorporal medical devices have been developed for medical use, for example, intravascular use. Some of these devices include guidewires and other such devices that have certain actuating and/or bending characteristics. Of the known intracorporal medical devices, each has certain advantages and disadvantages. There is an ongoing need to provide alternative designs and methods of making and using medical devices with desirable actuating and/or bending characteristics. BRIEF SUMMARY The invention provides design, material, and manufacturing method alternatives for intracorporal medical devices having actuating and/or bending characteristics. In at least some embodiments, the medical devices include an elongate shaft having a proximal shaft portion, an actuating shaft portion attached to the proximal shaft portion, one or more actuating members coupled to or otherwise disposed adjacent the actuating shaft portion, and a distal shaft portion attached to the actuating shaft portion. The actuating shaft portion may include a shape memory material and may be adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration. For example, the actuating shaft portion may shift between a generally lengthened and a generally shortened configuration or the actuating shaft portion may shift between a curved and a generally straightened configuration. In some embodiments, the actuating shaft portion can be shifted from one configuration to another by heating or otherwise activating the actuating shaft portion. In addition, the actuating members may be configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into one of the two configurations. Some of these as well as some other features and characteristics are described in more detail below. Methods for making and using medical devices are also disclosed. For example, methods for making an intracorporal medical device may include providing an elongate shaft including a proximal shaft portion, an actuating shaft portion attached to the proximal shaft portion, and a distal shaft portion attached to the actuating shaft portion and attaching one or more actuating members adjacent to the actuating shaft portion. Methods for using these medical devices may include positioning the actuating medical device in a blood vessel and shifting the actuating shaft portion between the first and second configurations. Some further details regarding these and other methods are described in more detail below. The above summary of some embodiments is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The Figures, and Detailed Description, which follow, more particularly exemplify these embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view of an example medical device disposed in catheter within a blood vessel; FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the device shown in FIG. 1, where the actuating shaft has shifted configurations; FIG. 3 is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 4 is a side view of the device shown in FIG. 3, where the actuating shaft is in an alternative shape configuration; FIG. 5 is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 5A is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 6 is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 7 is a side view of the device shown in FIG. 6, where the actuating shaft is in an alternative shape configuration; FIG. 8 is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 9 is a side view of the device shown in FIG. 8, where the actuating shaft is in an alternative shape configuration; FIG. 10 is a side view of another example medical device; FIG. 11 is a side view of another example medical device; and FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional side view of another example medical device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION For the following defined terms, these definitions shall be applied, unless a different definition is given in the claims or elsewhere in this specification. All numeric values are herein assumed to be modified by the term “about,” whether or not explicitly indicated. The term “about” generally refers to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited value (i.e., having the same function or result). In many instances, the terms “about” may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5). As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings in which similar elements in different drawings are numbered the same. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict illustrative embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. FIG. 1 is partial cross-sectional side view of an example actuating medical device 10 disposed in a blood vessel 12. Medical device 10 may include an elongate shaft 11 including a proximal shaft portion 14, an actuating shaft portion 16, and a distal shaft portion 18. One or more actuators or actuating members 20 may be coupled to device 10, for example, adjacent actuating shaft portion 16. In at least some embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 includes a shape memory material and is adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration. For example, the first configuration may be a generally elongated configuration as shown in FIG. 1. The second configuration may be characterized by actuating shaft portion 16 being shortened as shown in FIG. 2. On the other hand, the different configurations may include those where actuating shaft portion 16 is shortened when in the first configuration and then elongated when in the second configuration. Alternatively, the different configuration may be typified by actuating shaft portion 16 being straightened, curved, spiral in shape, or in any other suitable configuration. The ability to change the configuration of actuating shaft portion 16 may desirably impact the navigation ability and/or trackability of medical device 10 as well as improve the ability of device 10 and/or other devices used with it to carry out their desired function such as diagnosis, treatment, drug delivery, and the like. Shifting may be controlled selectively or in any other suitable manner. For example, shifting may be induced by changing the temperature of actuating shaft portion 16. Temperature change may be achieved, for example, by passing current through shaft 11 and into actuating shaft portion 16 so that it heats up, or other such techniques. Actuating members 20 may be adapted to bias actuating shaft portion 16 into one configuration by exerting a force on actuating shaft portion 16. For example, actuating members 20 may bias actuating shaft portion 16 into a first elongated configuration by exerting a pushing, pulling, or elongating force onto actuating shaft portion 16. Alternatively, actuating members 20 may bias actuating shaft portion 16 into a first shortened configuration by exerting a pushing, pulling, or shortening force onto actuating shaft portion 16. Regardless of which arrangement is utilized, this feature allows actuating shaft portion 16 to remain or be held in the one configuration and then be shifted to another when “stimulated”, heated, or activated. Upon activation of actuating shaft portion 16, actuating shaft portion 16 may overcome the bias of actuating members 20 and shift into the other configuration. For example, actuating shaft portion 16 may be made from a shape memory material that can return to a pre-set shape (with sufficient force to overcome the biasing force exerted by actuating members 20) when exposed to particular thermal conditions. When the activating stimulus is removed or otherwise allowed to dissipate from actuating shaft portion 16, actuating members 20 can shift actuating shaft portion 16 back toward the first configuration. Some additional details of this feature are described in more detail below. The ability to selectively control the configuration of actuating shaft portion 16 may be desirable for a number of interventions and/or uses for medical device 10. For example, the actuating action of device 10 may be useful for clearing the distal end of a catheter, for example, a microcatheter 22. According to this embodiment, device 10 (with actuating shaft portion 16 in the first configuration) can be advanced through a lumen 24 defined within microcatheter 22 to a position adjacent a distal opening 26 or positioned just outside opening 26 as seen in FIG. 1. Actuating shaft portion 16 can then be activated so that it shifts to the shortened configuration as shown in FIG. 2. The reverse set of configurations can also be utilized where distal shaft portion 18 is positioned adjacent opening 26 and actuating shaft portion 16 is activated so as to shift from the shortened to the elongated configuration. This shifting mechanism can help clear debris that might otherwise collect adjacent opening 26. Moreover, a user can repeatedly stimulate and the remove the stimulus from actuating shaft portion 16 so that actuating shaft portion 16 oscillates back-and-forth through opening 26. This feature would be useful for clearing debris and keeping opening 26 clear from debris. Actuating shaft portion 16 may also give device 10 a number of additional desirable features. For example, the ability to shift configurations may be used to curve and/or straighten device 10. This feature, which is described in more detail below, may improve the trackability and/or navigational abilities of device 10 through the tortuous vasculature. In addition, because of the improved navigational abilities of device 10, other interventions may be more easily performed such as catheterization, drug and/or stent delivery, angioplasty, etc. Actuating shaft portion 16 may be made from and/or include a number of different materials including shape memory materials. Shape memory materials are those that can revert to or otherwise “remember” a pre-set shape when exposed to the appropriate thermal conditions. Shape memory materials exist in two different temperature-dependent phases or crystalline structures. The lower temperature crystalline structure is called martensite, which tends to be softer, more ductile, and easily deformed. The higher temperature crystalline structure is called austenite, which tends to be harder and less flaccid. When a martensitic shape memory material is heated, it transforms into austenite occurs over a range of temperatures beginning with the austenite starting temperature (As) and ending with the austenite finishing temperature (Af). Similarly, austenite that is cooled transforms to martensite over a range of temperatures starting with the martensite starting temperature (Ms) and ending with the martensite finishing temperature (Mf). A temperature hysteresis exists for these transformations characterized by the fact that the temperature range for the martensite-to-austenite transformation is generally higher than the austenite-to-martensite transformation. Setting the shape of a shape memory material can be achieved using any process known in the art. For example, in some embodiments, setting the shape of a shape memory material can be achieved by constraining the material into the desired shape, heating the material to a temperature above (often well above) Af (often in the range of about 250-650° C. or so), and then allowing the material to cool. The result is a temperature-dependent structure that can be freely deformed into a wide variety of shapes (while in the martensite form) and then forcefully revert back to the pre-set shape by simply heating the material above its activation or transformation temperature (e.g., Af). The transformation temperature for a particular shape memory material can vary depending on the composition of the particular shape memory material as well as the parameters of the heat treatment. For example, an activation or transformation temperature can be defined in the range of about −100° C. to about 100° C. or so, which may be suitable for use with shape memory materials included with actuating shaft portion 16. In some embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 can include a shape memory material with an activation temperature that is near or slightly above body temperature (e.g., about 35° C. to about 42° C. or so). A number of other temperatures are also contemplated. The shape memory effect can be described as being “one-way” or “two-way”. One-way shape memory is similar to what is described above and is characterized by the shape memory material being able to recover a preset shape upon heating above the transformation temperature. Two-way shape memory is similar to one-way shape memory except that two-way shape memory materials not only revert to a preset shape upon heating but also revert to an alternative pre-set shape upon cooling. Imparting two-way shape memory can be achieved using any process known in the art. In some embodiments, for example, two-way shape memory can be imparted by providing a shape memory material that has already been programmed with one-way shape memory, and cooling it below Mf and then deforming it into a desired second shape. The material is then heated above Af and allowed to revert to the preset austenite shape. This process is repeated many times (i.e., about 20-30 times) until the desired two-way shape memory is achieved. In some embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 may include a shape memory material such as nitinol. The word nitinol was coined by a group of researchers at the United States Naval Ordinance Laboratory (NOL) who were the first to observe the shape memory behavior of this material. The word nitinol is an acronym including the chemical symbol for nickel (Ni), the chemical symbol for titanium (Ti), and an acronym identifying the Naval Ordinance Laboratory (NOL). In some embodiments, nitinol alloys can include in the range of about 50 to about 60 weight percent nickel, with the remainder being essentially titanium. It should be understood, however, that in other embodiments, the range of weight percent nickel and titanium, and or other trace elements may vary from these ranges. Within the family of commercially available nitinol alloys, are categories designated as “superelastic” (i.e. pseudoelastic) and “linear elastic” which, although similar in chemistry, exhibits distinct and useful mechanical properties. Superelastic alloys typically display a substantial “superelastic plateau” or “flag region” in its stress/strain curve. Such alloys can be desirable in some embodiments because a suitable superelastic alloy will provide a portion of device 10 (e.g., actuating shaft portion 16) that exhibits some enhanced ability, relative to some other non-superelastic materials, of substantially recovering its shape without significant plastic deformation, upon the application and release of stress, for example, during placement of the catheter in the body. As stated above, in some embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 can be formed of a shape-memory material, for example a shape memory alloy. In such embodiments, the shape memory effect can be used in the shifting of actuating shaft portion 16 from the first configuration to the second configuration. For example, in some embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 can include or be made of a shape memory alloy that is martensite at body temperature, and has a final austenite transition temperature (Af) somewhere in the temperature range above body temperature. This feature allows actuating shaft portion 16 to be advanced through a blood vessel (or a suitable microcatheter) while in a martensitic state, and maintain a martensitic state until exposed to a temperature higher than body temperature. For example, in some such embodiments, the shape memory alloy has a final austenite transition temperature in the range of about 37° C. and about 45° C. In some such embodiments, it may be desirable that the final austenite transition temperature be at least slightly above body temperature, to ensure there is not final transition at body temperature. Actuating shaft portion 16 can be heated to the necessary temperature above body temperature to make the transformation from martensite to austenite using an external heating means or mechanism. Such mechanisms may include the injection of heated fluid through the microcatheter, the use of electrical or other energy to heat the actuating shaft portion 16, or other such techniques. In other example embodiments, actuating shaft portion 16 can include or be made of a shape memory alloy that could have a transition temperature Md (wherein Md=highest temperature to stress-induce martensite) that is in the range of body temperature (e.g. 37° C.) or greater, below which the alloy retains sufficient stress-induced martensitic property to allow placement of actuating shaft portion 16 at or above its final austenite transition temperature (Af). In other words, this allows actuating shaft portion 16 to be carried while constrained in a stress-induced martensitic (SIM) state, and recover its preformed, austenitic shape when released from the constraints, at a temperature that may be substantially above the final austenite transition temperature without significant plastic, or otherwise permanent deformation. In this embodiment, the final austenite temperature may be quite low, e.g., 4° C. or lower, or it may be up to room temperature or higher. In yet other embodiments, the transition temperature may be near or slightly below body temperature. Some examples of Nitinol cylinders having desired transition temperatures, as noted above, can be prepared according to known methods. For example, actuating shaft portion 16 can be arranged in the second configuration (e.g., shortened or expanded, depending on the desired transition) and heated to a temperature above the transition temperature. Actuating shaft portion 16 is then subjected to thermoelastic martensitic transformation (e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,546 incorporated by reference in its entirety herein) by cooling below the transition temperature range of the alloy. The transition temperature can be modified by varying the ratios of each metal in the alloy and in one embodiment, for example, is within the range between about 25° C. to 45° C. at which actuating shaft portion 16 shifts. Nitinol cylinders having a martensite temperature Md below which the alloy can assume a stress-induced martensitic condition while being stressed to the extent necessary to place or otherwise use the device, of greater than about 37° C., or in some embodiments, greater than about 40° C., are also prepared according to known methods, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,767. One example alloy would act, at about 37° C., as a constant force spring over a strain range up to about 5% or more. This is a measurement of the degree to which an alloy, at a given temperature, can be strained in a purely austenitic state by the formation of stress-induced martensite without significant plastic deformation. In other words, the strain caused by the application of a given stress at a given temperature is substantially recoverable. In practice, the maximum stress realized occurs sometime during the process of placing a nitinol device at a given temperature. Accordingly, a suitable alloy will provide a device that is capable of substantially recovering its austenitic shape without significant plastic deformation, upon placement of actuating shaft portion 16 in the body. It can be appreciated that this shape memory characteristic can be utilized in order to provide the desired characteristics to device 10. For example, the first configuration of actuating shaft portion 16 may be the martensite form of nitinol. This material can be held or biased in the desired shape configuration by actuating members 20 (such as either of those seen in FIGS. 1 or 2). Activating actuating shaft portion 16 can occur, for example, by passing current through device 10 so as to heat actuating shaft portion 16 above its activation temperature and causing actuating shaft portion 16 to transform into the second configuration. The second configuration may be the austenite form of nitinol that is pre-set to the desired shape. The second configuration can be either elongated (as seen in FIG. 1) or shortened (and/or fattened as seen in FIG. 2). Hence, actuating shaft portion 16 can be positioned within a blood vessel in the first configuration (i.e., either “short” or “long”) and then heated so that it shifts to the second configuration (i.e., either from “short” to “long” or from “long” to “short”) according to the one-way shape memory effect as described above. The transformation may be set to occur at a temperature near body temperature, for example, in the range of about 32° C. to about 42° C., or so. Other temperatures are also contemplated. In addition, actuating shaft portion 16 can have two-way shape memory (as described above) so that it shifts from the first configuration to the second configuration upon heating and from the second configuration back to the first configuration (or some other configuration) upon cooling. Generally, actuating shaft portion 16 includes a shape memory material that can exhibit shape memory effects as described above. For example, actuating shaft portion 16 may include nitinol. Actuating shaft portion 16, however, is not intended to being limited to solely shape memory nitinol as other materials can be used including any of those materials described herein. Additionally, actuating shaft portion 16 need not be made only from shape memory materials. For example, actuating shaft portion 16 may include other materials (in addition to a shape material) such as other metals, metal alloys, polymers, and the like. Actuating members 20 are configured to apply a force onto actuating shaft portion 16 so as to hold it in one of the configurations. For example, actuating members 20 may exert a force onto actuating shaft portion 16 so that it remains “elongated” (or “shortened”) when not heated. As described above, heating causes actuating shaft portion 16 to shift to the second configuration. The properties of shape memory materials allow the above-mentioned transformation to occur with sufficient force so as to overcome the biasing force of actuating members 20. As described above, removing the current allows actuating shaft portion 16 to cool—thus, allowing actuating members 20 to return actuating shaft portion 16 back to the first configuration. The current can be pulsed or otherwise tuned in a manner that allows actuating shaft portion 16 to oscillate between the shortened and the elongated configurations. It should be noted that a number of alternative shape configurations are contemplated such as straightened, curved, etc. that can analogously fit into the general scheme described above. Proximal shaft portion 14, actuating shaft portion 16, and distal shaft portion 18 may have any one of a number of different shapes, sizes, lengths, arrangements, configurations, etc. For example, the entire elongated shaft 11 including proximal shaft portion 14, actuating shaft portion 16, and distal shaft portion 18 may include structure and/or components found in any typical guidewire configuration. For example, proximal shaft portion 14 may be a typical intravascular guidewire shaft, or the like, or any other suitable shaft. According to this embodiment, proximal shaft portion 14 may include any of the structural characteristics typically known in the relevant art. Likewise, actuating shaft portion 16 may be inserted into a guidewire or other suitable structure that is defined by proximal shaft portion 14 and distal shaft portion 18. For example, a guidewire may be segmented into proximal shaft portion 14 and distal shaft portion 18, and actuating shaft portion 16 can be disposed therebetween. According to this embodiment, a first connection point 32 may be defined between proximal shaft portion 14 and actuating shaft portion 16, and a second connection point 34 may be defined between actuating shaft portion 16 and distal shaft portion 18. Connection points 32/34 may be any suitable connecting means such a mechanical bond or connector, thermal bond, welding, brazing, adhesive, and the like, or any other suitable type of connection. Distal shaft portion 18 can also be a guidewire, guidewire segment, and the like, or any other suitable shaft. In some embodiments, distal shaft portion 18 may include additional structures and/or be formed into a desired shape, depending upon the desired functionality of device 10. For example, distal shaft portion 18 may include a distal loop or ring 28. Distal ring 28 may be useful, for example, by increasing the area (i.e., defining a larger section) of device 10 that can be used to clear opening 26 of microcatheter 22. Distal ring 28 may be defined or formed in any suitable manner. For example, distal ring 28 may be formed by curving a distal end 30 of distal shaft portion 18 toward a more proximal position of distal shaft portion 18. Generally, the shape of distal ring 28 may be circular or oval. However, it can be appreciated that distal ring 28 could have any shape including essentially all two and three dimensional shapes. In some embodiments, the various portions of shaft 11 may include other structures such as coils, marker bands, safety/shaping ribbons or wire, various alternative tip constructions, or the like, many of which are known. Some additional features, characteristics, and alternative designs for guidewire constructions (i.e., tip or distal constructions) are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/376,068 filed Feb. 26, 2003; Ser. No. 09/972,276 filed on Oct. 5, 2001; and Ser. No. 10/086,992 filed on Feb. 28, 2002, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. Actuating members 20 may vary in number, shape, position, and material composition. In general, actuating members 20 may be configured so as to provide the desired amount of biasing force to hold and/or bias actuating shaft portion 16 in a particular configuration, for example, the first configuration. This may be accomplished using 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more actuating members 20 having any shape that are positioned anywhere appropriate for holding actuating shaft portion 16 in the desired configuration. For example, device 10 may include a pair of actuating members 20 shaped as wires that are connected adjacent opposite ends of actuating shaft portion 16. These actuating members 20 may be disposed along the exterior of actuating shaft portion 16. In some embodiments, actuating members 20 are distinct structural elements that connect to device 10 adjacent connection points 32/34. According to this embodiment, the opposite ends of actuating members 20 can be attached to the opposite ends of actuating shaft portion and/or connection points 32/34. This allows actuating members 20 to exert a force onto actuating shaft portion 16. For example, actuating members 20 may comprise a wire or spring that exerts a spring force sufficient to elongate or shorten actuating shaft portion 16, depending on whether heating shortens or elongates actuating shaft portion 16. Alternatively, actuating members 20 can be embedded within or more tightly associated with actuating shaft portion 16. In some embodiments, actuating members 20 can be directly attached along the length of actuating shaft portion 16. Examples of some of the other alternatives for actuating members 20 are described in more detail below. Any portion of device 10 such as proximal shaft portion 14, actuating shaft portion 16, distal shaft portion 18, and actuating members 20 may be made from any suitable materials such as metals, polymers, metal-polymer composites, and the like, or any other suitable materials. Generally, the material composition of actuating members 20 is designed to be sufficiently stiff so as to be able to bias actuating shaft portion 16 into a particular shape configuration. Some examples of suitable metals and metal alloys include stainless steel, such as 304V, 304L, and 316LV stainless steel; mild steel; nickel-titanium alloy such as linear-elastic or super-elastic nitinol, nickel-chromium alloy, nickel-chromium-iron alloy, cobalt alloy, tungsten or tungsten alloys, MP35-N (having a composition of about 35% Ni, 35% Co, 20% Cr, 9.75% Mo, a maximum 1% Fe, a maximum 1% Ti, a maximum 0.25% C, a maximum 0.15% Mn, and a maximum 0.15% Si), hastelloy, monel 400, inconel 825, or the like; other Co—Cr alloys; platinum enriched stainless steel; or other suitable material. In some embodiments, actuating members 20 may be made from a stretchable material such as music wire that may or may not include nitinol. Some examples of suitable polymers may include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polyoxymethylene (POM, for example, DELRIN® available from DuPont), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyether block ester, polyurethane, polypropylene (PP), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyether-ester (for example a polyether-ester elastomer such as ARNITEL® available from DSM Engineering Plastics), polyester (for example a polyester elastomer such as HYTREL® available from DuPont), polyamide (for example, DURETHAN® available from Bayer or CRISTAMID® available from Elf Atochem), elastomeric polyamides, block polyamide/ethers, polyether block amide (PEBA, for example available under the trade name PEBAX®), silicones, polyethylene (PE), Marlex high-density polyethylene, Marlex low-density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene (for example REXELL®), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyimide (PI), polyetherimide (PEI), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polysulfone, nylon, perfluoro(propyl vinyl ether) (PFA), biocompatible polymers, other suitable materials, or mixtures, combinations, copolymers thereof, polymer/metal composites, and the like. In some embodiments any portion of device 10 can be blended with a liquid crystal polymer (LCP). For example, the mixture can contain up to about 5% LCP. In some examples, the materials, structures and/or placement/attachment of the actuating members 20 to the shaft may include those that are sufficient to exert a suitable amount of force onto the actuating portion 16 to maintain it in the desired position, while also allowing the shape memory effect to overcome the force when desired. The amount of force may vary depending on the intended use and the material composition of the various components of device 10. In some embodiments, a coating, for example a lubricious, a hydrophilic, a protective, or other type of coating may be applied over portions or all of device 10. Hydrophobic coatings such as fluoropolymers provide a dry lubricity which improves device handling and exchanges. Lubricious coatings improve steerability and improve lesion crossing capability. Suitable lubricious polymers are well known in the art and may include silicone and the like, hydrophilic polymers such as highdensity polyethylene (HDPE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyarylene oxides, polyvinylpyrolidones, polyvinylalcohols, hydroxy alkyl cellulosics, algins, saccharides, caprolactones, and the like, and mixtures and combinations thereof. Hydrophilic polymers may be blended among themselves or with formulated amounts of water insoluble compounds (including some polymers) to yield coatings with suitable lubricity, bonding, and solubility. Some other examples of such coatings and materials and methods used to create such coatings can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,139,510 and 5,772,609, which are incorporated herein by reference. Any portion of device 10 may also be doped with or otherwise include a radiopaque material. Radiopaque materials are understood to be materials capable of producing a relatively bright image on a fluoroscopy screen or another imaging technique during a medical procedure. This relatively bright image aids the user of device 10 in determining its location. Some examples of radiopaque materials can include, but are not limited to, gold, platinum, palladium, tantalum, tungsten alloy, plastic material loaded with a radiopaque filler, and the like. In some embodiments, portions of device 10 may also include a degree of MRI compatibility. For example, to enhance compatibility with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, it may be desirable to make the portions of device 10 in a manner that would impart a degree of MRI compatibility. For example, device 10 or portions thereof may be made of a material that does not substantially distort the image and create substantial artifacts (artifacts are gaps in the image). Certain ferromagnetic materials, for example, may not be suitable because they may create artifacts in an MRI image. Device 10, or portions thereof, may also be made from a material that the MRI machine can image. Some materials that exhibit these characteristics include, for example, tungsten, Elgiloy, MP35N, nitinol, and the like, and others. FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative actuating medical device 110 that is similar to any of other devices disclosed herein except that actuating shaft portion 116 has a helical or coiled shape, much like a spring. Just like the earlier embodiment, actuating shaft portion 116 includes a shape memory material and may be disposed between proximal shaft portion 114 and distal shaft portion 118. In addition, device 110 may include one or more actuating members 120 that are configured to bias actuating shaft portion 116 into a particular configuration. For example, actuating members 120 may be configured to generate a sufficient spring tension and/or biasing force that can hold actuating shaft portion 116 in an elongated configuration as seen in FIG. 3. In other embodiments, actuating members 120 may bias actuating shaft portion 116 in a shortened or any other configuration. Activation of actuating shaft portion 116, for example, by passing current through device 110 so that actuating shaft portion 116 heats above the activation temperature, causes actuating shaft portion 116 to return to a previously-set shortened shape, for example, as seen in FIG. 4 if the biased configuration is elongated, or as seen in FIG. 3 if the biased configuration is shortened, or to any other previously-set configuration. These figures illustrate just one of the many available alternative configurations for actuating shaft portion 116 that are contemplated. One of the alternative configurations for the actuating member or members is shown in FIG. 5. Here another example device 210 is shown that has proximal shaft portion 214, actuating shaft portion 216, and distal shaft portion 218. Actuating member 220, however, takes the form of a coil, helix, or spring. It can be easily appreciated how a spring-like actuating member 220 could exert a biasing force or spring tension onto actuating shaft portion 216. Activation of actuating shaft portion 216 can cause it to return to the pre-set shape, overcoming the biasing force of actuating member 220. Actuating member 220 in FIG. 5 can be configured to bias actuating shaft portion 216 in either an elongated or shortened configuration. For example, the outwardly-bowed shape of actuating members 220 may exert a spring force onto actuating shaft portion that tends to bias actuating shaft portion 216 into the shortened configuration. As actuating shaft portion 216 shifts from the shortened configuration to the elongated configuration, actuating members 220 may tend to elongate and/or otherwise move toward and become more closely associated with actuating shaft portion 216 (like how actuating members 220′ are shown in FIG. 5A). It should be understood, however, in other embodiments, the actuator member 220 may be configured to bias the shaft portion 216 into an elongated configuration and/or into a curved configuration. FIG. 5A is another example device 210′ (or another configuration of device 510) including proximal shaft portion 214′, actuating shaft portion 216′, and distal shaft portion 218′. Device 210′ is similar to device 210, except that actuating members 220′ are more closely associated with actuating shaft portion 216′. According to this embodiment, actuating members 220′ may exert a spring force onto actuating shaft portion 216′ that tends to bias actuating shaft portion 216′ into the elongated configuration. When actuating shaft portion 216′ shifts to the shortened configuration, actuating members 520′ may tend to bow outwardly (like how actuating members 220 bow outward in FIG. 5). It should be understood, however, in other embodiments, the actuator member 220′ may be configured to bias the shaft portion 216′ into a shortened configuration and/or into a curved configuration. FIG. 6 illustrates another example actuating device 310 that is similar to any of the other devices disclosed herein except that only a singular non-coiled actuating member 320 is utilized and that a set of mechanical connectors 332/334 are utilized to connect proximal shaft portion 314 to actuating shaft portion 316 and to connect actuating shaft portion 316 to distal shaft portion 318. Connectors 332/334 may be configured to fit over the ends of the relevant portions to secure the portions together. In some embodiments, connectors 332/334 may also be adhesively bonded, thermally bonded, welded, etc. to the opposing portions. According to this embodiment, it may be desirable to manufacture connectors 332/334 from a material that is compatible for welding to differing materials. For example, connectors 332/334 may be made from an inconel alloy such as inconel 825, which is compatible for welding to both stainless steel and nitinol. Some other examples of suitable techniques and structures that can be used for connectors 332/334 are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/972,276 filed on Oct. 5, 2001; and Ser. No. 10/086,992 filed on Feb. 28, 2002, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. Activation of device 310 can cause actuating shaft portion 316 to return to its previously set austenitic shape. As described above, this can be essentially any shape. For example, FIG. 7 illustrates device 310 where the previously set shape could be curved. According to this embodiment, actuating shaft portion 316 is adapted to shift from a generally straightened martensite configuration (FIG. 6) to a curved austenite configuration (FIG. 7). Alternatively, the previously set shape could be the straightened configuration (FIG. 6) that can be shifted to from the curved configuration (FIG. 7). According to this embodiment, actuation member 320 may be configured to bias actuating shaft portion 316 into the curved configuration. In some other embodiments, actuation portion 316 may have two-way shape memory as described above so that different thermal conditions can cause actuating shaft portion 316 to shift to either the straightened or curved configuration upon activation. For example, one set of thermal conditions may cause actuating shaft portion 316 to shift into one configuration and another set of thermal conditions may cause actuating shaft portion 316 to shift into another configuration. In can be appreciated that if actuating shaft portion 316 (or any other actuating shaft portion described herein) has two-way shape memory then actuating members 320 may not be necessary. The ability to selectively curve or straighten device 310 may be desirable for a number of reasons. For example, selectively curving or straightening may aid in navigation. This is because when advancing device 310 through the tortuous vasculature, a number of curves or bends may be encountered. It may be more difficult for a straightened (or curved) medical device to navigate the bends, especially those that a particularly tight. The ability to selectively curve or straighten device 310 may allow a user to more easily pass device 310 through these bends. FIG. 8 illustrates another example device 410 that is similar to other devices disclosed herein except that the actuating shaft portion includes a plurality of sections, depicted as portion 416 and 416′. An insulator material or layer 417 may be disposed between portions 416/416′. Insulator 417 may function by substantially preventing heat from dissipating directly from portion 416 to 416′. Insulator 417 may be made from any suitable material including any of those disclosed herein. In some embodiments, actuating shaft portions 416/416′ may be made from the same or similar material. For example, portions 416/416′ may both be made from nitinol, but they may have different activation temperatures and/or be set to different shapes. This feature allows device 410 to curve in one direction (e.g., by activating actuation portion 416 as seen in FIG. 9) when heated to a first temperature as well as curve device 410 in a different direction (e.g., by activating actuation portion 416′) when heated to another temperature. Alternatively, activating actuation portion 416 may curve device 410 to a certain extent (i.e., curve to a certain angle) and activating actuation portion 416′ may curve device 410 to a greater extent. In still other embodiments, activation may cause a curved device 410 to become straightened by activating portion 416 and then curved (in either the previously curved direction or another direction) by activating portion 416′. This feature allows device 410 to be selectively straightened as well as be selectively curved. Again, this feature may desirably impact the navigation characteristics and/or trackability of devices such as device 410. Actuation member 420 (or “members” as shown in FIG. 8 by a phantom drawn second actuation member 420′) may bias actuation portion 416 or portions 416/416′ into one configuration such as a straightened configuration or a curved configuration. In other embodiments, actuation members 420 may not be necessary because the desired shape can be achieved by activating different portions 416/416′. In some other embodiments, only one of portions 416/416′ may be made from a shape memory material. This feature may allow for more selective curving or straightening of device 410. In addition, one or both of portions 416/416′ may be plated, laminated, or coated with a shape memory or insulating material to enhance the ability of portions 416/416′ to be selectively activated. It should be noted that although FIGS. 8 and 9 shown just two actuating shaft portions 416/416′, this is not intended to be limiting because any suitable number of actuating shaft portions may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Device 410 may include a number of the other structural elements seen in the previously-disclosed embodiments. For example, device 410 may include proximal shaft portion 414 and distal shaft portion 418. FIGS. 8 and 9 also illustrate that distal shaft portion 418 may have some of the distal structural characteristics of a polymer tip guidewire. For example, distal shaft portion 418 may include a tapered core section 436 and a polymer coating 438 disposed thereover. The configuration of the polymer tip may vary as seen in the guidewire art. Other embodiments may include, for example, a spring tip construction. FIG. 10 illustrates another example device 510 that is similar to any of the other devices disclosed herein except that actuating shaft portions 516/516′ each have a conductive lead 540/540′ attached thereto and extending proximal therefrom along proximal shaft portion 514. Lead 540/540′ may be a conductive wire or strip that is disposed along proximal shaft portion 514, laminated or coated along proximal shaft portion 514, or disposed in any other suitable configuration. According to any of these embodiments, actuating shaft portions 516/516′ may each include a shape memory material that can be selectively activated, for example, by passing energy (e.g., current that heats sections 516/516′) through leads 540/540′ into portion 516 and/or 516′. As described above in relation to FIGS. 8 and 9, actuating shaft portions 516/516′ may be set to different shapes so that activating one of portions 516/516′ places device 510 into one shape and activating the other portion places device 510 into another. For example, the different shapes may be straightened, curved (to a different extent or in a different direction), and the like, or any other suitable configuration. The shift between a straightened configuration and a curved configuration is shown in FIG. 10 by the curved configuration being depicted in phantom. Also seen in FIG. 10 is that distal shaft portion 518 may also vary. For example, distal shaft portion 518 may include the structural characteristics of a typical guidewire spring tip. According to this embodiment, distal shaft portion may include tapered section 536, a coil spring 542, and a distal end 544 that may be, for example, a solder ball. It can be appreciated that a plethora of variations may be made to distal shaft portion 518 without departing from the spirit of the invention. Other embodiments may include other alternative tip configurations, for example, polymer tip constructions. FIG. 11 illustrates another example portion of a medical device 610 that is similar to any of the other devices disclosed herein except that leads 640/640′/640″ extend along proximal shaft portion 614 and terminate in connectors 646/646′/646″ that are connected to actuating shaft portion 616. This feature allows a user to selectively activate a section or region of actuating shaft portion 616. The different regions of actuating shaft portion 616 may include a shape memory material and may respond differently to activation so that activating one region via connector 646 results in first response (e.g., curving in a first direction or straightening) an activating another region via connector 646′ results in a different response (e.g., curving in a different direction or straightening). Device 610 may also include distal shaft portion 618 that is substantially similar to any of the distal shaft portions described herein. Although the above discussion has been primarily directed to medical devices that are guidewires, this is not intended to be limiting. Any of the features or characteristics of above embodiments may be utilized for other medical devices such as catheters (e.g., therapeutic, diagnostic, or guide catheters), endoscopic devices, laproscopic devices, embolic protection devices, rotational devices, atherectomy devices, any device designed to pass through an opening or body lumen, and the like, or any other suitable device. FIG. 12 depicts one example of medical device 710, that is depicted as a catheter including a catheter shaft 711. Catheter shaft 711 may include a lumen 748 defined therein that functions, for example, as a guidewire lumen. Like the other devices described herein, device 710 includes proximal shaft portion 714, actuating shaft portion 716, distal shaft portion 718, and one or more actuating members 720. Actuating shaft portion 716 includes a shape memory material and is adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration. Just like in the above examples, the first and second configurations may be a generally elongated configuration, a generally shortened configuration, a generally straightened configuration, a generally curved configuration, or the like. Actuating members 720 are configured to bias actuating shaft member 716 into one of the configurations—e.g., the first configuration. Upon activation (e.g., via electrical stimulation that heats actuating shaft portion 716 or any other suitable means), actuating shaft portion 716 shifts to the second configuration. Accordingly, activation of actuating shaft portion 716 may cause it to elongate, shorten, straighten, or curve just like any of the aforementioned devices. It should be understood that this disclosure is, in many respects, only illustrative. Changes may be made in details, particularly in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of steps without exceeding the scope of the invention. The invention's scope is, of course, defined in the language in which the appended claims are expressed. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A wide variety of intracorporal medical devices have been developed for medical use, for example, intravascular use. Some of these devices include guidewires and other such devices that have certain actuating and/or bending characteristics. Of the known intracorporal medical devices, each has certain advantages and disadvantages. There is an ongoing need to provide alternative designs and methods of making and using medical devices with desirable actuating and/or bending characteristics. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>The invention provides design, material, and manufacturing method alternatives for intracorporal medical devices having actuating and/or bending characteristics. In at least some embodiments, the medical devices include an elongate shaft having a proximal shaft portion, an actuating shaft portion attached to the proximal shaft portion, one or more actuating members coupled to or otherwise disposed adjacent the actuating shaft portion, and a distal shaft portion attached to the actuating shaft portion. The actuating shaft portion may include a shape memory material and may be adapted to shift between a first configuration and a second configuration. For example, the actuating shaft portion may shift between a generally lengthened and a generally shortened configuration or the actuating shaft portion may shift between a curved and a generally straightened configuration. In some embodiments, the actuating shaft portion can be shifted from one configuration to another by heating or otherwise activating the actuating shaft portion. In addition, the actuating members may be configured to bias the actuating shaft portion into one of the two configurations. Some of these as well as some other features and characteristics are described in more detail below. Methods for making and using medical devices are also disclosed. For example, methods for making an intracorporal medical device may include providing an elongate shaft including a proximal shaft portion, an actuating shaft portion attached to the proximal shaft portion, and a distal shaft portion attached to the actuating shaft portion and attaching one or more actuating members adjacent to the actuating shaft portion. Methods for using these medical devices may include positioning the actuating medical device in a blood vessel and shifting the actuating shaft portion between the first and second configurations. Some further details regarding these and other methods are described in more detail below. The above summary of some embodiments is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The Figures, and Detailed Description, which follow, more particularly exemplify these embodiments. | 20040622 | 20080826 | 20051222 | 74324.0 | 0 | FOREMAN, JONATHAN M | MEDICAL DEVICE INCLUDING ACTUATOR | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,861 | ACCEPTED | Method and device for controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine | A method of controlling the speed of the valves in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine in which the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic actuator of the valve is controlled during the final phase of closure of a valve. | 1. A method of controlling the speed of impact (VI) of the valves (2) in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit (1) for the valves (2) of an internal combustion engine (M), the electro-hydraulic unit (1) comprising a hydraulic actuator (17) in order to open a respective valve (2) with a pressurized fluid, a spring (29) opposing the hydraulic actuator (17) in order to close the valve (2) and discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator (17) to a collection tank (7), the method being characterized in that the pressure of the fluid is controlled, during the final phase of closure of the valve (2), in the hydraulic actuator (17). 2. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the pressure of the fluid is temporarily increased, during the final phase of closure of the valve (2), in the hydraulic actuator (17). 3. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the hydraulic actuator (17) is temporarily isolated (40) from the collection tank (7) during the final phase of closure of the valve (2). 4. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the electro-hydraulic unit (1) comprises a slide distributor valve (16) adapted to assume a first operating position (P1) in order to bring the hydraulic actuator (17) into communication with the collection tank (7) and a second operating position (P2) in order to isolate the hydraulic actuator (17) from the collection tank (7), in which method the slide distributor valve (16) is temporarily displaced from the first operating position (P1) to the second operating position (P2) during the final phase of closure of the valve (2). 5. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the electro-hydraulic unit (1) comprises a slide distributor valve (16) adapted to assume a first operating position (P1) in order to bring the hydraulic actuator (17) into communication with the collection tank (7) and a third operating position (P3) in order to isolate the hydraulic actuator (17) from the collection tank (7) and bring the hydraulic actuator (17) into communication with a branch (9) containing pressurized fluid, in which method the slide distributor valve (16) is temporarily displaced from the first operating position (P1) to the third operating position (P3) during the final phase of closure of the valve (2). 6. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the speed of impact (VI) of the valve (2) is detected during the closing phase, and the pressure of the fluid from the tank (7) in the hydraulic actuator (17) is temporarily increased, during the final phase of closure of the valve (2), as a function of this speed of impact (VI) and a nominal reference speed (VN). 7. The method of claim 6, characterized in that an error signal (Ev) is emitted when the speed of impact (VI) exceeds the nominal speed (VN) and the pressure in the hydraulic actuator (17) is varied as a function of this error signal (Ev). 8. The method of claim 7, characterized in that the speed of impact (VI) is compared with the nominal speed (VN) and an error signal (Ev) is emitted when the difference between the speed of impact (VI) and the nominal speed (VN) exceeds a predetermined threshold (S). 9. The method of claim 6, characterized in that the nominal speed (VN) is a function of the number of revolutions (RPM) of the engine (M). 10. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the speed of impact (VI) is obtained by means of at least one accelerometer (43). 11. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the speed of impact (VI) is obtained by means of at least one detonation sensor mounted on the engine (M). 12. The method of claim 9, characterized in that the sensor (43) is adapted to detect the instant (tc) of closure of the valve (2). 13. The method of claim 12, characterized in that the value of this instant (tc) is used to determine, during the subsequent closure of the valve (2), the instant at which the pressure in the hydraulic actuator (17) is to be increased in order to limit the speed of impact (VI). 14. A device for controlling the speed of impact (VI) of the valves (2) in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit (1) of the valves (2) of an internal combustion engine (M), the electro-hydraulic unit (1) comprising a hydraulic actuator (17) adapted to open a respective valve (2) with a pressurized fluid, a spring (29) opposing the hydraulic actuator (17) in order to close the valve (2) and to discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator (17) to a collection tank (7), the device being characterized in that it comprises control means (40, 15, 16) adapted to control, during the final phase of closure of the valve (2), the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic actuator (17). 15. The device of claim 14, characterized in that it comprises control means (40, 15, 16) adapted temporarily to increase the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic actuator (17) during the final phase of closure of the valve (2). 16. The device of claim 14, characterized in that the electro-hydraulic unit (1) comprises a slide distributor valve (16) adapted to assume a first operating position (P1) in order to bring the hydraulic actuator (17) into communication with the collection rank (7) and a second operating position (P2) adapted to isolate the hydraulic actuator (17) from the collection tank (7), and a third operating position (P3) adapted to isolate the hydraulic actuator (17) from the collection tank (7) and to bring the hydraulic actuator (17) into communication with a branch (9) of pressurized fluid, the second and third operating positions (P2, P3) causing a pressure increase during the final phase of closure of the valve (2). 17. The device of claim 14, characterized in that it comprises a sensor (43) adapted to obtain a signal correlated with the speed of impact (VI) of the valve (2) in the closing phase. 18. The device of claim 17, characterized in that it comprises means for calculating (40) an error signal (Ev) when the speed of impact (VI) exceeds a nominal speed (VN) and means (40) for driving the slide distributor valve (16) as a function of the error signal (Ev). 19. The device of claim 14, characterized in that the nominal speed (VN) is a function of the number of revolutions (RPM) of the engine (M). 20. The device of claim 17, characterized in that the sensor (43) is an accelerometer. 21. The device of claim 17, characterized in that the sensor (43) is a detonation sensor mounted on the engine (M). | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to Italian Patent Application Serial No. BO2003A 000390 filed Jun. 23, 2003. 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine. 2. Description of Related Art In general, the valves of an internal combustion engine are moved mechanically by means of a camshaft. Alongside this technology, long consolidated in the automobile engineering sector, alternative systems are currently being tried out. This applicants are in particular experimenting with an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine of the type disclosed in European Patent 1,233,152 in the name of the applicants. This electro-hydraulic unit is driven by an electronic unit and makes it possible very accurately to vary the instants of opening and closure of each valve in accordance with a cycle assigned as a function of the angular speed of the crankshaft and other operating parameters of the engine, thereby substantially improving engine performance. The electro-hydraulic unit currently being tested comprises, for each intake and/or exhaust valve of the engine, an electro-hydraulic actuation device which comprises a hydraulic actuator adapted axially to move the valve from the closed position to the position of maximum opening, overcoming the action of an elastic member adapted to maintain this valve in the closed position, and a hydraulic distributor valve adapted to regulate the flow of pressurized oil to and from this hydraulic actuator so as to control the displacement of the valve between the closed position and the position of maximum opening. In order to provide for the pressurized oil, the electro-hydraulic unit being tested is provided with a hydraulic circuit comprising an oil collection tank, within which the oil to be supplied to the actuators is stored, and a pump unit adapted to supply pressurized oil to the various distributors by taking it directly from the collection tank. The electro-hydraulic unit disclosed in European Patent Application 1 233 152 comprises a slide distributor valve which is able to assume a first operating position in which it brings the linear hydraulic actuator into direct communication with the a collection tank for the fluid at ambient pressure, a second operating position, in which it isolates the linear hydraulic actuator so as to prevent the flow of fluid to and from this actuator and a third operating position in which it brings the linear hydraulic actuator into direct communication with a branch containing the pressurized fluid. The unit as disclosed has the substantial advantage that its structure is particularly simple, which ensures a high degree of reliability over time, thus enabling its use in the automobile engineering sector. However, the tests under way have shown that each valve approaches its relative seat at too high a speed, causing impacts. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine able to limit the above-described drawback. The present invention relates to a method of controlling of the speed of impact of the valves in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine, the electro-hydraulic unit comprising a hydraulic actuator adapted to open a respective valve with a pressurized fluid, a spring opposing the hydraulic actuator in order to close the valve and to discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator to a collection tank, the method being characterized in that the pressure of the fluid is controlled in the hydraulic actuator, during the final phase of closure of the valve. The present invention relates a device for controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine. The present invention relates to a device for controlling of the speed of impact of the valves in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine, the electro-hydraulic unit comprising a hydraulic actuator adapted to open a respective valve with a pressurized fluid, a spring opposing the hydraulic actuator in order to close the valve and to discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator to a collection tank, the device being characterized in that it comprises control means for controlling the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic actuator, during the final phase of closure of the valve. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show various non-limiting embodiments thereof, and in which: FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine; FIG. 2 is a diagram relating to a sequence of positions of various components of the electro-hydraulic unit of FIG. 1; FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams relating to a sequence of positions and speeds assumed by the valve; FIGS. 5 and 6 shows details, on an enlarged scale, of the diagrams of FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively; FIG. 7 is a view in section through a component of the unit of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1, an electro-hydraulic unit for the actuation of the valves 2 of an internal combustion engine M is shown overall by 1. Only one valve 2, coupled to a respective seat 2A, is shown in FIG. 1, although it will be appreciated that the electro-hydraulic unit 1 is adapted to drive all the intake and exhaust valves of the engine M. In this description, the opening of the valve 2 is defined as the phase of transition of the valve 2 from the closed position to the position of maximum opening; the closure of the valve 2 is defined as the phase of transition of the valve 2 from the position of maximum opening to the closed position; and maintenance is defined as the phase during the which the valve 2 remains in the position of maximum opening. The terms opening, closing and maintaining the valve 2 consequently have the same meaning. The unit 1 comprises a hydraulic circuit 3 and a control device 4. In turn, the hydraulic circuit 3 comprises a circuit 5 common to all the valves 2 and a plurality of actuation devices 6, each of which is associated with a respective valve 2. In FIG. 1, for reasons of simplicity, only one device 6 associated with its respective valve 2 is shown. The circuit 5 comprises an oil collection tank 7, a pump unit 8 and two branches 9 and 10 which are supplied with pressurized fluid and along which respective pressure regulators 11 and 12 and respective pressure accumulators 13 and 14 are disposed in sequence. The two branches 9 and 10 of the circuit 5, downstream of the respective accumulators 13 and 14, are connected to the actuation devices 6, each of which comprises a control selector 15, a slide distributor valve 16 and a hydraulic actuator 17 rigidly connected to the valve 2. The selector 15 is connected to the branch 10, the tank 7 and a branch 18 which connects the selector 15 to the slide valve 16 in order to drive this slide valve 16. The slide valve 16 is connected to the branch 9, the tank 7 and a supply branch 19 to the actuator 17 and an exhaust branch 20 from the actuator 17. The branch 19 and the branch 20 are connected by an exhaust branch 21, along which an orifice 22 is disposed. The function of the exhaust branch 21 and the orifice 22 is to slow down the valve 2 during the closing phase and to keep the speed of closure of the valve 2 constant. The slowing down of the valve 2 takes place in particular during the final part of the closing stroke of the valve 2, as will be described below. The selector 15 is a three-way valve controlled by an electromagnet 23 and a spring 24 and is adapted to assume two positions: the spring 24, when the electromagnet 23 is not excited, maintains the selector in the first position, in which the branch 10 is closed off, while the branch 18 is connected to the tank 7 (FIG. 1); the electromagnet 23, when excited, overcomes the force of the spring 24 and disposes the selector 15 in the second position in which the branch 10 is connected to the branch 18. The slide distributor valve 16 is a four-way valve driven by a piston 25 and a spring 26 and is adapted substantially to assume four operating positions shown by P1, P2, P3 and P4 in FIG. 1. Although the slide valve 16 has four operating positions P1, P2, P3 and P4, in practice it has only two stable positions, i.e. the end positions shown by P1 and P4 respectively in FIG. 1. The operating positions P2 and P3 are transit positions between the opposing operating positions P1 and P4. In the operating position P1, the branch 20 is connected to the tank 7, while the branch 9 and the branch 19 are disconnected; in the operating position P2, all the connections are discontinued; in the operating position P3, the branch 9 is connected to the branch 19, while the return branch 20 is closed off: for this reason, the operating position P3 is defined as the actuation position; the operating position P4 again shows the same characteristics as the operating position P2. The linear hydraulic actuator 17 comprises a cylinder 27, a piston 28 connected to the valve 2 and a spring 29 adapted to maintain the valve 2 in the closed position. The cylinder 27 has a head 27a and a jacket 27b, along which a lateral discharge opening 30 is disposed. The piston 28 comprises a top 28a and a lateral surface 28b which, in specific positions, closes off the opening 30 of the piston 28. In order better to understand the operation of the unit 1, it is necessary to describe the slide distributor valve 16 from the constructional point of view with reference to FIG. 7, in which some components of the unit 1 are shown from the constructional point of view and bear the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1. The slide valve 16 comprises a bushing 31 and a slide 32 sliding in the bushing 31 along an axis 33. The branch 19, the branch 9 and the branch 20 communicate with respective series of radial holes 34, 35, and 36 provided in the bushing 31. The radial holes 34, 35 and 36 of each series are distributed about the axis 33, while the series of radial holes 34, 35 and 36 are distributed along the axis 33 with a spacing determined as a function of the geometrical characteristics of the slide 32, which comprises two surfaces 37 and 38 substantially flush with the bushing 31 and separated by a hollow portion 39. In substance, there is a geometrical relationship between the axial extension of the surfaces 37 and 38 and the hollow portion 39 and the axial position of the series of holes 34, 35 and 26 so as to define all the operating positions P1, P2, P3 and P4 of the slide 32. In particular, the dimensions of the slide 32 and the bushing 31 make it possible simultaneously to dispose the hollow portion 39 at the location of both series of holes 34 and 35 and the surface 38 at the location of the series of holes 36, so as to block the return branch 20 and supply the pressurized oil from the branch 9 to the branch 19. The position described corresponds to the operating position P3 of FIG. 1 and is not in practice a stable position of the slide 32: the passage section or opening that the oil can use to move from the branch 9 to the branch 19 is variable as a function of the position of the slide 32. The control device 4 comprises an electronic control unit 40 which, as a function of data detected from the engine M such as, for instance, the number of revolutions RPM and other operating parameters, determines the instant of opening and the instant of closure of each valve 2. The unit 40 therefore controls the electromagnet 23 in order to determine, in cascade, the actuation of the selector 15 of the slide distributor valve 16 and the linear actuator 17. The control device 4 further comprises a sensor 41 of the oil temperature T, a sensor 42 of the position of the slide distributor valve 16 and a sensor 43 of the speed of impact of the valve 2. In FIG. 7, the position sensor 42 comprises two permanent magnets 44 and 45 which are embedded in the slide 32 and are disposed at a distance from one another along the axis 33 equal to the difference between the strokes of the slide 32 needed respectively to open and close the connection between the branch 9 and the branch 19 during the displacement of the slide 32 from left to right in FIG. 7. In substance, the sensor 42 comprises a detector 46 disposed along the bushing 31: the geometry of the slide distributor valve 16 causes the connection between the branch 9 and the branch 19 to begin after the displacement of the slide 32 by a first extent and to be terminated after a displacement of the slide 32 by a second extent. In this way, the detector 46 detects the transit of the magnet 45 (first extent of displacement) which represents the opening of the passage section, and the transit of the magnet 44 which represents the closure of the passage section during a displacement from P1 to P4. For a return displacement from P4 to P1, the details are reversed. In substance, with two thresholds 44 and 45 and a single detector 46, it is possible to identify the opening and closing positions of the passage sections as a result of displacements of the slide 32 in both directions. The sensor 43 is formed by an accelerometer which detects the impact with which the valve 2 is returned to its respective seat 2A. As an alternative, the sensor 43 is a detonation sensor whose detected and filtered signal is correlated with each valve 2. As a result, therefore, of the detonation sensor on the engine M it is possible to detect the speed of impact of each valve 2 of the engine M. The unit 40, as well as controlling the electromagnet 23, also controls the pressure regulators 11 and 12 and the passage section of the orifice 22 of variable section. In operation, the movement of the valve 2 takes place in accordance with the diagram shown in FIG. 2, in which section a) shows the curve A indicative of the displacement (ordinate) of the selector 15 as a function of time (abscissa); section b) shows the curve B indicative of the position (ordinate) of the slide distributor valve 16 and the curve C indicative of the passage section or opening (ordinate) connecting the branch 9 and the branch 19 as a function of time (abscissa); and section c) shows the curve D indicative of the position (ordinate) of the valve 2 as a function of time (abscissa). The sections a), b) and c) are aligned such that the time scales are in phase with one another for all the sections a), b) and c). In this way, it is possible to compare the relations between the positions of the selector 15, the slide distributor valve 16, the effect of the position of the slide distributor valve 16 on the passage section and the position of the valve 2. The operating principle is based on the fact that the unit 40 excites the electromagnet 23 according to a cycle predetermined as a function of the engine point: i.e. operating parameters such as torque, number of revolutions or emissions. In FIG. 2c, the valve 2 has a predetermined time topen needed to open the valve 2 and a predetermined time tclose needed to close the valve 2, at least in part, which are substantially constant and are determined by the equivalent mass and rigidity of the system, where the system is understood as the assembly formed by the piston 28, the valve 2, the spring 29 and the oil contained in the cylinder 27. The times topen and tclose are influenced by the characteristics of the oil and are obtained experimentally. In order to obtain the required trajectory of the valve 2 and, at the same time, minimize energy losses, the opening time of the passage section must correspond to topen during the opening phase of the valve and to the time tclose during the closing phase of the valve 2. However, as noted above, the operating position P3 of the slide distributor valve 16 is not a stable position and therefore, without detecting the position of the slide 32, it is impossible to detect the opening time of the passage section. In practice, as shown in FIG. 2b), the sensor 42 detects two points X1 and X2 of the curve B in order to determine the curve C of the passage section. In practice, the unit 40 detects the times tx1 and tx2 and calculates the time tspo, which is equal to the difference between tx2 and tx1 and represents the time elapsing between the detection of the two points X1 and X2: i.e. the time tspo corresponds to the opening time of the passage section during the opening phase of the valve 2 and may be defined as the actuation time of the actuator 17 during the opening phase of the valve 2. Similarly, the unit 40 calculates the time tspc elapsing between the detection of the two points X2 and X1: the time tspc is equal to the difference between the times tx1 and tx2 and corresponds to the opening time of the passage section during the closing phase of the valve 2 which may be defined as the actuation time of the actuator 17 during the closing phase of the valve 2. Subsequently, the unit 40 calculates the respective differences between the values of tspo and tspc and the values topen and tclose and emits respective error signals Eo and Ec when the differences calculated exceed respective threshold values H and K. With reference to FIG. 1, in the absence of error signals Eo, Ec, the selector 15 operates according to a cycle in which the transition from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the connection position of the branches 10 and 18 determines the opening of the valve 2, the maintenance of the connection between the branches 10 and 18 determines the maintenance of the valve 2 in the open position and the discontinuation of the connection between the branches 10 and 18 determines the closure of the valve 2. With reference to FIG. 2, the unit 40 displaces the selector 15 (portion A1 of curve A) in order to open the valve (portion B1 of curve B of the slide distributor valve 16 and portion D1 of the curve D of the valve 2). Subsequently, in the presence of an error signal Eo, the unit 40 moves the selector 15 (portion A2 of curve A) in order temporarily to discontinue the connection between the branches 10 and 18 in the lift phase after the detection of the point X1 and before the detection of the point X2 in order to delay the closure of the passage opening and synchronize the time tspo with the time topen. The slide distributor valve 16 oscillates (portion B2 of curve B) in the connection position between the branches 9 and 19. While the valve 2 is maintained (portion D2 of curve D, FIG. 2c) in the open position, the selector 15 remains in the connection position between the branches 10 and 18 (portion A3 of curve A, FIG. 2a) with the result that the slide distributor valve 16 is disposed in the operating position P4 (portion B3 of curve B, FIG. 2b). The discontinuation of the connection between the branches 10 and 18 determines the beginning of the closure of the valve 2 (portion D3 of curve D). In the presence of the error signal Ec, the unit 40 temporarily connects the branch 10 to the branch 18 (portion A4 of curve A, FIG. 2a) during the closing phase of the valve 2 after the detection of the point X2 and before the detection of the point X1 in order to delay the closure of the connection between the branches 9 and 19. The slide distributor valve 16 oscillates in the closing phase in the connection position between the branches 9 and 19. In the embodiment described and illustrated in diagram form in FIG. 2, the selector 15 is actuated after the detection of tx1 in order temporarily to disconnect the branches 10 and 18 and vary the connection time tspo during the opening phase. However, this temporary interruption may be carried out before the instant tx1. The unit 40 calculates, at each cycle, the error signals Eo and Ec and possibly adjusts the times Tspo and Tspc of the successive cycle by adapting the displacement of the slide distributor valve 16 as a function of the times topen and tclose. In order to understand the dynamic behavior of the unit 1 it is necessary to bear in mind that during the opening of the valve 2, the assembly formed by the linear actuator 17, in this case the piston 28 and the valve 2, performs, during the predetermined time topen, a stroke greater than that needed to bring about an equilibrium between the force of the spring 29 and the pressure of the circuit 3. This can be attributed to the dynamic behavior of the assembly formed by the piston 28, the valve 2, the spring 29 and the oil. Since, in the opening phase of the valve 2, the connection between the branch 9 and the branch 19 is closed and the return branch 20 is closed off, the time needed to establish an equilibrium between the force of the spring 29 and the force of the pressure of the circuit 3 is not available. In practice, as the spring 29 has been dynamically compressed by more than is necessary, it determines a pressure in the cylinder 27 greater than the pressure of the fluid in the branch 9. This situation means that, in the closing phase of the valve 2 when the branches 9 and 19 are connected to one another, part of the oil contained in the cylinder 27 flows back through the branch 19 to the branch 9. In substance, the branch 19 not only performs the function of a supply branch, but also the function of a return branch. The phase of expulsion of the oil from the actuator 17 via the branch 9 is completed in the predetermined time tclose. This phase of expulsion of the oil via the branch 9 corresponds to the initial phase of closure of the valve 2. It will be appreciated as a result of the friction, the recovery is not complete and the valve 2 is not fully closed at the end of this initial phase. Subsequently, the slide distributor valve 16 reaches the operating position P1, in which the oil contained in the cylinder 27 is initially discharged via the opening 30 and the branch 20 (section D4 of curve D, FIG. 2c). The displacement of the piston 28 during the discharge of the oil to the tank 7 causes the progressive closure of the opening 30 and the residual oil in the cylinder 7 is therefore discharged via the discharge branch 21 and the orifice 22 (section D5 of curve D, FIG. 2b). The function of the orifice 22 is to slow down the descent of the valve 2 and to keep the speed of closure substantially constant. The unit 40 is able to vary the passage section of the orifice in order to regulate the closure speed. The discharge of the oil first via the branch 20 and then via the branches 20 and 21 corresponds to the final phase of closure of the valve 2. FIG. 3 shows, alongside the curve D relating to the displacement of the valve 2 and the curve A relating to the displacement of the selector 15, the curve F relating to the speed of the valve 2. In FIG. 5, the final section F1 of curve F comprises a substantially horizontal section indicating that the speed is constant (approximately 0.35 m/s) and a substantially vertical section indicating the impact (abrupt deceleration). In FIG. 4, the selector 15 is actuated for an instant during the approach phase of the valve 2 in order to modify the final section F2 of the curve F. This has the effect of slowing down the speed to some 0.05 m/s in order to reduce the impact. In substance, the actuation of the selector 15 and, in cascade, the slide distributor valve 16, makes it possible to control the pressure in the cylinder 27 during the final phase of discharge of the oil. From an operating point of view, the sensor 43 obtains a magnitude correlated with the speed of impact V1 and the instant tc in which the valve 2 is closed on its respective seat 2A. The unit 40 obtains the value of the speed of impact V1 and calculates the nominal speed of impact VN which is a function of the number of revolutions RPM of the engine M: for a low number of revolutions RPM, low speeds of impact VI are preferable, while for higher numbers of revolutions, higher speeds of impact VI are tolerable. The control unit 40 calculates the difference between the speed of impact VI and the nominal speed VN. When this difference is greater than a predetermined threshold value S, the unit 40 calculates and emits an error signal Ev in order to dispose the selector 15 instantaneously in the connection position between the branch 10 and the branch 18 during the final phase of closure of the valve 2 and to displace the slide distributor valve 16 from the operating position P1 to the operating position P2 and to discontinue the discharge of the cylinder 27. The time of supply of the pulse takes place an instant before the instant tc detected in the previous cycle. The detection of the instant tc is optional as, on the basis of the cycle assigned, it is possible to predict what the instant of closure of the valve 2 will be. If the reduction of the speed of impact VI is insufficient, in the following cycle, following a further emission of the error signal Ev, the actuation of the selector 15 is prolonged. As an alternative, the actuation period is kept constant and the instant of actuation is varied. As an alternative, the regulation takes place by combining the two actions described above. The repetition of this control may also cause the slide distributor valve 16 to be brought into the position P3 and to supply pressurized oil into the actuator 17 in order to accentuate the deceleration of the valve 2 and further reduce the speed of impact VI. The function of the closed-cycle control is to check whether the speed of impact corresponds to a nominal speed VN. It is thus possible to check whether it is also necessary to increase the speed of impact VI of the previous cycle, for instance when moving from a low to a high number of revolutions of the engine M, in which case the device 4 does not increase the pressure in the cylinder 27. Both the temporary discontinuation of the discharge, and the temporary supply, of oil are part of the method for controlling the pressure during the final phase of discharge by means of the displacement of the slide distributor valve 16. In substance, the control consists in modulating the pressure increase in the cylinder 27 in order to decelerate the descent of the piston 28 and, thus, the closure of the valve 2. In the pressure modulation, it is also possible to omit the pressure increase in the cylinder 27. Two methods of slowing down the speed of closure of the valve in the final phase have been described in this description. The first method uses the orifice 22 provided with a calibrated hole, and the second method is based on the control of the slide distributor valve 16. The first and the second method may be used jointly as described or separately. The closed-cycle control is particularly advantageous, although it will be appreciated that the pressure control in the cylinder 27 during the final discharge phase may also take place in open cycle. Specific reference has been made in this description to the use of oil as a fluid in the hydraulic system, although it will be appreciated that oil could be replaced by any other fluid without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine able to limit the above-described drawback. The present invention relates to a method of controlling of the speed of impact of the valves in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine, the electro-hydraulic unit comprising a hydraulic actuator adapted to open a respective valve with a pressurized fluid, a spring opposing the hydraulic actuator in order to close the valve and to discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator to a collection tank, the method being characterized in that the pressure of the fluid is controlled in the hydraulic actuator, during the final phase of closure of the valve. The present invention relates a device for controlling the speed of the valves of an internal combustion engine. The present invention relates to a device for controlling of the speed of impact of the valves in an electro-hydraulic actuation unit for the valves of an internal combustion engine, the electro-hydraulic unit comprising a hydraulic actuator adapted to open a respective valve with a pressurized fluid, a spring opposing the hydraulic actuator in order to close the valve and to discharge the fluid from the hydraulic actuator to a collection tank, the device being characterized in that it comprises control means for controlling the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic actuator, during the final phase of closure of the valve. | 20040622 | 20060808 | 20050203 | 70810.0 | 0 | RIDDLE, KYLE M | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF THE VALVES OF AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,878 | ACCEPTED | Intuitive energy management of a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal | The method, terminal and computer program product of the present invention are capable of adjusting the power consumption of short-range communication transceivers, such as RFID, IR transceivers or the like. Energy management of the transceiver is achieved by limiting activation of the transceiver to periods of user-interface illumination. The transceiver, therefore, uses less power because it is only activated by an intentional gesture by the user, i.e., a gesture that will initiate the illumination of a user-interface. In addition, the user of terminal is aware, via observation of the illumination, that the terminal is in an active transceiver reading state and, thus, the invention provides for a safe environment in which inadvertent reading of tags or data communication is lessened. | 1. A mobile terminal apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a user-interface having illumination capability; a short-range communication transceiver; and a processor in communication with the user-interface and the transceiver that controls illumination of the user-interface and provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon illumination of the user-interface. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user-interface is further defined as a display. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user-interface is further defined as a keyboard. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor that provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon illumination of the user-interface further defines the transceiver-controlling input as an activating input. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor that provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon illumination of the user-interface further defines the transceiver-controlling input as a cycle activating input. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, herein the processor that provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface further defines the transceiver-controlling input as a de-activating input. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sensor in communication with the processor that detects motion of the terminal such that the processor will control illumination of the user-interface upon sensing of a minimum motion threshold. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprises a sensor in communication with the processor that detects motion of the terminal such that the processor will control activation of the transceiver upon sensing of a minimum motion threshold. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a dedicated key in communication with the processor that, upon activation, controls illumination of the user-interface. 11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a dedicated key in communication with the processor that, upon activation, controls activation of the transceiver. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a keyboard having a plurality of keypads, wherein activation of any one of the plurality of keypads provides illumination to the user-interface. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a voice recognition module in communication with the processor that provides for voice activation of the illumination of the user-interface. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a voice recognition module in communication with the processor that provides for voice activation of the transceiver. 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short-range communication transceiver is further defined as chosen from the group of short-range communication transceivers consisting of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) transceiver, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) transceiver, Bluetooth transceiver and an Infrared (IR) transceiver. 16. A method for controlling activation of a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of: providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal; illuminating a user-interface of the mobile terminal; and activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further comprises activating any one of a plurality of keys on a mobile terminal keyboard. 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further comprises activating a dedicated illuminating key on the mobile terminal. 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further comprises providing a motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal. 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of illuminating a user-interface of the mobile terminal further comprises illuminating a display of the mobile terminal. 21. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of illuminating a user-interface of the mobile terminal further comprises illuminating a keyboard of the mobile terminal. 22. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of de-activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time. 23. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of de-activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal upon de-illumination of the user-interface. 24. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface further comprises activating a transceiver cycle. 25. A computer program product for activating a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code routines stored therein, the computer-readable program code routines comprising: a first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal; a second executable routine capable of illuminating a user-interface in response to the detection of the illuminating input; and a third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface. 26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further defines the illuminating input as activation of any one of a plurality of keys on a keyboard of the mobile terminal. 27. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further defines the illuminating input as activation of a dedicated illuminating key on the mobile terminal. 28. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal further defines the illuminating input as a motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal. 29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the second executable routine capable of illuminating a user-interface in response to the detection of the illuminating input further defines the user-interface as a display of the mobile terminal. 30. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the second executable routine capable of illuminating a user-interface in response to the detection of the illuminating input further defines the user-interface as a keyboard of the mobile terminal. 31. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface further provides the capability to de-activate the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time. 32. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface further provides the capability to de-activate the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal upon de-illumination of the user-interface. 33. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface further defines activating the transceiver as activating a transceiver cycle. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the energy management of battery-powered devices, and more particularly, relates to the optimization of power consumption by short-range communication equipment in the devices, such as, for example a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader, associated with a mobile terminal. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Short-range communication equipment, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers are becoming more prominent in a wide variety of mobile digital devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, pagers and other mobile devices. The NFC transceivers provide the devices with the ability to communicate via RFID, Bluetooth®, infrared, Ultra Wideband or other types of near field communication dependent upon the type of transceiver associated with the mobile device. Continuous active operation of any type of short-range communication equipment, such as, for example a NFC system, however, consumes significant amounts of power. Power is consumed at high rates because NFC systems, such as RFID readers, read passive transponders, also referred to as “tags”, which have no battery of their own. As such, the reader needs to generate a strong electric field that is then used to inductively power the actual tag. The problem with energy consumption is exasperated by the fact that the bigger the reader is, and the longer the reading distance is (i.e. distance from the tag), the more power the reader uses. Shrinking the reader so that the reading distance is only about two centimeters (approximately the minimum allowable distance for usefulness of the system to be maintained) does help limit the amount of power used. However, the power required to create the electric field is still extensive, and thus the field cannot be active continuously. Therefore, in a typical mobile device with short-range communication capabilities the device is prone to require a larger power supply and/or more frequent charging of the power supply, as compared to the mobile device that is not equipped to communicate via a short-range medium. Both larger power supplies and more frequent power supply charging are not viable alternatives in the mobile environment. Larger power supplies lead to larger mobile devices, which is counter-intuitive to the general mobile concept that “smaller is better” or at least more practical. In the same regard, frequent charging of the mobile device power supply is inconvenient for the user and reduces the lifetime expectancy of the power supply. The intuitive solution to energy management in mobile terminal incorporating short-range systems is to keep the electric field turned off for a majority of the time, and activate, i.e., “wake” the device only on regular intervals. For example, a typical low frequency RFID reader runs on a 3 Hz scan cycle; meaning that it is activated, i.e., “wakes up”, once every 330 ms to check for tags, in the general vicinity. With current technology, this type of repetitive activation can add up to upwards of 20 percent of the power consumed by the mobile device. However, in the vast majority of instances the wake-up period results in no transponders being available, so that the power that is consumed is unwarranted. As such, there is a need in the industry to conserve the power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication to permit utilization of conventional power supplies and typical power supply charging schedules for the mobile devices. Various attempts have been made to address power management in mobile devices and particularly those devices that are associated with NFC. One type of power-conserving method has been implemented for RFID short-range communication. The method involves limiting the “reading” of the identification RFID transponder (also referred to as the tag) to only a portion of the transponder/tag, and if the RFID reader identifies that it has previously read the tag based upon the identification portion, the RFID reader does not read the rest of the tag. While this power-conserving method is helpful, the RFID reader still consumes more power than desired and the method does not address the problem of continual active operation. In another recently developed power conservation method, an appropriate sensor measures the movement of the mobile device and active read operations continue while the movement of the device is unknown. When the movement of the device is identified, however, one or more of the subunits of the device is changed from an active operation mode to a sleep operation mode, where the sleep operation mode consumes less power than the active operation mode. The device then stays in the sleep operation mode while the movement of the device is known, then changes back to the active operation mode when the movement of the device becomes unknown. Again, while this power-conserving method is helpful, the device still consumes more power than desired because the device is in an active operation mode anytime the movement is unknown, which amounts to most of the time that the device is in use due to the “mobile” nature of the device. In addition to energy management it is also highly beneficial for the user of the mobile terminal to be aware of when the transceiver/reader is in an active reading state. Without knowledge of when the transceiver/reader is active, it is possible for the mobile terminal to unknowingly encounter a transponder and have data associated with the mobile terminal unexpectedly accessed and communicated to unwanted third parties. The obvious solution would be to implement a button, or a soft key, which when activated by the user turns on the transceiver/reader, or have an application internal to the terminal alert the user when the transceiver/reader is active. However, in many instances these solutions are insufficient, in that, the user experience suffers from such extraneous interaction with the device. Thus, there is a need for techniques that permit greater conservation of power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication so that the mobile device does not need a larger power supply or frequent power supply charging. In addition the preferred method should provide for intuitive use and clear user control, thereby eliminating the likelihood of the transceiver being activated in unwarranted situations. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides techniques for greater conservation of power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers/readers. As such, the mobile devices that implement the invention do not require a larger power supply or frequent charging of the power supply as a means of offsetting the higher power consumption attributed to short-range communication. In addition the present invention provides users an intuitive form of acknowledgement that the short-range communication transceiver/reader has been activated. In particular, the present invention utilizes the existing abilities of a mobile device, specifically the illumination of a user-interface, such as a display and/or keyboard and provides for the activation of the transceiver/reader in conjunction with the illumination of the user-interface. One embodiment of the invention is defined by a mobile terminal apparatus. The mobile terminal will typically be a cellular telephone device, which may include other devices or the mobile terminal may be any other mobile device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), pager, laptop computer or the like. The mobile terminal will include a short-range communication transceiver, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetoothg (communication at 2.4 GHz), or Infrared (IR) transceiver or the like. Additionally, the mobile terminal will include a user-interface having illumination capability and a processor in communication with the user-interface and the transceiver. The processor controls illumination of the user-interface and provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon illumination of the user-interface. Typically, the user-interface is defined as the display or the keyboard/keypad, although any other user-interface within the mobile terminal capable of illumination will also suffice. The transceiver-controlling input will typically be an activating input. The activating input may provide for continuous operation of the transceiver/reader or the activating input may trigger the initiation of an activation cycle (i.e., in which the transceiver/reader is activated at short intervals). Additionally, the processor will typically provide a transceiver-controlling input, in the form of a de-activating input, to the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. In this regard, the transceiver/reader will only remain activate for the duration of the illumination period. In other embodiments of the invention the transceiver/reader may be configured to remain in an active mode, either continuous or cyclic, for a predetermined period, which may or may not exceed the duration of the illumination. Typically, the user-interface will be illuminated by activating any one of the plurality of keys on a mobile terminal keyboard. However, other means of illuminating the user-interface(s) are also possible. For example, the apparatus may additionally include a sensor, such as a motion sensor, a dedicated key, a voice recognition module or the like that provide illuminating inputs to the processor. Additionally, the apparatus may incorporate alternate means for activating/deactivating the transceiver. For example, the apparatus may be provided with a dedicated key, context sensors, motion sensors, voice recognition modules or the like that provided an additional means for activating/deactivating the transceiver. These additional means may be necessary in those instances in which the user desires, for security purpose or otherwise, to override the illumination activation of the transceiver. The invention is also embodied in a method for controlling a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal. The method includes the steps of providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal, illuminating a user-interface of the mobile terminal and activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface. Providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal is typically intuitive act on the part of the terminal user. In most applications, the illuminating input will involve activating or engaging any one of a plurality of keys on a mobile terminal keyboard. In alternate embodiments the illuminating input may include activating a dedicated key on the mobile terminal, providing a motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal. Based on the illuminating input step, the method provides for a user-interface to be illuminated. The user-interface may be a display, a keyboard or key pad or any other user-interface capable of illumination. The step of activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface may involve activating the transceiver continuously or it may involve activating a cycle, whereby the transceiver is activated at short intervals. The method may further include the step of de-activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time or de-activating the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. An alternate embodiment of the invention is defined by a computer program product for activating a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal. The computer program product will include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code routines stored therein. The computer-readable program code routines include a first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal, a second executable routine capable of illuminating a user-interface in response to the detection of the illuminating input and a third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface. The user-interface may be a terminal display, a terminal keyboard/keypad or any other user-interface capable of illumination. The first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal will typically define the illuminating input as activation of any one of a plurality of keys on a keyboard of the mobile terminal. In addition, the routine may define the illuminating input as activation of a dedicated key on the mobile terminal, providing motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal, a voice recognition command to illuminate the interface or any other suitable illuminating input. The third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface may also provide the capability to de-activate the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time or to de-activate the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. In some embodiments the transceiver will remain activate as long as the user-interface remains illuminated. In other embodiments, the activation of the transceiver may time-out prior to or after the user-interface has been de-illuminated. Additionally, activation of the transceiver may be continuous activation or the activation may be a cyclic in nature. Thus, the method, terminal and computer program product of the present invention are capable of adjusting the power consumption of short-range communication transceivers, such as RFID, Bluetooth®, IR transceivers or the like. Energy management of the transceiver is achieved by limiting activation of the transceiver to periods of user-interface illumination. The transceiver, therefore, uses less power because it is only activated by an intentional gesture by the user, i.e., a gesture that will initiate the illumination of a user-interface. In addition, the user of terminal is aware, via observation of the illumination, that the terminal is in an active transceiver reading state and, thus, the invention provides for a safe environment in which inadvertent reading of tags or data communication is lessened. Due to the adjustment of power consumption, the present invention conserves power of the mobile terminals associated with transceivers, which permits the mobile terminals and transceiver to operate longer without requiring charging or replacement of the power supply as compared to mobile terminals associated with transceiver that do not use these techniques. As such, the present invention provides for an energy saving process that is easy to implement and intuitive to the user of the device, in that, the user can activate the transceivers by providing an intentional illuminating input directed at the terminal and receive tactile feedback from the device, in the form of illumination, that the transceivers have been successfully activated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications network that would benefit from embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic block diagram of a mobile terminal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a mobile terminal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating various steps in a method for activating a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The present invention is defined by methods, terminals and computer programs that provide for greater conservation of power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication equipment, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers and the like. In particular, the techniques for power conservation of the present invention provide for the transceiver/reader to be automatically activated in conjunction with the illumination of a user-interface, such as a display or a keyboard and to, typically, remain active only during periods when the user-interface is illuminated. By limiting the active state of the transceiver/reader to periods of display/keyboard illumination, the present invention is able to leverage itself from pre-existing energy management algorithms executed in the mobile terminal for limiting the period of time that a user-interface is illuminated. In addition, the user of the mobile terminal benefits from the intuitive nature of the transceiver/reader activation, in that, the user is aware of the transceiver/reader is an active read mode if the user-interface is illuminated. Referring to FIG. 1, an illustration is provided of a communication network 100 that implements a mobile terminal having short-range communication capabilities. Such a mobile terminal will generally benefit from the embodiment of the present invention. As disclosed, the system, terminal and method embodiments of the present invention will be primarily described in conjunction with mobile communications applications. It should be understood, however, that the systems, terminals and methods of the present invention may be utilized in conjunction with a variety of other applications, both in the mobile communication environment and outside of the mobile communication environment. For example, the system, terminal and method of the present invention can be utilized in conjunction with wireline and/or wireless network applications. Referring to FIG. 1, a terminal 10 may include a network antenna 12 for transmitting signals to and for receiving signals from a base site or base station (BS) 14. The base station is a part of a cellular network that includes elements required to operate the network, such as a mobile switching center (MSC) 16. As is known by those of ordinary skill in the art of telecommunications, the cellular network may also be referred to as a Base Station, Mobile Switching Center and Interworking function (BMI) 18. In operation, the MSC is capable of routing calls and messages to and from the terminal when the terminal is making and receiving calls. The MSC also provides a connection to landline trunks when the terminal is involved in a call. Further, the MSC can, but need not, be coupled to a server GTW 20 (Gateway). The MSC 16 can be coupled to a network, such as a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN). The MSC can be coupled to the network directly, or if the system includes a GTW 20 (as shown), the MSC can be coupled to the network via the GTW. In one typical embodiment, for example, the MSC is coupled to the GTW, and the GTW is coupled to a WAN, such as the Internet 22. In turn, devices such as processing elements (e.g., personal computers, server computers or the like) can be coupled to the terminal 10 via the Internet. For example, the processing elements can include one or more processing elements associated with an origin server 24. In addition to cellular network communication, the terminal 10 may be equipped to communicate with other devices via short-range communication techniques. In the FIG. 1 embodiment the terminal 10 communicates with transponder 26 and device 28 equipped with internal short-range transceiver 30 through a short-range interface. As will be appreciated, the electronic devices and transponders can comprise any of a number of different known devices and transponders capable of transmitting and/or receiving data in accordance with any of a number of different NFC techniques. For example, the NFC technique may include RFID, Bluetooth®, infrared, IrDA (Infrared Data Association), UWB (Ultra Wideband) or the like. The electronic device 28 may include any of a number of different devices, including other mobile terminals, and wireless accessories, portable digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers and other types of electronic systems. Likewise, for example, the transponders can comprise Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags or the like. Reference is now made to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a mobile terminal apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the mobile terminal illustrated and hereinafter described is merely illustrative of one type of terminal that would benefit from the present invention and, therefore, should not be taken to limit the scope of the present invention. While several embodiments of the terminal are illustrated and will be hereinafter described for purposes of example, other types of terminals, such as portable digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers and other types of electronic systems, can readily employ the present invention. The mobile terminal 10 will include user-interfaces, such as display 100 and/or keyboard 110 that are capable of illumination. The user-interfaces, being visible to the terminal user, are typically embodied on the exterior surfaces of the terminal. The mobile terminal will additionally include a short-range transceiver 120 that is in communication with a central processing unit or processor 130. The processor directs the short range transceiver to communicate and receive short-range, also referred to as near field, communications wirelessly in response to communications transmitted from transponders, also referred to as tags, that are in the general vicinity of the mobile terminal. The processor also controls the illumination of the user-interfaces. In the illustrated embodiment the processing unit executes an illumination control module 140 that controls the illumination of the user-interface(s). Illumination inputs to the control module will typically involve activation or engagement of any one of the plurality of keys included in the terminal's keyboard. Additionally, other forms of illumination inputs are also possible, such as a dedicated key for affecting illumination, motion detection that is sensed by an internal motion sensor (not shown in FIG. 2), voice recognition by an internal voice recognition module (not shown in FIG. 2), any other form of contextual recognition and the like. Additionally, other mobile terminal routines or modules may also possess the capability to activate illumination of the user-interfaces. Examples of other terminal routines include, but are not limited to electronic messaging, such as Short Message Service (SMS) messaging, an alarm clock routine or the like. In such instances, the illumination of the user-interfaces will also trigger the activation of the short-range transceiver. For example, a messaging service may deliver a dialog box to a terminal which reads, “Please touch the tag” and the opening of the dialog box would illuminate the user-interface, and thus activate the short-range transceiver, as well. Once the processor 130 receives illuminating signals from the illumination control module it will provide illumination to the requisite user-interface and the processor will communicate to the transceiver control module 150 an illumination signal. The illumination signal will trigger the transceiver control module to send a transceiver controlling input to the processor, which in turn sends an input to the transceiver 120. In most embodiments, the illumination of the user-interface will result in the transceiver control module sending an activation signal to the transceiver. The activation signal may be for continuous activation of the transceiver or the activation may be for a predefined cycle, such as once every 330 milliseconds. Additionally, the activation period of the transceiver may be for a predefined period, as signaled by an appropriate time-out or the activation period may be defined by the period of illumination of the user-interface. In instances, in which the activation period is defined by the period of illumination, the illumination control module 140 will send a signal to the processor upon de-illumination and the processor will then forward a signal to the transceiver control module to trigger the deactivation of the transceiver. It is noted that de-illumination will typically occur after a predefined time-out period or de-illumination may occur by an intentional user input to the terminal. It is also noted that the mobile terminal may include other means, besides the illumination activating means, for activating or deactivating the transceiver. Other means of deactivating the transceiver may be necessary to override the activation that is caused by illuminating the user-interface. This is especially true in an environment in which the user desires to either access the display or the keyboard but does not desire, for security purposes or otherwise, to read or communicate with tags currently in the vicinity of the terminal. Other means of activation deactivation of the transceiver may include a dedicated key, motion sensing activation, contextual sensing activation, voice recognition or the like. For a more detailed discussion of contextual sensing activation see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/687,146, filed Oct. 16, 2003, entitled, “Method, Apparatus And Computer Program Product For Adjusting Power Consumption Of A RFID Reader Associated With A Mobile Terminal”, in the name of inventors Jalkanan et al., and assigned to the same entity as the present invention. That application is herein incorporated by reference as if setforth fully herein. For a more detailed discussion of motion sensing activation see U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed Jan. 26, 2004, entitled, “Method, Apparatus and Computer Program Product for Intuitive Energy Management of a Short-Range Communication Transceiver Associated with a Mobile Terminal”, in the name of inventors Linjama et al., and assigned to the same entity as the present invention. That application is herein incorporated by reference as if setforth fully herein. In alternate embodiments of the invention the illumination control module 140 and the transceiver control module 150 may be replaced by dedicated control logic for controlling the illumination inputs and/or for controlling the transceiver based on illumination inputs. Reference is now made to FIG. 3, a more detailed block diagram showing ancillary components of the mobile terminal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the mobile terminal 10 will include an antenna 200 that transmits and receives wireless communications. In the illustrated embodiment the antenna is in communication with both the short-range transceiver 120 and a network transceiver 210. The network transceiver is responsible for communications other than short-range communications, such as cellular network communications and the like. The network transceiver will typically be configured to communicate signaling information in accordance with the air interface standard of the applicable cellular system, and also user speech and/or user generated data. In this regard, the mobile terminal can be capable of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, the mobile terminal may be capable of operating in accordance with any of a number of first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G and/or third-generation (3G) communication protocols or the like. For example, the mobile terminal may be capable of operating in accordance with 2G wireless communication protocols IS-136 (TDMA), GSM, and IS-95 (CDMA). Some narrow-band AMPS (NAMPS), as well as TACS, mobile terminals may also benefit from the teaching of this invention, as should dual or higher mode telephones (e.g., digital/analog or TDMA/CDMA/analog telephones). The transceivers are in communication with and controlled by the central processing unit 130. In certain embodiments, the short-range transceiver 120 and/or the network transceiver 210 may be embodied in the processor 130. The short-range transceiver may be associated with the mobile terminal in any manner known to those skilled in the art. For example, in some embodiments, the transceiver may be integrated in the mobile terminal or may be separate from, but in communication with, the mobile terminal, such as via any type of wireline and/or wireless techniques. The mobile terminal can therefore additionally or alternatively be capable of transmitting data to and/or receiving data from electronic devices and/or transponders. Although not shown, the mobile terminal may additionally or alternatively be capable of transmitting and/or receiving data from electronic devices and/or transponders according to a number of different wireless networking techniques, including, but not limited to, for example, WLAN techniques such as IEEE 802.11 techniques or the like. The central processor 130 will typically include both processing and controller functionality. The processing function will be responsible for processing data associated with the illumination module 140 and the transceiver control module, depicted in FIG. 3, by way of example, as RFID reader module 150. The transceiver control module, in combination with the short-range transceiver is used to communicate with proximate transponders, such as RFID tags. The controller function of the processor will typically include the circuitry required for implementing the audio and logic functions of the mobile terminal. For example, the controller may be comprised of a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) device, a microprocessor device, various analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, and other support circuits. The control and signal processing functions of the mobile terminal are allocated between these devices according to their respective capabilities. The controller may additionally include an internal voice coder, and may include an internal data modem. Further, the controller may include the functionally to operate one or more software programs, which may be stored in memory (described below). For example, the controller may be capable of operating a connectivity program, such as a conventional Web browser. The connectivity program may then allow the mobile terminal to transmit and receive Web content, such as according to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and/or the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), for example. The mobile terminal also comprises user-interfaces including a display 100, and a user input interface, such as keyboard 110, all of which are in communication with the processor 130. The user input interface, which allows the mobile terminal to receive data, can comprise any of a number of devices allowing the mobile terminal to receive data, such as a keypad, a touch display (not shown) or other input device. In embodiments including a keypad, the keypad includes the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other keys used for operating the mobile terminal. Although not shown, the mobile terminal can include a battery, such as a vibrating battery pack, for powering the various circuits that are required to operate the mobile terminal, as well as optionally providing mechanical vibration as a detectable output. The mobile terminal can further include memory 220, such as a subscriber identity module (SIM), a removable user identity module (R-UIM) or the like, which typically stores information elements related to a mobile subscriber. In addition to the SIM, the mobile terminal can include other removable and/or fixed memory. In this regard, the mobile terminal can include volatile memory, such as volatile Random Access Memory (RAM) including a cache area for the temporary storage of data. The mobile terminal can also include non-volatile storage 230, which can be embedded and/or may be removable. The non-volatile storage can additionally or alternatively comprise an EEPROM, flash memory or the like. The memory and storage can store any of a number of pieces of information, and data, used by the mobile terminal to implement the functions of the mobile terminal. The storage can also store one or more applications capable of operating on the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal may also be equipped with a near field communication transponder/tag 240 and associated transponder/tag memory 250. The transponder contains data that is accessible by other terminals having short-range communication capabilities, such that data related to the transponder is communicated wirelessly via the short-range transceiver 120. FIG. 4 illustrates various steps in a method for reading a short-range communication in a mobile terminal equipped with an illumination activating transceiver, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the described embodiment the transceiver/reader period of activation coincides with the period of illumination of the user interface. Thus, the user of the terminal must be certain that the contents of a tag that they desire have been read during a period in which the interface is illuminated. At step 300, the method is initiated by the user determining whether or not a user interface associated with the terminal, such as a display, is illuminated. If the user interface is not illuminated then, at step 310, the user will illuminate the interface by conducting the appropriate illuminating input, such as engaging any key on the keyboard. If the user interface is illuminated then, at step 320 the user may determine whether the illumination will stay illuminated for the period required to use the NFC communication. Typically, NFC communication will require a period of about 5 seconds. If the user believes that the illumination will time-out prior to the five second period, the user may desire to reset the illumination of the interface. In this instance, as a precautionary measure, the user will return to step 310 and the user will conduct the appropriate illuminating input act to assure that the transceiver/reader stays active for the requisite tag reading period. It is also possible to provide for the transceiver/reader to remain activate for a short period of time, for example about 2 to 3 seconds after the illumination of the user-interface has been extinguished. This provision reduces user error situations, in which the user perceives the interface as being illuminated but the interface de-illuminates during the read process. Once the illuminating input act has been conducted or the user assures that that interface will remain illuminated for the required period then, at step 330, the NFC reader is used to read the contents of a transponder/tag in the vicinity of the terminal. At this stage the terminal should be located proximate the tag to insure proper communication between the transponder and the transceiver. At stage 340, the user will wait until a feedback signal is received from the terminal indicating that the tag has been read. The feedback signal may come in the form of an audible signal, a visual signal, such as an additional illumination or graphical representation on the display. At step 350, a determination is made by the user as to whether or not the feedback signal has been received from the terminal. If no signal has been received, the user will perceive that the tag has not been read and will return to step 300 to determine whether or not the interface is still illuminated. In most instances the interface will not be illuminated at this stage and the user will need to provide for the illumination of the interface. If the receives the feedback signal, then at stage 360 the user can consider the tag as being read and continue with normal terminal operation. In this regard, FIGS. 2-4 provide for methods, systems and program products according to the invention. It will be understood that each block or step of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s) or step(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart block(s) or step(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s) or step(s). Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowcharts support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block or step of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks or steps in the flowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. Thus, the method, terminal and computer program product of the present invention are capable of adjusting the power consumption of short-range communication transceivers, such as RFID, Bluetooth®, IR, UWB transceivers or the like. Energy management of the transceiver is achieved by limiting activation of the transceiver to periods of user-interface illumination. The transceiver, therefore, uses less power because it is only activated by an intentional gesture by the user, i.e., a gesture that will initiate the illumination of a user-interface. In addition, the user of terminal is aware, via observation of the illumination, that the terminal is in an active transceiver reading state and, thus, the invention provides for a safe environment in which inadvertent reading of tags or data communication is lessened. Due to the adjustment of power consumption, the present invention conserves power of the mobile terminals associated with transceivers, which permits the mobile terminals and transceiver to operate longer without requiring charging or replacement of the power supply as compared to mobile terminals associated with transceiver that do not use these techniques. As such, the present invention provides for an energy saving process that is easy to implement and intuitive to the user of the device, in that, the user can activate the transceivers by providing an intentional illuminating input directed at the terminal and receive tactile feedback from the device, in the form of illumination, that the transceivers have been successfully activated. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the cope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Short-range communication equipment, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers are becoming more prominent in a wide variety of mobile digital devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, pagers and other mobile devices. The NFC transceivers provide the devices with the ability to communicate via RFID, Bluetooth®, infrared, Ultra Wideband or other types of near field communication dependent upon the type of transceiver associated with the mobile device. Continuous active operation of any type of short-range communication equipment, such as, for example a NFC system, however, consumes significant amounts of power. Power is consumed at high rates because NFC systems, such as RFID readers, read passive transponders, also referred to as “tags”, which have no battery of their own. As such, the reader needs to generate a strong electric field that is then used to inductively power the actual tag. The problem with energy consumption is exasperated by the fact that the bigger the reader is, and the longer the reading distance is (i.e. distance from the tag), the more power the reader uses. Shrinking the reader so that the reading distance is only about two centimeters (approximately the minimum allowable distance for usefulness of the system to be maintained) does help limit the amount of power used. However, the power required to create the electric field is still extensive, and thus the field cannot be active continuously. Therefore, in a typical mobile device with short-range communication capabilities the device is prone to require a larger power supply and/or more frequent charging of the power supply, as compared to the mobile device that is not equipped to communicate via a short-range medium. Both larger power supplies and more frequent power supply charging are not viable alternatives in the mobile environment. Larger power supplies lead to larger mobile devices, which is counter-intuitive to the general mobile concept that “smaller is better” or at least more practical. In the same regard, frequent charging of the mobile device power supply is inconvenient for the user and reduces the lifetime expectancy of the power supply. The intuitive solution to energy management in mobile terminal incorporating short-range systems is to keep the electric field turned off for a majority of the time, and activate, i.e., “wake” the device only on regular intervals. For example, a typical low frequency RFID reader runs on a 3 Hz scan cycle; meaning that it is activated, i.e., “wakes up”, once every 330 ms to check for tags, in the general vicinity. With current technology, this type of repetitive activation can add up to upwards of 20 percent of the power consumed by the mobile device. However, in the vast majority of instances the wake-up period results in no transponders being available, so that the power that is consumed is unwarranted. As such, there is a need in the industry to conserve the power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication to permit utilization of conventional power supplies and typical power supply charging schedules for the mobile devices. Various attempts have been made to address power management in mobile devices and particularly those devices that are associated with NFC. One type of power-conserving method has been implemented for RFID short-range communication. The method involves limiting the “reading” of the identification RFID transponder (also referred to as the tag) to only a portion of the transponder/tag, and if the RFID reader identifies that it has previously read the tag based upon the identification portion, the RFID reader does not read the rest of the tag. While this power-conserving method is helpful, the RFID reader still consumes more power than desired and the method does not address the problem of continual active operation. In another recently developed power conservation method, an appropriate sensor measures the movement of the mobile device and active read operations continue while the movement of the device is unknown. When the movement of the device is identified, however, one or more of the subunits of the device is changed from an active operation mode to a sleep operation mode, where the sleep operation mode consumes less power than the active operation mode. The device then stays in the sleep operation mode while the movement of the device is known, then changes back to the active operation mode when the movement of the device becomes unknown. Again, while this power-conserving method is helpful, the device still consumes more power than desired because the device is in an active operation mode anytime the movement is unknown, which amounts to most of the time that the device is in use due to the “mobile” nature of the device. In addition to energy management it is also highly beneficial for the user of the mobile terminal to be aware of when the transceiver/reader is in an active reading state. Without knowledge of when the transceiver/reader is active, it is possible for the mobile terminal to unknowingly encounter a transponder and have data associated with the mobile terminal unexpectedly accessed and communicated to unwanted third parties. The obvious solution would be to implement a button, or a soft key, which when activated by the user turns on the transceiver/reader, or have an application internal to the terminal alert the user when the transceiver/reader is active. However, in many instances these solutions are insufficient, in that, the user experience suffers from such extraneous interaction with the device. Thus, there is a need for techniques that permit greater conservation of power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication so that the mobile device does not need a larger power supply or frequent power supply charging. In addition the preferred method should provide for intuitive use and clear user control, thereby eliminating the likelihood of the transceiver being activated in unwarranted situations. | <SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides techniques for greater conservation of power in mobile devices associated with short-range communication, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers/readers. As such, the mobile devices that implement the invention do not require a larger power supply or frequent charging of the power supply as a means of offsetting the higher power consumption attributed to short-range communication. In addition the present invention provides users an intuitive form of acknowledgement that the short-range communication transceiver/reader has been activated. In particular, the present invention utilizes the existing abilities of a mobile device, specifically the illumination of a user-interface, such as a display and/or keyboard and provides for the activation of the transceiver/reader in conjunction with the illumination of the user-interface. One embodiment of the invention is defined by a mobile terminal apparatus. The mobile terminal will typically be a cellular telephone device, which may include other devices or the mobile terminal may be any other mobile device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), pager, laptop computer or the like. The mobile terminal will include a short-range communication transceiver, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetoothg (communication at 2.4 GHz), or Infrared (IR) transceiver or the like. Additionally, the mobile terminal will include a user-interface having illumination capability and a processor in communication with the user-interface and the transceiver. The processor controls illumination of the user-interface and provides a transceiver-controlling input to the transceiver upon illumination of the user-interface. Typically, the user-interface is defined as the display or the keyboard/keypad, although any other user-interface within the mobile terminal capable of illumination will also suffice. The transceiver-controlling input will typically be an activating input. The activating input may provide for continuous operation of the transceiver/reader or the activating input may trigger the initiation of an activation cycle (i.e., in which the transceiver/reader is activated at short intervals). Additionally, the processor will typically provide a transceiver-controlling input, in the form of a de-activating input, to the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. In this regard, the transceiver/reader will only remain activate for the duration of the illumination period. In other embodiments of the invention the transceiver/reader may be configured to remain in an active mode, either continuous or cyclic, for a predetermined period, which may or may not exceed the duration of the illumination. Typically, the user-interface will be illuminated by activating any one of the plurality of keys on a mobile terminal keyboard. However, other means of illuminating the user-interface(s) are also possible. For example, the apparatus may additionally include a sensor, such as a motion sensor, a dedicated key, a voice recognition module or the like that provide illuminating inputs to the processor. Additionally, the apparatus may incorporate alternate means for activating/deactivating the transceiver. For example, the apparatus may be provided with a dedicated key, context sensors, motion sensors, voice recognition modules or the like that provided an additional means for activating/deactivating the transceiver. These additional means may be necessary in those instances in which the user desires, for security purpose or otherwise, to override the illumination activation of the transceiver. The invention is also embodied in a method for controlling a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal. The method includes the steps of providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal, illuminating a user-interface of the mobile terminal and activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface. Providing an illuminating input to the mobile terminal is typically intuitive act on the part of the terminal user. In most applications, the illuminating input will involve activating or engaging any one of a plurality of keys on a mobile terminal keyboard. In alternate embodiments the illuminating input may include activating a dedicated key on the mobile terminal, providing a motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal. Based on the illuminating input step, the method provides for a user-interface to be illuminated. The user-interface may be a display, a keyboard or key pad or any other user-interface capable of illumination. The step of activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal based upon illumination of the user-interface may involve activating the transceiver continuously or it may involve activating a cycle, whereby the transceiver is activated at short intervals. The method may further include the step of de-activating the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time or de-activating the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. An alternate embodiment of the invention is defined by a computer program product for activating a short-range communication transceiver associated with a mobile terminal. The computer program product will include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code routines stored therein. The computer-readable program code routines include a first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal, a second executable routine capable of illuminating a user-interface in response to the detection of the illuminating input and a third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface. The user-interface may be a terminal display, a terminal keyboard/keypad or any other user-interface capable of illumination. The first executable routine capable of detecting an illuminating input to the mobile terminal will typically define the illuminating input as activation of any one of a plurality of keys on a keyboard of the mobile terminal. In addition, the routine may define the illuminating input as activation of a dedicated key on the mobile terminal, providing motion to the terminal to activate a motion sensor in the mobile terminal, a voice recognition command to illuminate the interface or any other suitable illuminating input. The third executable routine capable of activating the transceiver based upon illumination of the user-interface may also provide the capability to de-activate the transceiver associated with the mobile terminal after a predetermined period of time or to de-activate the transceiver upon de-illumination of the user-interface. In some embodiments the transceiver will remain activate as long as the user-interface remains illuminated. In other embodiments, the activation of the transceiver may time-out prior to or after the user-interface has been de-illuminated. Additionally, activation of the transceiver may be continuous activation or the activation may be a cyclic in nature. Thus, the method, terminal and computer program product of the present invention are capable of adjusting the power consumption of short-range communication transceivers, such as RFID, Bluetooth®, IR transceivers or the like. Energy management of the transceiver is achieved by limiting activation of the transceiver to periods of user-interface illumination. The transceiver, therefore, uses less power because it is only activated by an intentional gesture by the user, i.e., a gesture that will initiate the illumination of a user-interface. In addition, the user of terminal is aware, via observation of the illumination, that the terminal is in an active transceiver reading state and, thus, the invention provides for a safe environment in which inadvertent reading of tags or data communication is lessened. Due to the adjustment of power consumption, the present invention conserves power of the mobile terminals associated with transceivers, which permits the mobile terminals and transceiver to operate longer without requiring charging or replacement of the power supply as compared to mobile terminals associated with transceiver that do not use these techniques. As such, the present invention provides for an energy saving process that is easy to implement and intuitive to the user of the device, in that, the user can activate the transceivers by providing an intentional illuminating input directed at the terminal and receive tactile feedback from the device, in the form of illumination, that the transceivers have been successfully activated. | 20040622 | 20090303 | 20051222 | 85742.0 | 0 | SALAD, ABDULLAHI ELMI | INTUITIVE ENERGY MANAGEMENT OF A SHORT-RANGE COMMUNICATION TRANSCEIVER ASSOCIATED WITH A MOBILE TERMINAL | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,881 | ACCEPTED | Flexible architecture for notifying applications of state changes | Described is a method and system a unified mechanism for storing device, application, and service state, as well as a rich notification brokerage architecture. Clients register with a notification broker to receive notifications for changes to state properties. When a registered state property changes, a notification broker determines which clients to notify of the state change and provides the client with a notification regarding the change. Clients may be notified whenever a state changes, when a state change meets a predetermined condition, or based on a schedule. An application may also be launched in response to a state change. An application programming interface (API) is provided that provides a unified way of accessing state change information across different components within the device. | 1. A method for providing notifications to clients in response to state property changes, comprising: receiving a notification request from a client to receive a notification in response to a change associated with a state property; ensuring that the state property is registered with a notification system, wherein the notification system includes at least some state properties that are updated by different components within a device; determining when the state property changes; determining when the client should receive notification of the state property change; and notifying the client of the state property change when determined. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing an API to perform actions involving the state properties, wherein the actions include at least one of the following: registering a state property; querying the state property; and setting the state property. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining when the client should receive the notification, comprises: applying a conditional expression to the state property and notifying the client of the state property change when the condition is met. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the conditional expression includes at least one of the following conditions: all, equal, not equal, greater than, greater or equal than, less than or equal, less than, contains, starts with, and ends with. 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising launching the client in response to at least one of: a state property change and a scheduled event. 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising notifying the client in response to a schedule defined by the client. 7. The method of claim 2, wherein determining when the state property changes further comprises: performing a batching operation on changes to the state property that occur within a predetermined time period. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the notification request from the client to receive the notification in response to the change associated with the state property, further comprises associating a group of state properties with the notification request from the client when an identifier associated with the request identifies a category of state properties, wherein the state properties are arrange in a hierarchy within the notification system. 9. The method of claim 2, further comprising persisting the notification request across device reboots. 10. A system for state management and notifications, comprising: a data store that is arranged to store information relating to state properties, wherein at least some of the state properties are modified by different components; an API configured to perform operations relating to the state properties; clients that are configured to register notification requests and receive notifications in response to a change in a state property for which they have registered, wherein the notification requests indicate when the clients should receive notifications in response to changes associated with the state properties; a notification list that is arranged to store the clients that have been registered to receive notification requests; a notification broker coupled to the data store, the notification list, and the clients, wherein the notification broker, includes an application configured to perform the following actions, including to: receive a notification request to add at least one client to the notification list; add the at least one client to the notification list; and determine when a registered state property changes, and when the state property changes, determine the clients to receive a notification, and notify the determined clients of the state property change. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the API is further configured to perform at least one of the following actions: registering a state property; querying the state property; and setting the state property. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein determining the clients to receive the notification, comprises: applying a conditional expression to the state property and notifying the client of the state property when the condition is met. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the conditional expression includes at least one of the following conditions: all, equal, not equal, greater than, greater or equal than, less than or equal, less than, contains, starts with, and ends with. 14. The system of claim 11, further comprising launching the client in response to at least one of a state property change and a scheduled event. 15. The system of claim 11, further comprising notifying the client in response to a schedule defined by the client. 16. The system of claim 11, wherein determining when the state property changes further comprises: performing a batching operation on changes to the state property that occur within a predetermined time period. 17. The system of claim 10, wherein the state properties are arranged in a hierarchy. 18. The system of claim 10, wherein content within the data store persists across device reboots. 19. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing operations on state properties, comprising: receiving an identifier parameter identifying at least one state property within a group of state parameters, wherein some of the state parameters within the group of state parameters are updated by different components within a device; determining an operation to perform relating to the state parameter; and performing the operation. 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operation includes at least one of the following operations: registering a state property; querying the state property; associating a conditional expression with the state parameter; and setting the state property. 21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein performing the operation, comprises: applying the conditional expression to the state property and notifying the client of the state property when the condition is met. 22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the conditional expression includes at least one of the following conditions: all, equal, not equal, greater than, greater or equal than, less than or equal, less than, contains, starts with, and ends with. 23. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein performing the operation further comprises launching a client application in response to at least one of the following: a change in the state property and a scheduled event. 24. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein performing the operation further comprises notifying the client in response to a schedule defined by the client. 25. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein performing the operation further comprises: performing a batching operation on changes to the state property that occur within a predetermined time period. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This utility patent application claims the benefit under 35 United States Code § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/513,723 filed on Oct. 23, 2003. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Today, mobile devices are designed to run a variety of applications and keep a user updated with current information. Some of these devices include personal digital assistants, wireless phones, and email devices. Mobile devices are now capable of connecting to the Internet and other networks thorough various means and thus exchange information over the networks. These mobile devices may update applications and send and receive information, such as emails, attachments to emails, and web page content. Providing all of this functionality requires applications on the mobile device to be notified of various events, such as when a new email is available, when a screen of the device is activated, when a phone call is received, and the like. It is difficult, however, to access all of the different state changes associated with the device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the present invention is directed at unifying state and notification architecture across devices. According to one aspect of the invention, clients register with a notification broker to receive notifications for changes to state properties. When a registered state property changes, a notification broker determines which clients to notify of the state change and provides the client with a notification regarding the change. For example, a client may register to receive notifications regarding changes to battery strength, network connectivity, memory usage, and the like. Whenever one of these registered state properties changes, the notification broker sends the client a notification message. According to another aspect of the invention, clients may be notified whenever a state changes, when a state change meets a predetermined condition, or based on a schedule. According to yet another aspect of the invention, an application may be launched in response to a state change or a schedule. For example, a client may register to have an application started when a certain event occurs, such as the mobile device receiving a message directed toward the application to be launched. The application may also be started based on a schedule configured by the client. According to yet another aspect of the invention, an application programming interface (API) is provided that is directed to providing a unified way of accessing state change information across different components within the device. For example, an application may use the same function call to access state properties set by different components within the device. According to still yet another aspect of the invention, the registered state properties may persist across device reboots. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing device; FIG. 2 shows an exemplary mobile device; FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary state management and notification system; FIG. 4 illustrates a-process for a state change notification system; and FIG. 5 shows a process for processing state change information, in accordance with aspects of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Briefly described, the present invention is directed to providing a method and system a unified mechanism for storing device, application, and service state, as well as a rich notification brokerage architecture. Generally, clients register with a notification broker to receive notifications when certain state properties change. When a registered state property changes, the notification broker determines which clients to notify of the state change and provides the client with a notification regarding the change. Clients may be notified whenever a state changes, when a state change meets a predetermined condition, or based on a schedule. An application may also be launched in response to a state change or a schedule. An application programming interface (API) is also provided that is directed at providing a unified way of accessing state change information across different components within the device. Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take at least the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The meanings identified below are not intended to limit the terms, but merely provide illustrative examples for the terms. The meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.” The term “state property” refers to a “status” variable registered and stored with the notification system for maintenance and change-notifications. The term “notification request” refers to a request from a client to be notified of a state change. The term “notification list” refers to a collection of clients which have registered for state property change notifications. The term “notification broker” refers to an underlying driver responsible for adding, updating, and removing data from a data store. The term “state change component” refers to any component which adds, updates, or generally maintains State Properties in the data store. The term “client” refers to any component which registers for state property change notifications. A client may be a state change component as well as a state change component being a client. The term “state property identifier” refers to a “friendly” string (name) representation of the State Property. This identifier may be hierarchical and is unique. The term “conditional notification” refers to a notification that is sent when a state property changes and the new value of the state property meets the condition that was specified in the notification request. Illustrative Operating Environment With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system for implementing the invention includes a computing device, such as computing device 100. Computing device 100 may be configured as a client or a server. In a very basic configuration, computing device 100 typically includes at least one processing unit 102 and system memory 104. Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, system memory 104 may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination of the two. System memory 104 typically includes an operating system 105, one or more program modules 106, and may include program data 107. This basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 1 by those components within dashed line 108. Computing device 100 may have additional features or functionality. For example, computing device 100 may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 1 by removable storage 109 and non-removable storage 110. Computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. System memory 104, removable storage 109 and non-removable storage 110 are all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computing device 100. Any such computer storage media may be part of device 100. Computing device 100 may also have input device(s) 112 such as keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output device(s) 114 such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. Computing device 100 also contains communication connections 116 that allow the device to communicate with other computing devices 118, such as over a network. Communication connections 116 are one example of communication media. Communication media may typically be embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communication media. With reference to FIG. 2, one exemplary system for implementing the invention includes a mobile device, such as mobile device 200. The mobile device 200 has a processor 260, a memory 262, a display 228, and a keypad 232. The memory 262 generally includes both volatile memory (e.g., RAM) and non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, Flash Memory, or the like). The mobile device 200 includes an operating system 264, such as the Windows CE operating system from Microsoft Corporation or other operating system, which is resident in the memory 262 and executes on the processor 260. The keypad 232 may be a push button numeric dialing pad (such as on a typical telephone), a multi-key keyboard (such as a conventional keyboard). The display 228 may be a liquid crystal display, or any other type of display commonly used in mobile devices. The display 228 may be touch-sensitive, and would then also act as an input device. One or more application programs 266 are loaded into memory 262 and run on the operating system 264. Examples of application programs include phone dialer programs, email programs, scheduling programs, PIM (personal information management) programs, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, and so forth. Application programs 266 may use a common API to perform actions on state properties associated with the device. For example, a phone dialer program may register with a notification system to receive notifications regarding changes to signal strength, phone state, battery strength, and the like. The mobile computing device 200 also includes non-volatile storage 268 within the memory 262. The non-volatile storage 268 may be used to store persistent information which should not be lost if the mobile computing device 200 is powered down. The applications 266 may use and store information in the storage 268, such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application, contact information used by a PIM, appointment information used by a scheduling program, documents used by a word processing program, and the like. The mobile computing device 200 has a power supply 270, which may be implemented as one or more batteries. The power supply 270 might further include an external power source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that supplements or recharges the batteries. The mobile computing device 200 may also include external notification mechanisms, such as an LED (not shown) and an audio interface 274. These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply 270 so that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the notification mechanism even though the processor 260 and other components might shut down to conserve battery power. The audio interface 274 is used to provide audible signals to and receive audible signals from the user. For example, the audio interface 274 may be coupled to a speaker for providing audible output and to a microphone for receiving audible input, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation. Mobile computing device 200 may also contain communication connections 240 that allow the device to communicate with other computing devices, such as over a wireless network. The mobile computing device 200 also includes a radio interface layer 272 that performs the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency communications. The radio interface layer 272 facilitates wireless connectivity between the mobile computing device 200 and the outside world, via a communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and from the radio interface layer 272 are conducted under control of the operating system 264. In other words, communications received by the radio interface layer 272 and communication connections 240 may be disseminated to application programs 266 via the operating system 264, and vice versa. Illustrative State Change Notification System FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary state management and notification system, in accordance with aspects of the invention. Notification system 300 includes state change component 310, clients 315 and 320, notification broker 335, and data store 330. According to one embodiment, notification broker 335 also maintains notification lists 340, cached properties 345 and scheduler 350. Clients, such as client 315 or 320, register to receive notifications regarding changes to a state property with notification broker 335. Generally, a client may make a notification request with notification broker 335 that registers the client to receive notifications whenever a state property changes, when the change meets a conditional, or based upon a schedule. The notifications may be permanent or transient notifications. Permanent notifications are kept in a data store (320). According to one embodiment, the permanent notifications are maintained in a back-end data store, such as the registry, and hence are “persisted” across reboots. As these notifications are persisted, these types of state properties have the same value before a soft-reset (or shutdown) as they do upon a restart (or boot). According to one embodiment, state properties are persistent by default. Transient notifications are not permanent and are, therefore, not persisted across reboots. In other words, if a device is soft-reset (or rebooted) the notification request is deleted from notification list 340. In order to restore a transient notification, a client re-registers (sends another notification request to broker 335) to receive notifications regarding changes to the state property. A client may also register to have an application launched upon the occurrence of a state change and/or according to a schedule. Generally, notification broker 335 issues a command to start an application specified by the client if the application is not already running when the state change or the scheduled time occurs. According to one embodiment, the client can specify command-line parameters to be passed into the application when it is launched. If the launched process creates a window then a message is sent to the window indicating the notification. If the target process is already running on the client, then the client simply receives the notification message. Notifications sent to clients may also be batched. Batched state properties are intended for use by state properties which may undergo frequent value changes. A predetermined period of time is set that allows the state property value to “stabilize.” According to one embodiment, the predetermined period is set to 200 ms. If no changes are made to the state property value during the predetermined period, the notification is delivered to the registered clients. The batching predetermined period is configurable and is stored in data store 330. Data store 330 is configured to store registered state properties, as well as other information. According to one embodiment, data store 330 is the registry provided with an operating system, such as the registry provided with the Windows XP operating system provided by Microsoft Corporation. Data store 330 may also be any other type of data store in which information may be set and accessed. Data store 330 may also comprise one or more data stores maintained at various locations within notification system 300. Data store 330 may also be pre-loaded with a default set of state property data that may be accessed by clients 315 and 320. Pre-loading the state property data makes many of state properties available without the client having to add a state property. For example, according to one embodiment, the following states are available to clients without registering the state: Display Orientation (Resolution, Brightness); Undismissed reminders (Count, Subject, Date, Time; Location); Undismissed alarms (Count, Description, Date, Time); Battery (% remaining, State); Backup battery (% remaining, State); Memory (Program memory free, Program memory used, Storage memory free, Storage memory used); Storage card (Total memory free, Total memory used); Hardware (Flip-phone state (open/closed), Keyboard enabled, Wifi enabled, Bluetooth enabled, Headphones present, Camera present); Messaging (Unread count, Total count, Drafts count, Outbox count); Tasks (High priority count, Due today count, Overdue count); Calendar(Next appointment, Name, Location, Date, Time, POOM ID); All day appointment (Name, Location, Date, Time, POOM ID); Current appointment (Name, Location, Date Time, POOM ID); Current free/busy status; Instant Messenger (Status, Online contacts count; Offline contacts count); Connectivity (Speed, Wifi, Access point, Signal strength, Connection name, Connects to (work, internet), Status); Media player (Status, Playlist (Name, Mode (repeat, shuffle), Track count, Total duration), Track (Type (audio, video), Name, Album, Artists, Track #, Genre, Year, Duration, Play position, Filename, Bit rate)); Sync status; Telephony (Operator, Signal strength, Phone state, Profile, Roaming, Radio state, Active call (Caller name, Caller number), Missed call count, SIM toolkit message. As can be seen, the states span across many different applications. According to one embodiment, the state property data is organized into a hierarchy. The hierarchy allows a client to specify a group of state properties by referencing the parent. The state property may be set to a data type, such as string, integer, float, and the like. The client may identify the state property by a “friendly” string (name) representation of the state property. For example, “battery\a” references the state property “a” under the parent “battery”, and likewise there could be a “battery\b” which would be the state property “b” under the same parent. When referring to a group of state properties under a common parent, then the parent identifier may be used. For example to receive notifications based on changes to all of the battery states, then “battery” would be provided in the registration, thereby referencing all of the battery state properties using a single name. Broker 335 may be configured to control access to setting/adjusting/removing state property types within data store 330. For example, a restriction could be placed on a state property limiting the deletion of the property from the notification system to a predetermined list of clients. When a state property is deleted, clients that have registered for notifications relating to the property are notified of its deletion. As discussed above, clients 315 and 320 register for the state properties they are interested in receiving notifications about when the state property changes. Clients may register to receive a notification whenever the state they registered changes, when a conditional applied to the state value meets a condition, or upon a predetermined schedule. A conditional notification may be based upon many different conditions. According to one embodiment, the conditionals include: all, equal, not equal, greater than, greater or equal than, less than or equal, less than, contains, starts with, and ends with. For example, client 315 may register with notification broker 335 to receive a notification when the missed call count state property is Greater than fifteen and when the caller name Contains “Ja.” Conditionals allow a client to receive the state change information they are interested in without having to process state change information they do not care about. The clients registered to receive notifications regarding changes to state properties are maintained in notification lists 340. Notification broker 335 accesses notification lists 340 to determine the clients that should receive notifications when a registered state property has changed. Scheduler 350 may be configured to notify and/or activate a client based on a schedule. The scheduled activation notification mode allows a client to receive a notification based on a simplified recurring schedule registered with notification broker 335. Schedules may be configured to occur at any interval, such as on the scale of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. According to one embodiment, schedules are defined by the date/time of the first occurrence and the amount of time between occurrences. Additionally, schedules may be defined without a recurrence interval. When no recurrence interval is provided, the notification is only sent once and then the registration is removed from the notifications list. Additionally, when a notification arrives, if the specified application path (provided during the notification request) cannot be found, the scheduled notification registration is removed from the notification list 340. State change component 310 updates the value of the state property within data store 330 when the state changes. State change component 310 may update the state directly in data store 330 or through notification broker 335. When the state is updated through data store 330, data store 330 communicates the change to notification broker 335. When the state is updated through notification broker 335 then notification broker 335 updates the state in data store 330. In either case, notification broker 335 determines which clients should be notified based on the state change. Notification broker 335 parses notification lists 340 and determines the clients that have registered for notifications regarding the state change. Notification broker 335 applies any conditionals to the value of the state property that has changed and notifies the client when the conditional is met. When there is not a conditional associated with the state change, the client is notified of the state change. When a client, such as client 315 and client 320, receives a notification from notification broker 335, the client may call a function within a common API (see discussion below) to retrieve the new state of the state property. Alternatively, the property information may be directly delivered to the client along with the notification. When the client is no longer interested in receiving notifications relating to a particular state property, the client may un-register itself from receiving change notifications relating to the state property. Clients 315 and 320 may also directly query broker 335 at any time to find the state of a state property using the common API. State property values may also be cached by notification broker 335 in cached properties 345. A state property value may be cached for many different reasons. For example, a state property value may be cached such that a previous value of the state property may be compared with a current value of the state property. Additionally, the cache may help to facilitate quick repeated lookups requesting the value of the state property. According to one embodiment, notification system 300 supports NET (managed) clients for both additions to the store, as well as change notification registrations. The following are some exemplary scenarios to further clarify state management notification system 300. EXAMPLE 1 ISV Services Norm the Newbie has built a C# application which keeps a complete database of the current season's Baseball statistics (e.g., teams, players, scores, stats, etc.). He has also built a simple XML web-services client which can connect to a sports website and pull-down updated daily statistics. Since the amount of data the application stores is relatively large, Norm only wants his application to sync data when a “fat pipe” (e.g., 802.1×) is available on the device (e.g., PPC). Norm then registers his application by sending a notification request to notification broker 335 for notifications when a high-bandwidth connection is available. Norm additionally specifies in the notification request to launch his application when the high-bandwidth connection is available. When the state change component associated with the connection updates the state of the connection, notification broker 335 activates Norm's app when the state indicates that it is a high-speed connection. EXAMPLE 2 Corporate LOB (Line of Business) Applications Elph the Enterprise developer has built a field-service form-based VB.Net application for insurance adjuster usage. The application allows an insurance adjuster to look-up part #s and costs, make notes, retrieve car schematics, and the like. Each day, the insurance adjuster takes his mobile computing device out in the field to service customers. The application persists all of its data for today's operation locally in a data store. Elph would like the application to synchronize the offline store with the company's main servers each time the device is cradled. Therefore, Elph registers his application for notifications on synchronization cradle events. Whenever the device is cradled, the application is notified and the application synchronizes its data. EXAMPLE 3 Phone Game Golem the phone game developer is building a next-generation multi-player RPG for a phone. He anticipates the game will be so very popular that it will last for weeks and months at a time. One of Golem's key concerns is the persistence of game state without user intervention. One of the game's neat features is the ability to save current state right before the phone runs out of batteries and ensure the user never loses any data. Golem registers his application to receive low battery notifications to ensure that the game information will be saved before the device runs out of batteries. EXAMPLE 4 Device Management Client Eric the emerging Enterprise Management Client developer is looking to create the next generation mobile computing device and phone management client; able to handle client updates, virus scanning, policy enforcement, and more. Using C# he has built a power device-side client which can handle requests based on server-driven commands. Each night at 3 am, Eric would like his application “woken up” so he can contact the server for updated policies, virus scanner signatures, and the like. In order to achieve this, he simply registers his application with notification broker 335 for a scheduled notification (each day at 3 am). Eric is now assured his app will run at the specified time. FIG. 4 illustrates a process for a state change notification system, in accordance with aspects of the invention. After a start block, process 400 flows to block 410, where a client registers to be notified of changes to at least one state property. If the state property is not already being monitored by another client, the state property is added to the list of available state properties. As discussed above, a list of available properties is pre-loaded into the notification system. The client may register to receive notification on all changes made to the property, changes that meet a condition, as well being notified according to a schedule. Moving to block 420, a callback is registered with the notification system such that when a change is made to a registered state property, the notification system is made aware of the change. According to one embodiment, a notification broker registers a callback with the operating system registry for changes made to the state property value. Flowing to block, 430, the client is added to a notification list to receive notification messages relating to the state property. Clients included in the notification list receive notifications regarding changes to the registered state property. Transitioning to block 440, a callback is received when a change is made to any of the registered state properties. According to one embodiment, the callback includes an identifier identifying the state property changes, as well as the current value of the state property. Moving to block 450, the state change information is processed. Generally, processing the state change information includes determining if any conditionals, schedules, batches, or application launching conditions, apply to each of the registered clients for the changed state property (See FIG. 5 and related discussion). FIG. 5 shows a process for processing state change information, in accordance with aspects of the invention. After a start block, process 500 flows to block 510 where a client registered for receiving notifications regarding a state change for the changed state property is accessed. According to one embodiment, a notification list is accessed to determine the registered clients for the state property that has changed. Moving to decision block 520, a determination is made as to whether the client has specified any conditionals that are to be applied to the state property before notifying the client. When a conditional expression is associated with the notification request, the process flows to decision block 530 where a determination is made as to whether the condition is met. When the condition is met, or when the client has not specified any conditionals, the process moves to decision block 540, where a determination is made as to whether the client has specified to launch an application in response to a change to the state property. When the client has specified to launch the application, the process moves to block 550 where the application is launched if it is not already running. When the client has not specified to launch the application, or the application has been launched at block 550, the process moves to block 560 where the client is notified of the state change. The process then flows to decision block 570, where a determination is made as to whether there are more clients registered to receive a notification regarding a change to the state property. When there is another client, the process returns to block 510. When there are no other clients, the process then moves to an end block and returns to processing other actions. State Property Types and Modes According to one embodiment of the invention, two APIs may be used to access the state information in the notification system. A native, or underlying API is provided and a managed API is provided to clients. The managed API accesses the native API to perform its operations. The following is an exemplary native API, in accordance with aspects of the invention: # define E_ALREADY_REGISTERED ERROR_ALREADY_REGISTERED # define E_DATATYPE_MISMATCH ERROR_DATATYPE_MISMATCH # define E_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER # define E_INVALID_HANDLE ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE # define E_NOT_FOUND ERROR_NOT_FOUND # define E_NOT_READY ERROR_NOT_READY DECLARE_HANDLE(HREGNOTIFY); //transient notification handle //*********************************************************** //Enumeration Name: REG_COMPARISONTYPE //Purpose: used to define how state property values should be compared to LPCTSTR pszClass, LPCTSTR pszWindow, UINT msg); Managed API The following is an exemplary Managed API: namespace A.Mobile { /// used to specify what should happen when an event occurs while device is in standby public enum StandbyBehavior { /// do not raise the event at all Ignore, /// bring the device out of standby and raise the event Wake, /// raise the event once the device is woken up by something else Delay } public interface IAppLaunchable { /// Unique name for this notification public string appLaunchId{ get; } /// register this notification for a specific executable and command line params /// until this is called, the notification is not active /// <param name=“appLaunchId”> /// unique identifier for this notification. /// used to open it back up when the application closes/restarts /// an exception is thrown if this ID is already in use /// </param> /// <param name=“filename”> /// application to launch when notification is raised. /// if null or empty, the calling executable is used /// </param> /// <param name=“parameters”>command line parameter to send to application</param> void EnableAppLaunch( string appLaunchId, string filename, string parameters); /// register this notification for a specific executable with no command line params /// until this is called, the notification is not active /// <param name=“appLaunchId”> /// unique identifier for this notification. /// used to open it back up when the application closes/restarts /// an exception is thrown if this ID is already in use /// </param> /// <param name=“filename”>application to launch when notification is raised</param> void EnableAppLaunch( string appLaunchId, string filename); /// register this notification for the calling executable with no parameters /// until this is called, the notification is not active. /// /// if this is called from a DLL rather than an EXE, an exception is thrown. /// DLLs need to call one of the other overloads /// <param name=“appLaunchId”> /// unique identifier for this notification. /// used to open it back up when the application closes/restarts /// an exception is thrown if this ID is already in use /// </param> void EnableAppLaunch( string appLaunchId ); /// unregistr this notification /// used to stop the notification from firing void DisableAppLaunch( ); } /// notification that raises on a scheduled basis public class ScheduledNotification: ILaunchable { // when the next occurence of this notification is scheduled to occur public DateTime NextOccurrence{ get; set; } /// how much time passes between occurrences of this notification /// seconds and milliseconds are ignored public TimeSpan Interval{ get; set; } /// how this notification acts when the device is in standby during an occurrence /// ignore it, wake the device, wait until something else wakes the device. /// default value is Wake. public StandbyBehavior StandbyBehavior{ get; set; } /// determines if the named notification is registered /// <param name=“appLaunchId”>name of a notification</param> /// <returns>true if the notification is registered</returns> public static bool AppLaunchIdExists(string appLaunchId) { } public event EventHandler Occurred; /// create a new persistent notification with the given name /// <param name=“nextOccurrence”>when the next occurrence is</param> /// <param name=“interval”>how long between occurrences. seconds and milliseconds are ignored</param> public ScheduledNotification( DateTime nextOccurrence, TimeSpan interval) { } /// constructor that loads in a previously registered notification /// <param name=“existingAppLaunchId”>name of previously registered notification</param> public ScheduledNotification( string existingAppLaunchId) { if(!AppLaunchIdExists( name)) throw new ArgumentException( ); } } } namespace A. Mobile.Status { /// used for conditional change notifications to specify how the new value /// should be compared to the desired value public enum StateComparisonType { /// event is raised regardless of value. this is the default All, Equal, NotEqual, Greater, GreaterOrEqual, LessOrEqual, Less, Contains, StartsWith, EndsWith } /// Enum that represents all of the system states that can be queried and listened to. public abstract class StateBase: ILaunchable { /// for conditional notifications, how to compare new value to Target Value public ComparisonType ComparisonType { get; set; } /// what to compare new value to. notification only raises if comparison is true public object ComparisonValue { get; set; } /// current value of this system property public object CurrentValue { get; } public event ChangeNotificationEventHandler Changed; } /// transient notification that raises when a system-defined property changes public class SystemState : StateBase { /// gets the value of the specified system property /// <param name=“property”>property to get the value of</param> /// <returns></returns> public static object GetValue( SystemProperty property ) { } /// system property to monitor public SystemProperty Property { get; } /// determines if the named notification is registered /// <param name=“appLaunchId”>name of a notification</param> /// <returns>true if the notification is registered</returns> public static bool AppLaunchIdExists ( string appLaunchId ) { } /// constructor with no conditionals (event is always raised) /// <param name=“property”></param> public SystemState( SystemProperty property ) { } /// constructor thats sets conditionals for when event should be raised /// <param name=“property”>property to watch</param> /// <param name=“comparisonType”>how to compare it</param> /// <param name=“comparisonValue”>what to compare it to</param> public SystemState( SystemProperty property, ComparisonType comparisonType, object comparisonValue ) { } /// constructor that loads in a previously registered notification /// <param name=“existingAppLaunchId”>name of previously registered notification</param> public SystemState( string existingAppLaunchId ) { if (!AppLaunchIdExists( name )) throw new ArgumentException( ); } } /// transient notification that raises when a registry value changes public class RegistryValue : StateBase { /// registry key to monitor public RegistryKey Key { get; } /// name of value in registry key to monitor public string ValueName { get; } /// determines if the named notification is registered /// <param name=“appLaunchId”>name of a notification</param> /// <returns>true if the notification is registered</returns> public static bool AppLaunchIdExists ( string appLaunchId ) { } /// constructor with no conditionals (event is always raised) /// <param name=“key”>registry key to watch</param> /// <param name=“valueName”>name of registry value in the key to watch</param> public RegistryValue( RegistryKey key, string valueName ) { } /// constructor thats sets conditionals for when event should be raised /// <param name=“key”>registry key to watch</param> /// <param name=“valueName”>name of registry value in the key to watch</param> /// <param name=“comparisonType”>how to compare it</param> /// <param name=“comparisonValue”>what to compare it to</param> public RegistryValue( RegistryKey key, string valueName, ComparisonType comparisonType, object comparisonValue ) { } /// constructor that loads in a previously registered notification /// <param name=“existingAppLaunchId”>name of previously registered notification</param> public RegistryValue( string existingAppLaunchId ) { if(!AppLaunchIdExists( name )) throw new ArgumentException( ); } } public delegate void ChangeNotificationEventHandler( object sender, ChangeNotificationEventArgs e ); public class ChangeNotificationEventArgs : EventArgs { public object CurrentValue { get; } } } Sample Usage of Managed API // querying a system property int signal = SystemState.PhoneSignalStrength; // or... int signal = (int)SystemState.GetValue ( SystemProperty.PhoneSignalStrength ); // or... SystemState state = new SystemState ( SystemProperty.PhoneSignalStrength ); int signal = (int)state.CurrentValue; // registering for a transient notification SystemState state = new SystemState ( SystemProperty.PhoneSignalStrength ); state.Changed += new ChangeNotificationEventHandler(...); // registering for a persistent notification with conditional SystemState state; if( SystemState.AppLaunchIdExists( “MyApp.GoodSignal” )) { state = new SystemState( “MyApp.GoodSignal” ); } else { state = new SystemState( SystemProperty.PhoneSignalStrength, ComparisonType.Greater, 75 ); state.EnableAppLaunch( “MyApp.GoodSignal” ); } state.Changed += new ChangeNotificationEventHandler(...); // registering for a scheduled notification ScheduledNotification daily; if( ScheduledNotification.AppLaunchIdExists( “MyApp.Daily” )) { daily= new ScheduledNotification( “MyApp.Daily” ); } else { daily = new ScheduledNotification( DateTime.Now, new TimeSpan( 24, 0, 0 )); daily.EnableAppLaunch( “MyApp.Daily” ); } daily.Occurred += new EventHandler(...); The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Today, mobile devices are designed to run a variety of applications and keep a user updated with current information. Some of these devices include personal digital assistants, wireless phones, and email devices. Mobile devices are now capable of connecting to the Internet and other networks thorough various means and thus exchange information over the networks. These mobile devices may update applications and send and receive information, such as emails, attachments to emails, and web page content. Providing all of this functionality requires applications on the mobile device to be notified of various events, such as when a new email is available, when a screen of the device is activated, when a phone call is received, and the like. It is difficult, however, to access all of the different state changes associated with the device. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Briefly described, the present invention is directed at unifying state and notification architecture across devices. According to one aspect of the invention, clients register with a notification broker to receive notifications for changes to state properties. When a registered state property changes, a notification broker determines which clients to notify of the state change and provides the client with a notification regarding the change. For example, a client may register to receive notifications regarding changes to battery strength, network connectivity, memory usage, and the like. Whenever one of these registered state properties changes, the notification broker sends the client a notification message. According to another aspect of the invention, clients may be notified whenever a state changes, when a state change meets a predetermined condition, or based on a schedule. According to yet another aspect of the invention, an application may be launched in response to a state change or a schedule. For example, a client may register to have an application started when a certain event occurs, such as the mobile device receiving a message directed toward the application to be launched. The application may also be started based on a schedule configured by the client. According to yet another aspect of the invention, an application programming interface (API) is provided that is directed to providing a unified way of accessing state change information across different components within the device. For example, an application may use the same function call to access state properties set by different components within the device. According to still yet another aspect of the invention, the registered state properties may persist across device reboots. | 20040622 | 20100105 | 20050428 | 72743.0 | 1 | DAM, KIM LYNN | FLEXIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR NOTIFYING APPLICATIONS OF STATE CHANGES | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,873,894 | ACCEPTED | Sequential ordering of transactions in digital systems with multiple requestors | A digital system with an improved transaction ordering policy is disclosed. Individual occurrences of requests for access to common system resources specify whether or not the request is ordered. In some embodiments, the invention includes a memory that holds data, a controller, and at least two processors that generate requests to access the memory data. Each access request includes an indication of whether or not this request is to be performed in a sequential order among other access requests and, if so, an indication of the order. The controller receives the access requests from each processor, determines a performance order for the requests, and provides the access requests to the memory in the performance order. The performance order conforms to the specified order when the access requests so indicate. | 1. A system for processing information, the system comprising: a memory configured to hold data; at least two processors, each configured to perform operations, and to generate an access request when one of the operations involves access to the data, wherein each access request includes an indication of whether or not this occurrence of the access request is to be performed in a sequential order among other occurrences of the access request and, if so, an indication of a specified order; and a controller configured to receive the access requests from each of the processors, to determine a performance order for the access requests, and to provide the access requests to the memory in the performance order, wherein the performance order conforms to the specified order when the access requests indicate the specified order. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory is selected from a local memory, an embedded memory, an interface to a remote memory, a main memory, a video memory, a frame buffer memory, a communication buffer, a double data rate (DDR) memory, a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), or a content addressable memory (CAM). 3. The system of claim 1, wherein each access request further includes an indication of the type of access to the data, the access type being selected from a read access, a write access, a lookup access, or a move access. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein each access request further includes an indication of whether or not the access request is the last access request to which the specified order applies. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the specified order of a set of access requests corresponds to the order in which the set of access requests is generated. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein each access request further includes a numerical indication of the position of that access request within the specified order. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein each access request further includes an indication of a thread identifier (ID), and the specified order applies only to access requests having corresponding thread IDs. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein: each access request further includes an indication of a thread identifier (ID); a first one of the processors is configured to generate an occurrence of the access request with a specified value for the thread ID; the first processor is further configured to generate an interrupt for a second one of the processors, wherein the interrupt transfers the specified thread ID value to the second processor; the second processor is further configured to generate an occurrence of the access request with the specified thread ID value; and the controller is further configured to compare the thread IDs of each access request, and for a set of access requests having corresponding thread IDs to determine a performance order that conforms to the specified order. 9. A system for processing information, the system comprising: means for accessing data; at least two means for processing series of operations and for generating based thereon access requests for the data, wherein each access request includes an indication of whether or not this occurrence of the access request is to be performed in a sequential order among other occurrences of the access request and, if so, an indication of a specified order; and means for controlling access to the data, for receiving the access requests from each of the processing means, for determining a performance order, and for providing the access requests to the accessing means in the performance order, wherein the performance order conforms to the specified order when the access requests indicate the specified order. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein: each access request further includes an indication of a thread identifier (ID); a first one of the processing means is a means for generating an occurrence of the access request with a specified value for the thread ID, and is further a means for generating an interrupt of a second one of the processing means, wherein the interrupt transfers to the second processing means the specified thread ID value; the second processing means is a means for generating an occurrence of the access request with the specified thread ID value; and the control means is further means for comparing the thread ID values within each of the access requests and, when the thread ID values of a set of access requests correspond, for generating the performance order such that it conforms with the specified order indicated in the access requests. 11. A method of processing information, the method comprising: holding data; performing in parallel at least two series of operations; generating an access request when performing one of the operations when the operation involves accessing the data; including in each access request an indication of whether or not this occurrence of the access request has a specified order among other occurrences of the access request; including an indication of the specified order in those occurrence of the access request that are ordered; receiving the access requests from each of the series of operations; determining a performance order for the access requests, wherein if the access requests are ordered then the performance order conforms to the specified order; and performing the access requests in the performance order. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: including in each occurrence of the access request an indication of the type of access to the data, the access type being selected from reading, writing, looking up, and moving. 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: including in each access request an indication of whether or not the access request is the last access request to which the specified order applies. 14. The method of claim 11 further comprising: generating a set of access requests is an order that corresponds to the specified order. 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising: including in each access request a numerical indication of the position of that access request within the specified order. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising: including in each access request an indication of a thread identifier (ID), and the specified order applies only to access requests having corresponding thread IDs. 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising: including in each access request an indication of a thread identifier (ID); generating, based on a first one of the series of operations, a first access request with a specified value for the thread ID; generating, based on the first series of operations, an interrupt for a second one of the series of operations, wherein the interrupt transfers the specified thread ID value to the second series of operations; generating, based on the second series of operations, a second access request with the specified thread ID value; comparing the thread ID values within each of the access requests; and performing a set of access requests in the specified order when the thread ID values of the set of access requests match. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for designing digital systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a transaction ordering policy for digital systems in which multiple functional modules make requests of shared resources. BACKGROUND ART Modern society and technology are increasingly based on digital electronic devices. Personal computers (PCs), digital versatile disk (DVD) players and recorders, and set top boxes for digital cable systems are among the numerous examples of such devices. Many digital electronic devices include multiple autonomous or semi-autonomous functional modules, such as processors, that share access to common resources, such as memory. FIG. 1 shows the functional modules and their interconnections within one example of a digital electronic device that has multiple functional modules, each of which independently access a shared or common system resource. Digital system 100 includes two requesters 110, which are functional modules that make requests on responder 140 which includes main memory 144. System 100 also includes bus network 130 that conveys requests 120 from the requesters to the responder, and conveys responses 125 from the responder back to the corresponding requestor. Requestor 110A is a programmed microprocessor and requestor 110B is a special-purpose processor, specifically a video encoder/decoder. Requestors 110 generate requests 120 for main memory 144, which is a common resource within system 100. The requestors provide these requests to bus network 130. Requestors 110 are able to communicate among each other via interrupts 150, as well as by passing information back and forth by encoding it as data that is held in main memory 144. Bus network 130 includes one or more buses that convey information as electronic signals among devices. Requests 120, which include data and addresses, and responses 125 which include data, addresses and status information, are transferred between two functional modules via bus network 130. The bus network may be a single bus, or may include relay circuitry that transfers information across multiple buses. Bus network 130 receives a request 120 from either requester 110A or requester 110B, and then delivers the request to responder 140. Bus network also receives responses 125 from requester 140 and provides the responses to either requestor 110A or 110B, according to addressing information contained within each response. Responder 140 includes main memory 144 and memory controller 142. Memory controller 142 receives access requests from each of requestors 110 via bus network 130, resolves any contentions that occur when more than one access request is active at the same time, determines an order in which the access requests are to be performed, and presents one access request at a time to main memory 144. Main memory 144 is a random access memory (RAM). Each access request includes the address or address range within the RAM that is to be read or written. Write access requests also include the data that is to be written. When main memory 144 performs a write access request, memory controller 142 generates a write status response and provides it to bus network 130 as an occurrence of response 125 that is addressed to the requestor that generated the write request. When main memory 144 performs a read access request, the memory recalls the data stored at the specified address or addresses and provides that data to controller 142, which in turn includes the data in one or more occurrences of response 125, each of which is addressed to the requestor that generated the read request. For multimedia systems, as well as for other digital devices where data communication can be a performance bottleneck, the features provided by the bus network that links the requestors to the responders can have a substantial impact on overall system performance. One example of a bus network design that advantageously increases system performance is a bus that includes multiple parallel channels that support simultaneous transfer of request, response, data, address and status data, or of some combination thereof. Such a multi-channel bus must be designed to operate according to a bus network protocol. Each requestor in such a system must be designed to operate according to the protocol, as must each controller within a responder. Most bus network protocols rely on a transaction ordering policy. Typically a transaction ordering policy defines: The order in which multiple access requests are performed; and How an access request is synchronized or connected together with the response resulting from that request. An access request and its associated response together comprise a complete transaction, but they occur at separate times, that is, during separate bus cycles. The different channels within a bus may at the same time carry both the response to an earlier access request and a new access request. A first example of a transaction ordering policy is a global first-in-first-out (FIFO) policy. Under this policy, each transaction is completed, and the completion is indicated via a response being generated from the responder, before the responder performs any other access request. This policy provides the necessary definition of the performance order of multiple access requests. This policy also defines an advantageously simple mechanism to associate requests with the corresponding responses. A second example of a transaction ordering policy is a first-in-first-out (FIFO) policy among transactions from the same requester along with a free-flowing, unconstrained order among transactions from different requesters. This ordering policy requires that a requestor identifier (ID) signal be associated with channel within each bus. Access requests with the same requestor ID value are performed first in first out, while transactions with different IDs are unordered and may be performed in any order. The value of the requestor ID is provided by the responder in the response, and is used by the requesters to associate the request with its corresponding response. A third example of a transaction ordering policy is one that places no constraints on when transactions are performed, either within transactions from a single requestor or among transactions from multiple requesters. FIFO ordering can negatively impact performance. This is especially the case in systems characterized by multiple data streams that have large differences in the data rates of the streams. This situation is common in multimedia systems, where video data streams have data rates that are substantially higher than high-fidelity audio data streams, which in turn have substantially higher data rates than conversational audio data streams. In a multimedia system, operating under either the first or the second example of a FIFO transaction ordering policy, higher rate data streams can easily become blocked waiting for lower rate data streams to complete transactions. On the other hand, unordered transactions can cause errors to occur in those transactions where correct operation of the system requires access requests to be performed in a particular order. To eliminate these potential errors, the requestors using unordered transactions must impose transaction ordering in those situations in which performance order is important. FIG. 2 illustrates how an example of two transactions flows through bus network 130. Information flow 200 is illustrated as a matrix, in which each row represents a functional module within the system. Each column of the matrix represents a bus cycle. During any particular bus cycle, at most one value is transferred on each channel of each bus within the bus network. Each cell of the matrix contains a description of the information that flows during the corresponding bus cycle to the corresponding functional module from the bus network, or to the bus network from that functional module. In this example, responder 140 does not order transactions among different requestors. To compensate for this, when ordering is important the two requesters must operate together to impose the proper order of performing the transactions. Thus, information flow 200 applies both to systems that follow either the second example transaction ordering policy in which transactions from the same requestor are given a FIFO order, and to systems that follow the third example transaction ordering policy in which the bus network imposes no order on any transactions. Information flow 200 shows the information going into and out of the bus network during a period of 16 bus cycles. This period starts with when the access request for the first transaction is generated and ends with when the response to the second transaction is received. The first transaction is a read request from requestor 110A, the second transaction is a write request from requestor 110B. This example assumes that proper system operation occurs only when the data read from the responder is the value of the data prior to the write, which case occurs when the requestors are using system memory to pass information from requestor 110B to requestor 110A. In bus cycle 1, requestor 110A generates read access request 220 and provides it to the bus network. The bus network may be pipelined to allow shorter bus cycles, may include multiple buses with relay circuitry among the buses, or may contain a FIFO register to interface between buses operating at different bus cycle rates. In such bus networks, information requires some number of clock cycles to move through the bus network. In the example of FIG. 2, the latency of the bus network is assumed to be two bus cycles. Thus after two cycles, i.e., in cycle 3, responder 140 receives read request 220. In the example of FIG. 2, responder 140 is assumed to not be busy with any other transactions and to be able, when not busy, to respond to a request in the bus cycle after the request is received. Thus in cycle 4, the responder generates response to read request 222A and provides it to the bus network. In the example of FIG. 2, the read request is assumed to be for a short block of contiguous data that requires 4 bus cycles to be transferred. Thus in cycles 5, 6 and 7, the responder generates responses to read request 222B, 222C and 222D. Each response 222 includes providing to the bus network a portion of the data being held in responder 140 that was requested by requestor 110A. Responses to read request 222 are received by requester 110A during cycles 6 through 9. Because the bus network of this example imposes no ordering on access requests from different requesters, the responsibility of ensuring that the first transaction is performed prior to the second transaction falls on the requesters. To ensure this transaction order, in bus cycle 10 requestor 110A generates notification 224 that the read transaction is complete and provides the notification to requestor 110B. In the example of FIG. 2, it is assumed that requestor 110A is capable of generating notification 224 in the bus cycle immediately after receiving the final read response 222D, that requester 110B is able to receive the notification in the same bus cycle without any latency, and that requestor 110B is able to generate write request 226 without any latency in the bus cycle immediately after receiving notification. In cycle 13, responder 140 receives write request 226 from the bus network. In cycle 14, responder 140 performs the write request, generates write status response 228, and provides it to the bus network. In cycle 16, requester 110B receives write status response 228. Thus, the two example transactions of information flow 200 of FIG. 2 are completed in 16 bus cycles. The assumptions used in information flow 200 may be optimistic. There could easily be a latency of six to twelve cycles (compared to two cycles in flow 200) between the bus cycle in which the final read response 222D is received (cycle 9 in flow 200) and the bus cycle in which write request 226 is generated (cycle 11 in flow 200). There could easily be a latency of six to twelve cycles (compared to two cycles in flow 200) for requests and responses to pass through bus network 130. Thus, the performance of digital system 100 for the transaction example can be summarized in Table 1, which gives the bus cycles required for bus latencies of two, six and twelve cycles and for inter-requestor latencies of two, six and twelve cycles. TABLE 1 Bus cycles required for transaction Bus Bus Bus example Latency = 2 Latency = 6 Latency = 12 Inter-requestor 16 32 56 Latency = 2 Inter-requestor 20 36 60 Latency = 6 Inter-requestor 26 42 66 Latency = 12 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus there is a need for a transaction ordering policy that both reduces the performance penalty due to blocking under a FIFO policy and reduces the performance penalty due to the requestors being responsible for ordering transactions under a policy that does not constrain transactions from different requesters. The object of the invention is to provide an improved transaction ordering policy in which individual occurrences of access requests can specify whether or not the associated transaction is to be performed in order. Some embodiments of the invention advantageously reduce unnecessary blocking of transactions involving resources shared among requesters. Other embodiments of the invention advantageously simplify what requestors must do to ensure that access requests are performed in the proper order. In some embodiments, the invention provides a system for processing information, including a memory that holds data, a controller, and at least two processors that perform operations and that generate access requests when one of the operations involves accessing the data. Each access request includes an indication of whether or not this request is to be performed in a sequential order among other access requests and, if so, an indication of the order. The controller receives the access requests from each processor, determines a performance order for the requests, and provides the access requests to the memory in the order in which the requests are to be performed. The performance order conforms to the specified order when the access requests so indicate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the descriptions and discussions herein, when read in conjunction with the drawings. Technologies related to the invention, example embodiments of the invention, and example uses of the invention are illustrated in the drawings, which are as follows: FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of one example of a digital system in which multiple functional modules access shared main memory. FIG. 2 is an information flow/cycle timing diagram for an example in which two ordered transactions are performed in a system that does not order transactions among different requesters. FIG. 3 is a bus signal diagram for an exemplary bus according to the invention. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary digital multimedia system according to the invention. FIG. 5 is an information flow/cycle timing diagram for the same two ordered transactions as shown in FIG. 2, but showing how these transactions occur in the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The descriptions, discussions and figures herein illustrate technologies related to the invention, show examples of the invention and give examples of using the invention. Known methods, procedures, systems, circuits, or elements may be illustrated and described without giving details so as to avoid obscuring the principles of the invention. On the other hand, details of specific embodiments of the invention are presented, even though such details may not apply to other embodiments of the invention. Some descriptions and discussions herein use abstract or general terms including but not limited to: operation, send, receive, generate, equal, less than, hold, clock, control, assert, true or false. Those skilled in the art use such terms as a convenient nomenclature for components, data or operations within a computer, an electronic device, or an electromechanical system. Such components, data and operations are represented by physical properties of actual objects including but not limited to electronic voltage, magnetic field, or optical reflectivity. For example, “asserted” or “true” may refer to an electronic signal that is around 3 volts and “not asserted” or “false” may refer to a signal around 0.3 volts, or vice versa. Similarly, perceptive or mental terms including but not limited to determine or indicate may also refer to such components, data, operations or manipulations of physical properties. FIG. 3 illustrates the electronic signals that are included within an exemplary bus according to the invention. FIG. 3 shows requester 110 and responder 140, which are coupled to each other by bus 310. Bus 310 includes request channel 320, write channel 330, read channel 340, and write status channel 350. Request channel 320 conveys a request from the requestor to the responder. The request channel includes request signals 322, channel valid signal 360, channel accepted signal 365, thread ID signals 370, sequence number within thread signals 372, and last in thread signal 374. Request signals 322 indicate the type of request that is being made. For example, if the responder includes a memory such as a RAM or a content addressable memory (CAM), then the responder may support one or more of the following request types: Read requests, in response to which data held in the memory is provided; Write requests, in response to which to which data provided in the request is written into the memory and held there; Move requests, in response to which data held in the memory is transferred from one location within the memory to another; or Lookup requests, in response to which the data held in a content addressable memory is searched to find an entry whose content matches the key provided in the lookup request. The transaction-ordering signals include thread ID signals 370, sequence number signals 372 and last in thread signal 374. The transaction ordering signals are the mechanism by which requestor 110 indicates to responder 140 whether each occurrence of a request is to be performed in an ordered manner or in an unordered manner, and, if ordered, what the ordering constraint on that request is. The semantics of, and even the presence of each transaction-ordering signal, may vary among various embodiments of the invention. Any one or any two of thread ID signals 370, sequence number signals 372 or last-in-thread signal 374 may be omitted. If thread ID signal 370 is the only transaction-ordering signal used, then a value of zero indicates an unordered transaction. In some embodiments, multiple requests having the same thread ID value may be performed in any order, as long as they are performed subsequent to transactions having a lower (or higher) thread ID value. In other embodiments, multiple requests having the same thread ID value are to be performed in the order in which they are generated, and there are no constraints among transactions having different thread IDs. In yet other embodiments, thread ID signal 370 may be used in conjunction with sequence-number signal 372. Requests having different thread ID values have no ordering constraint among them. Requests having the same thread ID values are to be performed in the increasing (or decreasing) numerical order of the sequence numbers. In still other embodiments, thread ID signal 370 may be used in conjunction with last-in-thread signal 374. Last-in-thread signal 374 may be required to fully specify the order of the transactions within a thread. Alternatively, last-in-thread signal 374 may be redundant to the ordering information present in the other transaction-ordering signals but usefully interpreted by responder 140 as being an indication that the responder need not wait for any more transactions within this thread to occur before determining the performance order of the transactions within this thread. If sequence-number signal 372 is the only transaction-ordering signal used, then a value of zero is used indicate an unordered transaction. Requests with non-zero sequence numbers are performed subsequent to transactions having a sequence number that is lower in value. In some embodiments, multiple requests having the same sequence number value are illegal. In other embodiments, multiple requests having the same sequence number value may be performed in any order. In other embodiments, multiple requests having the same sequence number value are to be performed in the order in which they are generated. In yet other embodiments, sequence number signal 372 may be used in conjunction with last-in-thread signal 374, in a manner similar to the use of last-in-thread signal 374 in conjunction with thread ID signal 370. If last-in-thread signal 374 is the only transaction-ordering signal used, then it is asserted to indicate the last request in an ordered sequence. The ordered sequence includes the request that has last-in-thread signal 374 asserted as well as all prior requests in which last-in-thread signal 374 is not asserted back until a previous request that has the last-in-transaction signal asserted. Also, last-in-thread signal 374 may be asserted in two or more requests that occur consecutively to indicate one or more unordered transactions, that is, that each such thread contains only the transaction that is last in that one-transaction thread. Other embodiments of the invention may assign different semantics to the three transaction-ordering signals described herein, or may add other transaction ordering signals, provided that the signals and semantics defined allow occurrences of access requests to indicate whether or not they are ordered, and if ordered, what ordering constraints apply to that access request occurrence. Channel-valid signal 360 and channel accepted signal 365 are included in each channel within bus 310. The channel-valid signal is asserted for each bus cycle in which the other signals within that channel have values that indicate a request or a response. The channel-valid signal is not asserted in bus cycles in which that particular channel of the bus is idle. Channel accepted signal 365 is generated by the responder or the requester, whichever device receives the other signals in that channel. The channel accepted signal is asserted when the receiving device successfully receives the information on the other signals in the channel. The sending device holds the information on the other signals in the channel until the channel accepted signal is asserted. Write channel 330 conveys, on write data signals 332, data to be written from the requester to the responder. The write channel also includes write data signals 332, channel valid signal 360, channel accepted signal 365, and thread ID signals 370. Read channel 340 conveys, on read data signals 342, data that has been read from the responder to the requester. The read channel also includes channel valid signal 360, channel accepted signal 365, and thread ID signals 370. Write status channel 350 conveys, on write status signals 352, status information generated as a result of performing requests to write data from the responder to the requester. Such status information typically includes either a flag indicating a successful write or an error code. The write status channel also includes channel valid signal 360, channel accepted signal 365, and thread ID signals 370. Responder 140 may include a memory circuit, device or system, including but not limited to a local memory, an embedded memory, an interface to a remote memory, a main memory, a video memory, a frame buffer memory, a communication buffer, a double data rate (DDR) memory, a RAM, a static random access memory (SRAM), a content addressable memory (CAM), or the like. In some embodiments of the invention, responder 140 may have significant data processing capability in addition to data storage capability. In various embodiments of the invention, any circuit, device or system may be used as responder 140 provided that the responder is able to hold data and to respond to requests involving the data being held. FIG. 4 shows the functional modules and their interconnections within an exemplary digital system according to the invention. In multimedia system 400, multiple functional modules generate access requests of multiple shared resources, where each access request includes an indication of whether or not the corresponding transaction is to be ordered, and, if so an indication of the ordering to be used. Multimedia system 400 includes requestors 110, responders 140, and either bus 310 or a network of busses 310 to couple the requestors to the responders. Multimedia system 400 is only one example of a system that embodies the invention; various embodiments of the invention may be used with various configurations of requesters, responders and buses. Except as described below, the design of, alternatives for, and operation of the elements of multimedia system 400 are as described above with respect to the corresponding elements of FIGS. 1 and 3. Multimedia system 400 includes a number of requesters 110, that is, functional modules that make requests on one or more common system resources. These requestors are processor 412, camera controller 414, image encoder/decoder 418, transmitter/receiver 420, display controller 424 and audio controller 428. The bus network of system 400 includes one or more buses 310. The bus network may include relay circuitry to transfer information across multiple buses. In multimedia system 400, the shared resources are system memory 444 and other resource 448. First responder 140A includes system memory 444 and controller 442. Controller 442 is a multiport memory controller that is capable of ordering transactions as specified in each request, according to an embodiment of the invention. Second responder 140B includes other resource 448 and associated controller 446. Controller 446 is a multiport controller for other resource 448 that is capable of ordering transactions as specified in each request, according to an embodiment of the invention. Processor 412 is a programmable processor, such as a microprocessor, that is coupled to system memory 444 via multi-port memory controller 442. Processor 412 can operate on the data in the system memory, and can control the other requestors in multimedia system 400. Processor 412 operates on the system memory data by means of issuing read and write requests to multiport memory controller 442, and receiving back from the controller a response that corresponds to each access request. Similarly, processor 412 can operate on the information held in other resource 448 by means of issuing appropriate requests to controller 446. Camera controller 414 is coupled to camera 416, from which it receives digital video data or digital image data. The camera controller is also coupled to system memory 444 via memory controller 442, and can transfer the video data into the system memory. Additionally, the camera controller is similarly coupled to other resource 448 via controller 446 and can transfer the video data into the other resource. Image encoder/decoder 418 is also coupled to system memory 444 via memory controller 442, as well as to other resource 448 via controller 446. The image encoder/decoder can convert the data stored in the system memory, or in the other resource, between two or more formats, for example, from digital video (DV) format to motion pictures expert group level 2 (MPEG-2) format, or from those formats to joint motion pictures expert group (JPEG) format. Transmitter/receiver 420 is also coupled to system memory 444 via memory controller 442, as well as to other resource 448 via controller 446. Among the possible functions of the transmitter/receiver are to receive digital video broadcasts, or to transmit audio to wireless headphones. Display controller 424 is coupled to display 426, which may be a liquid crystal display (LCD). The display controller provides digital image data or digital video data to display 426. Display controller 424 is also coupled to system memory 444 via memory controller 442, and can transfer the display data from the system memory. Display controller 424 is also coupled to other resource 448 via controller 446, and can transfer the display data from the other resource. Audio controller 428 is coupled to microphone 430 and speakers 432, and coupled to system memory 444 via memory controller 442. The audio controller transfers audio data between the audio devices and system memory. The audio controller also converts between the digital audio data stored in the system memory and the analog signals of the audio devices. Multiport memory controller 442 receives access requests from each of requesters 110, resolves any contentions that occur when more than one access request is active at the same time, determines an order in which the access requests are to be performed, and presents one access request at a time to system memory 444. System memory 444 is a random access memory (RAM), in which each access request includes the address or address range within the RAM that is to be read or written. Similarly, controller 446 receives access requests from each of requesters 110, resolves any contentions that occur when more than one access request is active at the same time, determines an order in which the access requests are to be performed, and presents one access request at a time to other resource 448. In various embodiments of the invention, the responders may include any functional module within a digital system whose operation includes holding information and responding to requests for access to that information from multiple functional modules within the system. Each responder must contain circuitry in the controller associated with that responder that interprets the transaction ordering constraints provided along with each occurrence of an access request, and that determines a performance order for the access requests that satisfies these constraints. Each responder must also buffer those access requests that are to be performed out of the order in which they are received and those for which a performance order can not be determined until other access requests that may have the same thread ID value have been received. In various embodiments of the invention, requestors 110 may include any functional module within a digital system whose operation includes making access requests to shared system resources. Some or all of requesters 110 may be able to communicate among each other via interrupts, as well as by passing information back and forth by encoding it as data that is held in system memory 444. The complexity of the transaction reordering circuitry and the amount of buffering required can be reduced by careful selection of which transaction ordering signals are used, careful selection of the semantics of the transaction ordering signals, limits on the maximum number of access requests that can be held, and limits on the number of bits used to represent thread IDs and sequence numbers within threads. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of two transactions flowing through a bus network. Like information flow 200 of FIG. 2, information flow 500 of FIG. 5 shows the information that flows into or out of the bus network, for each functional module of the system and for each bus cycle during which either transaction occurs. Except as described below, the design of, alternatives for, and operation of the information flow 500, and of digital system 400 that generates this flow, are as described above with respect to the corresponding elements of FIGS. 2 and 4. Both information flow 200 and 500 show the same transaction example, that is, a read access followed by a write access in which the read must be completed prior to the write. Unlike information flow diagram 200 which occurs in a system according to the background art, information flow 500 occurs in digital system 400 that includes an embodiment of the invention. In information flow 500, the transaction example is performed in only 10 bus cycles. In contrast, the background-art system of FIG. 2 requires 16 to 20 bus cycles. This advantageous speedup is obtained because in system 400, the two transactions are ordered by the responders according to the transaction ordering constraints that are indicated by the requesters in the access requests. In digital system 400, the two transactions are performed in the proper order without the requesters generating and receiving a notification from one requester to the other that the first transaction is complete. Because the requesters in the inventive system need neither generate nor receive such notifications, they are likely to be simpler and require less circuit area than the requestors of the background-art system. The requestors in the digital system 400 must provide ordering information with each access request; however, adding some additional bits of information to the access requests is likely to be considerably simpler than either generating or receiving such notifications. Thus, some embodiments of the invention advantageously simplify the requestors. In information flow 500, write request 226 is shown as being generated and provided to the bus network in bus cycle 1. However, responder 140 buffers write request 226 and determines a performance order for this transaction example that satisfies the constraint that the read occur before the write. Thus, write request 226 could be generated in a bus cycle earlier than cycle 1 without changing the semantics of the transactions and without delaying the completion of the two transactions. Thus, the performance of digital system 400 for this transaction example can be summarized by the first row of Table 2, which gives the bus cycles required for bus latencies of two, six and twelve cycles. The second row of Table 2 gives the corresponding bus cycles for digital system 100, as described with respect to FIG. 2 and Table 1. TABLE 2 Bus cycles required for transaction Bus Bus Bus example Latency = 2 Latency = 6 Latency = 12 System 100 16 to 26 32 to 42 56 to 66 System 400 11 19 31 Percentage 32% to 58% 40% to 55% 45% to 63% improvement Digital system 400 requires no inter-requestor communication for the example of two transactions; thus, its performance does not depend on the latency of inter-requestor communication. Note that the performance improvement of digital system 400 relative to digital system 100 improves as the bus latency increases. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABIILTY The invention can be exploited in industry, as will be obvious to one skilled in the art in light of the descriptions contained herein of the invention and of using the invention. The invention can be made using components and manufacturing techniques that are known or described herein. For example, multimedia systems in general are well known and a novel transaction ordering policy is disclosed herein. The invention solves immediate problems and meets immediate needs that are described herein. For example, bus performance can have a substantial impact on the performance of multimedia systems, to the extent that the quality of the audio or video experienced by the user is noticeably impaired. The scope of the invention is set forth by the following claims and their legal equivalents. The invention is subject to numerous modifications, variations, selections among alternatives, changes in form, and improvements, in light of the teachings herein, the techniques known to those skilled in the art, and advances in the art yet to be made. The figures and descriptions herein are intended to illustrate the invention by presenting specific details; they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the designs, forms and embodiments disclosed. | <SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>Modern society and technology are increasingly based on digital electronic devices. Personal computers (PCs), digital versatile disk (DVD) players and recorders, and set top boxes for digital cable systems are among the numerous examples of such devices. Many digital electronic devices include multiple autonomous or semi-autonomous functional modules, such as processors, that share access to common resources, such as memory. FIG. 1 shows the functional modules and their interconnections within one example of a digital electronic device that has multiple functional modules, each of which independently access a shared or common system resource. Digital system 100 includes two requesters 110 , which are functional modules that make requests on responder 140 which includes main memory 144 . System 100 also includes bus network 130 that conveys requests 120 from the requesters to the responder, and conveys responses 125 from the responder back to the corresponding requestor. Requestor 110 A is a programmed microprocessor and requestor 110 B is a special-purpose processor, specifically a video encoder/decoder. Requestors 110 generate requests 120 for main memory 144 , which is a common resource within system 100 . The requestors provide these requests to bus network 130 . Requestors 110 are able to communicate among each other via interrupts 150 , as well as by passing information back and forth by encoding it as data that is held in main memory 144 . Bus network 130 includes one or more buses that convey information as electronic signals among devices. Requests 120 , which include data and addresses, and responses 125 which include data, addresses and status information, are transferred between two functional modules via bus network 130 . The bus network may be a single bus, or may include relay circuitry that transfers information across multiple buses. Bus network 130 receives a request 120 from either requester 110 A or requester 110 B, and then delivers the request to responder 140 . Bus network also receives responses 125 from requester 140 and provides the responses to either requestor 110 A or 110 B, according to addressing information contained within each response. Responder 140 includes main memory 144 and memory controller 142 . Memory controller 142 receives access requests from each of requestors 110 via bus network 130 , resolves any contentions that occur when more than one access request is active at the same time, determines an order in which the access requests are to be performed, and presents one access request at a time to main memory 144 . Main memory 144 is a random access memory (RAM). Each access request includes the address or address range within the RAM that is to be read or written. Write access requests also include the data that is to be written. When main memory 144 performs a write access request, memory controller 142 generates a write status response and provides it to bus network 130 as an occurrence of response 125 that is addressed to the requestor that generated the write request. When main memory 144 performs a read access request, the memory recalls the data stored at the specified address or addresses and provides that data to controller 142 , which in turn includes the data in one or more occurrences of response 125 , each of which is addressed to the requestor that generated the read request. For multimedia systems, as well as for other digital devices where data communication can be a performance bottleneck, the features provided by the bus network that links the requestors to the responders can have a substantial impact on overall system performance. One example of a bus network design that advantageously increases system performance is a bus that includes multiple parallel channels that support simultaneous transfer of request, response, data, address and status data, or of some combination thereof. Such a multi-channel bus must be designed to operate according to a bus network protocol. Each requestor in such a system must be designed to operate according to the protocol, as must each controller within a responder. Most bus network protocols rely on a transaction ordering policy. Typically a transaction ordering policy defines: The order in which multiple access requests are performed; and How an access request is synchronized or connected together with the response resulting from that request. An access request and its associated response together comprise a complete transaction, but they occur at separate times, that is, during separate bus cycles. The different channels within a bus may at the same time carry both the response to an earlier access request and a new access request. A first example of a transaction ordering policy is a global first-in-first-out (FIFO) policy. Under this policy, each transaction is completed, and the completion is indicated via a response being generated from the responder, before the responder performs any other access request. This policy provides the necessary definition of the performance order of multiple access requests. This policy also defines an advantageously simple mechanism to associate requests with the corresponding responses. A second example of a transaction ordering policy is a first-in-first-out (FIFO) policy among transactions from the same requester along with a free-flowing, unconstrained order among transactions from different requesters. This ordering policy requires that a requestor identifier (ID) signal be associated with channel within each bus. Access requests with the same requestor ID value are performed first in first out, while transactions with different IDs are unordered and may be performed in any order. The value of the requestor ID is provided by the responder in the response, and is used by the requesters to associate the request with its corresponding response. A third example of a transaction ordering policy is one that places no constraints on when transactions are performed, either within transactions from a single requestor or among transactions from multiple requesters. FIFO ordering can negatively impact performance. This is especially the case in systems characterized by multiple data streams that have large differences in the data rates of the streams. This situation is common in multimedia systems, where video data streams have data rates that are substantially higher than high-fidelity audio data streams, which in turn have substantially higher data rates than conversational audio data streams. In a multimedia system, operating under either the first or the second example of a FIFO transaction ordering policy, higher rate data streams can easily become blocked waiting for lower rate data streams to complete transactions. On the other hand, unordered transactions can cause errors to occur in those transactions where correct operation of the system requires access requests to be performed in a particular order. To eliminate these potential errors, the requestors using unordered transactions must impose transaction ordering in those situations in which performance order is important. FIG. 2 illustrates how an example of two transactions flows through bus network 130 . Information flow 200 is illustrated as a matrix, in which each row represents a functional module within the system. Each column of the matrix represents a bus cycle. During any particular bus cycle, at most one value is transferred on each channel of each bus within the bus network. Each cell of the matrix contains a description of the information that flows during the corresponding bus cycle to the corresponding functional module from the bus network, or to the bus network from that functional module. In this example, responder 140 does not order transactions among different requestors. To compensate for this, when ordering is important the two requesters must operate together to impose the proper order of performing the transactions. Thus, information flow 200 applies both to systems that follow either the second example transaction ordering policy in which transactions from the same requestor are given a FIFO order, and to systems that follow the third example transaction ordering policy in which the bus network imposes no order on any transactions. Information flow 200 shows the information going into and out of the bus network during a period of 16 bus cycles. This period starts with when the access request for the first transaction is generated and ends with when the response to the second transaction is received. The first transaction is a read request from requestor 110 A, the second transaction is a write request from requestor 110 B. This example assumes that proper system operation occurs only when the data read from the responder is the value of the data prior to the write, which case occurs when the requestors are using system memory to pass information from requestor 110 B to requestor 110 A. In bus cycle 1 , requestor 110 A generates read access request 220 and provides it to the bus network. The bus network may be pipelined to allow shorter bus cycles, may include multiple buses with relay circuitry among the buses, or may contain a FIFO register to interface between buses operating at different bus cycle rates. In such bus networks, information requires some number of clock cycles to move through the bus network. In the example of FIG. 2 , the latency of the bus network is assumed to be two bus cycles. Thus after two cycles, i.e., in cycle 3 , responder 140 receives read request 220 . In the example of FIG. 2 , responder 140 is assumed to not be busy with any other transactions and to be able, when not busy, to respond to a request in the bus cycle after the request is received. Thus in cycle 4 , the responder generates response to read request 222 A and provides it to the bus network. In the example of FIG. 2 , the read request is assumed to be for a short block of contiguous data that requires 4 bus cycles to be transferred. Thus in cycles 5 , 6 and 7 , the responder generates responses to read request 222 B, 222 C and 222 D. Each response 222 includes providing to the bus network a portion of the data being held in responder 140 that was requested by requestor 110 A. Responses to read request 222 are received by requester 110 A during cycles 6 through 9 . Because the bus network of this example imposes no ordering on access requests from different requesters, the responsibility of ensuring that the first transaction is performed prior to the second transaction falls on the requesters. To ensure this transaction order, in bus cycle 10 requestor 110 A generates notification 224 that the read transaction is complete and provides the notification to requestor 110 B. In the example of FIG. 2 , it is assumed that requestor 110 A is capable of generating notification 224 in the bus cycle immediately after receiving the final read response 222 D, that requester 110 B is able to receive the notification in the same bus cycle without any latency, and that requestor 110 B is able to generate write request 226 without any latency in the bus cycle immediately after receiving notification. In cycle 13 , responder 140 receives write request 226 from the bus network. In cycle 14 , responder 140 performs the write request, generates write status response 228 , and provides it to the bus network. In cycle 16 , requester 110 B receives write status response 228 . Thus, the two example transactions of information flow 200 of FIG. 2 are completed in 16 bus cycles. The assumptions used in information flow 200 may be optimistic. There could easily be a latency of six to twelve cycles (compared to two cycles in flow 200 ) between the bus cycle in which the final read response 222 D is received (cycle 9 in flow 200 ) and the bus cycle in which write request 226 is generated (cycle 11 in flow 200 ). There could easily be a latency of six to twelve cycles (compared to two cycles in flow 200 ) for requests and responses to pass through bus network 130 . Thus, the performance of digital system 100 for the transaction example can be summarized in Table 1, which gives the bus cycles required for bus latencies of two, six and twelve cycles and for inter-requestor latencies of two, six and twelve cycles. TABLE 1 Bus cycles required for transaction Bus Bus Bus example Latency = 2 Latency = 6 Latency = 12 Inter-requestor 16 32 56 Latency = 2 Inter-requestor 20 36 60 Latency = 6 Inter-requestor 26 42 66 Latency = 12 | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Thus there is a need for a transaction ordering policy that both reduces the performance penalty due to blocking under a FIFO policy and reduces the performance penalty due to the requestors being responsible for ordering transactions under a policy that does not constrain transactions from different requesters. The object of the invention is to provide an improved transaction ordering policy in which individual occurrences of access requests can specify whether or not the associated transaction is to be performed in order. Some embodiments of the invention advantageously reduce unnecessary blocking of transactions involving resources shared among requesters. Other embodiments of the invention advantageously simplify what requestors must do to ensure that access requests are performed in the proper order. In some embodiments, the invention provides a system for processing information, including a memory that holds data, a controller, and at least two processors that perform operations and that generate access requests when one of the operations involves accessing the data. Each access request includes an indication of whether or not this request is to be performed in a sequential order among other access requests and, if so, an indication of the order. The controller receives the access requests from each processor, determines a performance order for the requests, and provides the access requests to the memory in the order in which the requests are to be performed. The performance order conforms to the specified order when the access requests so indicate. | 20040621 | 20091020 | 20060302 | 69086.0 | G06F15167 | 3 | ELMORE, REBA I | SEQUENTIAL ORDERING OF TRANSACTIONS IN DIGITAL SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE REQUESTORS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | G06F | 2,004 |
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10,874,082 | ACCEPTED | Thermostat with offset drive | A thermostat having a thermostat housing and a rotatable selector rotatably coupled to the thermostat housing via a support member. The rotatable selector is adapted to have a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. The thermostat further includes a mechanical to electrical translator that is laterally offset relative to the support member for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. | 1. A thermostat comprising: a thermostat housing; a rotatable selector rotatably coupled to the thermostat housing via a support member, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions; and a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the support member for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 2. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes a potentiometer having a rotatable shaft and one or more gears, wherein the one or more gears translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to a position of the rotatable shaft of the potentiometer, and the potentiometer translates the position of rotatable shaft to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 3. A thermostat according to claim 2 wherein the rotatable selector is attached to a first gear having teeth, and the rotatable shaft is attached to a second gear having teeth, wherein the teeth of the first gear engage the teeth of the second gear. 4. A thermostat according to claim 3 wherein the first gear circumscribes the rotatable selector. 5. A thermostat according to claim 3 wherein the second gear circumscribes the rotatable shaft of the potentiometer. 6. A thermostat according to claim 3 wherein the first gear is larger than the second gear. 7. A thermostat according to claim 2 wherein the rotatable selector rotates in a range of 180 degrees or less, causing the potentiometer rotatable shaft to rotate in unity with the rotatable selector. 8. A thermostat according to claim 2 wherein the rotatable selector rotates a first number of degrees, causing the potentiometer rotatable member to rotate a second number of degrees, wherein the second number of degrees is greater than the first number of degrees. 9. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes one or more belts. 10. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes one or more engaging wheels. 11. A thermostat according to claim 1 further comprising a circuit board that is fixed relative to the thermostat housing, and wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes a potentiometer mounted to the circuit board. 12. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the rotatable selector includes a face plate that is fixed relative to the support member, and a rotatable dial that is rotatable relative to the support member. 13. A thermostat according to claim 12 wherein the face plate includes a temperature scale, and the rotatable dial includes a pointer. 14. A thermostat according to claim 12 further comprising a temperature indicator fixed relative to the support member. 15. A thermostat according to claim 14 wherein the face plate includes a temperature scale and the temperature indicator includes a pointer. 16. A thermostat according to claim 15 wherein the temperature indicator includes a bi-metal thermometer. 17. A thermostat according to claim 12 wherein the face plate includes a logo region with a logo provided thereon. 18. A thermostat according to claim 12 further comprising a housing ring having an aperture therein, wherein the housing ring is fixed relative to the thermostat housing and the aperture is adapted to accept the face plate. 19. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes a magnetic position sensor. 20. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes a mechanical slider. 21. A thermostat according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical to electrical translator includes an optical position sensor. 22. A thermostat comprising: a thermostat housing; a rotatable selector rotatably coupled to the thermostat housing via a support member, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, and the rotatable selector defines a rotatable selector surface area and the support member is disposed at a centroid of the rotatable selector surface area; and a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the support member for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 23. A thermostat comprising: a thermostat housing defining a housing surface area, the housing surface area having a housing centroid; a rotatable selector rotatably coupled to the thermostat housing via a support member, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions; and a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the support member and the housing centroid for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 24. A thermostat according to claim 23 wherein the support member is disposed at the housing centroid. 25. A thermostat comprising: a thermostat housing; a rotatable selector rotatably coupled to the thermostat housing via a support member, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector having a pattern thereon; and a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the support member for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value, the mechanical to electrical translator including means for sensing the pattern on the rotatable selector and to determine a mechanical position of the rotatable selector therefrom. 26. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the means for sensing includes an optical sensor. 27. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the means for sensing includes a magnetic sensor. 28. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the pattern is printed on the rotatable selector. 29. A thermostat according to claim 25 wherein the pattern is printed on a tape, and the tape is adhered to the rotatable selector. 30. A thermostat comprising: a non-rotatable region; a rotatable selector extending around at least part of the non-rotatable region, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector having a rotation axis; and a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the rotation axis for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 31. A thermostat according to claim 30 wherein the non-rotatable region includes a display. 32. A thermostat according to claim 30 wherein the non-rotatable region includes a button. 33. A thermostat according to claim 30 wherein the non-rotatable region includes an indicator light. 34. A thermostat according to claim 30 wherein the non-rotatable region includes a noise making device. 35. A thermostat according to claim 30 wherein the non-rotatable region includes a logo. 36. A thermostat comprising: a display; a rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions relative to the display, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector having a rotation axis; a mechanical to electrical translator laterally offset relative to the rotation axis of the rotatable selector for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. 37. A thermostat according to claim 36 wherein the desired parameter value is displayed on the display. 38. A thermostat according to claim 37 wherein the desired parameter value that is displayed on the display changes as the rotatable selector is rotated. 39. A thermostat comprising: a non-rotatable region; a rotatable selector extending around at least part of the non-rotatable region, the rotatable selector having a range of rotatable positions, wherein a desired parameter value is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions, the rotatable selector having a rotation axis; and mechanical to electrical translator means laterally offset relative to the rotation axis for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the desired parameter value. | BACKGROUND Thermostats are used widely in dwellings, buildings, and other temperature-controlled spaces. In many cases, the thermostats are mounted on a wall or the like to allow for the measurement and control of the temperature, humidity and/or other environmental parameter within the space. Thermostats come in a variety of shapes and with a variety of functions. Some thermostats are electromechanical in nature, and often use a bimetal coil to sense and control the temperature setting, typically by shifting the angle of a mercury bulb switch. These thermostats typically have a mechanical user interface, such as a rotating knob or the like, to enable the user to set a temperature set point. More advanced electronic thermostats have built in electronics, often with solid state sensors, to sense and control various environmental parameters within a space. The user interface of many electronic thermostats includes software controlled buttons and a display. It has been found that while electronic thermostats often provide better control, thermostats with a mechanical user interface can often be more intuitive to use for some users. Many users, for example, would be comfortable with a rotating knob that is disposed on a thermostat for setting a desired set point or other parameter. However, to provide increased functionality and/or user feedback, it has been found that locating non-rotating parts such as displays, buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, and/or other devices or components near and/or inside the rotating knob or member can be desirable. The present invention provides methods and apparatus for locating such non-rotating parts near or inside of a rotating knob or member, while still allowing the rotating knob or member to set and/or control one or more parameters of the thermostat. SUMMARY The present invention relates generally to an improved thermostat that has a rotatable user interface member. In some cases, one or more non-rotatable component or device, such as a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, and/or other suitable device or component, may be received by an opening or recess provided in the rotatable user interface member. In one illustrative embodiment, a thermostat has a selectable temperature set point and a temperature sensor. The temperature sensor provides a temperature indicator and the thermostat provides a control signal that is dependent at least in part on the selected temperature set point and the temperature indicator. While temperature is used in this example, it is contemplated that any environmental condition or control parameter may be sensed, set and/or controlled, as desired. The illustrative thermostat can include a thermostat housing and a rotatable selector fixed to the thermostat housing via a support member, such as a support post or the like. The rotatable selector may have a defined or undefined range of rotatable positions. In one illustrative embodiment, a set point or other desired parameter is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. A mechanical to electrical translator is then laterally offset relative to the support post for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the selected set point or parameter value. In some cases, the support post is disposed at a centroid of the rotatable selector surface area, but this is not required in all embodiments. The mechanical to electrical translator may include a pot or any other suitable mechanical to electrical translator. In some cases, the mechanical to electrical translator includes a rotatable shaft which is mechanically rotated in response to rotation of the rotatable selector. Gears, belts, wheels, rods, or any other mechanical mechanism may be used to mechanically rotate the rotatable shaft of the mechanical to electrical translator in response to rotation of the rotatable selector. Alternatively, or in addition, optical, magnetic or any other suitable detection mechanism may be used to help translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to a corresponding electrical signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an illustrative thermostat; FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of an illustrative thermostat that includes a display; FIG. 3 is a top view of a partial thermostat showing an exemplary offset drive; and FIG. 4 through FIG. 10 illustrate further illustrative embodiments of offset drives. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are numbered in like fashion. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Although examples of construction, dimensions, and materials are illustrated for the various elements, those skilled in the art will recognize that many of the examples provided have suitable alternatives that may be utilized. FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an illustrative thermostat 100. The illustrative thermostat includes a base plate 110 which is configured to be mounted on a wall by any number of fastening means such as, for example, screws or adhesive. The illustrative base plate 110 has a circular shape, but it is contemplated that the base plate 110 can have any shape as desired. In an illustrative embodiment, the base plate has a diameter in the range of 8 cm to 12 cm. The base plate 110 can include a printed circuit board 120. In the embodiment shown, the printed circuit board 120 is affixed to base plate 110 on the opposite side shown. Depending on the requirement of the space controlling system, anywhere from two to six wires are typically used to interconnect the remotely located HVAC components (e.g. furnace, boiler, air conditioner, humidifier, etc.) to the base plate 110 at terminal blocks 133a and 133b. In this illustrative embodiment, a variety of switches are disposed on the base plate 110 and in electrical connection with the printed circuit board 120. A fuel switch 141 is shown located near the center of the base plate 110. The fuel switch 141 can switch between E (electrical) and F (fuel). A FAN ON/AUTOMATIC switch 142 and corresponding lever 143 is shown disposed on the base plate 110. The FAN ON/AUTOMATIC switch 142 can be electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 120. A COOL/OFF/HEAT switch 144 and corresponding lever 145 is shown disposed on the base plate 110. The COOL/OFF/HEAT switch 145 can also be electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 120. The printed circuit board 120 can be electrically coupled to a second printed circuit board 160 by a plurality of leads 125 that are fixed relative to the second printed circuit board 160. The leads 125 extend through a PCB Shield 161 and mate with a connector 130 that is connected to the first printed circuit board 120. In the illustrative embodiment shown, a potentiometer assembly 152 is shown having a rotatable potentiometer shaft 172 and a gear 173. In some embodiments, the rotatable potentiometer shaft 172 and the gear 173 may be separate pieces and subsequently secured together, or may be formed as a single piece, as desired. While a circular gear 173 is shown, it is contemplated that the any suitable gear may be used including, for example, a sector gear, a screw type gear or any other suitable type of gear, as desired. In the illustrative embodiment, the potentiometer assembly 152 is fixed relative to and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 160. The potentiometer assembly 152 is shown offset from a center 151 of the second printed circuit board 160. The potentiometer assembly 152 can provide a mechanical translation of the position of the gear 173 to a corresponding electrical signal. The electrical signal provided by the potentiometer assembly 152 may correspond to a desired set point or other control parameter that can be read by electronics on the second printed circuit board 160 to help control one or more HVAC devices. While a potentiometer is used in the illustrative embodiment, it is contemplated that any suitable mechanical position to electrical signal translator may be used including, for example, mechanical sliders, magnetic position sensors, optical position sensors, or any other suitable mechanical to electrical translator, as desired. A temperature sensor, or in the illustrative embodiment, a thermistor (not shown) is fixed relative to and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 160. In the illustrative embodiment shown, the temperature sensor or thermistor can be located near an edge of the second printed circuit board 160 in some embodiments. However, it is contemplated that the thermistor may be located at any position on or near the second printed circuit board 160, as desired. A light source 156 is shown disposed on and electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 160. The light source can be, for example, an LED or any other suitable light source. In the illustrative embodiment, the light source 156 is positioned adjacent to a light guide 157. The light guide 157 is shown extending away from the second printed circuit board 160, and through an intermediate housing 170. The intermediate housing 170 is shown disposed over the second printed circuit board 160 and base plate 110. The intermediate housing 170 can be fixed relative to the second printed circuit board 160, if desired. The intermediate housing 170 includes a support post 175 that extends away from the intermediate housing 170 as shown. In the illustrative embodiment, the support post 175 is located at or near a center or centroid of the intermediate housing 170, but this is not required. The potentiometer shaft 172 can extend from the gear 173 through the intermediate housing 170 to a potentiometer (not explicitly shown) that is electrically coupled to the second printed circuit board 160. In one embodiment, the potentiometer shaft 172 is rotatable, and is laterally offset from the support post 175. A rotatable selector 180 is shown disposed about the support post 175. The illustrative rotatable selector 180 is shown having a circular annular shape. However, this is not required. For example, the rotatable selector 180 may have a circular semi-annular shape, a square shape, a hexagonal shape or any other suitable shape, as desired. The rotatable selector 180 can include a planar portion 181 and a sleeve 182. The sleeve 182 is shown disposed on the planar portion 181 and extends away form the planar portion 181. In the illustrative embodiment, the sleeve 182 is located at or near a center or centroid of the rotatable selector 180, but this is not required. A circular gear 186 is shown disposed about the sleeve 182. In some embodiments, the circular gear 186 and the rotatable selector 180 may be separate pieces and subsequently secured together, or may be formed as a single piece, as desired. The circular gear 186 can be configured to engage the potentiometer circular gear 173 so that the potentiometer gear 173 moves as the rotatable selector gear 186 moves. The sleeve 182 is disposed about the support post 175 and is adapted to allow for rotational movement of the rotatable selector 180 about the support post 175. A scale plate 183 can be disposed adjacent the planar portion 181 and fixed in a non-rotating manner to the support post 175. The scale plate 183 can include indicia such as, for example, temperature indicia for both a current temperature and a set point temperature. A current temperature indicator 184 can be fixed to the scale plate 183 and can be formed of a bimetal coil, if desired. A set point temperature indicator 185 can be fixed to the planar portion 181. Thus, in this illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector 180 and set point temperature indicator 185 rotate relative to the scale plate 183 and current temperature indicator 184. In some embodiments, a display (e.g. LCD display), one or more buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, and/or other devices and/or components may be fixed to the support post 175, if desired, wherein the rotatable selector 180 may rotate relative to these other devices and/or components. For example, FIG. 2 shows an illustrative thermostat that includes a display 189, which is fixed relative to the support post 175, wherein rotatable selector 180 may rotate about the display 189. In some illustrative embodiments, a desired parameter value (e.g. temperature set point) is displayed on the display 189, and in some cases, the desired parameter value that is displayed on the display 189 changes as the rotatable selector 180 is rotated. In some embodiments, the current temperature and/or the temperature set point may be displayed on the display 189, as well as other information as desired. The illustrative thermostat of FIG. 2 also shows a logo region 191 and a back light button 193, both of which may also be fixed relative to the support member or post 175, wherein rotatable selector 180 may rotate about the logo region 191 and back light button 193. FIG. 1 also shows an outer housing 190 disposed on the intermediate housing 170. In the illustrative embodiment, the outer housing 190 has an annular shape, however the outer cover 190 can have any suitable shape, as desired. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an illustrative thermostat 200 showing an offset drive in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the thermostat 200 has a selected temperature set point and a temperature sensor (not shown). The temperature sensor provides a temperature indicator and the thermostat provides a control signal that is dependent at least in part on the selected temperature set point and the temperature indicator. The thermostat 200 includes a thermostat housing 270, a rotatable selector 280 fixed to the thermostat housing 270 via a support post 275. The rotatable selector 280 has a defined or undefined range of rotatable positions. In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 3, the set point is identified by the position of the rotatable selector 280 along the range of rotatable positions. FIG. 3 shows a rotatable selector sleeve 282 disposed about the fixed support post 275. The rotatable selector sleeve 282 can be disposed at or near the centroid of the rotatable selector 180, but this is not required. The rotatable selector sleeve 282 is adapted to be rotatable about the support post 275. Thus, in the illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 rotates in unison with the rotatable selector 180. In the illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 is fixed to a rotatable selector gear 286. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector gear 286 and the rotatable selector 280 may be separate pieces and subsequently secured together, or may be formed as a single piece, as desired. A mechanical to electrical translator including, for example, a potentiometer, is shown laterally offset relative to the support post 275. The mechanical to electrical translator translates the mechanical position of the rotatable selector 280 to an electrical signal that is related to the position of the rotatable selector 280. In the illustrative embodiment, the potentiometer includes a rotatable shaft 272 that includes or is attached to one or more gears 273. In one embodiment, the potentiometer gear 273 and a rotatable selector gear 286 translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector 280 to a mechanical position of the rotatable potentiometer shaft 272 of the potentiometer, and the potentiometer translates the mechanical position of rotatable potentiometer shaft 272 to an electrical signal that is related to the mechanical position of the rotatable selector 280. In the illustrative embodiment shown, potentiometer gear 273 extends 360 degrees around the rotatable potentiometer shaft 272. The rotatable selector gear 286 also is shown extending 360 degrees around the rotatable selector sleeve 282. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector gear 286 can have a circumference 287 that is equal to, greater than, or less than, the circumference 274 of the one or more potentiometer gears 273, to provide a desired gearing ratio. In the illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 (and affixed rotatable selector 280) can rotate any desired number of degrees about the support post 275. In some embodiments, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 rotates in a range of 180 degrees or less, and causes the potentiometer rotatable shaft 272 to rotate in unity with the rotatable selector sleeve 282. For example, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 can rotate a first number of degrees causing the potentiometer rotatable shaft 272 to rotate an equal number of degrees. In other embodiments, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 (and affixed rotatable selector 280) can rotate a first number of degrees, causing the potentiometer rotatable shaft 272 to rotate a second number of degrees, where the second number of degrees is greater than or less than the first number of degrees. In one illustrative embodiment, the rotatable selector sleeve 282 can rotate through a range, where the range can be anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees, causing the potentiometer rotatable shaft 272 to rotate from 180 to 360 degrees. In this illustrative embodiment, the one or more rotatable selector gears 286 and the potentiometer gears 273 rotate in opposite directions. FIG. 4 through FIG. 7 illustrate further exemplary embodiments of offset drives in accordance with the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 300, the rotatable selector 380 includes one or more gear teeth 386. One or more potentiometer gear teeth 373 engage the one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 386. The one or more potentiometer gear teeth 373 extend 360 degrees around the potentiometer rotatable shaft 372. The one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 386 extend around only a portion of the set point selector sleeve 382. In one embodiment, the one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 386 extend 180 degrees or less around the set point selector sleeve 382. The rotatable selector gear can have a circumference 387 equal to or greater than a circumference 374 of the potentiometer gear, as desired. In this embodiment, the rotatable selector gear and the potentiometer gear rotate in opposite directions. Referring to FIG. 5, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 400, the rotatable selector 480 includes a sector gear having one or more gear teeth 486. The one or more potentiometer gear teeth 473 engage the one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 486. The one or more potentiometer gear teeth 473 extend 360 degrees around the potentiometer rotatable shaft 472. The one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 486 extend about an arc along the sector gear. In one embodiment, the one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 486 extend in an arc of 150 degrees or less. In this embodiment, the one or more rotatable selector gear and the potentiometer gear rotate in opposite directions. Referring to FIG. 6, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 500, the rotatable selector 580 includes a selector rotatable member 586. A potentiometer rotatable member 572 is coupled to the selector rotatable member 586 with one or more belts 581. The belt 581 may be any continuous band of flexible material for transmitting motion and power or conveying materials. The one or more belts 581 translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector 180 to a mechanical position of the rotatable member 572 of the potentiometer, and the potentiometer translates the position of rotatable member 572 to an electrical signal that is related to the selected parameter. The selector rotatable member 586 and the potentiometer rotatable member 572 can have equal or different sizes, as desired. In one embodiment, the selector rotatable member 586 has a greater diameter than the potentiometer rotatable member 572, but this is not required. In this embodiment, the selector rotatable member 586 and the potentiometer rotatable member 572 rotate in a same direction. Referring to FIG. 7, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 600, the rotatable selector 680 includes a selector rotatable member 686. A potentiometer rotatable member 672 is in direct contact with the selector rotatable member 686. Again, the selector rotatable member 686 and the potentiometer rotatable member 672 can have equal or different sizes, as desired. In one embodiment, the selector rotatable member 686 has a greater diameter than the potentiometer rotatable member 672, but this is not required. In some embodiments, one or both of the selector rotatable member 686 or the potentiometer rotatable member 672 have a smooth surface, but this is not required. For example, one or both of the selector rotatable member 686 or the potentiometer rotatable member 672 may have a rough surface or any other desired texture, as desired. In this embodiment, the selector rotatable member 686 and the potentiometer rotatable member 672 rotate in opposite directions. Referring to FIG. 8, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 700, the rotatable selector 780 includes a selector rotatable member 786. A potentiometer rotatable member 772 is coupled to the selector rotatable member 786 with one or more tie elements 781. The one or more tie elements 781 translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector 180 to a mechanical position of the rotatable member 772 of the potentiometer, and the potentiometer translates the position of rotatable member 772 to an electrical signal that is related to the selected parameter. The selector rotatable member 786 and the potentiometer rotatable member 772 can have equal or different sizes, as desired. In one embodiment, the tie element 781 is a rigid member, but this is not required. In this embodiment, the selector rotatable member 786 and the potentiometer rotatable member 772 rotate in a same direction. Referring to FIG. 9, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 800, the rotatable selector 880 includes one or more gear teeth 886 that engage a slider or screw gear element 881. One or more potentiometer gear teeth 873 also engage the screw gear element 881. The one or more potentiometer gear teeth 873 are shown extending 360 degrees around the potentiometer rotatable shaft 872, however this not required in all embodiments. The one or more rotatable selector gear teeth 886 extend 360 degrees around the set point selector sleeve 882, however this not required in all embodiments. The rotatable selector gear 886 can have a circumference 887 equal to or greater than a circumference 874 of the potentiometer gear, as desired. In this embodiment, the rotatable selector gear 886 and the potentiometer gear 873 rotate in a same direction. Referring to FIG. 10, in this illustrative embodiment of an offset drive 900, a rotatable selector 980 includes a sleeve 982 and a pattern 990 disposed on the sleeve 982. In one embodiment, the sleeve 982 is disposed about a fixed support post 975. The pattern 990 can be arranged such that the position of the rotatable selector 980 can be determined by monitoring the pattern. The pattern can be disposed on the rotatable selector sleeve 982 by any suitable technique such as, for example, directly printed the pattern on the rotatable selector 980, applying a pattern film (e.g., tape) on the rotatable selector 980, or by another suitable process. A sensor 970 may be provided for sensing the pattern 990. In the illustrative embodiment, the sensor 970 is positioned adjacent the pattern 990 but laterally offset from a rotatable selector 980 rotation axis 981 by a distance D. The sensor 970 can be coupled to a circuit board 950, and can be used to determine the relative position of the rotatable selector 980 based on the sensed pattern. The sensor 970 may be an optical sensor, a magnetic sensor, or any other suitable sensor, and the pattern 990 can be an optical pattern, a magnetic pattern, or any other suitable pattern, as desired. Having thus described the several embodiments of the present invention, those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that other embodiments may be made and used which fall within the scope of the claims attached hereto. Numerous advantages of the invention covered by this document have been set forth in the foregoing description. It will be understood that this disclosure is, in many respects, only illustrative. Changes may be made in details, particularly in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts without exceeding the scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Thermostats are used widely in dwellings, buildings, and other temperature-controlled spaces. In many cases, the thermostats are mounted on a wall or the like to allow for the measurement and control of the temperature, humidity and/or other environmental parameter within the space. Thermostats come in a variety of shapes and with a variety of functions. Some thermostats are electromechanical in nature, and often use a bimetal coil to sense and control the temperature setting, typically by shifting the angle of a mercury bulb switch. These thermostats typically have a mechanical user interface, such as a rotating knob or the like, to enable the user to set a temperature set point. More advanced electronic thermostats have built in electronics, often with solid state sensors, to sense and control various environmental parameters within a space. The user interface of many electronic thermostats includes software controlled buttons and a display. It has been found that while electronic thermostats often provide better control, thermostats with a mechanical user interface can often be more intuitive to use for some users. Many users, for example, would be comfortable with a rotating knob that is disposed on a thermostat for setting a desired set point or other parameter. However, to provide increased functionality and/or user feedback, it has been found that locating non-rotating parts such as displays, buttons, indicator lights, noise making devices, logos, and/or other devices or components near and/or inside the rotating knob or member can be desirable. The present invention provides methods and apparatus for locating such non-rotating parts near or inside of a rotating knob or member, while still allowing the rotating knob or member to set and/or control one or more parameters of the thermostat. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The present invention relates generally to an improved thermostat that has a rotatable user interface member. In some cases, one or more non-rotatable component or device, such as a display, a button, an indicator light, a noise making device, a logo, and/or other suitable device or component, may be received by an opening or recess provided in the rotatable user interface member. In one illustrative embodiment, a thermostat has a selectable temperature set point and a temperature sensor. The temperature sensor provides a temperature indicator and the thermostat provides a control signal that is dependent at least in part on the selected temperature set point and the temperature indicator. While temperature is used in this example, it is contemplated that any environmental condition or control parameter may be sensed, set and/or controlled, as desired. The illustrative thermostat can include a thermostat housing and a rotatable selector fixed to the thermostat housing via a support member, such as a support post or the like. The rotatable selector may have a defined or undefined range of rotatable positions. In one illustrative embodiment, a set point or other desired parameter is identified by the position of the rotatable selector along the range of rotatable positions. A mechanical to electrical translator is then laterally offset relative to the support post for translating the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to an electrical signal that is related to the selected set point or parameter value. In some cases, the support post is disposed at a centroid of the rotatable selector surface area, but this is not required in all embodiments. The mechanical to electrical translator may include a pot or any other suitable mechanical to electrical translator. In some cases, the mechanical to electrical translator includes a rotatable shaft which is mechanically rotated in response to rotation of the rotatable selector. Gears, belts, wheels, rods, or any other mechanical mechanism may be used to mechanically rotate the rotatable shaft of the mechanical to electrical translator in response to rotation of the rotatable selector. Alternatively, or in addition, optical, magnetic or any other suitable detection mechanism may be used to help translate the mechanical position of the rotatable selector to a corresponding electrical signal. | 20040622 | 20070109 | 20051222 | 98236.0 | 1 | NORMAN, MARC E | THERMOSTAT WITH OFFSET DRIVE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,145 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus for accessing a remote location with an optical reader having a dedicated memory system | A method of accessing a remote location on a network using an optical reader. The optical reader has an optical scanning system and a dedicated address memory system. The optical scanning system, in response to the user scanning an encoded indicia therewith, sends to a first computer disposed on the network a scan code indicative of information encoded in the scanned indicia. The dedicated address memory system, in response to the user completing an activation sequence, sends to the first computer a dedicated code indicative of information corresponding to a particular remote location. The information from the dedicated address memory system corresponding to a particular remote location does not originate from the scanning of an encoded indica by the user. One of the scan code and the dedicated code is transmitted from the optical reader to the first computer. In response to the first computer receiving either the scan code or the dedicated code from the optical reader, a second computer disposed on the network is accessed. A lookup operation is performed at the second computer to match the code received from the optical reader, i.e., the scan code or the dedicated code, with a routing information for a remote location on the network. The routing information is returned from the second computer to the first computer. The remote location on the network is then accessed in accordance with the routing information returned from the second computer. | 1: A method of enabling a user to access a remote location on a network using an optical reader, comprising the steps of: transmitting one of a scan code and a dedicated code from an optical reader to a first computer disposed on the network, the optical reader having an optical scanning system for scanning an encoded indicia, and a dedicated address memory system; including the steps of: the optical scanning system, in response to the user scanning the encoded indicia therewith, sending to the first computer the scan code indicative of information encoded in the scanned encoded indicia; or the dedicated address memory system, in response to the user completing an activation sequence, sending to the first computer the dedicated code indicative of information relating to a particular remote location on the network, the information not originating from the scanning of an encoded indica by the user or related to the encoded indicia, the dedicated code having no routing information contained therein wherein the dedicated address memory system will override the operation of the optical scanning system when sending; accessing, in response to the first computer receiving the one of the scan code or the dedicated code from the optical reader, a second computer disposed on the network; performing a lookup operation at the second computer to match the one of the scan code or the dedicated code received from the optical reader with routing information for a remote location on the network; returning the routing information from the second computer to the first computer; and accessing the remote location on the network in accordance with the routing information returned from the second computer. 2: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dedicated address memory system further comprises: a processor; an electronic memory operably connected to the processor and including a memory location storing the information relating to the particular remote location on the network; and an electrical switch operably connected to the processor; whereby, in response to activation of the electrical switch, the processor accesses the electronic memory, retrieves the information relating to the particular remote location from the memory location, and produces the dedicated code indicative of the information relating to the particular remote location. 3: A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the information relating to the particular remote location in the electronic memory cannot be changed by the user. 4: A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the electrical switch is operably connected to a dedicated button accessible from the exterior of the optical reader. 5: A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein the activation sequence includes pressing the dedicated button to activate the electrical switch. 6: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second computer is connected to a computer database including a plurality of codes and a plurality of routing information for remote locations on the network, and associating each of the plurality of routing information for remote locations on the network with at least one of the plurality of codes. 7: A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein one of the plurality of codes in the computer database is the dedicated code. 8: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of accessing a second computer further comprises: launching a software application on the first computer; incorporating the one of the scan code and the dedicated code received from the optical reader into a message packet using the software application; and transmitting the message packet to the second computer. 9: A method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the message packet includes information identifying the optical reader. 10: A method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the message packet includes information identifying the user. 11: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of accessing the remote location on the network further comprises the steps of: locating information on a third computer at the remote location; and returning the information from the third computer to the first computer for presentation to the user. 12: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network is a global communication network. 13: A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dedicated code has a data format substantially identical to a scan code resulting from the scanning of an encoded indicia. 14: A method of enabling a user to access a remote location on a network using an optical reader, comprising the steps of: pressing a dedicated button accessible on an exterior surface of the optical reader, the optical reader operable for scanning an encoded indicia and sending decoded indicia information therefrom; transmitting, in response to the pressing of the dedicated button, a dedicated code indicative of information stored in a memory location of the optical reader from the optical reader to a first computer disposed on the network, the information stored in the memory location not associated with or originating from the step of scanning of the encoded indica by the user and having no routing information contained therein wherein the pressing of the dedicated button will override the operation of the optical reader; accessing, in response to the first computer receiving either the dedicated code or the dedicated indicia from the optical reader, a second computer disposed on the network; performing a lookup operation at the second computer to match the received one of either the dedicated code or the decoded indicia received from the optical reader with routing information stored at the second computer for a remote location on the network; returning the routing information from the second computer to the first computer; and accessing the remote location on the network in accordance with the routing information returned from the second computer. 15: The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the step of accessing the remote location on the network further comprises the steps of: locating information on a third computer at the remote location; and returning the information from the third computer to the first computer for presentation to the user. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/602,468, (Atty. Dkt. No. PHLY-25,363), filed Jun. 23, 2000 and entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING A REMOTE LOCATION WITH AN OPTICAL READER HAVING A DEDICATED MEMORY SYSTEM,” which application is a Continuation-in-Part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/598,886, (Atty. Dkt No. PHLY-25,331), filed Jun. 21, 2000 and entitled “OPTICAL READER WITH ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTH CAPABILITY”, which is a Continuation-in-Part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/580,848 (Atty. Dkt No. PHLY-25,087), filed May 30, 2000 and entitled “OPTICAL READER AND USE”, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,234, (Atty Dkt No. PHLY-24,669), issued Jun. 1, 2004 and entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING A REMOTE LOCATION BY SCANNING AN OPTICAL CODE”, which is a Continuation-In-Part of the following two pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/151,471 (Atty Dkt No. PHLY-24,397), filed Sep. 11, 1998 and entitled, “METHOD FOR INTERFACING SCANNED PRODUCT INFORMATION WITH A SOURCE FOR THE PRODUCT OVER A GLOBAL NETWORK”, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,106, (Atty Dkt No. PHLY-24,398), issued Aug. 1, 2000 and entitled, “METHOD FOR CONTROLLING COMPUTERS THROUGH A RADIO/TELEVISION COMMUNICATION HUB”. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to optical readers. In one aspect, it relates to a method for using an optical reader to automatically direct a computer to retrieve and display information from a remote location on a network. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the growing numbers of computer users connecting to the “Internet,” many companies are seeking the substantial commercial opportunities presented by such a large user base. For example, one technology which exists allows a television (“TV”) signal to trigger a computer response in which the consumer will be guided to a personalized web page. The source of the triggering signal may be a TV, video tape recorder, or radio. For example, if a viewer is watching a TV program in which an advertiser offers viewer voting, the advertiser may transmit a unique signal within the television signal which controls a program known as a “browser” on the viewer's computer to automatically display the advertiser's web page. The viewer then simply makes a selection which is then transmitted back to the advertiser. In order to provide the viewer with the capability of responding to a wide variety of companies using this technology, a database of company information and Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) codes is necessarily maintained in the viewer's computer, requiring continuous updates. URLs are short strings of data that identify resources on the Internet: documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources. URLs make resources available under a variety of naming schemes and access methods such as HTTP, FTP, and Internet mail, addressable in the same simple way. URLs reduce the tedium of “login to this server, then issue this magic command . . . ” down to a single click. The Internet uses URLs to specify the location of files on other servers. A URL includes the type of resource being accessed (e.g., Web, gopher, FTP), the address of the server, and the location of the file. The URL can point to any file on any networked computer. Current technology requires the viewer to perform periodic updates to obtain the most current URL database. This aspect of the current technology is cumbersome since the update process requires downloading information to the viewer's computer. Moreover, the likelihood for error in performing the update, and the necessity of redoing the update in the event of a later computer crash, further complicates the process. Additionally, current technologies are limited in the number of companies which may be stored in the database. This is a significant limitation since world-wide access presented by the Internet and the increasing number of companies connecting to perform on-line E-commerce necessitates a large database. Many types of optical readers are known, however, their cost and complexity have heretofore limited their use primarily to industrial and commercial users. Now, many new network-based technologies are being developed for home users which involve optical scanning. Thus, the need for a simple, low cost optical reader which can be attached to a personal computer has emerged. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises, in one aspect thereof, a method of accessing a remote location on a network using an optical reader. The optical reader has an optical scanning system and a dedicated address memory system. The optical scanning system, in response to the user scanning an encoded indicia therewith, sends to a first computer disposed on the network a scan code indicative of information encoded in the scanned indicia. The dedicated address memory system, in response to the user completing an activation sequence, sends to the first computer a dedicated code indicative of information corresponding to a particular remote location. The information from the dedicated address memory system corresponding to a particular remote location does not originate from the scanning of an encoded indica by the user. One of the scan code and the dedicated code is transmitted from the optical reader to the first computer. In response to the first computer receiving either the scan code or the dedicated code from the optical reader, a second computer disposed on the network is accessed. A lookup operation is performed at the second computer to match the code received from the optical reader, i.e., the scan code or the dedicated code, with a routing information for a remote location on the network. The routing information is returned from the second computer to the first computer. The remote location on the network is then accessed in accordance with the routing information returned from the second computer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the preferred embodiment; FIG. 2 illustrates the computer components employed in this embodiment; FIG. 3 illustrates system interactions over a global network; FIGS. 4a-4e illustrate the various message packets transmitted between the source PC and network servers used in the preferred embodiment; FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting operation of the system according to the preferred embodiment; FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of actions taken by the Advertiser Reference Server (“ARS”) server; FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of the interactive process between the source computer and ARS; FIG. 8 illustrates a web browser page receiving the modified URL/advertiser product data according to the preferred embodiment; FIG. 9 illustrates a simplified block diagram of the disclosed embodiment; FIG. 10 illustrates a more detailed, simplified block diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 9; FIG. 11 illustrates a diagrammatic view of a method for performing the routing operation; FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an alternate embodiment utilizing an optical region in the video image for generating the routing information; FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram illustrating the generation of a profile with the disclosed embodiment; FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart for generating the profile and storing at the ARS; FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart for processing the profile information when information is routed to a user; FIG. 16 illustrates a general block diagram of a disclosed embodiment; FIG. 17 illustrates the conversion circuit of the wedge interface; FIG. 18 illustrates a sample message packet transmitted from the user PC to the ARS; FIG. 19 illustrates a more detailed block diagram of the routing of the message packets between the various nodes; FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram of a browser window, according to a disclosed embodiment; FIG. 21 illustrates a diagrammatic view of information contained in the ARS database; FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart of the process of receiving information from the user's perspective; FIG. 23 illustrates a flowchart according to the ARS; FIG. 24 illustrates a flowchart of the process performed at the E-commerce node; FIG. 25 illustrates reading a bar code with an optical reader according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 26 illustrates a top plan view of an optical reader according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 27 illustrates a front elevation view of the optical reader viewed from line 27--27 of FIG. 26; FIG. 28 illustrates a general functional block diagram of the components of an optical reader in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 29 illustrates the optical reader of FIG. 26 with portions of the outer shell removed to show the interior components; FIG. 30 illustrates an enlarged view of the optical system of the optical reader while reading a bar code; FIG. 31 illustrates a perspective view of the detector unit used in an embodiment of the optical reader; FIG. 32 illustrates an exploded view of the detector unit of FIG. 31; FIG. 33 illustrates a top plan view of an optical reader according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG. 34 illustrates a side elevation view of the optical reader of FIG. 33; FIG. 35 illustrates a front elevation view of the optical reader viewed from line 35--35 of FIG. 33; FIG. 36 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of the process for reading a barcode; FIG. 37 illustrates a general functional block diagram of the components of an optical reader in accordance with another embodiment; FIG. 38 illustrates an enlarged view, with portions broken away, of the front end of the embodiment; FIG. 39 illustrates a portion of the optical system for an alternative embodiment; FIG. 40 illustrates a general functional block diagram for the output circuit of the embodiment; FIG. 41 illustrates a top plan view of an optical reader according to an another embodiment; FIG. 42 illustrates a front elevation view of the optical reader of FIG. 41; FIG. 43 illustrates a general functional block diagram of the components of one embodiment of the optical reader; FIG. 44 illustrates a sample scan code transmitted from the optical reader to the associated device; FIG. 45 illustrates a sample dedicated code transmitted from the optical reader to the associated device; and FIG. 46 illustrates a system in accordance with the current invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a block diagram of a system for controlling a personal computer (“PC”) 112 via an audio tone transmitted over a wireless system utilizing a TV. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, there is provided a transmission station 101 and a receive station 117 that are connected via a communication link 108. The transmission station 101 is comprised of a television program source 104, which is operable to generate a program in the form of a broadcast signal comprised of video and audio. This is transmitted via conventional techniques along channels in the appropriate frequencies. The program source is input to a mixing device 106, which mixing device is operable to mix in an audio signal. This audio signal is derived from an audio source 100 which comprises a coded audio signal which is then modulated onto a carrier which is combined with the television program source 104. This signal combining can be done at the audio level, or it can even be done at the RF level in the form of a different carrier. However, the preferred method is to merely sum the audio signal from the modulator 102 into the audio channel of the program that is generated by the television program source 104. The output thereof is provided from the mixing device 106 in the form of broadcast signal to an antenna 107, which transmits the information over the communication link 108 to an antenna 109 on the receive side. On the receive side of the system, a conventional receiver 110, such as a television is provided. This television provides a speaker output which provides the user with an audible signal. This is typically associated with the program. However, the receiver 110 in the disclosed embodiment, also provides an audio output jack, this being the type RCA jack. This jack is utilized to provide an audio output signal on a line 113 which is represented by an audio signal 111. This line 113 provides all of the audio that is received over the communication link 108 to the PC 112 in the audio input port on the PC 112. However, it should be understood that, although a direct connection is illustrated from the receiver 110 to the PC 112, there actually could be a microphone pickup at the PC 112 which could pick the audio signal up. In the disclosed embodiment, the audio signal generated by the advertiser data input device 100 is audible to the human ear and, therefore, can be heard by the user. Therefore, no special filters are needed to provide this audio to the PC 112. The PC 112 is operable to run programs thereon which typically are stored in a program file area 116. These programs can be any type of programs such as word processing programs, application programs, etc. In the disclosed embodiment, the program that is utilized in the system is what is referred to as a “browser.” The PC 112 runs a browser program to facilitate the access of information on the network, for example, a global communication network known as the “Internet” or the World-Wide-Web (“Web”). The browser is a hypertext-linked application used for accessing information. Hypertext is a term used to describe a particular organization of information within a data processing system, and its presentation to a user. It exploits the computer's ability to link together information from a wide variety of sources to provide the user with the ability to explore a particular topic. The traditional style of presentation used in books employs an organization of the information which is imposed upon it by limitations of the medium, namely fixed sized, sequential paper pages. Hypertext systems, however, use a large number of units of text or other types of data such as image information, graphical information, video information, or sound information, which can vary in size. A collection of such units of information is termed a hypertext document, or where the hypertext documents employ information other than text, hypermedia documents. Multimedia communications may use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”), and files or formatted data may use the Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”). This formatting language provides for a mingling of text, graphics, sound, video, and hypertext links by “tagging” a text document using HTML. Data encoded using HTML is often referred to as an “HTML document,” an “HTML page,” or a “home page.” These documents and other Internet resources may be accessed across the network by means of a network addressing scheme which uses a locator referred to as a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”), for example, “http://www.digital.com.” The Internet is one of the most utilized networks for interconnecting distributed computer systems and allows users of these computer systems to exchange data all over the world. Connected to the Internet are many private networks, for example, corporate or commercial networks. Standard protocols, such as the Transport Control Protocol (“TCP”) and the Internet Protocol (“IP”) provide a convenient method for communicating across these diverse networks. These protocols dictate how data are formatted and communicated. As a characteristic of the Internet, the protocols are layered in an IP stack. At higher levels of the IP stack, such as the application layer (where HTTP is employed), the user information is more readily visible, while at lower levels, such as the network level (where TCP/IP are used), the data can merely be observed as packets or a stream of rapidly moving digital signals. Superimposed on the Internet is a standard protocol interface for accessing Web resources, such as servers, files, Web pages, mail messages, and the like. One way that Web resources can be accessed is by browsers made by Netscape® and Microsoft Internet Explorer®. Referring again now to FIG. 1, the user can load this program with the appropriate keystrokes such that a browser window will be displayed on a display 118. In one embodiment, the user can run the browser program on the PC 112 such that the browser window is displayed on the display 118. While watching a preferred program, the user can also view display 118. When an audio signal is received by the receiver 110 and the encoded information is contained therein that was input thereto by the advertiser, the PC 112 will then perform a number of operations. The first operation, according to the disclosed embodiment, is to extract the audio information within the received audio signal in the form of digital data, and then transmit this digital data to a defined location on the global communication network via a modem connection 114. This connection will be described hereinbelow. This information will be relayed to a proprietary location and the instructions sent back to the PC 112 as to the location of the advertiser associated with the code, and the PC 112 will then effect a communication link to that location such that the user can view on the display 118 information that the advertiser, by the fact of putting the tone onto the broadcast channel, desires the viewer to view. This information can be in the form of interactive programs, data files, etc. In one example, when an advertisement appears on the television, the tone can be generated and then additional data displayed on the display 118. Additionally, a streaming video program could be played on the PC received over the network, which streaming video program is actually longer than the advertising segment on the broadcast. Another example would be a sports game that would broadcast the tone in order to allow a user access to information that is not available over the broadcast network, such as additional statistics associated with the sports program, etc. By utilizing the system described herein with respect to the disclosed embodiment of FIG. 1, an advertiser is allowed the ability to control a user's PC 112 through the use of tones embedded within a program audio signal. As will described hereinbelow, the disclosed embodiment utilizes particular routing information stored in the PC 112 which allows the encoded information in the received audio signal to route this information to a desired location on the network, and then allow other routing information to be returned to the PC 112 for control thereof to route the PC 112 to the appropriate location associated with that code. Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a computer 204, similar to computer 112, connected to display information on display 118. The computer 204 comprises an internal audio or “sound” card 206 for receiving the transmitted audio signal through receive antenna 109 and receiver 110. The sound card 206 typically contains analog-to-digital circuitry for converting the analog audio signal into a digital signal. The digital signal may then be more easily manipulated by software programs. The receiver 110 separates the audio signal from the video signal. A special trigger signal located within the transmitted advertiser audio signal triggers proprietary software running on the computer 204 which launches a communication application, in this particular embodiment, the web browser application located on the PC 204. Coded advertiser information contained within the audio signal is then extracted and appended with the address of a proprietary server located on the communication network. The remote server address is in the form of a URL. This appended data, in addition to other control codes, is inserted directly into the web browser application for automatic routing to the communication network. The web browser running on PC 204, and communicating to the network with an internal modem 208, in this embodiment, transmits the advertiser information to the remote server. The remote server cross-references the advertiser product information to the address of the advertiser server located on the network. The address of the advertiser server is routed back through the PC 204 web browser to the advertiser server. The advertiser product information is returned to PC 204 to be presented to the viewer on display 118. In this particular embodiment, the particular advertiser product information displayed is contained within the advertiser's web page 212. As mentioned above, the audio signal is audible to the human ear. Therefore the audio signal, as emitted from the TV speakers, may be input to the sound card 206 via a microphone. Furthermore, the audio signal need not be a real-time broadcast, but may be on video tapes, CDs, DVD, or other media which may be displayed at a later date. With the imminent implementation of high definition digital television, the audio signal output from the TV may also be digital. Therefore, direct input into a sound card for A/D purposes may not be necessary, but alternative interfacing techniques to accommodate digital-to-digital signal formats would apply. Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a source PC 302, similar to PCs 204 and 112, connected to a global communication network (“GCN”) 306 through an interface 304. In this embodiment, the audio signal 111 is received by PC 302 through its sound card 206. The audio signal 111 comprises a trigger signal which triggers proprietary software into launching a web browser application residing on the PC 302. The audio signal 111 also comprises advertiser product information which is extracted and appended with URL information of an Advertiser Reference Server (“ARS”) 308. The ARS 308 is a system disposed on the GCN 306 that is defined as the location to which data in the audio signal 111 is to be routed. As such, data in the audio signal 111 will always be routed to the ARS 308, since a URL is unique on the GCN 306. Connected to the ARS 308 is a database 310 of product codes and associated manufacturer URLs. The database 310 undergoes a continual update process which is transparent to the user. As companies sign-on, i.e., subscribe, to this technology, manufacturer and product information is added to the database 310 without interrupting operation of the source PC 302 with frequent updates. When the advertiser server address URL is obtained from the ARS database 310, it and the request for the particular advertiser product information are automatically routed back through the web browser on PC 302, over to the respective advertiser server for retrieval of the advertiser product information to the PC 302. Additionally, although the disclosed invention discusses a global communication network, the system is also applicable to LANs, WANs, and peer-to-peer network configurations. It should be noted that the disclosed architecture is not limited to a single source PC 302, but may comprise a plurality of source PCs, e.g., PC 300 and PC 303. Moreover, a plurality of ARS 308 systems and advertiser servers 312 may be implemented, e.g., ARS 314, and advertiser server A 316, respectively. The information transactions, in general, which occur between the networked systems of this embodiment, over the communication network, are the following. The web browser running on source PC 302 transmits a message packet to the ARS 308 over Path “A.” The ARS 308 decodes the message packet and performs a cross-reference function with product information extracted from the received message packet to obtain the address of an advertiser server 312. A new message packet is assembled comprising the advertiser server 312 address, and sent back to the source PC 302 over Path “B.” A “handoff” operation is performed whereby the source PC 302 browser simply reroutes the information on to the advertiser server 312 over Path “C,” with the appropriate source and destination address appended. The advertiser server 312 receives and decodes the message packet. The request-for-advertiser-product-information is extracted and the advertiser 312 retrieves the requested information from its database for transmission back to the source PC 302 over Path “D.” The source PC 302 then processes the information, i.e., for display to the viewer. The optional Path “E” is discussed hereinbelow. It should be noted that the disclosed methods are not limited to only browser communication applications, but may accommodate, with sufficient modifications by one skilled in the art, other communication applications used to transmit information over the Internet or communication network. Referring now to FIG. 4a, the message packet 400 sent from the source PC 302 to ARS 308 via Path “A” comprises several fields. One field comprises the URL of the ARS 308 which indicates where the message packet is to be sent. Another field comprises the advertiser product code or other information derived from the audio signal 111, and any additional overhead information required for a given transaction. The product code provides a link to the address of the advertiser server 312, located in the database 310. Yet another field comprises the network address of the source PC 302. In general, network transmissions are effected in packets of information, each packet providing a destination address, a source address, and data. These packets vary depending upon the network transmission protocol utilized for communication. Although the protocols utilized in the disclosed embodiment are of a conventional protocol suite commonly known as TCP/IP, it should be understood that any protocols providing the similar basic functions can be used, with the primary requirement that a browser can forward the routing information to the desired URL in response to keystrokes being input to a PC. Within the context of this disclosure, “message packet” shall refer to and comprise the destination URL, product information, and source address, even though more than a single packet must be transmitted to effect such a transmission. Upon receipt of the message packet 400 from source PC 302, ARS 308 processes the information in accordance with instructions embedded in the overhead information. The ARS 308 specifically will extract the product code information from the received packet 400 and, once extracted, will then decode this product code information. Once decoded, this information is then compared with data contained within the ARS advertiser database 310 to determine if there is a “hit.” If there is no “hit” indicating a match, then information is returned to the browser indicating such. If there is a “hit,” a packet 402 is assembled which comprises the address of the source PC 302, and information instructing the source PC 302 as to how to access, directly in a “handoff” operation, another location on the network, that of an advertiser server 312. This type of construction is relatively conventional with browsers such as Netscape® and Microsoft Internet Explorer® and, rather than displaying information from the ARS 308, the source PC 302 can then access the advertiser server 312. The ARS 308 transmits the packet 402 back to source PC 302 over Path “B.” Referring now to FIG. 4b, the message packet 402 comprises the address of the source PC 302, the URL of the advertiser server 312 embedded within instructional code, and the URL of the ARS 308. Upon receipt of the message packet 402 by the source PC 302, the message packet 402 is disassembled to obtain pertinent routing information for assembly of a new message packet 404. The web browser running on source PC 302 is now directed to obtain, over Path “C,” the product information relevant to the particular advertiser server 312 location information embedded in message packet 404. Referring now to FIG. 4c, the message packet 404 for this transaction comprises the URL of the advertiser server 312, the request-for-product-information data, and the address of the source PC 302. Upon receipt of the message packet 404 from source PC 302, advertiser server 312 disassembles the message packet 404 to obtain the request-for-product-information data. The advertiser server 312 then retrieves the particular product information from its database, and transmits it over Path “D” back to the source PC 302. Referring now to FIG. 4d, the message packet 406 for this particular transaction comprises the address of the source PC 302, the requested information, and the URL of the advertiser server 312. Optionally, the ARS 308 may make a direct request for product information over Path “E” to advertiser server 312. In this mode, the ARS 308 sends information to the advertiser server 312 instructing it to contact the source PC 302. This, however, is unconventional and requires more complex software control. The message packet 408 for this transaction is illustrated in FIG. 4e, which comprises the URL of the advertiser server 312, the request-for-product-information data, and the address of the source PC 302. Since product information is not being returned to the ARS 308, but directly to the source PC 302, the message packet 408 requires the return address to be that of the source PC 302. The product information is then passed directly to PC 302 over Path “D.” Referring now to FIG. 5, the method for detecting and obtaining product information is as follows. In decision block 500, a proprietary application running resident on a source computer PC 302 (similar to PC 204) monitors the audio input for a special trigger signal. Upon detection of the trigger signal, data following the trigger signal is decoded for further processing, in function block 502. In function block 504, the data is buffered for further manipulation. In decision block 506, a determination is made as to whether the data can be properly authenticated. If not, program flow continues through the “N” signal to function block 520 where the data is discarded. In function block 522, the program then signals for a retransmission of the data. The system then waits for the next trigger signal, in decision block 500. If properly authenticated in decision block 506, program flow continues through the “Y” signal path where the data is then used to launch the web browser application, as indicated in function block 508. In function block 510, the web browser receives the URL data, which is then automatically routed through the computer modem 208 to the network interface 304 and ultimately to the network 306. In function block 514, the ARS 308 responds by returning the URL of advertiser server 312 to the PC 302. In function block 516, the web browser running on the source PC 302, receives the advertiser URL information from the ARS 308, and transmits the URL for the product file to the advertiser server 312. In block 518, the advertiser server 312 responds by sending the product information to the source PC 302 for processing. The user may obtain the benefits of this architecture by simply downloading the proprietary software over the network. Other methods for obtaining the software are well-known; for example, by CD, diskette, or pre-loaded hard drives. Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a flowchart of the process the ARS 308 may undergo when receiving the message packet 400 from the source PC 302. In decision block 600, the ARS 308 checks for the receipt of the message packet 400. If a message packet 400 is not received, program flow moves along the “N” path to continue waiting for the message. If the message packet 400 is received, program flow continues along path “Y” for message processing. Upon receipt of the message packet 400, in function block 602, the ARS 308 decodes the message packet 400. The product code is then extracted independently in function block 604 in preparation for matching the product code with the appropriate advertiser server address located in the database 310. In function block 606, the product code is then used with a lookup table to retrieve the advertiser server 312 URL of the respective product information contained in the audio signal data. In function block 608, the ARS 308 then assembles message packet 402 for transmission back to the source PC 302. Function block 610 indicates the process of sending the message packet 402 back to the source PC 302 over Path “B.” Referring now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a flowchart of the interactive processes between the source PC 302 and the advertiser server 312. In function block 700, the source PC 302 receives the message packet 402 back from the ARS 308 and begins to decode the packet 402. In function block 702, the URL of the advertiser product information is extracted from the message packet 402 and saved for insertion into the message packet 404 to the advertiser server 312. The message packet 404 is then assembled and sent by the source PC 302 over Path “C” to the advertiser server 312, in function block 704. While the source PC 302 waits, in function block 706, the advertiser server 312 receives the message packet 404 from the source PC 302, in function block 708, and disassembles it. The product information location is then extracted from the message packet 404 in function block 710. The particular product information is retrieved from the advertiser server 312 database for transmission back to the source PC 302. In function block 712, the product information is assembled into message packet 406 and then transmitted back to the source PC 302 over Path “D.” Returning to the source PC 302 in function block 714, the advertiser product information contained in the message packet 406 received from the advertiser server 312, is then extracted and processed in function block 716. Referring now to FIG. 8, after receipt of a trigger signal, a web browser application on a source PC 302 is automatically launched and computer display 800 presents a browser page 802. Proprietary software running on the source PC 302 processes the audio signal data after being digitized through the sound card 206. The software appropriately prepares the data for insertion directly into the web browser by extracting the product information code and appending keystroke data to this information. First, a URL page 804 is opened in response to a Ctrl-O command added by the proprietary software as the first character string. Opening URL page 804 automatically positions the cursor in a field 806 where additional keystroke data following the Ctrl-O command will be inserted. After URL page 804 is opened, the hypertext protocol preamble http:// is inserted into the field 806. Next, URL information associated with the location of the ARS 308 is inserted into field 806. Following the ARS 308 URL data are the characters /? to allow entry of variables immediately following the /? characters. In this embodiment, the variable following is the product information code received in the audio signal. The product code information also provides the cross-reference information for obtaining the advertiser URL from the ARS database 310. Next, a carriage return is added to send the URL/product data and close the window 804. After the message packet 400 is transmitted to the ARS 308 from the source PC 302, transactions from the ARS308, to the source PC 302, to the advertiser server 312, and back to the source PC 302, occur quickly and are transparent to the viewer. At this point, the next information the viewer sees is the product information which was received from the advertiser server 312. Referring now to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a block diagram of a more simplified embodiment. In this embodiment, a video source 902 is provided which is operable to provide an audio output on an audio cable 901 which provides routing information referred to by reference numeral 904. The routing information 904 is basically information contained within the audio signal. This is an encoded or embedded signal. The important aspect of the routing information 904 is that it is automatically output in realtime as a function of the broadcast of the video program received over the video source 902. Therefore, whenever the program is being broadcast in realtime to the user 908, the routing information 904 will be output whenever the producer of the video desires it to be produced. It should be understood that the box 902 representing the video source could be any type of media that will result in the routing information being output. This could be a cassette player, a DVD player, an audio cassette, a CD ROM or any such media. It is only important that this is a program that the producer develops which the user 908 watches in a continuous or a streaming manner. Embedded within that program, at a desired point selected by the producer, the routing information 904 is output. The audio information is then routed to a PC 906, which is similar to the PC 112 in FIG. 1. A user 908 is interfaced with the PC to receive information thereof, the PC 906 having associated therewith a display (not shown). The PC 906 is interfaced with a network 910, similar to the network 306 in FIG. 3. This network 910 has multiple nodes thereon, one of which is the PC 906, and another of which is represented by a network node 912 which represents remote information. The object of the present embodiment is to access remote information for display to the user 908 by the act of transmitting from the video program in block 902 the routing information 904. This routing information 904 is utilized to allow the PC 906 which has a network “browser” running thereon to “fetch” the remote information at the node 912 over the network 910 for display to the user 908. This routing information 904 is in the form of an embedded code within the audio signal, as was described hereinabove. Referring now to FIG. 10, there is illustrated a more detailed block diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the PC 906 is split up into a couple of nodes, a first PC 1002 and a second PC 1004. The PC 1002 resides at the node associated with the user 908, and the PC 1004 resides at another node. The PC 1004 represents the ARS 308 of FIG. 3. The PC 1004 has a database 1006 associated therewith, which is basically the advertiser database 310. Therefore, there are three nodes on the network 910 necessary to implement the disclosed embodiment, the PC 1002, the PC 1004 and the remote information node 912. The routing information 904 is utilized by the PC 1002 for routing to the PC 1004 to determine the location of the remote information node 912 on the network 910. This is returned to the PC 1002 and a connection made directly with the remote information node 912 and the information retrieved therefrom to the user 908. The routing information 904 basically constitutes primary routing information. Referring now to FIG. 11, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view of how the network packet is formed for sending the primary routing information to the PC 1004. In general, the primary routing information occupies a single field which primary routing information is then assembled into a data packet with the secondary routing information for transfer to the network 910. This is described hereinabove in detail. Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated an alternate embodiment to that of FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the video source 902 has associated therewith an optical region 1202, which optical region 1202 has disposed therein an embedded video code. This embedded video code could be relatively complex or as simple as a grid of dark and white regions, each region in the grid able to have a dark color for a logic “1” or a white region for a logic “0.” This will allow a digital value to be disposed within the optical region 1202. A sensor 1204 can then be provided for sensing this video code. In the example above, this would merely require an array of optical detectors, one for each region in the grid to determine whether this is a logic “1” or a logic “0” state. One of the sensed video is then output to the PC 906 for processing thereof to determine the information contained therein, which information contained therein constitutes the primary routing information 904. Thereafter, it is processed as described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 9. Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated a block diagram for an embodiment wherein a user's profile can be forwarded to the original subscriber or manufacturer. The PC 906 has associated therewith a profile database 1302, which profile database 1302 is operable to store a profile of the user 908. This profile is created when the program, after initial installation, requests profile information to be input in order to activate the program. In addition to the profile, there is also a unique ID that is provided to the user 908 in association with the browser program that runs on the PC 906. This is stored in a storage location represented by a block 1304. This ID 1304 is accessible by a remote location as a “cookie” which is information that is stored in the PC 906 in an accessible location, which accessible location is actually accessible by the remote program running on a remote node. The ARS 308, which basically constitutes the PC 1004 of FIG. 10, is operable to have associated therewith a profile database 1308, which profile database 1308 is operable to store profiles for all of the users. The profile database 1308 is a combination of the stored in profile database 1302 for all of the PCs 906 that are attachable to the system. This is to be distinguished from information stored in the database 310 of the ARS 308, the advertiser's database, which contains intermediate destination tables. When the routing information in the primary routing information 904 is forwarded to the ARS 308 and extracted from the original data packet, the lookup procedure described hereinabove can then be performed to determine where this information is to be routed. The profile database 1302 is then utilized for each transaction, wherein each transaction in the form of the routing information received from the primary routing information 904 is compared to the destination tables of database 310 to determine what manufacturer is associated therewith. The associated ID 1304 that is transmitted along with the routing information in primary routing information 904 is then compared with the profile database 1308 to determine if a profile associated therewith is available. This information is stored in a transaction database 1310 such that, at a later time, for each routing code received in the form of the information in primary routing information 904, there will associated therewith the IDs 1304 of each of the PCs 906. The associated profiles in database 1308, which are stored in association with IDs 1304, can then be assembled and transmitted to a subscriber as referenced by a subscriber node 1312 on the network 910. The ARS 308 can do this in two modes, a realtime mode or a non-realtime mode. In a realtime mode, each time a PC 906 accesses the advertiser database 310, that user's profile information is uploaded to the subscriber node 1312. At the same time, billing information is generated for that subscriber 1312 which is stored in a billing database 1316. Therefore, the ARS 308 has the ability to inform the subscriber 1312 of each transaction, bill for those transactions, and also provide to the subscriber 1312 profile information regarding who is accessing the particular product advertisement having associated therewith the routing information field 904 for a particular routing code as described hereinabove. This information, once assembled, can then be transmitted to the subscriber 1312 and also be reflected in billing information and stored in the billing information database 1316. Referring now to FIG. 14, there is illustrated a flowchart depicting the operation for storing the profile for the user. The program is initiated in a block 1402 and then proceeds to a function block 1404, wherein the system will prompt for the profile upon initiation of the system. This initiation is a function that is set to activate whenever the user initially loads the software that he or she is provided. The purpose for this is to create, in addition to the setup information, a user profile. Once the user is prompted for this, then the program will flow to a decision block 1406 to determine whether the user provides basic or detailed information. This is selectable by the user. If selecting basic, the program will flow to a function block 1408 wherein the user will enter basic information such as name and serial number and possibly an address. However, to provide some incentive to the user to enter more information, the original prompt in function block 1404 would have offers for such things as coupons, discounts, etc., if the user will enter additional information. If the user selects this option, the program flows from the decision block 1406 to a function block 1410. In the function block 1410, the user is prompted to enter specific information such as job, income level, general family history, demographic information and more. There can be any amount of information collected in this particular function block. Once all of the information is collected, in either the basic mode or the more specific mode, the program will then flow to a function block 1412 where this information is stored locally. The program then flows to a decision block 1414 to then go on-line to the host or the ARS 308. In general, the user is prompted to determine whether he or she wants to send this information to the host at the present time or to send it later. If he or she selects the “later” option, the program will flow to a function block 1415 to prompt the user at a later time to send the information. In the disclosed embodiment, the user will not be able to utilize the software until the profile information is sent to the host. Therefore, the user may have to activate this at a later time in order to connect with the host. If the user has selected the option to upload the profile information to the host, the program will flow to the function block 1416 to initiate the connect process and then to a decision block 1418 to determine if the connection has been made. If not, the program will flow along a “N” path to a time to decision block 1420 which will timeout to an error block 1422 or back to the input of the connect decision block 1418. The program, once connected, will then flow along a “Y” path from decision block 1418 to a function block 1428 to send the profile information with the ID of the computer or user to the host. The ID is basically, as described hereinabove, a “cookie” in the computer which is accessed by the program when transmitting to the host. The program will then flow to a function block 1430 to activate the program such that it, at later time, can operate without requiring all of the setup information. In general, all of the operation of this flowchart is performed with a “wizard” which steps the user through the setup process. Once complete, the program will flow to a Done block 1432. Referring now to FIG. 15, there is illustrated a flowchart depicting the operation of the host when receiving a transaction. The program is initiated at a Start block 1502 and then proceeds to decision block 1504, wherein it is determined whether the system has received a routing request, i.e., the routing information 904 in the form of a tone, etc., embedded in the audio signal, as described hereinabove with respect to FIG. 9. The program will loop back around to the input of decision block 1504 until the routing request has been received. At this time, the program will flow along the “Y” path to a function block 1506 to receive the primary routing information and the user ID. Essentially, this primary routing information is extracted from the audio tone, in addition to the user ID. The program then flows to a function block 1508 to look up the manufacturer URL that corresponds to the received primary routing information and then return the necessary command information to the originating PC 108 in order to allow that PC 108 to connect to the destination associated with the primary routing information. Thereafter, the program will flow to a function block 1510 to update the transaction database 1310 for the current transaction. In general, the routing information 904 will be stored as a single field with the associated IDs. The profile database 1308, as described hereinabove, has associated therewith detailed profiles of each user on the system that has activated their software in association with their ID. Since the ID was sent in association with the routing information, what is stored in the transaction database 1310 is the routing code, in association with all of the IDs transmitted to the system in association with that particular routing code. Once this transaction database 1310 has been updated, as described hereinabove, the transactions can be transferred back to the subscriber at node 312 with the detailed profile information from the profile database 1308. The profile information can be transmitted back to the subscriber or manufacturer at the node 312 in realtime or non-realtime. A decision block 1512 is provided for this, which determines if the delivery is realtime. If realtime, the program will flow along a “Y” path to a function block 1514 wherein the information will be immediately forwarded to the manufacturer or subscriber. The program will then flow to a function block 1516 wherein the billing for that particular manufacturer or subscriber will be updated in the billing database 1316. The program will then flow into an End block 1518. If it was non-realtime, the program moves along the “N” path to a function block 1520 wherein it is set for a later delivery and it is accrued in the transaction database 1310. In any event, the transaction database 1310 will accrue all information associated with a particular routing code. With a realtime transaction, it is possible for a manufacturer to place an advertisement in a magazine or to place a product on a shelf at a particular time. The manufacturer can thereafter monitor the times when either the advertisements are or the products are purchased. Of course, they must be scanned into a computer which will provide some delay. However, the manufacturer can gain a very current view of how a product is moving. For example, if a cola manufacturer were to provide a promotional advertisement on, for example, television, indicating that a new cola was going to be placed on the shelf and that the first 1000 purchasers, for example, scanning their code into the network would receive some benefit, such as a chance to win a trip to some famous resort in Florida or some other incentive, the manufacturer would have a very good idea as to how well the advertisement was received. Further, the advertiser would know where the receptive markets were. If this advertiser, for example, had placed the television advertisement in ten cities and received overwhelming response from one city, but very poor response from another city, he would then have some inclination to believe that either the one poor-response city was not a good market or that the advertising medium he had chosen was very poor. Since the advertiser can obtain a relatively instant response and also content with that response as to the demographics of the responder, very important information can be obtained in a relatively short time. It should be noted that the disclosed embodiment is not limited to a single source PC 302, but may encompass a large number of source computers connected over a global communication network. Additionally, the embodiment is not limited to a single ARS 308 or a single advertiser server 312, but may include a plurality of ARS and advertiser systems, indicated by the addition of ARS 314 and advertiser server A 316, respectively. It should also be noted that this embodiment is not limited only to global communication networks, but also may be used with LAN, WAN, and peer-to-peer configurations. It should also be noted that the disclosed embodiment is not limited to a personal computer, but is also applicable to, for example, a Network Computer (“NetPC”), a scaled-down version of the PC, or any system which accommodates user interaction and interfaces to information resources. One typical application of the above noted technique is for providing a triggering event during a program, such as a sport event. In a first example, this may be generated by an advertiser. One could imagine that, due to the cost of advertisements in a high profile sports program, there is a desire to utilize this time wisely. If, for example, an advertiser contracted for 15 seconds worth of advertising time, they could insert within their program a tone containing the routing information. This routing information can then be output to the user's PC 302 which will cause the user's PC 302 to, via the network, obtain information from a remote location typically controlled by the advertiser. This could be in the form of an advertisement of a length longer than that contracted for. Further, this could be an interactive type of advertisement. An important aspect to the type of interaction between the actual broadcast program with the embedded routing information and the manufacturer's site is the fact that there is provided information as to the user's PC 302 and a profile of the user themselves. Therefore, an advertiser can actually gain realtime information as to the number of individuals that are watching their particular advertisement and also information as to the background of those individuals, profile information, etc. This can be a very valuable asset to an advertiser. In another example, the producer of the program, whether it be an on-air program, a program embedded in a video tape, CD-ROM, DVD, or a cassette, can allow the user to automatically access additional information that is not displayed on the screen. For example, in a sporting event, various statistics can be provided to the user from a remote location, merely by the viewer watching the program. When these statistics are provided, the advertiser can be provided with profile information and background information regarding the user. This can be important when, for example, the user may record a sports program. If the manufacturer sees that this program routing code is being output from some device at a time later than the actual broadcast itself, this allows the advertisers to actually see that their program is still being used and also what type of individual is using it. Alternatively, the broadcaster could determine the same and actually bill the advertiser an additional sum for a later broadcast. This is all due to the fact that the routing information automatically, through a PC and a network, will provide an indication to the advertiser the time at which the actual information was broadcast. The different type of medium that can be utilized with the above embodiment are such things as advertisements, which are discussed hereinabove, contests, games, news programs, education, coupon promotional programs, demonstration media (demos), and photographs, all of which can be broadcast on a private site or a public site. This all will provide the ability to allow realtime interface with the network and the remote location for obtaining the routed information and also allow for realtime billing and accounting. Referring now to FIG. 16, there is illustrated a general block diagram of a disclosed embodiment. A bar code scanning input device 1600 is provided by a input device distributor to customers and is associated with that distributor via a input device ID stored therein. The input device 1600 is either sold or freely distributed to customers for use with their personal computing systems. Since more and more products are being sold using bar codes, it can be appreciated that a user having the input device 1600 can scan bar codes of a multitude of products in order to obtain more information. Information about these products can be made immediately available to the user from the manufacturer for presentation by the user's computer 302. Beyond simply displaying information about the product in which the user is interested, the input device distributor may include additional advertising information for display to the user such as information about other promotions or products provided or sold by the input device distributor. Similarly, advertisers may provide catalogs of advertisements or information in newspapers or periodicals where the user simply scans the bar code associated with the advertisement using the input device 1600 to obtain further information. There is provided a paper source 1602 having contained thereon an advertisement 1604 and an associated bar code 1606. (Note that the disclosed concept is not limited to scanning of bar codes 1606 from paper sources 1602, but is also operable to scan a bar code 1606 on the product itself. Also, the input device 1600 can be any type of device that will scan any type of image having information encoded therein.) After obtaining the input device 1600 from the input device distributor, the user connects the input device 1600 to their PC 302. During a scanning operation, input device 1600 reads bar code data 1606 and the input device ID into a “wedge” interface 1608 for conversion into keyboard data, which keyboard data is passed therefrom into the keyboard input port of PC 302. The importance of the input device ID will be discussed in more detail hereinbelow. The wedge interface 1608 is simply an interface box containing circuitry that accommodates inputs from both the scanning input device 1600 and a computer keyboard 1610. This merely allows the information scanned by the input device 1600 to be input into the PC 302. In the disclosed embodiment, the wedge interface 1608 will convert any information. The data output from the input device 1600 is passed into the wedge interface 1608 for conversion into keyboard data which is readily recognizable by the PC 302. Therefore, the input device 1600 is not required to be connected to a separate port on the PC 302. This data is recognized as a sequence of keystrokes. However, the output of the input device 1600 can be input in any manner compatible with the PC 302. When not receiving scanner data, the wedge interface 1608 simply acts as a pass-through device for keyboard data from the keyboard 1610. In any case, the information is ultimately processed by a processor in the PC 302 and can be presented to the user on a display 1612. The wedge interface 1608 is operable to provide a decoding function for the bar code 1606 and conversion thereof to keystroke input data. In operation, the product code of a product is provided in the form of a bar code 1606. This bar code 1606 is the “link” to a product. The disclosed embodiment is operable to connect that product information contained in the bar code 1606 with a web page of the manufacturer of that product by utilizing the bar code 1606 as the product “identifier.” The program operating on the PC 302 provides routing information to the ARS 308 after launching the browser on the PC 302 and connecting to the ARS 308 over the GCN 306, which ARS 308 then performs the necessary steps to cause the browser to connect to the manufacturer web site, while also providing for an accounting step, as will be described in more detail hereinbelow. The bar code 1606 by itself is incompatible with any kind of network for the purposes of communication therewith. It is primarily provided for a retail-type setting. Therefore, the information contained in the bar code 1606, by itself, does not allow for anything other than identification of a product, assuming that one has a database 1614 containing information as to a correlation between the product and the bar code 1606. The wedge interface 1608 is operable to decode the bar code 1606 to extract the encoded information therein, and append to that decoded bar code information relating to an ID for the input device 1600. This information is then forwarded to the ARS 308 by the resident program in the PC 302. This is facilitated by intermediate routing information stored in the program indicating to which node on the GCN 306 the scanned bar code information is to be sent, i.e., to the ARS 308. It is important to note that the information in the bar code 1606 must be converted from its optical image to numerical values which are then ultimately input to the keyboard input port of PC 302 and converted into data compatible with communication software residing on the PC 302 (in this case, HTML language for insertion into a browser program). When the scanned information is input to the PC 302, the resident program launches the browser program and then assembles a communication packet comprised of the URL of the ARS 308, the input device ID and the user ID. If another type of communications program were utilized, then it would have to be converted into language compatible with that program. Of course, a user could actually key in the information on the bar code 102 and then append the appropriate intermediate routing information thereafter. As will be described hereinbelow, the intermediate routing information appended thereto is the URL of the ARS 308 disposed on the GCN 306. As part of the configuration for using the input device 1600, the PC 302 hosts input device software which is operable to interpret data transmitted from the input device 1600, and to create a message packet having the scanned product information and input device ID, routing information, and a user ID which identifies the user location of the input device 1600. The input device software loads at boot-up of the PC 302 and runs in the background. In response to receiving a scanned bar code 1606, the wedge interface 1608 outputs a keystroke code (e.g., ALT-F10) to bring the input device program into the foreground for interaction by the operating system. The input device program then inserts the necessary information into the browser program. The message packet is then transmitted to interface 304 across the global communication network 306 to the ARS 308. The ARS 308 interrogates the message packet and performs a lookup function using the ARS database 310. If a match is found between particular parameters of the message packet, a return message packet is sent back to the PC 302 for processing. The input device program running on PC 302 functions to partition the browser window displayed to the user into several individual areas. This is for the purpose of preparing to present to the user selected information in each of the individual areas (also called “framing”). The selected information comprises the product information which the user requested by scanning the bar code 1606 using the input device 1600, information about the input device distributor which establishes the identity of the company associated with that particular input device 1600, and at least one or more other frames which may be advertisements related to other products that the input device distributor sells. Note that the advertisements displayed by the input device distributor may be related to the product of interest or totally unrelated. For example, if a user scans the bar code 1606 of a soda from Company A, the input device distributor may generate an advertisement of a new soft drink being marketed by Company A, that it sells. On the other hand, the input device distributor may also structure the display of information to the user such that a user requesting product information of a Product X may get the requested information of Product X along with advertisements for a competing item Product Y. Essentially, the input device distributor is free to generate any advertisement to the user in response to the user requesting product information. The return message packet transmitted from the ARS 308 to the PC 302 is then transmitted back across the GCN 306 to the advertiser server 312. The advertiser server 312 restructures the message packet and appends the particular product information for transmission back to the PC 302. Upon receiving the particular advertiser information from advertiser server 312, the PC 302 then retransmits a message to the input device distributor site 1616 and E-commerce site 1618 to obtain the information that needs to be framed in the browser window displayed to the user. Therefore, the input device 1600 is associated with the input device distributor by way of a input device ID such that scanning a product bar code 1606 in order to obtain information about that particular product generates one or more responses from one or more remote sites disposed on the GCN 306. Stored in the input device 1600 is the input device ID which establishes its relationship to the input device distributor. Proprietary input device software running on the PC 302 operates to decode scanned bar code information and the input device ID received from the input device 1600 and wedge interface 1608, and also provides a unique user ID for establishing the location of the user of the input device 1600. The input device software also assembles message packets and works in conjunction with the on-board communication software (e.g., a browser) to automatically route the message packets across the GCN 306 such that the one or more remote sites disposed on the GCN 306 return information to be framed for presentation to the user. Referring now to FIG. 17, there is illustrated a conversion circuit of the wedge interface. A microcontroller 1700 provides conversion of the data from the input device 1600 and controls interfacing of the keyboard 1610 and input device 1600 with the PC 302. The microcontroller 1700 has contained therein a memory 1702 or it can have external memory. There are provided a plurality of input device interfaces 1704 to the input device 1600, a plurality of PC interfaces 1706 to the PC 302, and plurality of keyboard interfaces 1708 to the keyboard 1610. In general, the input device interfaces 1704 comprise a serial data line, a ground line, and a power line. Similarly, the keyboard interfaces 1708 comprise a serial data line, a ground line, a clock line, and a power line. The PC 302 provides a clock line, a power line, a serial data, and a ground line for input to the microcontroller 1700. The microcontroller 1700 is operable to receive signals from the keyboard 1610 and transfer the signals to the PC 302 as keyboard signals. Operation with the keyboard 1610 is essentially a “pass-through” procedure. Data output from the keyboard 1610 is already in keyboard format, and therefore requires no conversion by the wedge interface 1608. With respect to the input device 1600, the serial data is not compatible with a keyboard 1610 and, therefore, it must be converted into a keyboard format in order to allow input thereof to the keyboard input of the PC 302. The microcontroller 1700 performs this function after decoding this bar code information, and conversion of this bar code information into an appropriate stream of data which is comprised of the bar code information and the appended URL. This appended URL will be pre-stored in the memory 1702 and is programmable at the time of manufacture. It is noted that the memory 1702 is illustrated as being contained within the microcontroller 1702 to provide a single chip solution. However, this could be external memory that is accessible by the microcontroller 1702. Therefore, the microcontroller 1700 provides an interface between the input device 1600 and the keyboard 1610 to the PC 302 which allows the input device 1600 to receive coded information and convert it to keyboard strokes or, alternatively, to merely pass-through the keystrokes from the keyboard 1610. Therefore, the user need not install any type of plug-in circuit board into the motherboard of the PC 302 in order to provide an interface to the input device 1600; rather, the user need only utilize the already available keyboard port in order to input the appropriate data into the system. In this particular disclosed embodiment, the microcontroller 1700 comprises a PIC 16C73 microcontroller by Microchip Technologies™. The PIC 16C73 device is a low cost CMOS 8-bit microcontroller with an integrated analog-to-digital converter. The PIC16C73 device, as illustrated in the disclosed embodiment, has 192 bytes of RAM and 4k×4 of EPROM memory. The microcontroller 1700 can accommodate asynchronous or synchronous inputs from input devices connected to it. In this disclosed embodiment, communication to the keyboard 1610 is synchronous while it is asynchronous when communicating with input device 1600. It should be noted that, although in this particular embodiment bar code information of the bar code 1606 is input into the keyboard input port of the PC 302, disclosed methods may also be advantageously utilized with high speed port architectures such as Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) and IEEE 1394. Bar codes are structured to be read in either direction. Timing considerations need to be addressed because of the variety of individuals scanning the bar code introduce a wide variety of scan rates. Bar codes use bars of varying widths. The presence of a black bar generates a positive pulse, and the absence of a black bar generates no pulse. Each character of a conventional bar code has associated therewith seven pulses or bars. Depending on the width of the bars, the time between pulses varies. In this disclosed embodiment, the interface circuitry 1608 performs a “running” calculation of the scan time based upon the rising edge of the pulses commencing with the leader or header information. The minimum and maximum scans times are calculated continuously in software with the interface 1608 during the scanning process to ensure a successful scan by the user. Referring now to FIG. 18, there is illustrated a sample message packet transmitted from the user's PC 302 to the ARS 308. The message packet 1800 comprises a number of bits of information including the bar code information 1802 obtained from the user scanning the bar code 1606 with the input device 1600; the input device ID 1804 which is embedded in a memory in the input device 1600 and identifies it with a particular input device distributor; and a user ID 1806 which is derived from the software running on the PC 302 and which identifies uniquely with the user location. Note that the message packet includes other necessary information for the proper transmission for point to point. Referring now to FIG. 19, there is illustrated a more detailed block diagram of the routing of the message packets in order to present the framed information to the user. As is mentioned hereinabove, when the user scans a bar code 1606 using the input device 1600, a input device program running on the user PC 302 is operable to interpret the information output by the input device 1600 and generate a message packet for transmission over the GCN 306. The input device program assembles the message packet such that it is directed to the ARS 308 disposed on the GCN 306. The message packet contains several pieces of information including the input device ID 1804 which links it to the input device distributor, the user ID 1806 which identifies the particular user using the input device 1600, and bar code information 1802 describing a particular product of interest to the user. This message from the PC 302 is transmitted over a path 1900 to the ARS 308 where the ARS database 310 is accessed to cross reference the ID information 1804 and bar code information 1802 to a particular advertiser and input device distributor. The ARS 308 returns a message packet over a path 1902 to the user PC 302 which contains routing information as to the location of various other sites disposed on the GCN 306, for example, the advertiser server 312 and input device distributor site 1616. It can be appreciated that other information can also be provided by the ARS 308 which more closely targets the particular user of the input device 1600. For example, if it is known that a particular input device 1600 is sold in a certain geographic area, this information can be useful in targeting the particular user with certain advertising information relevant to that geographic area. In any case, the information returned from the ARS 308 over path 1902 provides enough information for the input device program running on the user PC 302 to identify a number of other sites disposed on the GCN 306. The user PC 302 then processes the return message packet and routes another message packet over a path 1904 to the advertiser server 312. The advertiser server 312 then returns product information of the particular product in which the user was interested back to the user PC 302 over a path 1906. Similarly, the user PC 302 routes information (e.g., the URL of the input device distributor site and the user profile) to the input device distributor site 1616 over a path 1908 in order to obtain information back over a path 1910 for framing any banners which identify the input device distributor. Additionally, the user PC 302 forwards a message packet to the E-commerce site 1618 over a path 1912 in order to return information regarding any particular advertisements the input device distributor wants to display to the user. The advertisements are returned to the PC 302 over a path 1914. Referring now to FIG. 20, there is illustrated a block diagram of a browser window according to the disclosed embodiment. The browser window 2000 is partitioned into a plurality of areas for framing specific information. A bar code area 2002 displays that product information in which the user was interested; an input device-specific area 2004 displays information about the input device distributor; and an E-commerce area 2006 displays advertising information that the input device distributor selects for display according to this particular user and input device 1600. As mentioned hereinabove, a program operable to process scanned bar code information with the unique input device 1600 develops the browser window by partitioning it into specific areas for the framing of information. Therefore, information returned from the E-commerce site 1608 is passed through the GCN 306 to the particular E-commerce frame 2006. Similarly, information about the particular product of interest is returned from the advertiser site 312 across the GCN 306 to the particular bar code specific area 2002. Information placed in the input device specific area 2004 is information about the input device distributor which is returned from the input device distributor site 1616 across GCN 306. Referring now to FIG. 21, there is illustrated a structure of information contained in the ARS database. The ARS database 310 contains a variety of information required to properly interrogate and assemble packets for obtaining information from the various sites disposed on the GCN 306. The ARS database 310 has a database structure 2100 which contains addresses for the web sites containing the product information requested by the user when scanning the bar code 1606 with the input device 1600. Under a PRODUCT heading 2102 are listed the particular bar codes and associated routing information for addressing the respective server location. For example, the ARS server 308 may contain any number of advertisers having unique URL addresses associated therewith. Therefore, the bar code 1606 of a particular product is associated with a unique URL address which routes any request for information of that product to that particular advertiser's site. Also part of the ARS database structure 2000 is a heading of INPUT DEVICE under which is the input device ID 1804 and the distributor associated with that input device ID 1804. It can be appreciated that there may be a number of distributors using the disclosed architecture such that each distributor has an ID embedded in the input device 1600 which uniquely identifies that input device with the particular distributor. Therefore, the unique input device ID 1804 needs to be listed with the respective distributors of that input device 1600 in order to process the information that needs to be framed and displayed to that particular user. Another heading under the ARS database structure 2100 is a user heading 2106 which contains profile information associated with that particular user ID 1806. As mentioned hereinabove, the user ID 1806 is obtained via the input device software running on the PC 302 and upon installation or subsequent configuration may request that the user input certain profile information which may be used to target that particular user with products and services which identify with that user profile. The ARS database structure 2100 also contains an E-commerce heading 2108 which contains information related to the bar code 1606 and an advertisement that may be triggered by the request for that information. For example, any bar code 1606 associated with a paper source 1602 can be associated with the specific information in the ARS database 310. A user wishing to obtain information about a specific soft drink may, in fact, trigger an advertising response of a competitor product. Similarly, the user interested in information about that particular soft drink may also trigger information which is relevant to that particular product or a product which may normally be served in conjunction with that soft drink. Furthermore, if the user profile indicates that this individual has significant interest in finance or insurance, the request for information regarding this particular bar coded product may trigger advertisement from an E-commerce server 1618 related to information about finance and insurance. It should be noted that the information described as contained within the ARS database structure 2100 is not limited to what has been described, but may comprise any number of pieces of information used to present desired information to the computer display of the user. Referring now to FIG. 22, there is illustrated a flowchart of the process of receiving information from the user's perspective, and according to the disclosed embodiment. The input device software running on the user's PC 302 runs in the background until activated by output from the input device 1600. Therefore, flow moves to a decision block 2200 where if a scanned input does not occur, flow moves out the “N” path and loops back to the input of decision block 2200. On the other hand, if scanned input information is received, flow moves out the “Y” path to a function block 2202 where the input device software assembles a message packet containing the bar code information, the input device ID 1804 and the ARS 308 URL address. Additionally, the browser is launched in which this information is placed for transmission to the ARS 308. Flow then moves to a function block 2204 where the browser is partitioned into any number of areas in which information is displayed when obtained from the input device distributor site 1616, the E-commerce site 1618, and the advertiser server 312. It should be known that although three frames are shown in the particular window 2000 of this embodiment, the number of frames displayed in the window 2000 is limited only by the available real estate of the window 2000 area itself. After the input device software partitions the browser window into one or more frames in preparation of receipt of return information, flow moves to a decision block 2206 where the computer waits for information to be returned from the various sites disposed on the GCN 306. If information is not returned, flow moves out the “N” path and simply loops back to the input to continue monitoring for receipt of the information. If information has been received, flow moves out the “Y” path to a function block 2208 where routing information for each frame (or partitioned area of the window 2000) is inserted into one or more packets for transmission to the various sites. The various sites then return the requested information back to the PC 302, as indicated in function block 2210. Flow is then to a function block 2212 where the proprietary software working in conjunction with the hosted browser places the returned information into the respective frames of the window. The user, viewing the display at PC 302, then perceives a variety of information, one of which is the particular product information which he or she requested, in addition to input device distributor information, and possibly other advertisements based upon the user's profile. Referring now to FIG. 23, there is illustrated a flowchart of the process according to the ARS. The ARS 308 is operable to decode and process messages received from the GCN 306. Therefore, flow is to a decision block 2300 where, if bar code information is not received, flow is out the “N” path with loop-back to its input. If bar code information has been received, flow is to a function block 2302 where a matching process occurs to link the bar-coded product information to its respective manufacturer. The ARS database 310 also associates the URL address of the manufacturer's server. When a match is found, the ARS 308 begins to assemble a message packet of information for transmission back to the PC 302, as indicated in function block 2304. The message packet contains the product information and the URL address of the manufacturer's website. Flow then moves to a decision block 2306 where the input device ID 1804 is compared with the list of input device IDs issued by the particular input device distributor. If the input device ID 1804 is validated, flow moves out the “Y” path to a function block 2308 where the message packet is appended with the input device ID 1804 and distributor routing address. Flow then moves to a decision block 2310 where the ARS 308 determines if any E-commerce information is to be associated with a particular input device ID 1804. If so, flow is out the “Y” path to a function block 2312 where the message packet is appended with the E-commerce routing string. The E-commerce routing string provides addressing for the E-commerce server 1618. Flow then moves to a function block 2314 where all message packets are returned back to the PC 302 for processing. Referring back to decision block 2306, if the input device ID 1804 is determined to be invalid, flow moves out the “N” path and jumps forward to the input of decision block 2314, since the lack of a input device ID 1804 interrupts the link to any advertising provided by the E-commerce server 1618. At this point, the only information provided is the link to the advertiser server 312 for return of product information. Referring now to decision block 2310, if no E-commerce information is available, flow moves out the “N” path and jumps forward to the input of function block 2314 where the message packet back to the PC 302 contains only the URL of the advertiser server 312, the bar code information, the distributor server 1616 address and input device ID 1804 information. Referring now to FIG. 24, there is illustrated a flowchart of the process performed at the E-commerce site. The E-commerce server 1618 receives the message packet from the user PC 302, as indicated in function block 2400, and decodes the packet to perform a match with the bar coded information. Moving on to a decision block 2402, if the match is unsuccessful, flow is out the “N” path to a function block 2404 where the match is rejected. A message may be returned to indicate that a problem occurred and the user may need to re-scan the product bar code 1606. If a successful match occurs, flow moves out the “Y” path to a function block 2406 where the input device ID 1804 is matched with the bar code product information. The bar coded information may be distributed to customers over a large geographic area. However, the input device 1606 may be coded for certain geographic areas. For example, a input device 1600 having an XXX ID may be restricted for sale in the Southwestern United States while a input device 1600 having a YYY ID may be sold only in the Northeast. In this way, geographic areas may be targeted with advertising more appealing to that particular area. Advertising returned to the user PC 302 may be focused further by obtaining a user profile when the software or input device 1600 are installed. In this way, advertising may be focused based upon the user profile. Therefore, flow moves to a function block 2408 to lookup the E-commerce action based upon the input device ID 1804 and the bar code information. Flow moves to a function block 2410 to assemble all the information into a packet for return to the user PC 302. The product information and/or user profile information may be returned. Flow is then to a function block 2412 where the message packet is transmitted. Referring now to FIG. 25, there is illustrated an optical reader which can be used for scanning an optical code, for example a bar code, and delivering signals indicative of the optical code to a computer. Reader 2500 typically includes an outer shell 2502 enclosing the working components and shaped for convenient manual grasping by the user. During operation, the front end 2504 of the reader 2500 is brought into contact with (or very close proximity to) a surface 2506 bearing the optical code to be read, for example barcode 2508. The reading operation begins with the reader 2500 positioned at a starting position (shown in phantom and denoted by reference numeral 2510) to one side of the barcode 2508. The reader 2500 is then moved across the barcode 2508 as indicated by arrow 2512 to a final position (shown in phantom and denoted by reference numeral 2514) on the opposite side. Typically, the reader 2500 must be moved across the barcode 2508 at a substantially constant speed to ensure accurate reading of the symbol. Once the optical symbol has been scanned by the optical reader 2500, internal circuitry produces electronic output signals indicative of the symbol. These electronic output signals are provided to a computer (not shown), typically by means of a wired control cord 2516. Alternately, the output signals may be sent from the reader 2500 to the computer using other known transmission technologies, for example using a wireless radio frequency (RF) link or a wireless infrared (IR) link. Referring now to FIGS. 26 and 27, there are illustrated external views of optical reader 2500 according to an embodiment of the invention. Typically, the outer shell 2502 of the reader 2500 will be constructed from multiple pieces to allow simple assembly of the internal components. For example, the illustrated embodiment includes an upper shell 2702 and a lower shell 2704 which form a hollow interior cavity within which the internal components are mounted. To provide for easier gripping and to prevent the device from rolling across flat surfaces, the upper shell 2702 may have a generally semi-circular cross section and the lower shell 2704 may have a generally flat cross section. A scanning portal 2706 is provided at the front end 2504 of reader 2500 to allow the interior components to project and collect radiant energy during the scanning operation. The scanning portal 2706 is typically covered by a protective window 2708 which is transparent to the radiant energy wavelength used for scanning. Projection and/or collection lenses may be visible behind the window 2708. For example, in FIG. 27, a collection lens 2710 and a projection lens 2712 are visible through the window 2708. To assist the user in maintaining the proper orientation of the reader 2500 during the scanning operation (i.e., with the front end 2504 substantially flat against the surface 2506 bearing the optical symbol, the front end 2504 may be adapted to form a substantially flat bearing surface 2602 surrounding the scanning portal 2708. The bearing surface 2602 is preferably substantially perpendicular to the axis 2604 of the collection portion of the optical system. To reduce the likelihood that the scanning window 2708 will be scratched during the scanning process, it may be inset slightly behind the plane of the bearing surface 2602. The window 2708 may be further protected by the provision of pads 2606 on external shell 2502 which project slightly ahead of the bearing surface 2602. The external shell 2502 of the reader 2500 may be contoured to provide a comfortable grasp for the user and/or to have an attractive or distinctive shape. For example, the upper shell 2702 of the reader 2500 is smoothly contoured to provide a “streamlined” appearance in accordance with a common style used on other computer related devices such as a computer mouse, a track ball, etc. In other embodiments, however, the exterior shell may be contoured to provide a more distinctive appearance. The exterior surface of the outer shell 2502 further provides an area 2607 for the placement of identifying or advertising indicia 2608 (shown in phantom). Such indicia, if present, may be formed by printing or painting directly on the exterior surface of the reader 2500, by the application of discrete labels, and/or by molding letters, designs or other indicia directly into the surface of the reader by means of injection molding or a similar process. Referring now to FIGS. 33-35, there is illustrated an alternative embodiment of the invention. Optical reader 3300 has an exterior shell 3302 contoured to resemble an animal, in this case, a stylized cat. It will be readily appreciated that, except for the recontoured shell 3302, the features described for the previous embodiment are present in substantially identical form in this embodiment, including the scanning portal 2706, window 2708, bearing surface 2602 and pads 2606. In addition, identifying or advertising indicia 2608 may be placed on the stylized shell of reader 3300 in the same fashion as on the previous embodiment. It will further be apparent that the external shell of the reader can be contoured to resemble other animals, e.g., dogs, birds, reptiles, fish, etc. or other objects including automobiles, trucks, trains, aircraft, etc. without departing from the scope of the current invention. Referring now to FIG. 28, there is illustrated a general block diagram showing the function of an optical reader in accordance with embodiments of the current invention. A radiant energy source 2802 is provided for generating a radiant energy which will be used for illuminating a target region containing the barcode or other symbol to be scanned. The radiant energy, denoted by arrow 2804, is transmitted from the source 2802 into an optical system 2806. The radiant energy is typically light in the visible wavelength, however light of infrared (IR) wavelength or other forms of radiant energy may be used. The optical system 2606, which will be described in further detail below, directs the radiant energy (now denoted by arrow 2807) into a target region 2808 adjacent to the reader. The radiant energy directed into the target region 2808 illuminates a barcode 2810 present therein and causes an image, denoted by arrow 2812, of the barcode to be reflected back into another portion of the optical system 2806. The reflected image of the barcode passes through the optical system 2806 where it is processed to increase its contrast and decrease its luminance. After processing, the image, denoted now by arrow 2814, is directed by the optical system 2806 onto a photodetector 2816, which produces output electrical signals indicative of the radiant energy incident thereon. The output electrical signals, denoted by arrow 2818, are routed to a decoder circuit 2820, which utilizes electronic circuitry to decode the output electrical signals to provide an indication of the information contained in the barcode 2810. The information, denoted by reference numeral 2822, is then transmitted to an external computer 2824 for further use or processing. Typically, the decoded information 2822 is transmitted to the external computer 2824 in accordance with a known data interface format. Suitable data interface formats for transmission of the barcode information from the decoder circuit 2820 of the reader to an external computer 2824 include an output signal which emulates computer keyboard keystrokes such as those in accordance with the PS/2 keyboard interface standard or the AT keyboard interface standard. Alternately, the output signals may be formatted in accordance with other known data interface or communication standards, including the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, the RS-232 standard, the RS-423 standard, the IEEE 1394 (FIREWIRE) standard, the Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface standard, the Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE) interface standard, the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) transmission standard, the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) interface standard, the 8-Bit Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus standard, the 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus standard, the VL-Bus bus standard, the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard, the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) bus standard, the Centronics Parallel Port (CPP) standard, the Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) standard, the Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) standard, the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) interface standard, and network architecture standards including Ethernet and Token Ring network standards. It is desirable to provide an optical reader which is economical to produce, therefore reducing the number of components and simplifying the design and construction of the remaining components are important features of the current invention. Referring now to FIG. 29, there is illustrated the optical reader 2500 with the upper shell removed to show the interior components. A printed circuit board (PCB) 2902 is provided for physical mounting and electrical interconnection of the necessary electronic components comprising the decoder circuit and output signal interface circuit. These components include a microprocessor 2904, memory (not shown), interface circuit 2906, timing crystal 2908 and signal amplifiers 2910. Note that for clarity of illustration, the individual circuit lines and many smaller components such as resistors which appear on the actual PCB 2902 are not illustrated in FIG. 29. The PCB 2902 may be mounted to the lower shell 2704 of the reader by means of locating pins 2912 molded into the shell and protruding through corresponding holes in the PCB. These holes can further receive screws (not shown) for securing the upper shell 2702 to the lower shell 2704 during final assembly. The portion of the PCB 2902 mounting amplifiers 2910 is preferably enclosed is shielding material 2914 to prevent stray electrical signals from creating noise in the amplifier circuitry. The control cord 2516 connects the reader 2500 to the external computer 2824, entering the shell and passing through strain relief fitting 2916 for connecting to the PCB 2902 with electrical connector 2918. The optical system 2806 may be mounted to the front end of the PCB 2902 and further secured to the lower shell 2704 with locating pins 2920 and/or clips 2922 as needed. The radiant energy source 2802 is typically mounted to the PCB 2902 and electrically connected thereto to receive electrical power. The radiant energy source 2802 produces light or other radiant energy which is delivered into the optical system 2806. In one embodiment, the radiant energy source 2802 is a light emitting diode (LED), however it will be apparent that a laser or other radiant energy source could be used. The optical system 2806 comprises a projection portion 2924 for directing the radiant energy along a projection path extending from the radiant energy source 2802 to the target region 2926. The optical system 2806 further includes a collection portion 2928 for collecting the radiant energy reflected from a symbol (e.g., a barcode) when the symbol occupies the target region 2926 and directing the collected radiant energy along a collection path extending from the target region to the photodetector 2816. The collection path of the optical system 2608 is typically enclosed by a light shield 2930 to prevent unwanted radiant energy from entering the optical system and being reflected or scattered into the photodetector 2816. Referring now to FIG. 30, there is illustrated an enlarged view of the optical system 2608 showing its constituent components. In FIG. 30, the top of the light shield 2930 has been removed for clarity of illustration, but the walls 3002 of the light shield are present on either side of the collection axis 2604. In this embodiment, the radiant energy source 2802 is mounted on a forward extension 3004 of the PCB 2902. At least a portion of the radiant energy emitted by the source 2802, which is typically visible- or IR-wavelength light, enters the projection portion 2924 of the optical system. In the embodiment shown, the projection portion includes a guideway 3006 which directs the radiant energy (denoted by rays 3008) from the source 2802 to the target region 2926. In one embodiment, the guideway 3006 comprises a transparent prism which directs the radiant energy 3008 by reflection from the guideway sides 3010 and by refraction at the guideway ends 3012, 3013. It will be apparent, however that other embodiments may utilize a mirror or fiber optics as the guideway 3006. Alternatively, other embodiments may directly illuminate the target region 2926 from the source 2802 without the use of a guideway. A guideway lens 2712 may be used at the upstream end 3013 of the guideway 3006 to increase the amount of radiant energy collected from the source 2802 for delivery to the target region 2926. The radiant energy 3008 delivered to the target region 2926 illuminates any barcode 2508 present, causing the energy to be scattered from the surface of the barcode as illustrated. At least a portion of the energy scattered from the barcode 2508 is reflected into the collection lens 2710, forming a reflected image of the barcode. This image is directed along the collection axis 2604 of the optical system downstream toward the photodetector 2816. As the barcode 2508 moves through the target region 2926, the reflected image of the alternating light and dark (i.e., more reflective and less reflective) bars forming the symbol will be directed across the photodetector 2816, causing the output electrical signals to vary correspondingly. Given output electronic signals having sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, decoding circuits of known design can amplify and decode the output electrical signals from a photodetector and identify the corresponding barcode. However, prior to the current invention, photodetectors providing signals having sufficient signal-to-noise ratio were not available at a sufficiently low manufacturing cost. Of particular challenge is obtaining a high signal-to-noise ratio electrical signal from a photodetector without utilizing a multi-stage photo amplifier. Further, it is preferred that the system utilize as few optical elements as possible. Referring still to FIG. 30, the photodetector 2816 of the current embodiment is mounted on the top surface 3014 of a base 3016 and electrically connected to the PCB 2902 with leads 3018. The photodetector 2816 may be a device selected from the group of known light-sensitive devices including photo-diodes, photo-transistors, photo-resistors, photomultiplier tubes, and Charge Coupled Devices (CCD). Alternately, the photodetector 2816 may be another type of device for producing electrical signals corresponding to light incident thereupon. In a preferred embodiment, the photodetector 2816 is a photo-diode which provides a desirable combination of light-sensitivity and low cost. Disposed upstream on the collection path from the photodetector 2816 is a pinhole aperture 3020. Preferably, there are no intervening or refractive or diffractive elements between the pinhole aperture 3020 and the photodetector 2816, as their presence will increase the cost of the device. A pinhole aperture is a well known optical element which provides a well defined, virtually undistorted image of objects across a wide angular field (i.e., good depth of focus) and over a large range of distances (i.e., good depth of field). A pinhole aperture does not focus the energy passing therethrough, but rather increases the contrast of the image, although at the same time decreasing its luminance. Raising the contrast of the image passed to the photodetector 2816 increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the resulting electrical output. The lower luminance of the image merely reduces the overall output signal strength and can be easily overcome by electronic amplification if the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal is high. Thus, by positioning the pinhole aperture 3020 upstream of the photodetector 2816 in the current invention, the image contrast of the barcode image is increased such that an inexpensive single stage photodetector can provide an electrical signal having sufficient signal-to-noise ratio to allow decoding of the barcode without encountering excessive signal noise during electronic amplification. The collection lens 2710 is disposed upstream on the collection path (i.e., toward the barcode which is the source of the image) from the pinhole aperture 3020. Preferably, collection lens 2710 is a magnifying lens, i.e., refracting the light rays passing therethrough to create an image which has increased dimensions compared to the actual bar code. The magnifying lens illustrated in FIG. 30 is a single element double convex lens. In another embodiment, a single element plano-convex lens may be used. In still further embodiments, other single element or multi element magnifying lenses can be used for collection lens 2710. Preferably, there are no intervening refractive or diffractive elements between the pinhole aperture 3020 and the collection lens 2710, as their presence will increase the cost of the device. The refracted light rays 3009 leaving the collection lens 2710 form an image of the bar code which is dimensionally magnified as it moves toward the pinhole aperture 3020, thereby increasing the apparent width of the bars when their image is received at the pinhole aperture. The portion of the image passing through the pinhole aperture 3020 and reaching the photodetector 2816 will likewise be dimensionally magnified. Thus, the optical system 2806 of the current embodiment, combining dimensional image magnification (provided by the collection lens 2710) and contrast enhancement (provided by the pinhole aperture 3020) effectively acts to pre-amplify the optical signal reaching the photodetector 2816 such that the electrical output signals 2818 will have sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for amplification and decoding without requiring a multi stage electronic photo amplifier which would be more expensive to manufacture. Described another way, the optical system according to one embodiment of the current invention provides increased resolution (i.e., the ability to distinguish between two lines or points in a symbol) as follows: The bar code 2508 to be read has a minimum unit width denoted by W, for example, the minimum width of a bar in the bar code. The light rays 3009 of the image are refracted by the collection lens 2710 such that the minimum unit width of the bar code is dimensionally magnified, for example, from W to 2×W (i.e., a factor of 2×) as it moves from the target plane 2506 to the pinhole aperture plane 3024. The pinhole aperture 3020 is selected to have a diameter, for example 0.5×W, which is smaller than the magnified minimum unit width. Thus, only a sample (denoted by reference numeral 3028) of the image rays may pass through the aperture 3020 to the photodetector 2816 lying in the photodetector plane 3026. This results in the photodetector 2816 seeing (i.e., having in its field of view), at most, either a portion of a single feature (bar or space) or portions of one bar and one adjacent space. The photodetector never sees portions of three adjacent features at the same time. This arrangement results in a very high signal-to-noise ratio being produced by the photodetector 2816. In one embodiment of the current invention, the optical system 2806 provides at the photodetector plane 3026 an image of the symbol 2508 at the target plane 2506 which is dimensionally magnified within the range of about 0.5× to about 5×. In another embodiment, the optical system 2806 provides at the photodetector plane an image of the symbol at the target plane which is magnified within the range of about 1.5× to about 2.5×. In yet another embodiment, the optical system 2806 provides at the photodetector plane an image of the symbol at the target plane which is dimensionally magnified within the range of 1.9× to about 2.1×. Referring still to FIG. 30, a protective window 2708 may be provided along the collection path upstream from the magnifying lens 2710. The protective window 2708 has parallel surfaces which are disposed substantially perpendicular to the collection path 2604 and thus do not substantially refract or diffract light rays passing therethrough. In the embodiment illustrated, the protective window 2708 is molded as an integral portion of the component which also comprises the projection guideway 3006 and guideway lens 2712. In one embodiment of the current invention, the collection portion 2928 of the optical system 2806 consists of only the protective window 2708, the magnifying collection lens 2710 and the pinhole aperture 3020 arranged in that order between the target symbol 2508 and the photodetector 2816. Such an embodiment provides a functional optical system having very low production costs. Referring now to FIGS. 31 and 32, there is illustrated a discrete detector unit 3102 which may be used in an embodiment of the invention. The detector unit 3102 comprises the photodetector 2816 and the pinhole aperture 3020 packaged together in a discrete unit. Such packaging decreases production costs by reducing the assembly's part count and by reducing the number of components which must be assembled. As best seen in FIG. 32, the detector unit 3102 includes a base 3016 having a top surface 3014 upon which the actual photodetector 2816 is mounted. Note that the photodetector 2816 may be a separate electronic component which has been mounted to the base 3016 or alternately, it may be a device formed as an integral part of the base substrate. A cap 3104 is mounted to the base 3016. The cap 3104 has a top portion 3106 which is spaced apart from the top surface 3014 of the base 3016 to define an interior cavity 3202 containing the photodetector 2816. The cap 3104 has a single pinhole 3020 formed therethrough at a predetermined distance 3108 from the photodetector 2816. Except for the pinhole aperture 3020, the cap 3104 is preferably light-tight. In one embodiment of the invention, the cap 3014 of the detector unit 3102 is a cylindrical metallic canister having a flat upper portion 3106. Using a metallic canister for the cap 3014 has two advantages: first, it provides a rugged container which protects the photodetector from damage during transportation, handling and assembly; and second, the metallic material allows a pinhole aperture 3020 having high dimensional accuracy to be formed by drilling, punching or otherwise machining a hole through the metallic surface. In addition, cylindrical metallic canisters suitable for use as cap 3014 are readily available at very low costs in the electronic industry, having been used for many years as protective caps for transistors and other semiconductor devices. To provide for a convenient sized optical reader, one embodiment of the current invention utilizes a detector unit 3102 having a cap 3104 with a diameter 3204 within the range of about 3 millimeters to about 20 millimeters. Another embodiment of the current invention utilizes a detector unit 3102 having a cap 3104 with a diameter 3204 within the range of about 4 millimeters to about 8 millimeters. Yet another reader according to the current invention utilizes a cap for the detector unit 3102 having a diameter 3204 within the range of about 5.5 millimeters to about 6.5 millimeters. The predetermined distance 3108 between the pinhole aperture plane 3024 and the photodetector plane 3026 will affect the overall magnification of the image (or portion of the image) received at the photodetector 2816. In one embodiment of the current invention, the predetermined distance 3108 is within the range of about 1 millimeter to about 10 millimeters. In another embodiment of the current invention, the predetermined distance 3108 is within the range of about 3 millimeters to about 7 millimeters. In yet another embodiment, the predetermined distance 3108 between the photodetector 2816 and the pinhole aperture 3020 is within the range of about 4.5 millimeters to about 6 millimeters. Referring now to FIG. 36, there is illustrated a flowchart of a method of reading a bar code in accordance with another aspect of the current invention. The method starts in block 3602 and proceeds to the first function block 3604 wherein the target region is illuminated with a radiant energy generated by a radiant energy source which is directed from the source to the target region. Next, flow continues to function block 3606 wherein the bar code or other symbol is moved through the target area. Flow next proceeds to block 3608 which represents transmitting an image of the illuminated bar code through an optical system along a collection path extending from the target region to a photodetector. The step of transmitting includes a first sub-step 3610 wherein the reflected image of the bar code is dimensionally magnified with an optical element which is disposed along the collection path between the target region and the photodetector. Preferably, the optical element used for dimensional magnification is a magnifying lens, either a double convex lens or a plano-convex lens. Further, it should be noted that sub-step 3610 is preferred but not required. The step 3608 of transmitting an image of the illuminated bar code further comprises a second sub-step 3612 which is increasing the contrast of the reflected image and decreasing the luminance of the image by passing it through an optical element disposed along the collection path between the target region and the photodetector. Note that when sub-step 3610 is performed, the optical element for magnifying the image is disposed between the bar code and the optical element which increases the contrast of the reflected image. In an embodiment of the invention, the optical element which increases the contrast of the reflected image is a passive device, i.e., it requires no electrical energy or other external power. In another embodiment, the optical element which increases the contrast of the image is combined in a discrete package with the photodetector. In yet embodiment, the optical element which increases the contrast of the reflected image is a pinhole aperture. The pinhole aperture may be formed through the body of a discrete package enclosing the photodetector or the pinhole aperture may be a separate element included in the optical system. Flow now continues to function block 3614 wherein the reflected image of the bar code is received by the photodetector. Flow then continues to function block 3616 wherein the photodetector generates output electrical signals indicative of the radiant energy received. Flow then proceeds to function block 3618 wherein the output electrical signals produced by the detector are decoded to provide an indication of the information contained in the bar code. The method of reading the bar code is now complete as indicated by the flow proceeding to the “End” block 3620. Referring now to FIG. 37, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view of an optical reader in accordance with another aspect of the invention. Externally, the optical reader of this embodiment may be substantially similar in construction to the optical readers 2500 or 3300 previously described. However, the optical reader 3700 is adapted for reading bar codes (or other such optical indicia encoding information therein) having one or more ultraviolet-wavelength-responsive properties. Two examples of ultraviolet-wavelength-responsive properties are the property of reflecting ultraviolet wavelengths and the property of fluorescing upon exposure to ultraviolet wavelengths. It will further be appreciated that fluorescence is the property of emitting electromagnetic radiation (e.g., visible light) resulting from and occurring only during the absorption of radiation from another source (e.g., ultraviolet light). The optical reader 3700 includes an ultraviolet light source 3702, an optical system 3704, a photodetector 3706 and a decoder circuit 3708. The ultraviolet light source 3702 generates light having a wavelength which is shorter than the wavelength for visible light and longer than the wavelength for X-rays. The ultraviolet light source 3702 may be any device capable of producing electromagnetic radiation having the desired wavelength, including lamps, bulbs, tubes, lasers and other devices known in the art. Referring now to FIG. 38, there is illustrated a partial cut-away view of the front end of one embodiment of optical reader 3700. Ultraviolet lamp 3702 comprises a gas-filled glass tube 3804 having cathode 3806 and anode 3808 electrodes. A voltage impressed across the electrodes 3806, 3808 causes electrons leaving the cathode to bombard the gas, resulting in the emission of ultraviolet light 3714. In a preferred embodiment, the gas within the tube 3804 is mercury vapor. When a mercury vapor lamp or other such device is used for the ultraviolet light source 3702, the optical reader 3700 may further include a high voltage power supply 3730 and/or a ballast circuit 3810. The ballast circuit 3810 may be used to provide the necessary starting voltage and/or for stabilizing the current supplied to the mercury vapor lamp 3702 or other ultraviolet light source. Conventional designs for both a high voltage power supply and for a ballast circuit are known in the art and will not be described in detail. The optical system 3704 of optical reader 3700 includes a projection portion 3710 and a collection portion 3712. The projection portion 3710 directs the ultraviolet light (denoted by arrow 3714) received from the ultraviolet light source 3702 along a projection path (denoted by arrow 3716) extending from the ultraviolet light source to a target region 3718. The collection portion 3712 of the optical system 3704 collects light (denoted by arrow 3720) from a bar code 3722 when the bar code occupies the target region 3718 and directs the collected light along a collection path (denoted by arrow 3724) extending from the target region to the photodetector 3706. The photodetector 3706 generates output electrical signals (denoted by arrow 3726) indicative of the light incident thereon having a wavelength within a predetermined range of wavelengths. In other words, the photodetector 3706 is responsive (i.e., generates output signals) only to light having a wavelength within a preselected range and “ignores” light having other wavelengths. The photodetector 3706 may be a photodiode, phototransistor, photoresistor or charged coupled device. In one embodiment, the photodetector 3706 is responsive to light having a predetermined range of wavelengths between visible light and X-rays, i.e., in the ultraviolet spectrum. Such an embodiment may be used to read a bar code 3722 having the ultraviolet-wavelength-responsive property of reflecting ultraviolet wavelengths. In other words, illuminating the bar code 3722 with ultraviolet light will cause a light-producing response, namely, ultraviolet light 3716 will be reflected from the bar code into the collection portion 3712. Of course, the bars and spaces of the bar code 3722 must have different reflectivity in the ultraviolet wavelengths, however, the light 3720 from the bar code maintains its ultraviolet character. In another embodiment, the photodetector 3706 is responsive to visible light, i.e., the predetermined range of wavelengths is within the spectrum of visible light. This embodiment may be used to read bar codes 3722 having the ultraviolet-wavelength-responsive property of fluorescing with visible light when illuminated with ultraviolet wavelength light. Inks which fluoresce in the visible spectrum under ultraviolet illumination are well known in the art, e.g., inks used for making so-called “black light” posters, and any of these inks can be used for making bar codes to be read by this embodiment. Further, some ultraviolet fluorescent inks are transparent and non-fluorescing to visible light, thus allowing a bar code 3722 to be provided which is invisible to human sight under normal lighting conditions. Such invisible bar codes could be used where a normal (i.e., human visible) bar code is undesirable, either for appearance or for security reasons. Referring now to FIG. 39, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view of the collection portion 3712 of the optical system 3704 in accordance with yet another embodiment. This embodiment may be used to read bar codes 3722 which are reflective (not fluorescent) in ultraviolet wavelengths by using a photodetector 3706 which is responsive to light in the visible spectrum. In this embodiment, the collection portion 3712 of the optical system 3704 is adapted to receive light 3720 having a first wavelength from the bar code 3722 and deliver light 3724 having a second wavelength to the photodetector 3706. This conversion between the first wavelength of the received light 3720 and the second wavelength of the delivered light 3724 may be accomplished by providing in the collection portion 3712 a fluorescent target member 3902 disposed so as to absorb at least a portion of the received light (i.e., the light absorbed by the target member having the first wavelength) and emitting in response thereto light 3724 having a second wavelength. The emitted light 3724 is directed toward the photodetector 3706 for further processing. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 39, a mirror or prism 3904 is used to direct the incoming light 3720 onto the target member 3902 where it is absorbed and then re-emitted at the second wavelength, with at least a portion being directed towards the photodetector 3706. The target member 3902 may be constructed from, or coated with, known fluorescent materials which emit visible light upon illumination with ultraviolet light. A decoder circuit 3708 receives the output electrical signals 3726 from the photodetector 3706. The decoder circuit 3708 produces, in response to the received signals 3726, electrical signals (denoted by arrow 3728) which are indicative of the information encoded in the bar code 3722. Decoder circuits for decoding electrical signals indicative of a bar code pattern are known in the art and will not be described in detail. Referring now to FIG. 40, there is illustrated an output circuit which may be included in optical reader 3700. The output circuit 3731 receives electrical signals 3728 indicative of the information encoded in the bar code 3722 from the decoder circuit 3708 and transmits output signals (denoted by arrow 3732) indicative of the information encoded in the bar code from the optical reader. In one embodiment, the output circuit 3731 includes a modulator 4002 receiving the electrical signals 3728 indicative of information encoded in the bar code from the decoder 3708. The modulator 4002 combines the signal 3728 with a carrier signal 4003 from an oscillator 4004 to produce a modulated output signal 4006 indicative of information encoded in the bar code. The modulated signal 4006 is then passed to a transmitter circuit 4008 for amplifying the modulated signal as necessary and transmitting the final signal 3732 from the optical reader 3700. In one embodiment, the transmitter circuit 4008 transmits output signals 3732 using radio frequency (RF) wavelengths. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 40, an antenna 4010 is operably connected to the transmitter circuit 4008 for sending the output signals 3732 from the optical reader. In another embodiment, the transmitter 4008 transmits output signals 3732 using infrared (IR) wavelengths. In this case, the transmitter 4008 will output to an infrared emitter (not shown) rather than to an antenna. In yet another embodiment, the output circuit 3731 utilizes a hard-wired connection for outputting signals 3732 indicative of the information encoded in the bar code. In one such embodiment, the output circuit 3731 produces an output signal 3732 which is an electrical signal which emulates keyboard keystrokes and is directed to the keyboard port of a computer (not shown). In other embodiments, electrical outputs in accordance with other data transfer standards may be used. Referring now to FIGS. 41 and 42, there are illustrated external views of an optical reader in accordance with another aspect of the invention. The optical reader 4100 of this embodiment has dual functionality, i.e., it may be used for accessing a remote location on a network in either of two distinct ways. First, the optical reader 4100 may be used to access a remote location on a network by optically scanning an encoded indicia (e.g., a bar code) with an optical scanning system. The optical scanning system provides signals indicative of the information encoded in the scanned indicia to an associated computer disposed on a network. The associated computer then proceeds to use the information from the encoded indicia to access a remote location on the network (typically, by first accessing a second computer on the network, e.g., ARS 308) as previously described and illustrated herein (e.g., FIGS. 3, 4a-4e, 16, 18-24). Second, the optical reader 4100 may be used to access a particular remote location on the network (the “dedicated address”) by pressing a dedicated button 4102 on the optical reader. The dedicated button 4102 activates circuitry (described in detail below) within the optical reader 4100 for providing signals indicative of information corresponding to the particular remote location. This information does not originate from the user optically scanning an encoded indicia. These signals are provided to the associated computer, which then proceeds to use the information corresponding to the particular remote location to access the remote location on the network without requiring scanning of any optical indicia. Externally, the optical reader 4100 of this embodiment is similar in many respects to the optical reader 2500 previously described, having an outer shell 2502 with upper and lower shell portions 2702, 2704 and a scanning portal 2706 with protective window 2708 disposed at the front end 2504. In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the optical reader 4100 may be fitted with a stylized outer shell 3302 as previously described and illustrated for optical reader 3300. The dedicated button 4102 may be disposed at any convenient place on the outer shell 2502 which allows the button to be pressed by the user (denoted by arrow 4202). Referring now to FIG. 43, there is illustrated a general block diagram of the components of the optical reader 4100. The optical reader 4100 includes an optical scanning system 4302, a dedicated address memory system 4304, and an output circuit 4306. The optical scanning system 4302 scans an encoded indicia 4308 (e.g., a bar code) and provides output signals which are indicative of the information encoded in the scanned indicia. The dedicated address memory system 4304 provides output signals which are indicative of information corresponding to a particular remote location when the dedicated button 4102 is pressed. The output circuit 4306 receives the output signals from both the optical scanning system 4302 and the dedicated address memory system 4304 and transmits them from the optical reader 4100 to an associated device, typically a nearby computer. The output circuit 4306 may utilize a hard-wired connection and/or a wireless connection (e.g., RF or IR wavelengths) to send the signals to the associated device as previously described herein. In some embodiments, the optical scanning system 4302 may be constructed in accordance with those of the optical readers 2500 or 3700 as previously described herein and illustrated (e.g., FIGS. 28-32 and 37-39). In alternative embodiments, the optical scanning system 4302 may be constructed in accordance with known optical scanning systems. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 43, the optical scanning system 4302 includes a radiant energy source 4310 for generating a radiant energy (denoted by arrow 4312) for illuminating a target region 4314. The radiant energy source 4310 may be any of the sources previously described, for example, devices producing light having wavelengths in the visible, infrared (IR), or ultraviolet (UV) portions of the spectrum. A photodetector 4316 is provided for generating output electrical signals indicative of the radiant energy incident thereon. An optical system 4318 is provided including a projection portion 4320 for directing the radiant energy 4312 along a projection path extending from the radiant energy source 4310 to the target region 4314, and a collection portion 4322 for collecting the radiant energy (denoted by arrow 4324) from the encoded symbol 4308 when the encoded symbol occupies the target region. The collected radiant energy is directed by the collection portion 4322 along a collection path extending from the target region 4314 to the photodetector 4316. A photodetector 4316 produces electrical signals (denoted by arrow 4328) indicative of the energy incident thereon. A decoder circuit 4326 is provided which receives photodetector signals 4328, decodes the pattern of the signal in accordance with known processes, and produces decoded output signals (denoted by arrow 4330) indicative of information encoded in the scanned symbol 4308. The decoded output signals 4330 are routed to the output circuit 4306 to be sent to the associated device. An output circuit signal (denoted by arrow 4332) resulting from the optical scanning of encoded indicia by the user is termed a “scan code”. Referring now to FIG. 44, there is illustrated a sample scan code sent from the output circuit 4306 of the optical reader 4100 to the associated device. The scan code 4402 comprises a number of fields of information including a header field 4404 indicative of message start, a subject field 4406 indicative of information that was encoded in the scanned indicia 4308, and a stop field 4408 indicative of message end. The subject field contents 4406 may be any type of information indicative of the information that was encoded in the scanned indicia 4308. For example, when the scanned indicia 4308 is a bar code on a consumer product, the subject field 4406 may contain all or part of a number assigned to the consumer product (e.g, a Universal Product Code number) which was encoded in the scanned indicia. In other cases, the subject field 4406 may contain numeric or alphanumeric characters encoded in a proprietary bar code. The header field 4404 and stop field 4408 are typically added by the output circuit 4306 to the subject information which is supplied by the decoder 4326. The scan code 4402 may further include a type identification field 4410 indicative of the type (i.e., format) of encoded indicia that was scanned (e.g., UPC, ISBN, ISSN, etc.). The type identification of an indicia is typically determined by the decoder 4326 during the decoding process. Further, the scan code 4402 may include a optical reader identification field 4412 indicative of the serial number of the optical reader used. This serial number may, for example, be stored in a memory 4434 accessible by the output circuit 4306. Referring again to FIG. 43, the dedicated address memory system 4304 comprises a processor 4336, an electronic memory 4338 operably connected to the processor, and an electrical switch 4340 operably connected to the processor. In the embodiment illustrated, the processor 4336 is a separate device from the decoder 4326 of the optical scanning system 4302. However, in another embodiment, the processor 4336 and the decoder circuitry 4326 may be portions of a common device or circuitry. The memory 4338 includes a memory location 4342 storing information corresponding to the particular remote location (i.e., the dedicated address) on the network. The dedicated address information stored in the memory location 4342 does not originate from the optical scanning of an encoded indica by the user. Typically, the memory 4338 is pre-programmed by the manufacturer or distributor to contain the desired dedicated address information. In one embodiment, the dedicated address information cannot be changed by the user, e.g., where memory 4338 is a non-erasable read-only memory (ROM). In another embodiment, the memory 4338 is re-programmable, however, the dedicated address information is only changed in response to receiving signals from an attached computer. The electrical switch 4340 is electrically connected to the processor 4336 and mechanically connected to the dedicated button 4102 such that pressing the button will provide an electrical signal to the processor. It will be appreciated that the dedicated button 4102 and button-activated switch 4340 may be replaced with a toggle switch, slide switch, touch switch circuit or other equivalent elements allowing the user to provide a two-state (i.e., ON/OFF) signal to the processor 4336. In response to activation of the electrical switch 4340, the processor 4336 accesses the electronic memory 4338 and retrieves the dedicated address information corresponding to a particular remote location (i.e., the dedicated address) from the memory location 4342. It is important to note that the dedicated address information may be any type of information which can be associated with a particular remote location on the network. In one embodiment, the dedicated address information may be an actual network address (e.g., a URL) of the remote location. In another embodiment, the dedicated address information may be a unique code number assigned by the manufacturer or distributor of the optical reader and correlated to the desired remote location in a database (e.g., the ARS database 310). In yet another embodiment, the dedicated address information may be a pre-existing code number assigned to an article of commerce in accordance with an extrinsic standard (e.g., a Universal Product Code number assigned to a consumer product), which number is correlated to the desired remote location in a database (e.g., the ARS database 310). The processor uses the dedicated address information to produce processor output signals (denoted by arrow 4344) indicative of the dedicated address information. The processor output signals 4344 are sent to the output circuit 4306 for transmission to the associated device. An output circuit signal 4332 resulting from activation of the dedicated address memory system by the user is termed a “dedicated code”. Referring now to FIG. 45 there is illustrated a sample dedicated code sent from the output circuit 4306 of the optical reader 4100 to the associated device. The dedicated code 4502 comprises a number of fields of information including a header field 4504 indicative of message start, a subject field 4506 indicative of the dedicated address information retrieved from the memory 4338 (i.e., corresponding to the particular remote location), and a stop field 4508 indicative of message end. The header field 4504 and stop field 4508 are typically added by the output circuit 4306 as previously described. In a preferred embodiment, the dedicated code 4502 has a format which is identical to the format for the scan code 4402. Thus, even though the dedicated code 4502 does not result from scanning an encoded indicia by the user, the dedicated code may further include a type identification field 4510. In such cases, the contents of the type identification field 4510 will be information retrieved from the dedicated memory 4338. If desired, the type identification field 4510 may contain information indicating that the subject information 4506 results from activation of the dedicated address memory system 4304. However, it is also possible to provide information in memory 4338 such that the type identification field 4510 in a dedicated code 4502 simulates (i.e., is indistinguishable from) a type identification field 4410 in a scan code 4402 resulting from the scanning of encoded indicia. Further, the dedicated code 4502 may include a optical reader identification field 4512 indicative of the serial number of the optical reader used as previously described for field 4412. It will thus be apparent, that the optical reader 4100 may be configured to operate such that the associated computer or device receiving a signal 4332 from the optical reader 4100 will be incapable of distinguishing whether the signal is a scan code 4402 (resulting from actually scanning an encoded indicia) or a dedicated code 4502 (resulting from pressing the dedicated button). Such a configuration allows an optical reader 4100 incorporating the dedicated address memory system 4304 to be fully compatible with associated devices (e.g., computers), software applications (e.g, browsers), and network systems (e.g., servers, including ARS 308, and databases, including ARS database 310) designed for use with optical readers not having the dedicated address memory system. Referring now to FIG. 46, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view of a system for accessing a remote location on a network using the optical reader 4100. The system includes a first computer 302 disposed (by means of network interface 304) on a network 306, which may be a global communication network such as the Internet. The optical reader 4100 is operably connected to the first computer 302. As previously discussed, this connection between the optical reader 4100 and the attached device may be hard-wired (as in the illustrated embodiment) or wireless. A second computer 308 (e.g., the ARS server) is also disposed on the network 306. A database 310 (e.g., ARS database) may be operably connected to the second computer 308. A third computer 312 (e.g., an advertiser's server) is disposed on the network 306 at a remote site. This system is similar to systems previously described and illustrated herein (e.g., FIGS. 3 and 16). The process of connecting to the remote site on the network using the optical reader 4100 is similar in most respects to processes previously described and illustrated herein. However, in the current process, the signal provided by the optical reader 4100 to the associated device may be either a scan code 4402 (in response to actually scanning an encoded indica 4308 with the optical scanning system 4302) or a dedicated code 4502 (in response to activating the dedicated address memory system 4304 by pushing dedicated button 4102). One of the scan code 4402 and the dedicated code 4502 is transmitted from optical reader 4100 to the first computer 302. The first computer 302, in response to receiving the code 4402 or 4502, accesses the second computer 308. Typically, this accessing will involve sending a packet of information (denoted by reference numeral 4602) including at least a portion of the code 4402 or 4502 across the network 306 from the first computer 302 to the second computer 308. A lookup operation is performed at the second computer 308 to match the scan code 4402 or the dedicated code 4502 received from the optical reader 4100 with a routing information for a remote location on the network. Typically this lookup operation is performed by accessing (denoted by reference numeral 4603) a computer database 310 including a plurality of codes and a plurality of routing information for remote locations on the network. In the database 310, each of the plurality of routing information is associated with at least one of the plurality of codes. The routing information corresponding to the code (4402 or 4502) received from the optical reader 4100 is then retrieved from the database 310 by second computer 308. The routing information (denoted by reference numeral 4604) is returned from the second computer 308 to the first computer 302. The routing information is then used by the first computer 302 to access (denoted by reference numeral 4606) the third computer 312 at the remote location on the network. Typically, after locating the third computer 312 at the remote location, information (denoted by reference numeral 4608) will be returned from the third computer to the first computer 302 for presentation to the user. It is contemplated that the manufacturer of the optical reader 4100 will pre-program the dedicated address memory system 4304 with information corresponding to a network location sponsored by, or otherwise affiliated with, the manufacturer (e.g., a web site for the manufacturer, for the distributor of the reader, or for a paid advertiser). Users of the optical reader 4100 will thus always be able to access the dedicated location simply by pressing the dedicated button 4102, no scanning of an indicia is required. Although the preferred embodiment has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>With the growing numbers of computer users connecting to the “Internet,” many companies are seeking the substantial commercial opportunities presented by such a large user base. For example, one technology which exists allows a television (“TV”) signal to trigger a computer response in which the consumer will be guided to a personalized web page. The source of the triggering signal may be a TV, video tape recorder, or radio. For example, if a viewer is watching a TV program in which an advertiser offers viewer voting, the advertiser may transmit a unique signal within the television signal which controls a program known as a “browser” on the viewer's computer to automatically display the advertiser's web page. The viewer then simply makes a selection which is then transmitted back to the advertiser. In order to provide the viewer with the capability of responding to a wide variety of companies using this technology, a database of company information and Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) codes is necessarily maintained in the viewer's computer, requiring continuous updates. URLs are short strings of data that identify resources on the Internet: documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources. URLs make resources available under a variety of naming schemes and access methods such as HTTP, FTP, and Internet mail, addressable in the same simple way. URLs reduce the tedium of “login to this server, then issue this magic command . . . ” down to a single click. The Internet uses URLs to specify the location of files on other servers. A URL includes the type of resource being accessed (e.g., Web, gopher, FTP), the address of the server, and the location of the file. The URL can point to any file on any networked computer. Current technology requires the viewer to perform periodic updates to obtain the most current URL database. This aspect of the current technology is cumbersome since the update process requires downloading information to the viewer's computer. Moreover, the likelihood for error in performing the update, and the necessity of redoing the update in the event of a later computer crash, further complicates the process. Additionally, current technologies are limited in the number of companies which may be stored in the database. This is a significant limitation since world-wide access presented by the Internet and the increasing number of companies connecting to perform on-line E-commerce necessitates a large database. Many types of optical readers are known, however, their cost and complexity have heretofore limited their use primarily to industrial and commercial users. Now, many new network-based technologies are being developed for home users which involve optical scanning. Thus, the need for a simple, low cost optical reader which can be attached to a personal computer has emerged. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises, in one aspect thereof, a method of accessing a remote location on a network using an optical reader. The optical reader has an optical scanning system and a dedicated address memory system. The optical scanning system, in response to the user scanning an encoded indicia therewith, sends to a first computer disposed on the network a scan code indicative of information encoded in the scanned indicia. The dedicated address memory system, in response to the user completing an activation sequence, sends to the first computer a dedicated code indicative of information corresponding to a particular remote location. The information from the dedicated address memory system corresponding to a particular remote location does not originate from the scanning of an encoded indica by the user. One of the scan code and the dedicated code is transmitted from the optical reader to the first computer. In response to the first computer receiving either the scan code or the dedicated code from the optical reader, a second computer disposed on the network is accessed. A lookup operation is performed at the second computer to match the code received from the optical reader, i.e., the scan code or the dedicated code, with a routing information for a remote location on the network. The routing information is returned from the second computer to the first computer. The remote location on the network is then accessed in accordance with the routing information returned from the second computer. | 20040622 | 20070327 | 20050127 | 68634.0 | 0 | KANG, PAUL H | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING A REMOTE LOCATION WITH AN OPTICAL READER HAVING A DEDICATED MEMORY SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,155 | ACCEPTED | Powered remote release actuator for a seat assembly | A mechanism for a vehicle seat is includes a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom. The mechanism includes a first adjustment mechanism connected to the vehicle seat and operable between a locked position and an unlocked position and a first powered remote activation device coupled to the first adjustment mechanism. The first powered remote actuation device includes a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle the first adjustment mechanism into the unlocked position. | 1. A mechanism for a vehicle seat including a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom, said mechanism comprising: a first adjustment mechanism connected to the vehicle seat, said first adjustment mechanism operable between a locked position and an unlocked position; and a first powered remote activation device coupled to said first adjustment mechanism, said first powered remote actuation device including a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle said first adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 2. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a latch mechanism. 3. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a recliner mechanism. 4. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination floor-latch and recliner mechanism. 5. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a kneel mechanism. 6. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination recliner and kneel mechanism. 7. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination floor-latch and kneel mechanism. 8. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said transmission element is a cable. 9. The mechanism of claim 8, wherein said cable is attached to said motor at a first end and to said first adjustment mechanism at a second end. 10. The mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a second adjustment mechanism, said second adjustment mechanism operable between a locked position and an unlocked position. 11. The mechanism of claim 10, wherein said second adjustment mechanism is in mechanical communication with said first powered remote activation device, said first powered remote actuation device operable to toggle said second adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 12. The mechanism of claim 10, further comprising a second powered remote activation device, said second powered activation device operable to toggle said second adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 13. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein said powered activation device includes a double relay, said double relay operable to toggle said motor between a forward and a reverse direction. 14. A seat assembly comprising: a seat bottom; a seatback pivotally supported by said seat bottom; a first adjustment mechanism connected to the seat assembly, said first adjustment mechanism operable between a locked position and an unlocked position to selectively permit adjustment of said seat bottom and said seatback; and a first powered remote activation device coupled to said first adjustment mechanism, said first powered remote actuation device including a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle said first adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 15. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a latch mechanism. 16. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a recliner mechanism. 17. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination floor-latch and recliner mechanism. 18. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a kneel mechanism. 19. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination recliner and kneel mechanism. 20. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said first adjustment mechanism is a combination floor-latch and kneel mechanism. 21. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said transmission element is a cable. 22. The seat assembly of claim 21, wherein said cable is attached to said motor at a first end and to said first adjustment mechanism at a second end. 23. The seat assembly of claim 14, further comprising a second adjustment mechanism, said second adjustment mechanism operable between a locked position and an unlocked position. 24. The mechanism of claim 23, wherein said second adjustment mechanism is in mechanical communication with said first powered remote activation device, said first powered remote actuation device operable to toggle said second adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 25. The seat assembly of claim 23, further comprising a second powered remote activation device, said second powered activation device operable to toggle said second adjustment mechanism into said unlocked position. 26. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said powered activation device includes a double relay, said double relay operable to toggle said motor between a forward and a reverse direction. 27. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said powered activation device includes a potentiometer operable to determine a position of said transmission element. 28. The seat assembly of claim 27, wherein said powered activation device further includes a control module operable to receive a signal from said potentiometer and selectively position the seat assembly based on said signal. 29. The seat assembly of claim 14, wherein said powered activation device includes a hall-effect sensor operable to determine a position of said transmission element. 30. The seat assembly of claim 29, wherein said powered activation device further includes a control module operable to receive a signal from said hall-effect sensor and selectively position the seat assembly based on said signal. 31. The seat assembly of claim 14, further including at least one biasing element operable to assist articulation of the seat assembly. 32. The seat assembly of claim 31, wherein said biasing element is a gas strut. 33. The seat assembly of claim 31, wherein said biasing element is a spring. 34. The seat assembly of claim 14, further including a spring and a strut operable to assist articulation of the seat assembly. 35. A seat adjustment mechanism for a vehicle seat including a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom, said mechanism comprising: a first latch mechanism connected to the vehicle seat, said first latch mechanism operable to allow the seat bottom to pivot relative the vehicle when said latch mechanism is in an unlatched position; a first recliner mechanism coupled to the seat bottom and seatback, said first recliner mechanism operable to allow rotation of the seatback relative to the seat bottom when said first recliner mechanism is in an unlatched position; and a first powered remote activation device coupled to at least one of said first latch mechanism and said first recliner mechanism, said first powered remote actuation device including a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle at least one of said first latch mechanism and said first recliner mechanism into said unlatched position. 36. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 35, wherein said powered activation device includes a double relay, said double relay operable to toggle said motor between a forward and a reverse direction. 37. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 35, wherein said powered activation device includes a potentiometer operable to determine a position of said transmission element. 38. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 37, wherein said powered activation device further includes a control module operable to receive a signal from said potentiometer and selectively position the vehicle seat based on said signal. 39. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 35, wherein said powered activation device includes a hall-effect sensor operable to determine a position of said transmission element. 40. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 39, wherein said powered activation device further includes a control module operable to receive a signal from said hall-effect sensor and selectively position the vehicle seat based on said signal. 41. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 35, further including at least one biasing element operable to assist in pivoting the seat bottom relative to the vehicle. 42. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 41, wherein said biasing element is a gas strut. 43. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 41, wherein said biasing element is a spring. 44. The seat adjustment mechanism of claim 35, further including a spring and a strut operable to assist articulation of the seat assembly. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/569,509, filed on May 7, 2004. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a seat assembly and, more particularly, to a powered remote release actuator for a seat assembly. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In automotive applications, it is desirable that a vehicle be capable of accommodating varying requirements, such as cargo carrying and the like. To that end, reconfiguration of a vehicle seating system plays a significant role. Dumping, folding flat, and/or kneeling of a seatback, enables a vehicle interior to be configurable for accommodating cargo-carrying needs. Further, such seat adjustments often provide access to a cargo area of a vehicle, thus improving storage capability and providing for large objects. Seat assemblies typically include a plurality of mechanisms to toggle the seat assembly between a use position, a reclined position, a dumped position, and a kneel position to allow an occupant to selectively configure the seat assembly as desired. Seat assemblies, such as those used in vehicles, generally include a recliner mechanism for enabling motion of a seatback relative to a seat bottom. Such seat assemblies typically may be positioned into fold-flat position about a forward pivot to provide added floor space within a vehicle or access to an otherwise obstructed space through actuation of the recliner mechanism. To provide dumping or stowing of the seat assembly, integrated recliner and floor-latch mechanisms are typically provided. The recliner mechanism serves to manipulate the seatback relative to the seat bottom to provide a desired position of the seatback relative to the seat bottom, as previously discussed. The floor-latch mechanism typically extends downward from the seat bottom for selective engagement with a floor to selectively permit rotation of the seat assembly into a stowed or dumped position. In operation, the recliner mechanism reclines the seatback into a fold-flat position prior to releasing the floor-latch mechanism. Once the floor-latch mechanism is released, the seat assembly is dumped forward into a stowed position. Generally, actuation of a lever in a first direction enables reclining motion of the seatback relative to the seat. Further actuation of the lever releases the seat assembly from engagement with the floor to enable forward pivoting of the complete seat assembly. In addition, some seat assemblies provide the ability to further articulate a seat such that the seat assembly articulates forward to further increase the cargo area behind the seat. A kneel mechanism is traditionally provided to enable articulation of the seat assembly such that actuation of a lever in a first direction actuates the kneel mechanism to allow the seat assembly to articulate forward or “kneel” relative to its design or upright position. The recliner, floor-latch, and kneel mechanisms are typically operated through a remote actuator. The remote actuator serves to selectively actuate a particular mechanism to provide a desired seating configuration. For example, an actuation handle may be provided at a remote location from the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms to allow an occupant to manipulate the seat assembly into a desired position. The remote actuator commonly includes a cable tied to the particular mechanism at a distal end and to an actuation handle at a proximal end. The actuation handle is typically rotatably supported by one of the seatback, seat bottom, or vehicle structure such that a force applied to the handle is transmitted to the cable and associated mechanism (i.e., recliner, floor-latch, or kneel). Transmission of the force from the actuation handle to the cable causes the cable to be placed under tension and thereby transmit the force to the particular mechanism. Once the force reaches the mechanism, internal components of the respective mechanism are articulated and the mechanism is toggled into an unlocked position. For example, an actuation handle tied to a recliner mechanism allows an occupant to adjust the angular position of a seatback relative to a seat bottom simply by rotating the actuation handle. The rotational force applied to the actuation handle is transmitted to the recliner mechanism by the cable and serves to disengage the seatback from engagement with the recliner mechanism, thereby placing the recliner mechanism in an unlocked condition. When the recliner mechanism is in the unlocked condition, the occupant is allowed to adjust the angular position of the seatback relative to the seat bottom. A similar actuation handle may be associated with the floor-latch and kneel mechanisms to actuate the respective mechanisms and configure the seat assembly into a desired position. While conventional remote actuation devices adequately provide an occupant with the ability to actuate a seat mechanism such as a recliner, floor-latch, or kneel mechanism, conventional remote actuation devices suffer from the disadvantage of requiring a plurality of actuation handles extending from a seatback, seat bottom, or other vehicle structure. Furthermore, conventional remote actuation devices suffer from the disadvantage of requiring an occupant to apply a force to an actuation handle to actuate internal components of the particular mechanism. Therefore, a remote actuation device that minimizes the force required to actuate varying seating mechanisms is desirable in the industry. Furthermore, a remote actuation device that minimizes the number of actuation handles required to reconfigure a seating system is also desirable. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A mechanism for a vehicle seat is provided and includes a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom. The mechanism includes a first adjustment mechanism connected to the vehicle seat and operable between a locked position and an unlocked position and a first powered remote activation device coupled to the first adjustment mechanism. The first powered remote actuation device includes a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle the first adjustment mechanism into the unlocked position. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat adjustment mechanism incorporating an actuation mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a side view of the seat adjustment mechanism of FIG. 1 in an upright position and latched position; FIG. 3 is a side view of the seat adjustment mechanism of FIG. 1 in a folded-flat position and latched position; FIG. 4 is a side view of the seat adjustment mechanism of FIG. 1 in a folded-flat and unlatched position; FIG. 5 is a side view of the actuation mechanism of FIG. 1 in a first position; FIG. 6 is a side view of the actuation mechanism of FIG. 1 in a second position; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a double relay in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the actuation mechanism of FIG. 1 incorporating the double relay of FIG. 7; FIG. 9 is a side view of a second actuation mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a side view of a third actuation mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a side view of a fourth actuation mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a side view of the seat adjustment mechanism incorporated into a seat assembly; FIG. 13 is a side view of the seat assembly of FIG. 12 in a folded-flat position; FIG. 14 is a side view of the seat assembly of FIG. 12 in a folded-flat and dumped position; FIG. 15 is a side view of a second seat adjustment mechanism incorporated into a second seat assembly having a kneel mechanism; FIG. 16 is a side view of a third seat adjustment mechanism incorporated into a third seat assembly having a kneel mechanism; and FIG. 17 is a side view of the seat assembly of FIG. 16 in a folded-flat and dumped position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. With reference to the figures, a seat adjustment mechanism 10 is provided and includes a powered remote actuation device 11, a recliner mechanism 12, a floor-latch mechanism 14, and a kneel mechanism 16. The recliner mechanism 12 provides a user with the ability to position a seatback relative to a seat bottom to provide a desired angular position of the seatback relative to the seat bottom. In addition, the recliner mechanism 12 allows a user to position the seatback in a folded-flat position such that the seatback is generally parallel with the seat bottom to provide a flat workspace or load floor. The floor-latch mechanism 14 selectively anchors the seat adjustment mechanism 10 to an external structure, such as a vehicle floor pan 18, to allow the seat adjustment mechanism 10 to selectively rotate about a forward pivot 20, as best shown in FIG. 4. The kneel mechanism 16 allows the seat adjustment mechanism 10 to pivot forward, or rotate relative to the floor pan 18 to simultaneously adjust a fore-aft and up-down position of the seat adjustment mechanism 10. The powered remote actuation device 11 functions in harmony with at least one of the recliner mechanism 12, floor-latch mechanism 14, and kneel mechanism 16, to facilitate actuation thereof, as will be discussed further below. With particular reference to FIGS. 1-4, the seat adjustment mechanism 10 is shown to include the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14. While the seat adjustment mechanism 10 will be hereinafter described in conjunction with a recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14, it should be understood that the powered remote actuation device 11 of the present invention could similarly be used to actuate each individual mechanism 12, 14, 16. In addition, the powered remote actuation device 11 could similarly be used with any combination of the recliner mechanism 12, floor-latch mechanism 14, and kneel mechanism 16, including incorporating all three mechanisms 12, 14, 16 into a single assembly 10 for use in actuation of each mechanism 12, 14, 16. Incorporating the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into a single assembly provides a manufacturing advantage through utilization of common components. Specifically, incorporating the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into a single assembly reduces both cost and complexity in manufacturing an assembly of the seat adjustment mechanism 10. The combination recliner/floor-latch mechanism is preferably of the type such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/278,414, filed on Oct. 23, 2002, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/334,850, filed on Nov. 30, 2001, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The recliner mechanism 12 includes a seatback support 22 and a housing assembly 24. The seatback support 22 is rotatably supported by the housing assembly 24 and is selectively fixed thereto to position the seatback support 22 in a desired position relative to the housing assembly 24. The seatback support 22 is biased in the counterclockwise direction relative to the view shown in FIG. 2 by a coil spring 26. The coil spring 26 is fixedly attached to the seatback support 22 at a spring post 28 at a first end and to the housing assembly 24 at a spring slot 30 formed in a pivot 32, as best shown in FIG. 2. In this manner, a force must be applied to the seatback support 22 to rotate the seatback support 22 in the clockwise direction relative to the view shown in FIG. 2 about pivot 32. However, before the seatback support 22 can be rotated relative to the housing assembly 24, the seatback support 22 must be unlocked from the housing assembly 24. An actuation assembly 34 is provided to aid in unlocking the seatback support 22 from the housing assembly 24. The actuation assembly 34 includes an actuation handle 36, a coil spring 38, and a lever 40. The actuation handle 36 is rotatably supported by the housing assembly 24 and is fixedly attached to the lever 40 such that rotation of the actuation handle 36 causes concurrent rotation of the lever 40. The actuation handle 36 includes an extension 42, a recess 44, and a pivot 46, whereby the actuation handle 36 rotates relative to the housing assembly 24 about pivot 46. The extension 42 is formed proximate to the recess 44 and includes a roller 48 for interaction with the floor-latch mechanism 14, as will be discussed further below. The recess 44 is formed generally between the pivot 46 and the extension 42 and serves to selectively rotate a cam plate 50 into and out of engagement with a pawl 52 to selectively prevent rotation of the seatback support 22 relative to the housing assembly 24. Specifically, rotation of the actuation handle 36 in the counterclockwise direction relative to the view shown in FIG. 2, causes the recess 44 to engage the cam 50, thereby rotating the cam 50 in the clockwise direction. Sufficient rotation of the cam 50 in the clockwise direction, causes the cam 50 to rotate the pawl 52 in the counterclockwise direction. Sufficient rotation of the pawl 52 in the counterclockwise direction causes the pawl 52 to disengage the seatback support 22 and permit rotation of the seatback support 22 relative to the housing assembly 24. Once the pawl releases the seatback support 22, the coil spring 26 biases the seatback support 22 in the counterclockwise direction, as previously discussed. The coil spring 38 biases the actuation handle 36 in the clockwise direction relative to the view shown in FIG. 2, such that once the handle 36 is released, coil spring 38 is allowed to bias the handle 36 back into a home position. In this manner, the coil spring 38 serves to bias the pawl 52 into engagement with the seatback support 22 through interaction between the recess 44 and cam plate 50 due to the biasing force exerted on the actuation handle 36. More particularly, the coil spring 38 imparts a rotational force on the actuation handle 36 in the clockwise direction, thereby causing the recess 44 to engage the cam plate 50 and cause the cam plate 50 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction. Rotation of the cam plate 50 in the counterclockwise direction causes concurrent rotation of the pawl 52 in the clockwise direction and into engagement with the seatback support 22. Therefore, the recliner mechanism 12 is biased into a locked position (i.e., when the pawl 52 is engaged with the seatback support 22) by the coil spring 38 to prevent rotation of the seatback support 22 relative to the housing assembly. The actuation handle 36 is also in mechanical communication with the floor-latch mechanism 14 via a link 54, as best shown in FIGS. 2-4. The link 54 is rotatably supported by the housing assembly 24 and includes a first recess 56 and a second recess 58. The first recess 56 rotatably receives the roller 48 of extension 42 while the second recess 58 receives a roller 60 of the floor-latch mechanism 14, as best shown in FIGS. 2-4. During actuation of the handle 36, the recess 44 engages the cam plate 50 to thereby cause the pawl 52 to disengage the seatback support 22 and allow rotation of the seatback support 22 relative to the housing assembly 24, as previously discussed. Once the seatback support 22 is released, further rotation of the actuation handle in the counterclockwise direction, relative to the view shown in FIGS. 2-4, causes the roller 48 to engage the first recess 56 of the link 54. Once the roller 48 engages the link 54, further rotation of the actuation handle 36 in the counterclockwise direction will cause rotation of the link 54 in the clockwise direction due to the interaction between the roller 48 and the first recess 56. Roller 60 is fixedly supported by a link 62, disposed generally within the floor-latch mechanism 14, as best shown in FIGS. 2-4. The link 62 is operably connected with a claw 64 of the floor-latch mechanism 14 such that rotation of the link 62 in the clockwise direction, relative to the view shown in FIG. 2, causes concurrent rotation of the claw 64 in the counterclockwise direction. Sufficient rotation of the claw 64 in the counterclockwise direction causes the floor-latch mechanism 14 to disengage a striker 65 fixedly supported by the floor pan 18. Once the claw 64 disengages the striker 65, the floor-latch mechanism 14 is in the unlocked position, thereby disengaging the seat adjustment mechanism 10 from the floor pan 18 and permitting rotation of the seat adjustment mechanism 10 about the forward pivot 20, as will be discussed further below. As previously discussed, to toggle the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into the unlocked positions, a force must be applied to the actuation handle 36. The powered actuation device 11 allows a user to toggle the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into the unlocked position by simply actuating a switch, thereby obviating the need to manually apply a force the actuation handle 36. With particular reference to FIGS. 5-8, the powered remote actuation device 11 will be described in detail. The powered remote actuation device 11 applies a force to the lever 40 to thereby rotate the actuation handle 36, and toggle the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into the unlocked positions. In doing so, the powered remote actuation device 11 obviates the need for a user to exert a force on the actuation handle 36 to release the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14. The powered remote actuation device 11 includes a DC motor 66 driven by an external power source 67, a double relay 68, a first limit switch 70, a second limit switch 72, an actuation button 74, and a cable assembly 76. The cable assembly 76 is driven by the output of the DC motor 66 and serves to selectively apply a force to the lever 40 of the actuation handle 36. As the motor 66 applies a force to the cable assembly 76, the force is transmitted to the actuation handle 36 via lever 40 to thereby rotate the actuation handle 36 relative to the housing assembly 24. As previously discussed, sufficient rotation of the lever 40 and actuation handle 36, releases the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14, thereby toggling the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 into the unlocked position. The cable assembly 76 includes a cable 78, a cable sheath 80, a barrel 82, and an end fitting 84. The cable 78 is operably attached to an output of the DC motor 66 at a first end, such that a rotational output of the motor 66, caused by current supplied to the motor 66 via power source 67, causes the cable 78 to be placed under tension. Placing the cable 78 under tension causes the cable 78 to move within, and relative to, sheath 80, thereby imparting a force on the lever 40, as will be described further below. The barrel 82 is fixedly attached to the lever 40, such that rotation of the lever 40 causes concurrent rotation of the barrel 82. The barrel 82 slidably receives the cable 78, and thus allows the cable 78 to freely translate within the barrel 82 without causing concurrent movement of the lever 40. In this manner, the barrel 82 provides lost motion for the cable 78 to avoid a compressive load on the cable 78 during either manual or electrical manipulation of the handle 36. The end fitting 84 is fixedly attached to a second end of the cable 78, as best shown in FIGS. 3-4. The end fitting 84 has an outer diameter that is generally greater than an inner diameter of the barrel 82 such that the end fitting 84 is restricted from traveling through the barrel 82 when the cable 78 is placed under tension. The cable sheath 80 is fixedly attached at a first end 86 generally proximate to the DC motor 66 and to the housing assembly 24 at a second end 88. The cable sheath 80 functions to both protect the cable 78 and also to properly position the cable 78 with respect to both the motor 66 and the barrel 82. The DC motor 66 is disposed generally within a motor housing 90 and includes an output shaft (not shown) in driving engagement with the cable 78 of the cable assembly 76. The output shaft is operably connected to a post 92, such that as the motor 66 drives the output shaft and cable 78, the post 92 is also caused to rotate relative to the motor housing 90. The post 92 extends generally through a slot 94 formed in the motor housing 90 and translates between first and second ends 91, 93 of the slot 94 due to rotation of the output shaft, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. When the DC motor 66 drives the cable 78, the post 92 is driven along the slot 94 and selectively engages the first and second limit switches 70, 72 to toggle the polarity of the motor 66, as will be described further below. The motor 66 begins to drive the cable 78 once a force is applied to the actuation button 74. Once the motor 66 is energized by the power source 67 (due to activation of the actuation button 74), the post 92 will disengage the first limit switch 70 and travel toward the second limit switch 72, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. At this point, the motor 66 is imparting a tensile force on the cable 78 and thus causes the cable 78 to impart a force on the lever 40 and actuation handle 36 through engagement between the end fitting 84 and the barrel 82. The tensile force causes the cable 78 to translate within the sheath 80 such that the end fitting 84 engages the barrel 82. Once the end fitting 84 engages barrel 82, the force applied by the motor 66, via cable 78, causes the lever 40 and actuation handle 36 to rotate about the pivot 46 of the actuation handle 36. As previously discussed, sufficient rotation of the actuation handle 36 causes the recess 44 to engage the cam plate 50 to thereby release the pawl 52 from engagement with the seatback support 22. Once the seatback support 22 is released from engagement with the pawl 52, continued rotation of the lever 40 and actuation handle 36 will release the floor-latch mechanism 14 due to the relationship between the link 54 and the rollers 48, 60, as previously discussed. At this point, the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 are both in the unlatched position and further rotation of the actuation handle 36 is unnecessary. The post 92 serves to prevent further movement of the cable 78 once the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 are in the unlocked position by contacting the second limit switch 72 and reversing the direction of the motor 66. In doing so, the interaction between the second limit switch 72 and the post 92 serves two functions. First, the interaction between the post 92 and the second limit switch 72 causes the motor 66 to stop exerting a tensile force on the cable 78 and thus, ceases to exert a rotational force on the actuation handle 36 and link 54. Second, the interaction between the post 92 and the second limit switch 72 serves to reverse the polarity of the motor 66 and cause the motor 66 to rotate in the opposite direction. In this state, the motor 66 allows the cable 78 to unwind, thereby allowing the cable 78 to slack, as will be described further below. The slack in the cable 78 allows the actuation handle 36 to be biased by the coil spring 38 and rotate in the clockwise direction, relative to the view shown in FIG. 2. As can be appreciated, if the motor 66 continued to exert a tensile force on the cable 78, the lever 40 would be restricted from rotating in the clockwise direction due to the interaction between the end fitting 84 and the barrel 82. Placing the cable 78 in a slacked condition once the respective mechanisms 12, 14 are in the unlocked position, allows the actuation handle 36 and link 54 to return to a home or locked position under bias from coil spring 38. Once the cable 78 has a sufficient slack such that the actuation handle 36 and link 54 return to the locked position, rotation of the motor 66 stops. As can be appreciated, once the motor 66 switches direction due to the interaction between the second limit switch 72 and the post 92, the post 92 travels along the slot 94 generally toward the first limit switch 70, as best shown in FIG. 5. The motor 66 will cease rotation once the post 92 contacts the first limit switch 70, and will remain in a rest condition until a force is applied to the actuation button 74, thereby cycling the motor 66. It should be noted that the length of the slot 94 is designed such that the travel from the first limit switch 70 to the second limit switch 72 allows enough cable stroke (i.e., distance or cable travel) for the release of the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 and also for the motor 66 to rotate in an opposite direction to provide slack in the cable 78. In other words, the relative position between the first and second limit switches 70, 72 along slot 94 is governed by the requisite rotation of the actuation handle 36 needed to toggle the mechanisms 12, 14 into the unlocked position. The double relay 68 toggles power based on the position of the switches 70, 72. More particularly, the double relay 68 is controlled by the first and second limit switches 70, 72 to reverse the polarity of the motor 66 (i.e., direction of rotation of the output shaft) when the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 are in the unlocked position and to ensure that the cable 78 is relieved (i.e., slacked) once the mechanisms 12, 14 are released. The double relay 68 is designed to provide power to two input terminals 96, 98, which are connected to two motor input terminals 100, 102, respectively. The double relay 68 includes a trigger circuit 103 that allows a first set of power inputs 104, 106 and a second set of power inputs 108, 110 to be alternatively connected to input terminals 96, 98. The first pair of power inputs 104, 106 and the second pair of power inputs 108, 110 are identical. In this manner, each pair of the power inputs 104, 106 and 108, 110, respectively, are essentially identical, except for their opposite polarity. The double relay 68 is operable between a relaxed state and an energized state. In the relaxed state, the relay 68 is connected to motor terminals 108, 110 via inputs 96, 98, and assigns a first polarity to the motor 66. At this point, the post 92 is in contact with the first limit switch 70 and the motor 66 is not energized. When the relay 68 is energized, through activation of the actuation button 74, the trigger circuit 103 becomes energized and terminals 104, 106 are connected to terminals 96, 98, thereby assigning a second polarity to the motor 66. The second polarity is an opposite polarity than the first polarity, and thus, allows for reversal of motor polarity. The reversal in polarity allows the motor 66 to both place the cable 78 under tension to unlock the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 and to return the cable 78 to the relaxed state upon release of the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14. It should be understood that while a positive polarity is assigned to the motor 66 for terminals 108, 110 and a negative polarity is assigned to the motor 66 for terminals 104, 106, that either set of terminals 104, 106 or 108, 100 may be assigned a positive or a negative polarity so long as the other set is assigned an opposite polarity. As can be appreciated, such a relationship ensures that the motor 66 will change polarity, and thus, its rotational direction when instructed to do so by the relay 68, as will be discussed further below. A jumper circuit 112 is provided to allow the motor 66 to continue running after the actuation button 74 is released to ensure that the actuation handle 36 is returned to the home position once the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 are in the unlocked position. In addition, the jumper circuit 112 allows for one-touch operation of the adjustment mechanism 10 such that a user is only required to apply a single force to the actuation button 74 to release the mechanisms 12, 14 and to return the cable 78 to the relaxed state. The jumper circuit 112 is connected to terminal 96 generally proximate to motor input 100 and is fed back to the trigger circuit 103, as shown in FIG. 8. In operation, a force is applied to the actuation button 74 to close the circuit between the power source 67 and the motor 66 to thereby supply the motor 66 with power. At this point, the relay 68 is energized such that terminals 104 and 106 are connected to terminals 96, 98 and terminals 108, 110 are disconnected from terminals 96, 98. Power is supplied to the motor 66 from the power source 67 via terminals 104, 106 and terminals 96, 98 and will continue to flow as such until the post 92 contacts the second limit switch 72. Once the motor 66 is energized, the output of the motor 66 will apply a force to the cable 78 to rotate the lever 40 and release the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14, as previously discussed. The actuation button 74 is a normally open switch, and will therefore open the circuit once the button 74 is released. However, power is still supplied to the motor 66 once the actuation button 74 is released (i.e., opened) due to the interaction between the jumper 112 and the relay 68. In this manner, the power source 67 continues to drive the motor 66 in a first rotational direction until the second limit switch 72 is triggered. The second limit switch 72 is a normally closed switch and therefore allows power to flow from power source 67 to the motor 66 once the actuation button 74 is released. The switch 72 maintains the closed circuit between the relay 68, power source 67, and motor 66 until the switch is triggered by the post 92. Specifically, power will flow from terminal 96, through limit switch 72 and finally through a diode 114 and to the trigger circuit 103, as best shown in FIG. 8. In this manner, the motor 66 is supplied with power until the second limit switch 72 is opened. Note that the diode 114 is supplied to restrict current from flowing from the power source 67, through the actuation button 74, and into the motor 66 when the button 74 is initially depressed. In other words, the diode 114 allows power to flow to the motor 66 and back into the trigger circuit 103, but prevents power from reaching the motor through the second limit switch 72, as best shown in FIG. 8. The second limit switch 72 is opened once the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 are in the unlocked position due to the travel of the post 92 along slot 94. Specifically, once the post 92 has sufficiently traveled along slot 94 such that the cable 78 has unlocked the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14, the post 92 will engage the second limit switch 72 and open the jumper 112. Once the jumper 112 is opened, the relay 68 toggles back to the relaxed state as power is no longer supplied to the trigger circuit 103 via jumper 112. At this point, terminals 108, 110 are once again connected to terminals 96 and 98 while terminals 104, 106 are disconnected. Once the terminals 108, 110 are connected to the power source 67, the polarity of the motor 66 is reversed and the motor 66 will rotate in a second rotational direction. The motor 66 releases tension in the cable 78 once the post 92 begins to travel along slot 94 (i.e., in the second rotational direction), generally toward the first limit switch 70 to allow the coil spring 38 to bias the actuation handle 36. The first limit switch 70 is a normally closed switch and will therefore keep power supplied to the motor 66 until opened. The first limit switch 70 is opened once the post 92 has sufficiently traveled along slot 94 and contacts switch 70. At this point, the circuit between the power source 67 and the motor 66 is opened and the motor 66 shuts down. Because the post 92 maintains engagement with the first limit switch 70 until the actuation button 74 is depressed, the circuit remains open and the motor 66 remains in the shut down mode. With particular reference to FIG. 9, a second embodiment of the powered remote actuation device 11a is shown having a motor 66, an output 118, and a link 116. In general, the powered remote actuation device 11a is substantially similar to the powered remote actuation device 11 described above. In view of the substantial similarity in structure and function of the components associated with the powered remote actuation device 11 and the powered remote actuation device 11a, like reference numerals are used here and in the drawings to identify like components. The link 116 is rotatably attached to the motor output 118 at a first end and rotatably attached to the actuation handle 36 at a second end. In this manner, as the motor 66 drives the output 118, the link 116 is caused to translate, thereby imparting a rotational force (A) on the actuation handle 36, via lever 40, as shown in FIG. 9. As previously discussed, sufficient rotation of the actuation handle 36 will toggle the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14 into the unlocked position. Operation of the double relay 68 and first and second limit switches 70, 72 is substantially identical to the powered remote actuation device 11. Therefore, a detailed description is foregone. With particular reference to FIG. 10, a third embodiment of the powered remote actuation device 11b is shown having a DC motor 66 driven by an external power source 67, a potentiometer 71, a controller 73, an actuation button 74, and a cable assembly 76. In general, the powered remote actuation device 11b is substantially similar to the powered remote actuation device 11 described above. In view of the substantial similarity in structure and function of the components associated with the powered remote actuation device 11 and the powered remote actuation device 11b, like reference numerals are used here and in the drawings to identify like components. The powered remote actuation device 11b applies a force to the lever 40 to thereby rotate the actuation handle 36, and toggle the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 into the unlocked positions, as discussed previously. In doing so, the powered remote actuation device 11b obviates the need for a user to exert a force on the actuation handle 36 to release the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14. The powered remote actuation device 11b utilizes the potentiometer 71 and controller 73 to selectively supply a force to the cable 78 to selectively release the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms 12, 14. The potentiometer 71 may be mounted to the motor 66 or to an output shaft of the motor 66 for rotation therewith. As the motor output shaft rotates, potentiometer 71 voltage output changes based on a rotational position of the motor output shaft. Because the motor output shaft drives the cable 78, the rotational position of the motor output shaft is indicative of cable stroke (i.e., distance or cable travel). The controller 73 monitors the voltage output of the potentiometer 71 to track the position of the cable 78 and, thus, the status of the recliner and floor-latch mechanism 12, 14. Each cable position has a distinct voltage reading. Therefore, the controller 73 can easily monitor cable position, based on the voltage readings from the potentiometer 71. The controller 73 may be programmed to power the motor 66 until a predetermined voltage signal is received from the potentiometer 71 to provide a desired position of the recliner or floor-latch mechanism 12, 14. For example, the controller 73 may be programmed to cut power to the motor 66 when the cable 78 initially releases the recliner mechanism 12 prior to releasing the floor-latch mechanism 14. At this point, only the recliner mechanism 12 is released, and the controller 73 will wait for a second input prior to energizing the motor 66. Once a second input is received by the controller 73, such as depression of the actuation button 74, the controller 73 will supply power to the motor 66 once again. The motor 66 will exert a force on the cable 78 until the controller 73 receives a pre-determined voltage signal from the potentiometer 71. The predetermined voltage signal correlates to a predetermined number of revolutions of the motor output shaft required to sufficiently pull the cable 78 and release the floor-latch mechanisms 14. In this manner, the controller 73, in combination with the potentiometer 71, provides the powered remote actuation device 11b with the ability to selectively release each of the mechanisms 12, 14, 16 individually, or any combination thereof. With particular reference to FIG. 11, a fourth embodiment of the powered remote actuation device 11c is shown having a DC motor 66 driven by an external power source 67, a hall-effect sensor 75, a controller 73, an actuation button 74, and a cable assembly 76. In general, the powered remote actuation device 11c is substantially similar to the powered remote actuation device 11b described above. In view of the substantial similarity in structure and function of the components associated with the powered remote actuation device 11b and the powered remote actuation device 11c, like reference numerals are used here and in the drawings to identify like components. The hall-effect sensor 75 of the powered remote actuation device 11c is used in place of the potentiometer 71 of device 11b and serves to provide the controller 73 with positional information relating to the cable 78. The hall-effect sensor 75 may be mounted generally within the motor 66 and functions to count pulses, or rotations, of the motor output shaft. As previously discussed, the motor output shaft drives the cable 78. Therefore, the number of rotations of the output shaft directly correlates to the cable stroke (i.e., distance or cable travel). The controller 73 monitors signals from the hall-effect sensor 75 to track the position of the cable 78 and, thus, the status of the recliner and floor-latch mechanism 12, 14. Each cable position correlates to a distinct number of motor rotations. Therefore, the controller 73 can easily monitor cable position, based on the number of motor rotations, as measured by the hall-effect sensor 75. The controller 73 may be programmed to power the motor 66 until a predetermined count (i.e., number of motor rotations) is received from the sensor 75 to provide a desired position of the recliner or floor-latch mechanism 12, 14. For example, the controller 73 may be programmed to cut power to the motor 66 when the cable 78 initially releases the recliner mechanism 12 prior to releasing the floor-latch mechanism 14. At this point, only the recliner mechanism 12 is released, and the controller 73 will wait for a second input prior to energizing the motor 66. Once a second input is received by the controller 73, such as depression of the actuation button 74, the controller 73 will supply power to the motor 66 once again. The motor 66 will exert a force on the cable 78 until the controller 73 receives a pre-determined count from the sensor 75. The predetermined count signal correlates to a predetermined number of revolutions of the motor output shaft required to sufficiently pull the cable 78 and release the floor-latch mechanisms 14. In this manner, the controller 73, in combination with the hall-effect sensor 75, provides the powered remote actuation device 11c with the ability to selectively release each of the mechanisms 12, 14, 16 individually, or any combination thereof. With particular reference to FIGS. 12-17, the seat adjustment mechanism is shown incorporated into a seat assembly 120. The seat assembly 120 includes a seatback 122 rotatably supported by a seat bottom 124 and a strut 126 for facilitating dumping or articulating of the seat assembly 120 about forward pivot 20. The strut 126 is a gas strut providing a biasing force for assistance in articulating the seat assembly 120 into a dumped or tumbled position. The strut 126, either in combination with a spring 129, or alone, allows for one-touch operation of the seat assembly 120 into the dumped position by articulating the seat 120 once the floor-latch mechanisms 14 are released. The seat assembly is preferably of the type as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/288,246, filed on Nov. 5, 2002 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/686,049, filed on Oct. 15, 2003, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/507,390, filed on Sep. 30, 2003, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. A force is applied to the actuation button 74 to depress the actuation button 74 and close the circuit between the motor 66 and the power source 67. The power source 67 causes the motor 66, via relay 68, to rotate and impart a tensile force on the actuation handle 36. Sufficient rotation of the actuation handle 36 causes the pawl 52 to disengage the seatback support 22, as previously discussed. Once the seatback support 22 is disengaged from the pawl 52, the seatback support 22 is biased by coil spring 26 and rotates into the position shown in FIG. 13. At this point, the motor 66 is still exerting a tensile force on the lever 40 via cable 78 such that the actuation handle 36 engages the link 54. Further rotation of the actuation handle 36 causes rotation of the link 54, thereby releasing the floor-latch mechanism 14 and allowing the strut 126 to dump the seat assembly 120 into the dumped position, as shown in FIG. 14. At this point, the recliner mechanism 12 and floor-latch mechanism 14 are in the unlocked position, and further tension on cable 78 is unnecessary. Therefore, the length of slot 94 and the relative position of the limit switches 70, 72 are designed such that as the mechanisms 12, 14 are released (i.e., into the unlocked position) the post 92 contacts the second limit switch 72 and causes the motor 66 to rotate in the opposite direction, as previously discussed. As the motor 66 rotates in the opposite direction, the cable 78 is slacked, and the actuation handle 36 rotates back into the locked position. The motor 66 will continue to rotate in this fashion until the post 92 contacts the first limit switch 70. Once the post 92 contacts the first limit switch 70, power to the motor 66 is restricted and the motor 66 is shutdown. To return the seat assembly 120 to a usable position, a force is applied to the seat assembly 120 to rotate the seat assembly 120 about forward pivot 20. As can be appreciated, as the seat assembly 120 is rotated about the forward pivot 20, the claw 64 of the floor-latch mechanism 14 approaches the striker 65. The claw 64 will rotate back into the locked position upon contact with the striker 65, thereby fixing the seat assembly 120 to the floor pan 18 once again. At this point, the seatback 122 may be returned to an upright and usable position by first applying a force to the actuation handle 36 to disengage the pawl 52 from engagement with the seatback support 22. Once the pawl 52 is disengaged from the seatback support 22, the seatback 122 may be rotated against the bias of spring 26. Once the seatback 122 is rotated into a desired angular position relative to the seat bottom 124, the force applied to the actuation handle 36 is released and the pawl 52 once again engages the seatback support 22 to hold the seatback 122 in the desired position. It should be noted that while a single recliner mechanism 12 and single floor-latch mechanism 14 have been described, that such mechanisms usually are incorporated into a seat design in pairs. Specifically, a typical recliner system will incorporate a control recliner mechanism and a slave recliner mechanism, whereby the control recliner mechanism dictates the position of the slave recliner mechanism. Such systems typically employ a cross-rod (not shown) linking the two mechanisms such that the position of the control mechanism may be adequately conveyed to the slave mechanism. As can be appreciated, a similar relationship typically exists for pairs of floor-latch mechanisms and pairs of kneel mechanisms if incorporated into the seat assembly 120. With reference to FIGS. 15-17, the seat assembly 120 is shown incorporating the kneel mechanism 16. The kneel mechanism 16 may be directly connected to a powered remote actuation device 11 or may be manually operable. In either event, the kneel mechanism 16 functions to selectively permit articulation of the seat assembly 120 and is disposed generally between a mounting bracket 125 and a seat bottom support 127, as best shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. The kneel mechanism 16 selectively ties the seat bottom support 127 to the bottom bracket 125 to restrict rotation of the seat 120 relative to the bracket 125 and is positionable between a locked position and an unlocked position. In the locked position, articulation of the seat assembly 120 is restricted due to the interaction between the kneel mechanism 16, bracket 125, and seat bottom support 127. The powered remote actuation device 11 functions to toggle the kneel mechanism 16 into the unlocked position. Specifically, the powered remote actuation device 11 selectively applies a force to the kneel mechanism 16 via cable 78 to thereby unlock the mechanism 16. Once in the unlocked position, the seat assembly 120 is permitted to articulate forward. As previously discussed, the design and use of the powered remote actuation device 11 will vary depending on the application and the needs of the particular seating system. Any combination of the recliner, floor-latch, or kneel mechanisms 12, 14, 16 may be used in conjunction with a powered remote actuation device 11 or may be designed such that a single powered remote actuation device 11 operates all three mechanisms 12, 14, 16. For example, FIG. 15 depicts a single powered remote actuation device 11 operable to actuate each of the individual mechanisms 12, 14, 16 while FIG. 16 depicts multiple powered remote actuation devices 11 with an individual device 11 tied to and individual mechanism 12, 14, 16. For either version, operation is similar and is shown in FIG. 17 for multiple powered actuation devices 11. Because the operation of the powered remote actuation device 11 does not change with the particular mechanism to which it may be tied, a detailed description of other possible combinations of the recliner, floor-latch, and kneel mechanisms 12, 14, 16 is foregone. The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In automotive applications, it is desirable that a vehicle be capable of accommodating varying requirements, such as cargo carrying and the like. To that end, reconfiguration of a vehicle seating system plays a significant role. Dumping, folding flat, and/or kneeling of a seatback, enables a vehicle interior to be configurable for accommodating cargo-carrying needs. Further, such seat adjustments often provide access to a cargo area of a vehicle, thus improving storage capability and providing for large objects. Seat assemblies typically include a plurality of mechanisms to toggle the seat assembly between a use position, a reclined position, a dumped position, and a kneel position to allow an occupant to selectively configure the seat assembly as desired. Seat assemblies, such as those used in vehicles, generally include a recliner mechanism for enabling motion of a seatback relative to a seat bottom. Such seat assemblies typically may be positioned into fold-flat position about a forward pivot to provide added floor space within a vehicle or access to an otherwise obstructed space through actuation of the recliner mechanism. To provide dumping or stowing of the seat assembly, integrated recliner and floor-latch mechanisms are typically provided. The recliner mechanism serves to manipulate the seatback relative to the seat bottom to provide a desired position of the seatback relative to the seat bottom, as previously discussed. The floor-latch mechanism typically extends downward from the seat bottom for selective engagement with a floor to selectively permit rotation of the seat assembly into a stowed or dumped position. In operation, the recliner mechanism reclines the seatback into a fold-flat position prior to releasing the floor-latch mechanism. Once the floor-latch mechanism is released, the seat assembly is dumped forward into a stowed position. Generally, actuation of a lever in a first direction enables reclining motion of the seatback relative to the seat. Further actuation of the lever releases the seat assembly from engagement with the floor to enable forward pivoting of the complete seat assembly. In addition, some seat assemblies provide the ability to further articulate a seat such that the seat assembly articulates forward to further increase the cargo area behind the seat. A kneel mechanism is traditionally provided to enable articulation of the seat assembly such that actuation of a lever in a first direction actuates the kneel mechanism to allow the seat assembly to articulate forward or “kneel” relative to its design or upright position. The recliner, floor-latch, and kneel mechanisms are typically operated through a remote actuator. The remote actuator serves to selectively actuate a particular mechanism to provide a desired seating configuration. For example, an actuation handle may be provided at a remote location from the recliner and floor-latch mechanisms to allow an occupant to manipulate the seat assembly into a desired position. The remote actuator commonly includes a cable tied to the particular mechanism at a distal end and to an actuation handle at a proximal end. The actuation handle is typically rotatably supported by one of the seatback, seat bottom, or vehicle structure such that a force applied to the handle is transmitted to the cable and associated mechanism (i.e., recliner, floor-latch, or kneel). Transmission of the force from the actuation handle to the cable causes the cable to be placed under tension and thereby transmit the force to the particular mechanism. Once the force reaches the mechanism, internal components of the respective mechanism are articulated and the mechanism is toggled into an unlocked position. For example, an actuation handle tied to a recliner mechanism allows an occupant to adjust the angular position of a seatback relative to a seat bottom simply by rotating the actuation handle. The rotational force applied to the actuation handle is transmitted to the recliner mechanism by the cable and serves to disengage the seatback from engagement with the recliner mechanism, thereby placing the recliner mechanism in an unlocked condition. When the recliner mechanism is in the unlocked condition, the occupant is allowed to adjust the angular position of the seatback relative to the seat bottom. A similar actuation handle may be associated with the floor-latch and kneel mechanisms to actuate the respective mechanisms and configure the seat assembly into a desired position. While conventional remote actuation devices adequately provide an occupant with the ability to actuate a seat mechanism such as a recliner, floor-latch, or kneel mechanism, conventional remote actuation devices suffer from the disadvantage of requiring a plurality of actuation handles extending from a seatback, seat bottom, or other vehicle structure. Furthermore, conventional remote actuation devices suffer from the disadvantage of requiring an occupant to apply a force to an actuation handle to actuate internal components of the particular mechanism. Therefore, a remote actuation device that minimizes the force required to actuate varying seating mechanisms is desirable in the industry. Furthermore, a remote actuation device that minimizes the number of actuation handles required to reconfigure a seating system is also desirable. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A mechanism for a vehicle seat is provided and includes a seat bottom supported by the vehicle and a seatback coupled to the seat bottom. The mechanism includes a first adjustment mechanism connected to the vehicle seat and operable between a locked position and an unlocked position and a first powered remote activation device coupled to the first adjustment mechanism. The first powered remote actuation device includes a motor and a transmission element operable to toggle the first adjustment mechanism into the unlocked position. Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. | 20040622 | 20061226 | 20051110 | 62365.0 | 1 | COLON SANTANA, EDUARDO | POWERED REMOTE RELEASE ACTUATOR FOR A SEAT ASSEMBLY | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,190 | ACCEPTED | Method and apparatus of bandwidth indicator | Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an indicator to indicate a parameter of data transportation is provided. In standby mode, the indicator may indicate a parameter related to an estimated available bandwidth and in an active mode, the indicator may indicate a parameter related to a data throughput. A method for indicating the parameter of data transportation is also provided. | 1. An apparatus comprising: an indicator to indicate a parameter related to a data transportation in a standby mode and in an active mode of a data transportation mode wherein, in the standby mode, the parameter is related to an estimated available bandwidth and in the active mode, the parameter is related to a data throughput. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a received data progress indicator. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises first and second indicators that in a voice mode display parameters related to a received signal strength and a battery power level, respectively, and in the data transportation mode display parameters related to the data throughput and a received data progress, respectively. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, comprising: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the battery power level is below a desired threshold. 5. The apparatus of claim 3, comprising: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the received signal is below a desired threshold. 6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein in the standby mode, the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein in the standby mode the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a mode selector to select the parameter to be indicated by the indicator according to a desired mode of the data transportation mode. 9. A method comprising: providing visual indication of a parameter related to data transportation in at least first and second modes of operation of a wireless communication device. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing visual indication of data transportation parameter in the first mode of operation comprises: providing visual indication of a parameter related to an estimated available bandwidth for transferring data over the air. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein providing visual indication of the parameter related to data transportation in the second mode of operation comprises: providing visual indication of a parameter related to data throughput. 12. The method of claim 9, wherein providing visual indication of the parameter related to data transportation parameter in the second mode of operation comprises: providing visual indication of a parameter related to received data progress. 13. A wireless communication device comprising: a dipole antenna to transmit and receive data; and an indicator to indicate a parameter related to data transportation in a standby mode and in an active mode of a data transportation mode wherein, in the standby mode, the parameter is related to an estimated available bandwidth and in the active mode, the parameter is related to a data throughput. 14. The wireless communication device of claim 13, further comprising a received data progress indicator. 15. The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the indicator comprises first and second indicators that in a voice mode display parameters related to a received signal strength and a battery power level, respectively, and in the data transportation mode display parameters related to the data throughput and a received data progress, respectively. 16. The wireless communication device of claim 15, comprising: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the battery power level is below a desired threshold. 17. The wireless communication device of claim 15, comprising: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the received signal is below a desired threshold. 18. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein in the standby mode, the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 19. The wireless communication device of claim 15, wherein in the standby mode the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 20. The wireless communication device of claim 15, further comprising a mode selector to select the parameter to be indicated by the indicator according to a desired mode of the data transportation mode. 21. A wireless communication system comprising: a mobile station having an indicator to indicate a parameter related to data transportation in a standby mode and in an active mode of a data transportation mode wherein, in the standby mode, the parameter is related to an estimated available bandwidth and in the active mode, the parameter is related to a data throughput. 22. The wireless communication system of claim 21, wherein the mobile station further comprises a received data progress indicator. 23. The wireless communication system of claim 21, wherein the indicator comprises first and second indicators that in a voice mode display parameters related to a received signal strength and a battery power level, respectively, and in the data transportation mode display parameters related to the data throughput and a received data progress, respectively. 24. The wireless communication system of claim 23, wherein the mobile station further comprises: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the battery power level is below a desired threshold. 25. The wireless communication system of claim 23, wherein the mobile station further comprises: a warning indication to indicate, in the data transportation mode, that the received signal is below a desired threshold. 26. The wireless communication system of claim 23, wherein in the standby mode, the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 27. The wireless communication system of claim 23, wherein in the standby mode the signal strength indicator is to indicate a parameter related to the estimated available bandwidth. 28. The wireless communication system of claim 23, wherein the mobile station further comprises a mode selector to select a parameter to be indicated by the indicator according to a desired mode of the data transportation mode. 29. An article comprising: a storage medium, having stored thereon instructions, that when executed, result in: providing visual indication of a parameter related to data transportation in at least first and second modes of operation of a wireless communication device. 30. The article of claim 29, wherein the instructions, when executed, result in: providing visual indication of data transportation parameter in the first mode of operation comprises: providing visual indication of a parameter related to an estimated available bandwidth for transferring data over the air. 31. The article of claim 29, wherein the instructions of providing the visual indication of the parameter related to data transportation in the second mode of operation, when executed, result in: providing visual indication of a parameter related to data throughput. 32. The article of claim 29, wherein the instructions of providing the visual indication of the parameter related to data transportation in the second mode of operation, when executed, result in: providing visual indication of a parameter related to received data progress. | BACKGROUND Cellular-phone transceivers, for example mobile stations such as hand held devices, mobile devices and the like, may include a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to display an indication of the received signal strength (RSS), a battery power level indicator, or the like. In new generations of cellular systems, the load of data transportation over wireless channels may increase. In order to be aware of the data transportation load, an operator of the cellular-phone transceiver may need indication that may help the operator to monitor the data transportation load. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system according to some exemplary embodiments of the invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile station in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of indicating data transportation parameters that may be used in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention may be used in a variety of applications. Although the present invention is not limited in this respect, the circuits and techniques disclosed herein may be used in many apparatuses such as transceivers of a radio system. Transceivers intended to be included within the scope of the present invention include, by way of example only, portable communication devices that may include cellular radiotelephone transmitters and receivers, and the like. Types of cellular radiotelephone transceivers intended to be within the scope of the present invention include, although are not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA 2000 and wide band CDMA (WCDMA) cellular radiotelephone transceivers for transmitting spread spectrum signals, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) cellular radiotelephone transceivers, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) transmitters, Extended-TDMA (ETDMA) transceivers for transmitting and receiving amplitude modulated (AM) and phase modulated signals, portable digital communication (PDC) phone, dual mode or multi modes transceivers and the like. Some embodiments of the invention may be implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or article which may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, if executed by a machine (for example, by a station, and/or by other suitable machines), cause the machine to perform a method and/or operations in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Such machine may include, for example, any suitable processing platform, computing platform, computing device, processing device, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software. The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, any suitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memory medium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storage unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, various types of Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), a tape, a cassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type of code, for example, source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language, e.g., C, C++, Java, high level design programming language, assembly language, machine code, or the like. Turning first to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a wireless communication system 100 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present invention is shown. According to embodiments of the invention, wireless communication system 100 may include a base station and/or a plurality of base stations, and a mobile station and/or a plurality of mobile stations. For simplicity, a base station 110 and a mobile station 120 are shown. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, links, such as for example, an uplink and a downlink may be used to transfer communications which may include voice and data between base station 110 and mobile station 120. An uplink 130 may transfer communications from mobile station 120 to base station 110, and a downlink 140 may transfer communications from base station 110 to mobile station 120. Additionally, uplink 130 and downlink 140 may include one or more channels, which may be used for voice and data transportation. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, mobile station 120 may include a display to indicate, among other things, one or more parameters which may be related to the data transportation. For example, mobile station 120 may be a cellular phone and the indicator may be a data rate bar indicator and/or data progress bar indicator and/or estimated bandwidth bar indicator and the like. It should be understood that other forms of indications such as, for example, text, animation, light, sounds or the like may be used to indicate parameters that may be related to the data transportation. Turning to FIG. 2, a mobile station 200 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Although it should be understood that the scope and application of the present invention is in no way limited to this example, the mobile station 200 may be, for example, a hand held device, a vehicular phone, cellular phone, a personal communication assistant (PCA) or the like. According to some embodiments of the invention, mobile station 200 may include an antenna 210, a transceiver 220, a mode selector 230, and a display 240. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, display 240 may include the following indicators: an alarm 242, a battery level indicator 244, a received data rate indicator 245, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) 246, a data throughput indicator 247 and an estimated data bandwidth indicator 248. In operation, antenna 210 may be used to transmit and/or to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a cellular-phone communication system, if desired. Antenna 210 may be, for example, a single antenna, a dual antenna, an internal antenna, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna or the like. Transceiver 220 may include a receiver and transmitter to receive and/or transmit RF signals via antenna 210, if desired. In some embodiment of the invention transceiver 220 may be a cellular transceiver, a wireless local network transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, or the like. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, mobile station 200 may operate in several operation modes. For example, mobile station 200 may operate in standby mode, active mode, data mode and/or voice and text mode (e.g. short message service (SMS)). In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, mode selector 230 may have two control lines, a control line 232 and a control line 234. For example, in a standby mode, control line 232 may control display 240 to display the estimated data bandwidth indicator 242 and in an active mode, to display the data throughput indicator 247 and the received data indicator, if desired. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, estimated data bandwidth indicator 248 may display the estimated data bandwidth. For example, the indicator may be a bar indicator and the bars may be displayed according to the flowing exemplary algorithm. For example, threshold values may be set for the bars. When an estimated data bandwidth value crosses a first threshold a first bar may be displayed. When an estimated data bandwidth value crosses a second threshold first and second bars may be displayed and etc. It should be understood that the algorithm may be applied to all the bars in the indicator and may operate in the opposite way, e.g. not display bars when the estimated data bandwidth is below a desired threshold. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a threshold may be the sum of received bits per a predetermined time interval. According to some embodiments of the invention, received data indicator 245 may be a bar display and may display the received data progress. Data throughput indicator 247 my display the data rate for example, 1 Megabit per second. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited it this respect, mobile station 200 may be a cell phone device which may display battery level 244 and RSSI 245. In those embodiments of the invention, control line 234 of mode selector 230 may command display 240 to display battery level 244 and/or RSSI 245 in voice and text mode and may display received data indicator 245 and data throughput indicator 247 in data mode. In case that the battery level and/or the RSSI level will be under a predefined threshold, alarm 242 may be activated to alarm the user, although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. Turning to FIG. 3, a flow chart of a method of indicating parameters related to data transportation that may be used in accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, mobile station 200 may be operated in data transportation mode (block 300). In this mode mobile station 200 may be either in standby mode or active mode (block 310). According to some embodiments of the invention, in standby mode mobile station 200 may display estimated data transportation parameter for example, estimated data bandwidth (block 320). In active mode mobile station 200 may display at least one data transportation parameter such as, for example received data progress, data throughput, data rate or the like. While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. For example, the use of an adaptive function for varying a phase and amplitude of an output signal may be used in many devices other than transmitters. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Cellular-phone transceivers, for example mobile stations such as hand held devices, mobile devices and the like, may include a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to display an indication of the received signal strength (RSS), a battery power level indicator, or the like. In new generations of cellular systems, the load of data transportation over wireless channels may increase. In order to be aware of the data transportation load, an operator of the cellular-phone transceiver may need indication that may help the operator to monitor the data transportation load. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system according to some exemplary embodiments of the invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile station in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of indicating data transportation parameters that may be used in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. | 20040624 | 20080708 | 20051229 | 75120.0 | 0 | LAM, DUNG LE | METHOD AND APPARATUS OF BANDWIDTH INDICATOR | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,319 | ACCEPTED | Filter system | A filter system includes a plurality of filter sections, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow. Each filter section includes a first filter, a second filter, an absorbing material disposed between the first and second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter. The at least one dispersion mechanism assists in providing a fluid to the filter system. | 1. A filter system, comprising: a housing a valving mechanism fluidly connected to the filter system; and a plurality of filter sections disposed within the housing, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow, and each filter section comprising a first filter, a second filter, at least one flow control valve disposed proximate each filter section, each flow control valve and the valving mechanism together assisting in controllably directing the portion of flow through a said filter section, an absorbing material disposed between the first and second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. 2. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the valving mechanism is configured to reverse the direction of flow through at least one of the filter sections. 3. The filter system of claim 2, wherein the first filter is upstream of the absorbing material when the filter system is in a normal flow condition, and the second filter is upstream of the absorbing material when the filter system is in a reversed flow condition. 4. The filter system of claim 2, wherein the valving mechanism includes a plurality of valves. 5. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the first and second filters are sulfur traps. 6. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the absorbing material is catalyst material capable of storing oxides of nitrogen. 7. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the absorbing material is a NOx absorber. 8. The filter system of claim 1, wherein at least one flow control valve is configured to controllably restrict flow through a respective filter section. 9. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the at least one dispersion mechanism includes a nozzle configured to inject the fluid between the first and second filter. 10. The filter system of claim 9, further including a reformer in fluid communication with the nozzle and configured to partially oxidize the fluid injected by the nozzle. 11. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the fluid includes reductant. 12. The filter system of claim 1, further including at least one sensor configured to sense a filtered flow of the filter system. 13. The filter system of claim 1, each of the plurality of filter sections further including a heat supply configured to selectively supply heat to at least a portion of the respective filter section. 14. The filter system of claim 1, each of the plurality of filter sections further including a third filter different from the first and second filters, and located upstream of the absorber when the filter system is in a normal flow condition. 15. The filter system of claim 1, each of the plurality of filter sections further including a third filter different from the first and second filters, and located downstream of the absorber when the filter system is in a normal flow condition. 16. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the flow includes exhaust from an internal combustion engine. 17. A filter system of an internal combustion engine, comprising: a first sulfur trap; a second sulfur trap; and a NOx absorber disposed between the first and second sulfur trap. 18. The filter system of claim 17, further including a nozzle disposed between the first and second sulfur trap. 19. The filter system of claim 17, further including at least one valving mechanism configured to reverse a flow through the filter system. 20. The filter system of claim 17, further including at least one flow control valve configured to controllably restrict flow through the filter system. 21. The filter system of claim 17, further including at least one sensor configured to sense a filtered flow. 22-29. (canceled) 30. A method for removing constituents from a flow of engine exhaust of an internal combustion engine, comprising: removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a first sulfur trap upstream of a NOx absorber during a normal flow path through the filter system; and removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a second sulfur trap upstream of the NOx absorber during a reversed flow path through the filter system. 31. The method of claim 30, further including injecting a reductant into the engine exhaust in a vicinity of the NOx absorber with at least one nozzle. 32. The method of claim 31, further including restricting a flow of engine exhaust through the NOx absorber when injecting the reductant. 33. The method of claim 30, wherein the flow of engine exhaust through the filter system is alternated between the normal flow path and the reversed flow path by at least one valving mechanism. 34. The method of claim 30, further including controllably heating the flow of engine exhaust in the vicinity of the NOx absorber to assist in regenerating the NOx absorber. 35. A filter system, comprising: a housing; a valving mechanism fluidly connected to the filter system; and a plurality of filter sections disposed within the housing, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow, and each filter section comprising at least one flow control valve disposed proximate each filter section, each flow control valve and the valving mechanism together assisting in controllably directing flow through a said filter section, a first filter having a first filter portion and a second filter portion, a second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. 36. The system of claim 35, wherein the first filter portion contains catalyst material adapted to store oxides of sulfur. 37. The system of claim 35, wherein the second filter portion contains catalyst material adapted to store oxides of nitrogen. 38. The system of claim 35, wherein the first filter is a particulate matter filter and the second filter is a sulfur trap. 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the first filter portion contains catalyst material adapted to store oxides of sulfur and the second filter portion contains catalyst material adapted to store oxides of nitrogen. 40. The system of claim 35, further including a third filter. 41. The system of claim 40, wherein the first filter is a particulate matter filter. 42. The system of claim 41, wherein at least one of the first and second filter portions contains catalyst material capable of storing oxides of sulfur. 43. The system of claim 40, wherein the second filter is a NOx absorber. 44. The system of claim 40, wherein the third filter is a sulfur trap. 45. The system of claim 40, wherein the first filter is a particulate matter filter, the second filter is a NOx absorber, the third filter is a sulfur trap, and at least one of the first and second filter portions contains catalyst material capable of storing oxides of sulfur. 46. The system of claim 1, wherein each at least one flow control valve is disposed within the housing of the filter system. 47. The system of claim 1, wherein the valving mechanism is disposed within the housing of the filter system. | TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to a filter system, and more particularly to a filter system having regeneration capabilities. BACKGROUND Engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, natural gas engines, and other engines known in the art, may exhaust a complex mixture of air pollutants. The air pollutants may be composed of gaseous and solid material, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (“NOx”), and sulfur compounds. Due to heightened environmental concerns, exhaust emission standards have become increasingly stringent over the years. The amount of pollutants emitted from an engine may be regulated depending on the type, size, and/or class of engine. One method that has been implemented by engine manufacturers to comply with the regulation of particulate matter and NOx exhausted to the environment has been to remove these pollutants from the exhaust flow of an engine with filters. However, using filters for extended periods of time may cause the pollutants to buildup in the components of the filters, thereby causing filter functionality and engine performance to decrease. One method of improving filter performance may be to implement filter regeneration. For example, International Publication No. WO 01/51178 (the '178 publication) to Campbell et al., describes a method and apparatus for removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and gaseous sulfur compounds such as SO2 and H2S from engine exhaust using a catalyst filter system with regeneration capabilities. The catalyst filter system of the '178 publication is designed for use in lean burn internal combustion engines and comprises two identical catalyst sections arranged in parallel. Each catalyst section includes a sulfur selective catalyst and a NOx selective catalyst. Exhaust flow is directed through a first catalyst section to remove sulfur and NOx from the exhaust flow, while a second catalyst section undergoes a regeneration process. During the regeneration process, gas containing a reducing agent passes through the second catalyst section in a direction opposite the normal direction of flow. The gas flows through the NOx and sulfur selective catalysts and desorbs nitrogen and sulfur compounds collected thereon through regeneration. In this reverse flow direction, the gas contacts the NOx selective catalyst before the sulfur selective catalyst. Although the catalyst filter system of the '178 publication may reduce the amount of NOx released to the environment, in order to avoid collecting sulfur on the NOx absorber of the second catalyst section during regeneration, the filter system requires a separate catalyst section for filtering the exhaust flow. Incorporating a second catalyst section may substantially increase the overall cost of the filter system and may double the space requirements of the system. The present disclosed filter system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system includes a plurality of filter sections, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow. Each filter section includes a first filter, a second filter, an absorbing material disposed between the first and second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system of an internal combustion engine includes a first sulfur trap, a second sulfur trap, and a NOx absorber disposed between the first and second sulfur trap. In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of regenerating a filter system of an internal combustion engine includes collecting constituents of engine exhaust by providing flow through a filtering component, sensing a filtered flow of engine exhaust downstream of the filtering component, and injecting a reductant into the engine exhaust upstream of the filtering component to assist in removing the collected constituents from the filter system. In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for removing constituents from a flow of engine exhaust of an internal combustion engine includes removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a first sulfur trap upstream of a NOx absorber during a normal flow path through the filter system and removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a second sulfur trap upstream of the NOx absorber during a reversed flow path through the filter system. In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system includes a plurality of filter sections, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow, and each filter section including a first filter having a first filter portion and a second filter portion, a second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an engine having a filter system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a front view diagrammatic illustration of a filter system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2a is a front view diagrammatic illustration of a filter system according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2b is a front view diagrammatic illustration of a filter system according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2c is a front view diagrammatic illustration of a filter system according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a front view diagrammatic illustration of the filter system of FIG. 2 in a normal flow condition; FIG. 4 is a front view diagrammatic illustration of the filter system of FIG. 2 in a reversed flow condition; FIG. 5 is another front view diagrammatic illustration of the filter system of FIG. 2 in a reversed flow condition; and FIG. 6 is another front view diagrammatic illustration of the filter system of FIG. 2 in a normal flow condition. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. FIG. 1 illustrates an internal combustion engine 10, such as a diesel engine, having an exemplary embodiment of a filter system 12. Engine 10 may include an exhaust manifold 14 connecting an exhaust flow of engine 10 with an inlet 16 of filter system 12. A controller 18 may be in communication with one or more components of filter system 12 via one or more communication lines 20. A reformer 47 may also be in communication with one or more components of the filter system 12 via a reformer line 49. A reductant supply 22 may be fluidly connected to the reformer 47 through a reductant line 23, and/or directly to one or more components of the filter system 12, via a direct reductant line 24. Engine 10 may also include a turbo (not shown) connected to the exhaust manifold 14. In such an embodiment, inlet 16 of the filter system 12 may be connected to an outlet of the turbo. As illustrated in FIG. 2 the filter system 12 may include a number of legs through which an exhaust flow from the engine 10 may flow. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the filter system 12 may include a first leg 30, a second leg 32, a third leg 34, and a fourth leg 36. Each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 may be separated by one or more insulating dividers 38. Although FIG. 2 shows only four legs 30, 32, 34, 36, the filter system 12 of the present disclosure may include any number of legs useful in removing particulates, ash, or other materials from an exhaust flow. The legs 30, 32, 34, 36 may be arranged horizontally (as shown in FIG. 2), vertically, radially, helically, or in any other configuration useful in removing materials from exhaust flow. Each of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 may include a NOx absorber 44 disposed between a first and second sulfur trap 40, 42 as shown in FIG. 2. The NOx absorber 44 may be any type of NOx absorber known in the art. The NOx absorber 44 may contain catalyst materials capable of storing oxides of nitrogen. Such materials may include, for example, aluminum, platinum, rhodium, barium, cerium, and/or alkali metals, alkaline-earth metals, rare-earth metals, or combinations thereof. The catalyst materials may be situated within the NOx absorber 44 so as to maximize the surface area available for NOx absorption. These catalyst materials may be located on a substrate of the NOx absorber 44. Substrate configurations may include, for example, a honeycomb, mesh, or any other configuration known in the art. The NOx absorber 44 may connect to a housing 26 of the filter system 12 by any conventional means. The first and second sulfur traps 40, 42 may be any type of sulfur traps known in the art, and may contain materials such as, but not limited to, zinc, nickel, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, alumina, ceria, silica, or other materials capable of adsorbing and/or absorbing sulfur or sulfur compounds from an exhaust flow. These materials may result in sulfur purging characteristics superior to that of the NOx absorber 44. For example, if sulfur should happen to reach the NOx absorber 44 and be collected therein, the sulfur may only be purged from the NOx absorber 44 catalyst materials at very high temperatures. Purging at such high temperatures may rapidly degrade the catalyst materials and shorten the life of the filter system 12. The materials used in the sulfur traps 40, 42, however, may be purged of sulfur at much lower temperatures. Purging at these lower temperatures may extend the useable life of the catalysts and the filter system 12. Similar to the NOx absorber 44, catalyst materials may be situated within the sulfur traps 40, 42 so as to maximize the surface area available for sulfur absorption. Such configurations may include, for example, a honeycomb, mesh, or any other configuration known in the art. The sulfur traps 40, 42 may connect to the housing 26 of the filter system 12 by any conventional means. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the first sulfur trap 40 may be positioned upstream of the NOx absorber 44 during normal flow conditions so as to shield the NOx absorber 44 from receiving sulfur or sulfur compounds contained within an exhaust flow during such normal flow conditions. The second sulfur trap 42 may be positioned downstream of the NOx absorber 44 so as to shield the NOx absorber 44 from receiving sulfur or sulfur compounds contained within an exhaust flow during regeneration and/or reversed exhaust flow conditions. The first and second sulfur traps 40, 42 may be the same type of trap, or may be different types of traps depending on the application the filter system 12 is being used for. For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the flow through the filter system 12 may only be reversed for a short period of time for regeneration. In such embodiments, it may be advantageous to use a smaller, or less expensive second sulfur trap 42 downstream of the NOx absorber 44 to reduce the overall size and cost of the filter system 12. As shown in FIG. 2, each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 may further include one or more nozzles 46, a regeneration valve 50, a particulate matter filter 60, and a heat supply 62. The nozzles 46 may be positioned between the first and second sulfur traps 40, 42 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The term “nozzle” 46 as used herein, is defined as any dispersion mechanism or other mechanism capable of dispensing a flow of gas or fluid supplied to it. The nozzles 46 may be, for example, fuel injectors, port flow injectors, or any type of nozzles capable of distributing reductant across a cross-section of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 in a controlled manner. The nozzles 46 may be, for example, connected to the housing 26 of the filter system 12, or may be connected directly to either the NOx absorber 44, or one of the sulfur traps 40, 42. The connection may be made by any conventional connection apparatus known in the art. The reductant may be raw diesel fuel, reformed diesel fuel, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, a hydrocarbon gas, reformate, or any combination thereof. It is understood that the reductant may also be any other reduction agent known in the art and that the type of nozzle 46 employed may depend on the type of reductant used. It is also understood that the reductant may be a fluid. As used herein, the term “fluid” may be defined as a substance in either a liquid or gaseous state. Some types of reductants may also consist of a carrier gas known in the art. This carrier gas may be required if a non-gaseous reductant such as, for example, liquid diesel fuel is used as a reductant. In such an embodiment, the carrier gas may mix with the diesel fuel and carry the diesel through the catalyst. The nozzles 46 may be supplied with reductants from a number of different sources. For example, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, the filter system 12 may be fluidly connected to a reformer 47 through a reformer line 49. As will be discussed in greater detail later, the reformer 47 may be capable of partially oxidizing the reductant supplied to the nozzles 46. The reformer 47 may be any type of reformer known in the art including, for example, a plasma fuel reformer and may supply reductant to the nozzles 46. The different types of plasma fuel reformers capable of being used with the filter system 12 of the present disclosure include those produced by Arvin Meritor of Troy, Mich., or Hydrogen Source LLC of South Windsor, Conn. Alternatively, if diesel fuel is used as the reductant in the regeneration process, the reformer 47 may be omitted. In such an embodiment, the nozzles 46 may be supplied with reductants directly from the reductant supply 22 through the direct reductant line 24. Referring again to FIG. 2, the regeneration valves 50 located in each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 may be, for example, poppet valves, butterfly valves, or any other type of controllable flow valves known in the art. Each regeneration valve 50 may be capable of controlling the flow through its respective leg 30, 32, 34, 36. Each regeneration valve 50 may be controllably positioned to allow any range of flow through the leg 30, 32, 34, 36, from completely restricting flow to completely unrestricting flow. The valves 50 may be connected directly to the housing 26 of the filter system 12, or to the leg 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12, by any conventional connection apparatus known in the art. Each regeneration valve 50 may be actuated or otherwise controlled by, for example, a solenoid (not shown) or other actuation device known in the art. The actuation device may receive a control signal from the controller 18 (FIG. 1). The controller 18 may be, for example, an electronic control module (“ECM”), a central processing unit, a personal computer, a laptop computer, or any other control device known in the art. The controller 18 may receive input from a variety of sources including, for example, filter system sensors 48 (described in greater detail below) and engine sensors (not shown). Engine sensors may include, but are not limited to, speed, load, temperature, and position sensors. The controller 18 may use these inputs to form a control signal based on a pre-set algorithm. The control signal may be transmitted from the controller 18 to each regeneration valve 50, or each actuation device, across the communication lines 20 (FIG. 1). Thus, the flow through each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12 may be independently controlled. Referring again to FIG. 2, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, a particulate matter filter 60 may be located upstream of the NOx absorber 44 during normal flow, and may be positioned to extract particulate matter from the exhaust flow before the flow reaches the NOx absorber 44. The particulate matter filter 60 may include, for example, a ceramic substrate, a metallic mesh, foam, or any other porous material known in the art. These materials may form, for example, a honeycomb structure within the particulate matter filter 60 to facilitate the removal of particulates. The particulates may be, for example, soot. It is understood that in some embodiments, the filter system 12 may not include a particulate matter filter 60. In other embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 2a, the particulate matter filter 60 may be positioned, for example, downstream of the NOx absorber 44, or in any other location within each of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 relative thereto. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the particulate matter filter 60 may include catalyst materials useful in collecting, absorbing, adsorbing, and/or storing oxides of sulfur and/or nitrogen contained in a flow. Such catalyst materials may be the same as or similar to the catalyst materials discussed above. These catalyst materials may be added to the particulate matter filter 60 by any conventional means such as, for example, coating or spraying, and the particulate matter filter 60 may be partially or completely coated with the materials. For example, as shown in FIG. 2b, a particulate matter filter 60a may include a sulfur trap portion 40a and a NOx absorber portion 44a. The sulfur trap portion 40a may be capable of absorbing and/or storing sulfur or sulfur compounds contained in an exhaust flow before the flow reaches the NOx absorber portion 44a during a normal flow condition. Such a flow condition will be discussed in greater detail below. In this embodiment, the first sulfur trap 40 and the NOx absorber 44 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 may be omitted. In still other embodiments, the particulate matter filter 60 may include catalyst materials useful in collecting, absorbing, adsorbing, and/or storing oxides of sulfur contained in a flow, and may include the same or similar catalyst materials as those discussed above. For example, as shown in FIG. 2c, the particulate matter filter 60b may include a sulfur trap portion 42b capable of absorbing sulfur or sulfur compounds from an exhaust flow. The sulfur trap portion 42b may be capable of absorbing and/or storing sulfur or sulfur compounds contained in an exhaust flow before the flow reaches the NOx absorber 44 in a reversed flow condition. Such a flow condition will be discussed in greater detail below. In this embodiment, the second sulfur trap 42 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 may be omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, the filter system 12 may further include at least one heat supply 62 capable of assisting in the regeneration of particulate. A heat supply 62 may be attached to each of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 to assist in regenerating the components of that respective leg. The heat supply 62 may be, for example, an electric heater, a fuel-fired burner, a spark plug, or any other heat supply known in the art. Alternatively, the filter system 12 may not include a heat supply 62, but instead may rely on the exothermic regeneration reactions taking place between the reductant and the oxidants present in each leg to supply heat. The filter system 12 may also include one or more valving mechanisms 51 positioned to control the direction of flow within the filter system 12. The valving mechanisms 51 may be, for example, rotary valving mechanisms or any other type of valving mechanisms capable of directing flow known in the art. The valving mechanisms 51 may be positioned to reverse flow through the filter system 12, and may include a number of flow valves to facilitate the reversal of flow. For example, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the valving mechanisms 51 may include a first, second, third, and fourth flow valve 52, 54, 56, 58. It is understood that the valving mechanisms 51 may include any number of valves useful in reversing flow through the filter system 12. It is also understood that the valving mechanisms 51 may include one or more motors (not shown), solenoids, or other devices known in the art to separately or collectively actuate elements of the valving mechanisms 51. The devices used to actuate each valve 52, 54, 56, 58 may depend on the type of valve used and the application in which the filter system 12 of the present disclosure is employed. These devices may receive, and be responsive to, commands from the controller 18 sent across the communication lines 20. As discussed above with respect to the regeneration valves 50, the flow valves 52, 54, 56, 58 of the valving mechanisms 51 may be, for example, butterfly valves, poppet valves, or any other type of controllable valves known in the art, and may be connected to the housing 26 of the filter system 12 by any conventional connection apparatus, at locations facilitating the reversal of flow. The filter system 12 may further include at least one sensor 48. This sensor 48 may be, for example, a NOx sensor, an oxygen sensor, a temperature sensor, or other sensor capable of sensing properties of a gaseous flow. The at least one sensor 48 may have multiple capabilities. For example, in addition to detecting the presence and quantity of NOx in a flow, a NOx sensor 48 may also be capable of measuring the air to fuel ratio of that flow. In an alternative embodiment, an oxygen sensor 48 may be used determine the air to fuel ratio, and may be used in conjunction with, or instead of, a NOx sensor. The sensor 48 may be located anywhere within, or relative to, the filter system 12 depending on the sensor's size, shape, type, and function. For example, as FIG. 2 illustrates, a sensor 48 may be located at an outlet 28 of the filter system 12 or further downstream of the system 12. Alternatively, more than one sensor 48 may be used, in which case the sensors 48 may be positioned downstream of NOx absorber 44 in each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12, or within the structure of the NOx absorber 44. The at least one sensor 48 may be connected to the housing 26 or to the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12 by any conventional means. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The disclosed filter system 12 may be used with any device known in the art where the removal of pollutants from an exhaust flow is desired. Such devices may include, for example, a diesel, gasoline turbine, lean-burn, or other combustion engines or furnaces known in the art. Thus, the disclosed filter system 12 may be used in conjunction with any work machine, on-road vehicle, or off-road vehicle known in the art. The operation of filter system 12 will now be explained in detail. FIG. 3 illustrates a normal flow condition for a filter system 12 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Under normal flow conditions, exhaust from an engine 10 (FIG. 1) may enter the inlet 16 of the filter system 12 and be directed to flow in a direction corresponding to normal flow arrows 64. As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second flow valves 52, 54 may be in a closed position and the third and fourth flow valves 56, 58 may be in an open position to facilitate the normal flow of exhaust. A portion of the exhaust may flow to each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12 and the portion may pass through each component of the respective leg 30, 32, 34, 36 before exiting the leg. For example, a portion of the exhaust flowing through the first leg 30 may flow through the particulate matter filter 60, thereby removing at least some of the particulate matter contained in the exhaust. The particulate matter filter 60 may be capable of removing soot and other particulate matter from an exhaust flow by, for example, mechanical collection, wet scrubbing, electrostatic precipitation, filtration, or any other method known in the art. The portion of the exhaust may then flow through the first sulfur trap 40, thereby removing at least some of the sulfur carried by the exhaust gases. During normal flow conditions, substantially all of the sulfur may be removed by the first sulfur trap 40 before the exhaust gas reaches the NOx absorber 44. The portion of the exhaust may then flow through the NOx absorber 44. The NOx absorber 44 may remove at least some of the NOx from the exhaust flow passing through it. The portion of the exhaust may then pass the heat supply 62 (e.g. electric heater) and the nozzle 46 before it passes through the second sulfur trap 42. In passing these elements 62, 46, the exhaust gas may pass proximate to them, over them, or through them. It is understood that regardless of how these elements 62, 46 are positioned within the leg 30, the elements 62, 46 may not restrict exhaust flow from the NOx absorber 44 to the second sulfur trap 42 or vise versa. It is understood that in embodiments such as the embodiment of FIG. 2a, a portion of the exhaust may flow through the first sulfur trap 40, the NOx absorber 44, and the second sulfur trap 42 before passing through the particulate matter filter 60 in a normal flow condition. In the embodiment of FIG. 2b, on the other hand, the portion may first flow through the sulfur trap portion 40a and the NOx absorber portion 44a of the particulate matter filter 60a before passing through the second sulfur trap 42 in a normal flow condition. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2c, the may flow through first sulfur trap 40 and NOx absorber 44 before flowing through the sulfur trap portion 42b of the particulate matter filter 60b in a normal flow condition. In each of these embodiments, the portion of the exhaust may also pass the heat supply 62 and/or the nozzle 46 in a normal flow condition as explained above. Upon exiting the respective legs 30, 32, 34, 36, the portions of the exhaust flow may travel in a direction corresponding to normal flow arrows 66. As shown in FIG. 3, fourth flow valve 58 may be in an open position to allow the portions of the exhaust flow to exit the legs 30, 32, 34, 36. The exhaust may exit the filter system 12 through outlet 28 and a sensor 48 may sense at least one parameter of the flow exiting the filter system 12. The parameter may be, for example, parts per million of NOx released by the filter system 12 after filtration, temperature, air to fuel ratio, or a combination of these parameters. The sensor 48 may send a signal corresponding to these sensed parameters to the controller 18. The controller may evaluate the information in the signal. As the engine 10 operates, the NOx absorber 44 may chemically bind NOx in the exhaust gas of the engine 10 to its catalyst materials. However, the number of NOx storage sites on these catalysts may be limited. As more of these sites become occupied by NOx, the NOx absorber's ability to store NOx may decrease. This saturation process may take approximately several minutes depending on, for example, the type of engine 10, the run conditions, and the type of fuel used. The controller 18 may use the information sent from the sensor 48 in conjunction with an algorithm or other pre-set criteria to determine whether the NOx absorber 44 has become saturated and is in need of regeneration. Once this saturation point has been reached, the controller 18 may send appropriate signals to the flow valves 52, 54, 56, 58. These signals may alter the position of the valves 52, 54, 56, 58 to reverse the flow of engine exhaust through the filter system 12, thereby beginning the regeneration process. This reversed flow condition is illustrated in FIG. 4. The algorithm of controller 18 may assist in this determination and may use the quantity of NOx particles sensed at the outlet 28 and stored regeneration histories or times for each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 as inputs. Alternatively (as mentioned above), a sensor may be located at the exit of each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 for detecting the parts per million of NOx being released downstream of each NOx absorber 44 of each leg 30, 32, 34, 36. This data may then be used by the controller 18 to determine the regeneration schedule. In the reversed flow condition shown in FIG. 4, the first and second flow valves 52, 54 may be in an open position while the third and fourth flow valves 56, 58 may be in a closed position, thereby directing exhaust from the inlet 16 to flow in a direction corresponding to reversed flow arrows 68, 72. During reversed flow conditions, the second sulfur trap 42 will be upstream of the NOx absorber 44, and substantially all of the sulfur carried by the exhaust may be removed by the second sulfur trap 42 before the exhaust gas reaches the NOx absorber 44. As described above, under normal flow conditions, the second sulfur trap 42 may collect very little of the sulfur carried by the exhaust due to the presence of the first sulfur trap 40. During the reversed flow condition, flow to the desired leg 30, 32, 34, 36 may be at least partially restricted by the regeneration valve 50 disposed in that leg. It is understood that each regeneration valve 50 may be capable of completely blocking flow to the desired leg 30, 32, 34, 36 under certain conditions. The desired leg may correspond to the leg 30, 32, 34, 36 to be regenerated. For example, to regenerate desired first leg 30, the controller 18 may send a signal to the regeneration valve 50 located in the first leg 30 thereby partially closing the valve 50. As FIG. 4 illustrates, only a restricted portion of the exhaust flow may continue to pass through the first leg 30 while the regeneration valve 50 is in the partially closed position. Restricting the flow may assist in creating an oxygen-starved operating condition within the NOx absorber. As will be described below, such an operating condition may be necessary for removing NOx from the catalyst material through regeneration. Although the overall flow through the first leg 30 is reduced as a result of the valve's position, the flow passing through the first leg 30 may still carry reductant through the leg 30 and may be a source of oxygen during the regeneration of that leg 30. To create an oxygen-starved operating condition, the nozzle 46 may be activated to inject reductants into the exhaust flow in the desired leg. These reductants may be supplied to the nozzle 46 by a reformer 47 (FIG. 1). The reformer 47 may partially oxidize reductants with oxygen contained in air infused from an air supply (not shown). Through this oxidation process, the reformer 47 may produce refined or more effective reductants. The chemical makeup of these refined reductants may depend on the type of reductants supplied to the reformer 47 and may be, for example, carbon monoxide or hydrogen in a gaseous state. The reformer 47 may then feed these refined reductants to the nozzles 46 in each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12. As discussed above, if diesel fuel is used as a reductant, the fuel may be supplied to the nozzles 46 directly through direct reductant line 24, without being partially oxidized by the reformer 47. Alternatively, the reformer 47 may partially oxidize the fuel before the nozzles 46 inject it. Using unreformed diesel fuel as a reductant may require higher regeneration temperatures. However, if the diesel fuel is partially oxidized by the reformer 47 before being injected, the NOx absorber 44 may be regenerated at lower temperatures. The injected reductants may be carried by the restricted portion of the exhaust flow traveling through the first leg and may be dispersed substantially uniformly across the surface of the NOx absorber 44 receiving the exhaust flow. The introduction of reductant may make the exhaust flow rich and may cause the NOx absorber 44 to regenerate and convert at least part of the NOx collected thereon to nitrogen. This rich exhaust flow is illustrated by arrow 70 in FIG. 4. The rich exhaust flow 70 may also cause the first sulfur trap 40 to regenerate and release collected sulfur. Regeneration of both the NOx absorber 44 and the sulfur trap 40 may be accomplished without the use of the heat supply 62. Alternatively, the heat supply 62 may be activated during regeneration to increase temperature in the first leg 30 and thereby assist in the regeneration process. The controller may determine whether to activate the heat supply 62 based on the sensed temperature of the exhaust gas, the sensed temperature of the sulfur traps 40, 42, the sensed temperature of the NOx absorber 44, the sensed performance or flow of the filter system, or any other relevant criteria known in the art. If the heat supply 62 is configured to ignite the reductant injected by the nozzle 46, at least a portion of the restricted exhaust flow may be required to supply oxygen for the ignition. The heat supply 62 may increase the temperature within the leg 30, 32, 34, 36 to any appropriate temperature for reductant ignition or NOx absorber 44 regeneration. The heat supply may also be used to regenerate the particulate matter filter 60. The regeneration process in the first leg 30 may result in a substantially clean NOx absorber 44 and first sulfur trap 40 in leg 30, while the second sulfur trap 42 in leg 30 may begin to store sulfur. This process may take less than one minute. It is understood that while the first leg 30 is being regenerated, exhaust flow may still travel through the other legs 32, 34, 36 of the filter system 12 as illustrated by arrow 68 and arrow 72. It is also understood that during the regeneration process, the particulate matter filter 60 may be cleaned by any process known in the art. For example, once the ceramic substrate or other structure within the particulate matter filter 60 becomes saturated, the substrate may be heated by charging the structure with electric current. The current may increase the temperature of the structure to be in the range of approximately 600 to approximately 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The limited flow of exhaust through leg 30 during the regeneration process assists in the build-up of temperature in the particulate matter filter 60. At the appropriate temperature, the particulates may burn off of the substrate and be released from the particulate matter filter 60. Alternatively, the particulate matter filter 60 may be cleaned in a process whereby the particulates react with NOx. Such continuous regenerating traps (“CRT's”) are known in the art and require an oxidation catalyst to burn off particulates. As shown in FIG. 5, once one of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 has been regenerated, the process may begin in one of the other legs before the filter system 12 returns to the normal flow condition. Each of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 may be regenerated while the filter system 12 is in a reversed flow condition, or alternatively, less than all of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 may be regenerated. As described above, the controller 18 may determine which of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 to regenerate based on an algorithm taking a number of variables into account. Once the desired legs 30, 32, 34, 36 have been regenerated, the filter system 12 may return to the normal flow condition illustrated in FIG. 3. After repeatedly reversing the flow of exhaust through the filter system 12, the second sulfur trap 42 in each leg 30, 32, 34, 36 may become saturated with collected sulfur. In a process similar to the process described above with regard to the NOx absorbers 44, the controller 18 may determine which of the second sulfur traps 42 requires cleaning, and may initiate the desulfation process in one or more of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36 by at least partially restricting the flow of exhaust through the desired leg. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 with respect to desired first leg 30, to desulfate the second sulfur trap 42, the regeneration valve 50 may at least partially restrict flow through the first leg 30 while the filter system 12 operates under normal flow conditions. The nozzle 46 may be activated to inject reductant, making the exhaust gas contacting the second sulfur trap 42 rich as illustrated by arrow 71. This rich exhaust gas may cause the second sulfur trap 42 to release the collected sulfur, resulting in a clean second sulfur trap 42. Since flow may not be reversed during the desulfation of the second sulfur trap 42, the first sulfur trap 40 may continue to shield the NOx absorber 44 from sulfur and sulfur compounds during the desulfation process. The second sulfur traps 42 in each of the remaining legs 32, 34, 36 may be desulfated by substantially the same process. Each of the regeneration valves 50 may be fully opened after the desulfation of each second sulfur trap 42. It is understood that the reversed flow conditions and/or the regeneration processes of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 may also exist in the embodiments of FIGS. 2a-2c. Other embodiments of the disclosed filter system will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification. For example, instead of injecting reductants into the exhaust flow of the engine 10 to create an oxygen-starved condition, the oxygen level of the exhaust flow may be reduced by increasing the main injection duration of engine fuel in the combustion chamber, or by adding a post fuel injection. This may enable most of the oxygen in the engine 10 to react with the injected fuel and may result in a surplus of fuel after combustion. As a result, there may be a relatively high percentage of reductants present in the exhaust gas relative to oxygen to facilitate regeneration. In addition, the filter system 12 may include a second heat supply downstream of the nozzle 46 in each leg 30, 32, 34, 36. The second heat supply may assist in the desulfation of the second sulfur trap 42. The filter system 12 may also include an exhaust distributor plenum or other device capable of distributing the flow of exhaust evenly across each of the legs 30, 32, 34, 36. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope of the invention being indicated by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, natural gas engines, and other engines known in the art, may exhaust a complex mixture of air pollutants. The air pollutants may be composed of gaseous and solid material, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (“NOx”), and sulfur compounds. Due to heightened environmental concerns, exhaust emission standards have become increasingly stringent over the years. The amount of pollutants emitted from an engine may be regulated depending on the type, size, and/or class of engine. One method that has been implemented by engine manufacturers to comply with the regulation of particulate matter and NOx exhausted to the environment has been to remove these pollutants from the exhaust flow of an engine with filters. However, using filters for extended periods of time may cause the pollutants to buildup in the components of the filters, thereby causing filter functionality and engine performance to decrease. One method of improving filter performance may be to implement filter regeneration. For example, International Publication No. WO 01/51178 (the '178 publication) to Campbell et al., describes a method and apparatus for removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and gaseous sulfur compounds such as SO 2 and H 2 S from engine exhaust using a catalyst filter system with regeneration capabilities. The catalyst filter system of the '178 publication is designed for use in lean burn internal combustion engines and comprises two identical catalyst sections arranged in parallel. Each catalyst section includes a sulfur selective catalyst and a NOx selective catalyst. Exhaust flow is directed through a first catalyst section to remove sulfur and NOx from the exhaust flow, while a second catalyst section undergoes a regeneration process. During the regeneration process, gas containing a reducing agent passes through the second catalyst section in a direction opposite the normal direction of flow. The gas flows through the NOx and sulfur selective catalysts and desorbs nitrogen and sulfur compounds collected thereon through regeneration. In this reverse flow direction, the gas contacts the NOx selective catalyst before the sulfur selective catalyst. Although the catalyst filter system of the '178 publication may reduce the amount of NOx released to the environment, in order to avoid collecting sulfur on the NOx absorber of the second catalyst section during regeneration, the filter system requires a separate catalyst section for filtering the exhaust flow. Incorporating a second catalyst section may substantially increase the overall cost of the filter system and may double the space requirements of the system. The present disclosed filter system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system includes a plurality of filter sections, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow. Each filter section includes a first filter, a second filter, an absorbing material disposed between the first and second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system of an internal combustion engine includes a first sulfur trap, a second sulfur trap, and a NOx absorber disposed between the first and second sulfur trap. In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of regenerating a filter system of an internal combustion engine includes collecting constituents of engine exhaust by providing flow through a filtering component, sensing a filtered flow of engine exhaust downstream of the filtering component, and injecting a reductant into the engine exhaust upstream of the filtering component to assist in removing the collected constituents from the filter system. In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for removing constituents from a flow of engine exhaust of an internal combustion engine includes removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a first sulfur trap upstream of a NOx absorber during a normal flow path through the filter system and removing constituents of the engine exhaust with a second sulfur trap upstream of the NOx absorber during a reversed flow path through the filter system. In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a filter system includes a plurality of filter sections, each of the plurality of filter sections receiving a portion of flow, and each filter section including a first filter having a first filter portion and a second filter portion, a second filter, and at least one dispersion mechanism disposed between the first and second filter, the at least one dispersion mechanism assisting in providing a fluid to the filter system. | 20040624 | 20070206 | 20051229 | 67255.0 | 0 | TRAN, DIEM T | FILTER SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,394 | ACCEPTED | Gas turbine installation | A plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger is provided which can prevent clogging of a flow passage caused by a drift of liquid phase water even when compressed air contains a large amount of moisture and liquid droplets. The plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger comprises a corrugated fin channel for heating compressed air containing liquid droplets and a corrugated fin channel to which the compressed air containing no liquid droplets is supplied. A pitch of fin members of the former corrugated fin channel is set to the Laplace length, whereby bridging of the liquid droplets between the fin members can be prevented. | 1. A plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, wherein a pitch of fin members forming a channel for the compressed air is set to the Laplace length. 2. A plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas with a combustion exhaust gas channel and a compressed air channel partitioned from each other by a tube plate, wherein a pitch of fin members and a height of said fin members forming the compressed air channel are set to values sufficient to prevent the liquid phase water contained in the compressed air from bridging between adjacent two of said fin members or tube plates under action of surface tension. 3. A plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, wherein said recuperator comprises a first region for heating the humid compressed air containing liquid phase water and a second region for heating the humid compressed air from which the liquid phase water has evaporated in the first region, and a pitch of fin members disposed in the first region is set to the Laplace length. 4. A plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, wherein said recuperator comprises a first region for heating the humid compressed air containing liquid phase water and a second region for heating the humid compressed air from which the liquid phase water has evaporated in the first region, and a pitch of fin members and a height of said fin members installed in said first region are set to values sufficient to prevent the liquid phase water contained in the compressed air from bridging between adjacent two of said fin members or tube plates under action of surface tension. 5. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 3, wherein side plates mounted to upper and lower surfaces of a heat exchanger core, spacer bars mounted to corresponding ends of a compressed air channel and a combustion exhaust gas channel, and/or covers for housing said heat exchanger core are provided with joints making said heat exchanger core separable at a boundary between the first region and the second region. 6. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 3, wherein the channel for the compressed air flowing through said plate fin type recuperator has no bending portions, from a macroscopic point of view, in a channel within the first region. 7. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 3, wherein the channel for the compressed air flowing through said plate fin type recuperator includes, at a certain position downstream of the first region, a pipe for guiding the liquid phase water entrained with the compressed air to the exterior of said recuperator. 8. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 3, wherein the channel for the compressed air flowing through said plate fin type recuperator includes, at a certain position downstream of the first region, a separator for capturing and separating the liquid phase water entrained with the compressed air. 9. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 3, wherein the fin members disposed in the first region and forming the compressed air channel have shapes giving continuous changes to the flow direction of the compressed air and promoting collision of liquid droplets entrained with the compressed air against said fin members. 10. A plate fin type recuperator according to claim 9, wherein said fin members are constituted as successively arranged fins each of which has a zigzag ridge shape or which have ridges alternately shifted at a half-pitch in positions. 11. A gas turbine power system comprising a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for combusting the air compressed by said compressor and fuel, a turbine driven by combustion gas produced in said combustor, a recuperator for performing heat exchange between exhaust gas exhausted from said turbine and the compressed air supplied to said combustor from said compressor, and a humidifier for supplying liquid phase water to the compressed air supplied from said compressor, wherein said recuperator is a plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, and a pitch of fin members forming a compressed air channel is set to the Laplace length. 12. A gas turbine power system comprising a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for combusting the air compressed by said compressor and fuel, a turbine driven by combustion gas produced in said combustor, a recuperator for performing heat exchange between exhaust gas exhausted from said turbine and the compressed air supplied to said combustor from said compressor, and a humidifier for supplying liquid phase water to the compressed air supplied from said compressor, wherein said recuperator is a plate fin type recuperator for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas with a combustion exhaust gas channel and a compressed air channel partitioned from each other by a tube plate, and a pitch of fin members and a height of said fin members forming the compressed air channel are set to values sufficient to prevent the liquid phase water contained in the compressed air from bridging between adjacent two of said fin members or tube plates under action of surface tension. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/674,402 filed on Oct. 1, 2003 based on Japanese Patent Application Number 2001-225316 filed on Jul. 26, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas turbine installation which utilizes highly humidified air as the combustion use air thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, JP-B-1-31012 (1989) and JP-A-9-264158 (1997) disclose conventional art gas turbine installation making use of humidified air, in particular, a gas turbine cycle in which compressed air compressed by a compressor and heated liquid phase water being used as heat recovery medium are caused to be contacted at a humidification tower to obtain humidified air (mixture of air/steam) and cooled liquid phase water, with the obtained humidified air heat recovery of turbine exhaust gas is performed as well as by using the obtained cooled liquid phase water as heat recovery medium, heat recovery due to the turbine exhaust gas and intermediate cooling of the compressor are performed, and further, liquid phase water in an amount corresponding to that transferred as steam into the compressed air in the exchange tower (the humidification tower) is supplied to the exchange tower and into the liquid phase served for the heat recovery which is used as cooling medium downstream the intermediate cooler of the compressor which is performed by the cooled liquid phase water obtained at the exchange tower. Further, JP-B-1-19053 (1989) discloses a gas turbine system in which without using the exchange tower (humidification tower) as disclosed in the above JP-B-1-31012 (1989) and JP-A-9-264158 (1997), with humidified air (mixture of mixed layers of compressed air/water/steam) which is obtained by injecting liquid phase water into outlet air of a compressor, heat recovery of turbine exhaust gas or the heat recovery of the turbine exhaust gas and intermediate cooling of the compressor are performed, and compressed air used for forming the humidified air is cooled in advance by a part of the humidified air. Still further, JP-A-11-324710 (1999) discloses a humidification method of compressed air supplied from a compressor to a combustor in a gas turbine system in which an atomizer for atomizing water or steam to compressed air flowing through a regenerative heat exchanger is provided in the regenerative heat exchanger. However, all of the above conventional arts do not sufficiently take into account a problem that scales (precipitates of impurities dissolved in water) caused when water droplets evaporate from a heat transfer surface of a heat exchanger stick on the heat transfer surface, therefore, the conventional art is possibly suffered to problems such as of lowering of heat transfer efficiency and increasing of flow passage pressure loss in a long time span. When scales stick inside the regenerative heat exchanger, heat resistance of the heat transfer wall surfaces increases which causes to reduce overall heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer efficiency. Further, when scales stick on a narrow flow passage, it is possible that the flow passage is clogged. Still further, when working medium at both a low temperature side and a high temperature side is gas, the heat transfer efficiency thereof is poor in comparison with a case when the work medium is liquid, therefore, the size of a heat exchanger is generally like to be increased. For this reason, a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger which is also called as a compact heat exchanger and is constituted by very small flow passages is frequently used as a heat exchanger between gases. When gas containing water droplets are heated by making use of such plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger, it is necessary to broaden space between heat transfer surfaces so as to avoid clogging, therefore, it was possible to cause problems of reducing heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger and increasing the size of the system. Still further, when such plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger is used, it was required to thicken the plate thickness for countermeasuring erosion caused by liquid droplet collision which also increases the size of the installation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a compact gas turbine installation which suppresses generation of erosion and scales due to water droplets and shows a high efficiency and a high output. To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, wherein a pitch of fin members forming a flow passage of the compressed air is set to the Laplace length. Also, according to the present invention, the fin-plate type regenerative heat exchanger comprises a first region for heating the humid compressed air containing liquid phase water and a second region for heating the humid compressed air from which the liquid phase water has evaporated in the first region, and a pitch of fin members installed in the first region is set to the Laplace length. Further, the pitch of the fin members forming the flow passage of the compressed air and the height of the fin members are set to values sufficient to prevent the liquid phase water contained in the compressed air from bridging between adjacent two of the fin members or tube plates under action of surface tension. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a gas turbine installation showing one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a gas turbine installation showing another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a regenerative heat exchanger representing one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a regenerative heat exchanger having a unit module structure representing another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a regenerative heat exchanger constituted by combining a plurality of unit modules as shown in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a diagram of a modification of FIG. 5 embodiment showing a regenerative heat exchanger structure and a piping layout; FIGS. 7A and 7B are horizontal sectional views of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a system diagram of an advanced humid air turbine power system; FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger in a combined state; FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are schematic perspective views of different fin structures of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger; FIGS. 11A and 11B are horizontal sectional views of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to a modification; FIGS. 12A and 12B are horizontal sectional views of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to another modification; FIGS. 13A and 13B are horizontal sectional views of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to still another embodiment, the former view showing a combined state; FIGS. 14A and 14B are horizontal sectional views of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to a modification of still another embodiment, the former view showing a combined state; FIGS. 15A and 15B are each a graph showing calculation results of distributions of temperature and liquid phase water within the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger; FIGS. 16A and 16B are graphs showing respectively the relationship between a temperature at a division position and a liquid film flow rate and the relationship between the temperature at the division position and a heat transfer element length; FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger; FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger; and FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a system diagram of a gas turbine cycle representing one embodiment of the present invention. A gas turbine electric power generation installation of the present embodiment is provided with a compressor 10 which compresses air and discharges the same, a combustor 12 which combusts the compressed air obtained by compression in the compressor 10 and fuel and produces combustion gas, a turbine 14 which is driven by the combustion gas produced in the combustor 12, and a two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and a single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 which heat all of or a part of the compressed air supplied from the compressor 10 to the combustor 12 by making use of the heat of the exhaust gas exhausted from the turbine 14. An electric power generator 16 which obtains motive power from an output shaft of the gas turbine 14 and converts the same into electric power is connected to a not shown electric power transmission system. Further, an illustration such as pumps is omitted. At the upstream side of the compressor 10, an intake air chamber 22 which takes in intake air to be supplied to the compressor 10 is connected. For example, at the intake air side (upstream side) of the intake air chamber 22 an intake air filter chamber 26 in which filters 24 are disposed is arranged, and at the upstream side in the intake air filter chamber 26 louvers 28 are arranged. Further, in the intake air chamber 22 a water spraying device 40 is disposed, and depending on the operating conditions proper moisture content is added into the intake air. Further, in the passage where the compressed air discharged from the compressor 10 reaches the combustor 12 water spraying devices 42 and 44 are disposed which spray water into the compressed air. An atomizer nozzle, for example, disclosed in JP-A-9-236024 (1997) can be used for the water spraying device 40. In the present embodiment the water spraying device 40 is disposed at the inlet of the compressor 10, for example, in the intake air chamber 22 spaced apart from a first stationary blade. Further, in FIG. 1, the water spraying device 40 is illustrated being disposed downstream the intake air filters 24 in the intake air filter chamber 26. A part or all of moisture content in liquid phase sprayed at the water spraying device 40 is evaporated before entering into the compressor 10, takes out heat contained in the intake air in a from of water evaporation latent heat and reduces the temperature of the intake air. All of or a major part of the remaining liquid droplets is evaporated within the compressor 10 in accordance with the air temperature rise by the compressor 10. In the manner as has been explained, through water spraying into the intake air in the water spraying device 40, the temperature of air to be compressed can be reduced, thereby, a required compressor motive force can be reduced and the output of the turbine 14 can be increased. At the outlet portion of the compressor 10 or at the nearby position thereof, another water spraying device 42 is disposed. Further, at the inlet portion of the regenerative heat exchanger 36 or the nearby position thereof, still another water spraying device 44 is also disposed. These water spraying devices 42 and 44 spray water to the compressed air (high temperature wetted air) led from the compressor 10 to increase work medium for the turbine 14 and to reduce air temperature. In the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36, exhaust heat recovery in the exhaust gas from the gas turbine 14 is performed by making use of the air containing steam and water droplets added in the upstream water spraying devices 42 and 44. Further, in the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 by making use of the air containing moisture content in gas phase which is formed by fully evaporating the water droplets added at the water spraying device 42 and 44 by the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36, the exhaust heat recovery is performed. Through the spraying water in the water spraying devices 42 and 44, the temperature of the air led to the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 is reduced, thereby, the quantity of recovery heat at the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 can be increased and heat efficiency of the installation can be improved. The water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44 include passages of supplying water being sprayed into the air introduced. A make-up water supply device 48 which supplies water to the water spraying device 40, 42 and 44 can be configured to introduce water, for example, from an external system of the concerned gas turbine installation and the associated machines and apparatuses thereof. Alternatively, it can be configured to recover the water from an internal system of the concerned gas turbine installation and the associated machines and apparatuses thereof. Further, alternatively, it can be configured in such a manner that any of the water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44 makes use of the make-up water from the external system and the other primarily makes use of the recovery water. As methods of spraying water into air, such as a method of spraying water droplets against the compressed air stream and a method of feeding water to a structural body facing the passage of the compressed air flow and contacting the same to the compressed air stream. The water added compressed air by the water spraying devices 42 and 44 is supplied to the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 which heat the compressed air by making use of the exhaust gas from the gas turbine 14 as the heat source. In the present embodiment, the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 are formed into an integrated package with a partition wall, however, both can be packaged independently. Further, for the convenience sake, the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 are respectively illustrated as independent regenerative heat exchangers, however, in an actual machine both can be integrated as a single component. The two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 are different with regard to the moisture content phase states contained in the compressed air as well as with regard to configuration of the heat transfer surfaces corresponding thereto. For example, a fin and tube structure is used for the heat transfer surface in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and a plate-fin structure is used for the heat transfer surface in the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38. With the former structure, the cross section of the flow passage where the compressed air passes is large in comparison with that of the later, and since the configuration of the cross section is round, a possible clogging of the flow passage because of scale generation due to water droplet evaporation is low and the cleaning of inside tubes is easy. Further, for example, when the plate-fin structure is used for the heat transfer surface configurations in both two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, it is sufficient if the space between fins in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is selected broader than that in the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38. With this measure, even if scales stick on the heat transfer surface, the clogging of the flow passage can be avoided and a performance deterioration can be prevented. As has been explained above, the heated compressed air by the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 is supplied to the combustor 12 and is combusted therein together with fuel 50 added to form high temperature combustion gas which drives the turbine 14, and after the heat of the exhaust gas is recovered in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 by the compressed air from the compressor 10, the exhaust gas is exhausted into the atmospheric air. As in the present embodiment, through the use of the heat transfer configuration having a broader flow passage at the compressed air side, for example, the fin and tube structure, for the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 which performs the exhaust heat recovery by means of the air containing water droplets, great many amount of moisture content can be evaporated without caring about the flow passage clogging due to scale sticking. Further, with respect to the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 which performs exhaust heat recovery by the air containing primarily only steam, by making use of the heat transfer surface configuration having a narrower flow passage width at the compressed air side, for example, the plate-fin structure, the heat transfer surface area per unit length at the low temperature side (compressed air side) and at the high temperature side (heat exhaust side) can be increased, thereby, heat transfer efficiency can be improved, in other words, a compact regenerative heat exchanger with high efficiency can be constituted. JP-A-11-324710 (1999) discloses a method of enhancing plant efficiency by spraying moisture content at the compressed air side of a regenerative heat exchanger, however, nowhere discloses a heat transfer surface configuration when recovering the exhaust heat by the air containing liquid droplets. When work medium at both lower temperature side and higher temperature side is primarily gas, a regenerative heat exchanger having a plate-fin structure is usually used. In order to improve heat transfer efficiency and compactness of the regenerative heat exchanger, when a heat exchanger having low height and narrow space fins, for example, both height and space are about a few mm is used, scales caused by evaporation of water droplets in the compressed air stick on the heat transfer surface and which possibly causes clogging. If the height and space of the fins are increased to an extent free from such scale sticking problem, the problem of clogging can be surely resolved, however, a reduction of heat transfer efficiency and a size increase of the regenerative heat exchanger can not be avoided. As in the present embodiment, when the width and height of the flow passage in the regenerative heat exchanger where the work medium at the low temperature side flows are varied depending on existence and absence of liquid droplets in the work medium, a compact and highly efficient regenerative heat exchanger as well as gas turbine installation can be constituted. Now, locating position and amount of water spray of the water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44 as shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. As in the present embodiment, in the case of the gas turbine installation in which the exhaust heat recovery is performed by the water added compressed air after leaving the compressor 10, when the amount of moisture content added to the compressed air is increased, the output of the turbine side increases correspondingly and the plant efficiency and output likely increase. Therefore, it is important to evaporate moisture content as much as possible with any means, while avoiding problems such as scale generation and erosion. In order to evaporate an added water droplet in air, it is necessary that the humidity around the water droplet does not reach saturation and the contacting time of the water droplet with air, in other words, residence time of the water droplet is sufficiently long. The amount of water which can be evaporated into air is determined from water saturation amount which is a function of air temperature, and the higher the air temperature is, the more water can evaporate into the air. In order to increase steam amount which performs exhaust heat recovery inside the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, it will be conceived to add more water at the water spraying device 40 which locates at the most upstream side in view of the water droplet residence time, however, since the saturation steam amount in the air before heating such as in the compressor 10 and in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is less, great part of the added water advects through the inside of the compressor 10 and through the inside of the pipings up to the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 under a condition of liquid droplets. In this instance, since the great part of the moisture content advects in a state of liquid droplets, the liquid droplets collide such as to the compressor blades and the piping members to cause problems of corrosion and erosion, if the diameter of the liquid droplets is not properly controlled, therefore, the above measure is not advantageous. Contrary, if much water is added near at the outlet of the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 where the air is sufficiently heated to a high temperature, since the amount of saturation steam is large because of high air temperature, the amount of evaporatable steam is much, however, the residence time of the water droplets within the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is shortened, the liquid droplets are likely exhausted from the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 before completing evaporation thereof, and the rate where the steam is utilized for heat recovery becomes low. As in the present embodiment, at first an amount of water of which evaporation can be substantially completed within the compressor 10 is added by the water spraying device 40, subsequently another amount of water of which evaporation can be substantially completed before entering into the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is added to the air heated to a high temperature and pressurized to a high pressure after the compressor 10, finally, still another amount of water of which evaporation can be substantially completed within the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is added, thereby, further much water is sprayed at the upstream side and further much steam can be utilized in the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 for heat exchange. Moreover, since the amount of water droplets advected in a form of liquid droplets is suppressed as much as possible, thereby, a possible erosion of structural bodies and scale generation are limited. Further, as a modification, a water spraying device can be disposed at an intermediate position of the flow passage of the compressed air in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and further moisture content can be added therewith to the advected compressed air. In this modification, since the compressed air is already heated to a high temperature by the exhaust heat recovery, the saturation steam amount is large, thereby, a further much moisture content can be evaporated further rapidly, which increases the flow rate of the turbine work medium and enhances output and heat efficiency thereof. Further, the amount of liquid droplets advected at the upstream portion in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 can be decreased, while keeping the amount of steam which contributes for heat exchange within the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36, the problems of such as erosion and scale generation in the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 can be lowered which reduces maintenance cost for the gas turbine system. FIG. 2 shows a system diagram of a gas turbine installation representing another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1 embodiment, the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is arranged at the lower temperature side of the exhaust gas of the gas turbine 14 and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 is arranged at the high temperature side (at the upstream side of the turbine exhaust gas) of the exhaust gas. However, in the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is arranged at the high temperature side (at the upstream side of turbine exhaust gas) of the exhaust gas, and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 is arranged at the low temperature side (at the downstream side of the exhaust gas). Further, the water spraying device 44 is arranged so as to spray water into the air supplied to the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 via the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38. In the present embodiment, since water is added to the compressed air which is heated to a further high temperature after being passed through the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, the evaporation speed of the liquid droplets can be increased, thereby, the size of the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 can be reduced. Further, when a fin and tube structure is used for the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 and a plate-fin structure is used for the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, since the plate thickness of the heat transfer surface of the fin and tube structure is generally thick and structurally strong in comparison with that of the plate-fin structure, if the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 is located at the high temperature side of the exhaust gas of the gas turbine 14, the exhaust gas temperature of the gas turbine 14 can be raised which is generally limited by the material strength of the adjacent regenerative heat exchanger. Accordingly, under the condition that the exhaust heat temperature of a gas turbine installation is limited by the material strength limitation of the regenerative heat exchanger, through arranging the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 at the high temperature side of the exhaust gas and the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 at the low temperature side, the exhaust heat temperature of the gas turbine 14 can be increased and a total plant efficiency can be enhanced, when constituting a regenerative cycle in such a manner. Further, at the downstream side of the water spraying device 42 and into a flow passage which supplies the compressed air by the compressor 10 to the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, if a structural body for accelerating evaporation of the added liquid droplets at the water spraying device 42 is disposed, the compressed air can be supplied to the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 under a condition that the liquid droplets sprayed into the air are surely evaporated. Now, an embodiment of the two phase type regenerative heat exchanger 36 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a part of a fin and tube type heat exchanger. Heat of the high temperature air of the exhaust gas from the gas turbine 14 is taken out while passing through between plates 80. The low temperature side air of the compressed air supplied from the compressor 10 absorbs heat of the exhaust gas while flowing through a tube 82 which is coupled with the plates 80 in such a manner to pass therethrough. The moisture content in a liquid phase being collected due to gravity in U shaped tube portions 86 at the bottom of the tube 82 is discharged outside the tube 82 when valves 83 are opened because of pressure difference between the compressed air and external air. In the U shaped tube portions 86 at the bottom of the tube 82 where the moisture content in liquid phase is likely collected, the moisture content evaporates more than in the other portions, therefore, a possibility of scale generation therein is high. Further, it is also possible that an already existing scale serves as a core which grows a further larger scale to cause tube clogging. Contrary, as in FIG. 3 embodiment, when a drain 84 serving as a drain tube is provided at a position where water is likely collected and the valve 83 is occasionally opened depending on collecting condition of the moisture content in liquid phase, the liquid collection causing scale generation is removed, and reduction of heat exchange efficiency, pressure loss increase and a possible clogging of the tubes can be suppressed. FIGS. 4 and 5 show an embodiment of the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 having a specific structure. In the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 a plate-fin type is used. FIG. 4 shows a unit module 60 in the single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38, and FIG. 5 shows an entire single phase type regenerative heat exchanger 38 which is constituted by gathering 25 pieces of the unit modules 60 as shown in FIG. 4. The exhaust gas of the gas turbine flows in from an exhaust gas inlet port 62 and is discharged from an exhaust gas outlet port 64, while the heat thereof being taken off in the regenerative heat exchanger. On the other hand, the compressed air supplied from the compressor 10 flows in from a compressed air inlet port 66 and flows out from a compressed air outlet port 68, while taking off the heat from the exhaust gas. In order to save piping works for the pipings of the compressed air for the respective unit modules it is preferable to use collective pipes 70 connecting the compressed air inlet ports and outlet ports for the respective unit modules. When the regenerative heat exchanger is constituted in the unit module structure as shown in FIG. 5, a proper regenerative heat exchanger meeting to a gas turbine having any output can be constituted only by changing number of unit modules. Thereby, the research and developing time for the regenerative heat exchanger is shortened and the designing cost thereof can be saved. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of FIG. 5 single phase type regenerative heat exchanger. A pipe in which air having a higher temperature than the atmospheric air but lower temperature than the exhaust gas is sometimes required to prevent heat radiation of the air therein and to prevent heat loss. Further, when the compressed air in the pipe contains water droplets, such pipe is sometimes required to heat the air therein and to accelerate evaporation of the water droplets. In such instances, when a part of the modules is removed and an air pipe 72 is laid in the space adjacent to the neighboring modules as shown in FIG. 6, the heat radiation form the regenerative heat exchanger prevents the heat loss of the compressed air through the pipe and sometimes heats the air therein. Through the moduling of the regenerative heat exchanger, flexibility of piping layout around the regenerative heat exchanger can be increased as well as since the radiating heat of the regenerative heat exchanger can be effectively utilized, the plant efficiency can be enhanced. Further, in the pipe which supplies the compressed air from the compressor to the regenerative heat exchanger, if a porous material is filled, a mixing effect between the water droplets and air can be enhanced, thereby, many water droplets can be rapidly evaporated. With such measure, further much moisture content can be evaporated with a simple installation and the output and efficiency of the gas turbine can be increased with low cost. According to the gas turbine installation of the present invention, generation of erosion and scales due to water droplets are suppressed, and a compact gas turbine installation with high efficiency and high output can be provided. Details of a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 19. The above embodiment has been described as arranging the heat transfer surfaces each having a relatively large flow passage cross-sectional area in the region where the liquid (water) droplets are evaporated, and as optionally using a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger as practicable one of heat exchanger types. In the case of using the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger in that region, however, quantitative studies regarding an actual value of the fin pitch are required to avoid influences of the water droplets. If there generates a region where the liquid droplets are locally concentrated, bridging may occur between fin members and the flow passage may be clogged. The following description is made of embodiments of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger for heating compressed air containing a large amount of moisture, which can prevent clogging of the flow passage otherwise caused by a drift of liquid phase water. FIG. 8 shows an advanced humid air turbine power system equipped with the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to another embodiment of the present invention. Main components of this embodiment include a compressor 10 for compressing air and delivering compressed air; a combustor 12 for combusting the compressed air obtained by the compressor 10 and fuel to produce combustion gas; a turbine 14 driven by the combustion gas produced by the combustor 12; a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 for heating all or a part of the compressed air supplied from the compressor 10 to the combustor 12 by utilizing heat of exhaust gas exhausted from the turbine 14; an economizer 49 for heating makeup water, described later, by utilizing heat of the exhaust gas exhausted from the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61; and a stack 76 for guiding the exhaust gas exhausted from the economizer 49 and discharging the exhaust gas through it. Motive power obtained from an output shaft of the gas turbine is converted into electric power by a generator 16 and is introduced to a power transmission system (not shown). Furthermore, a flow passage within the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 on the compressed air side is partitioned into a corrugated fin channel 53 for heating the compressed air to which liquid droplets have been sprayed from a water spraying device 44, and a corrugated fin channel 54 for heating humid compressed air in a state where the sprayed liquid droplets have all evaporated. Other main components of this embodiment include a water spraying device 40 for spraying small water droplets to intake air upstream of the compressor 10 for humidification of the intake air; a makeup water supply pipe 46 for introducing makeup water supplied from a pure water producing apparatus (not shown); a makeup water pump 74 for pressurizing the makeup water and delivering the pressurized makeup water to the water spraying device 40 and later-described water spraying devices 42, 44; the water spraying devices 42, 44 for receiving the makeup water supplied from the makeup water pump 74 after being heated by the economizer 49, and spraying the heated makeup water into piping for the compressed air through spray nozzles (not shown); the water spraying device 40 for receiving the makeup water supplied from the makeup water pump 74 and spraying the makeup water toward air supplied to the compressor 10 through a spray nozzle (not shown) for humidification of the air; a liquid droplet separator 78 disposed downstream of the corrugated fin channel 53 and capturing the liquid droplets having passed the corrugated fin channel 53 without evaporating therein; a drain pipe 77 disposed downstream of the corrugated fin channel 53 and discharging, to the exterior of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61, the liquid droplets having passed the corrugated fin channel 53 without evaporating therein; and a circulation pump 75 for pressurizing drain water discharged through the drain pipe 77 and circulating the drain water again into a line for joining with the makeup water supplied from the makeup water pump 74. The water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44 may be each an atomizer disclosed in, e.g., JP-A-2002-355583. According to the atomizer disclosed in that publication, an amount of air required for atomization can be cut down to a half of the amount required in the prior art, and sprayed liquid droplets have diameters of not larger than 16 mm, i.e., comparable to those in the prior art. Therefore, the sprayed liquid droplets are transported while being carried on air flows without colliding against inner surfaces of the piping and an intake duct, whereby evaporation of the liquid droplets is promoted. Incidentally, in that known art, air necessary for the atomization is extracted from the compressor 10, but such an arrangement is not shown in the drawing representing this embodiment because a flow rate of the extracted air is small. The water spraying device 42 disposed in the piping for the compressed air is located upstream of the water spraying device 44 and is installed in such a position as ensuring a time required for the liquid droplets sprayed into the piping to take off latent heat necessary for evaporation from the high-temperature compressed air and to evaporate. In this embodiment, the distance between the water spraying devices 42 and 44 was set to about 3 meters. This value of the distance was derived through evaporation behavior calculations of liquid droplets by employing, as input parameters, conditions such as the flow speed within the piping and the temperature of the compressed air. FIGS. 7A and 7B are horizontal sectional views of the flow arrangement of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61. More specifically, FIG. 7A shows a heated fluid flow passage 95 serving as a flow passage of the compressed air, and FIG. 7B shows a heating fluid flow passage 96 serving as a flow passage of the exhaust gas. The so-called plate-fin type heat exchanger is, as shown in FIG. 10A, of a structure comprising the heating fluid flow passage 96 and the heated fluid flow passage 95 alternately stacked one above the other with a tube plate 90 placed between them for partition. As seen from a perspective view of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 shown in FIG. 17, members generally called spacer bars 32 are mounted to corresponding ends of the heating fluid flow passage 96 and the heated fluid flow passage 95 alternately stacked one above the other for partition of the flow passages of fluids subjected to heat exchange. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the lower left end (as viewed on the drawing sheet) of each step of the heating fluid flow passage 96 into which the exhaust gas flows is left open, while a spacer bar 32b is disposed at the lower left end of each step of the heated fluid flow passage 95 to prevent the exhaust gas from mixing into the heated fluid flow passage 95. Also, as shown in FIG. 17, side plates 30 are mounted to upper and lower surfaces of a heat exchanger core. The side plates 30 have the functions of maintaining the shape of the heat exchanger core and isolating the fluids subjected to heat exchange from the exterior. Note that, although the water spraying device 44 is not shown in FIG. 17, it is attached to a pipe constituting a compressed air inlet port 66. In each of the heating fluid flow passage 96 and the heated fluid flow passage 95 shown in FIG. 7, one of a serrated fin 91 shown in FIG. 10A, a plain fin 92 shown in FIG. 10B, a herring bone fin 93 shown in FIG. 10C, etc. is installed for the purposes of increasing the heat transfer surface area and agitating the flow to promote heat transfer. Respective shapes of those fins have specific features in pressure loss and performance for promoting heat transfer, and suitable one of those fin shapes is selectively employed depending upon the use. In this embodiment, the serrated fin 91 shown in FIG. 10A is employed in each of a corrugated fin channel 56 serving as the flow passage of the exhaust gas and the corrugated fin channel 54 serving as a part of the flow passage of the compressed air, whereas the plain fin 92 shown in FIG. 10B is employed in each of the corrugated fin channel 53 and distribution fin channels 51, 52. The reasons why the fin type is selected as described above are as follows. Because the liquid droplets flow into the corrugated fin channel 53, the plain fin 92 capable of easily cleaning the heat transfer surfaces therein is selected for the corrugated fin channel 53, taking into account generation of scales attributable to evaporation of the liquid droplets. Also, even when the liquid droplets are locally concentrated in a certain area due to uneven distribution of the liquid droplets, it is possible to prevent bridging of the liquid droplets and hence to prevent clogging of the flow passage with the fin pitch set to a relatively large value. If the serrated fin 91 is employed in the corrugated fin channel 53, bridging of the liquid droplets is apt to generate because fin members are arranged at a ½-pitch shift between them and hence a minimum passage area is ½ of the fin pitch. The reason why the distribution fin channels 51 and 52 are each constituted using the plain fin 92 resides in that a smaller pressure loss is advantageous from the viewpoint of distribution function, i.e., the specific purpose of those channels. Because of the distribution fin channel having a triangular shape, a deflection generates in the distribution fin channel if the difference in pressure loss between a flow passage area having a short distance and a flow passage area having a long distance increases. For the other heat transfer surface areas than described above, the serrated fin 91 is selected for the reasons that it has superior heat transfer characteristics and is easily available. The structure of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7. The water spraying device 44 is attached to the pipe constituting the compressed air inlet port 66 such that small liquid droplets can be sprayed into the pipe through a spray nozzle 79 mounted to a fore end of the water spraying device 44. The compressed air to which the small liquid droplets have been sprayed is introduced to the corrugated fin channel 53 that is a first heat exchange section. The corrugated fin channel 53 is constituted using the plain fin 92, shown in FIG. 10B, for the reasons described above. In FIG. 10, the fin pitch denoted by Pf is set to 3 mm, the fin height denoted by Hf is set to 4 mm, and the fin thickness denoted by tf is set to 0.4 mm. The reason why the fin pitch is set to 3 mm is to prevent bridging of the liquid droplets even when the liquid droplets are locally concentrated in a certain area due to uneven flow distribution of the liquid droplets. A capillary length expressed by the following formula (1) was employed as an index for preventing the bridging of the liquid droplets. The capillary length is also called the Laplace length and corresponds to a flow passage width at which a liquid phase flow becomes dominant due to surface tension in a narrow pipe having an air-liquid interface. L = ( σ g Δρ ) 1 2 ( 1 ) In the above formula (1), s represents the surface tension, g represents the acceleration of gravity, and Dr represents the density difference between air and liquid. In this embodiment, the liquid droplets at about 150° C. are sprayed in the corrugated fin channel 53, but the sprayed liquid droplets are deprived of latent heat for evaporation. Therefore, the sprayed liquid droplets finally collide against the fin member and transform into liquid films while approaching a stationary temperature called a liquid droplet equilibrium temperature. Under the conditions of this embodiment, the liquid droplet equilibrium temperature is approximately 100° C. By putting, in the above formula (1), the surface tension s of water in contact with air and the density difference Dr between air and liquid under those conditions, the capillary length Lp of about 2.5 mm is obtained. Therefore, the fin pitch Pf required for preventing the bridging of the liquid droplets between the fin members was set to 3 mm by adding the fin thickness to the capillary length. A lower limit of the fin height is determined from the condition not causing the bridging of the liquid droplets. There is, however, a tendency that a larger fin height increases an equivalent diameter of the flow passage and reduces the heat transfer performance. In this embodiment, therefore, the fin height was set to 4 mm. Usually, a lower limit of the fin thickness is determined from the total pressure of the fluid acting on the tube plate surface, and an upper limit of the fin thickness is determined from economy depending upon an increase in the amount of materials used and the performance of a machining tool for shaping the fin. In this embodiment, the fin thickness was set to 0.4 mm, i.e., nearly an upper limit value of the thickness of a generally available material, taking into account erosion of the fin material caused by the liquid droplets. The corrugated fin channel 53 has an arrangement feature that the flow passage of the compressed air is formed linearly without including curved portions from a macroscopic point of view. If the corrugated fin channel 53 is arranged so as to change the flow direction at a right angle therein by using the distribution fin channels 51 and 52 which are installed in the corrugated fin channel 54 described later, there is a possibility that, because gaseous molecules and liquid droplets have momentums different from each other, the liquid droplets entrained with the air flow collide against the fin members located in a front position at a corner and liquid films are formed at the corner in a concentrated way. The formation of those liquid films may impede uniform evaporation over the entire heat exchanger and may disable generation of the required amount of heat to be exchanged. For those reasons, the corrugated fin channel 53 is installed in an orthogonal flow arrangement in which the corrugated fin channel 53 extends perpendicularly to the exhaust gas flow. Downstream of the corrugated fin channel 53, a header 87 is disposed to collect compressed air flows in respective steps of plate fins together. Below the header 87, a drain pipe 77 is installed to drain the liquid droplets and the liquid films which have not been completely evaporated in the corrugated fin channel 53. Further, the header 87 is provided with the liquid droplet separator 78 for separating and capturing small liquid droplets flowing while being carried on the compressed air. The liquid droplets captured by the liquid droplet separator 78 are introduced to the drain pipe 77 by gravity. As shown in FIG. 17, the header 87 has a flattened semi-cylindrical shape including an outlet of the corrugated fin channel 53 and an inlet of the distribution fin channel 51. Further, the liquid droplet separator 78 is assembled at a center of the header 87 in advance. Downstream of the liquid droplet separator 78, there is a second heat exchange section for heating the humid compressed air containing no liquid phase water. In this second heat exchange section, the distribution fin channel 51, the corrugated fin channel 54, and the distribution fin channel 52 are arranged successively in this order. In FIG. 7, by way of example, the second heat exchange section has a Z-shaped fin channel arrangement constituted by the distribution fin channel 51, the corrugated fin channel 54, and the distribution fin channel 52. The plane fin 92 having a small pressure loss is employed as each of the distribution fin channels 51 and 52 as described above. For the same reason, the fin pitch of the distribution fin channels 51 and 52 is preferably as large as possible. In this embodiment, the fin pitch was set to 4 mm, taking into account the function of bearing the pressure acting on the tube plate 90. On the other hand, the corrugated fin channel 54 serves as a primary part for heating the humid compressed air containing no liquid phase water, and the total amount of heat exchanged in the corrugated fin channel 54 is several or more times larger than that in the corrugated fin channel 53 for heating the humid compressed air containing the liquid phase water. The corrugated fin channel 54 is therefore required to have superior heat transfer performance. In addition to using, as the fin type, the serrated fin 91 having superior heat transfer performance as described above, the fin pitch must be set to a smaller value to ensure a larger heat transfer surface area. For those reasons, in this embodiment, the fin pitch was selected to 2 mm and the fin thickness was selected to 0.3 mm. The fin height of the corrugated fin channel 54 is the same as that of the corrugated fin channel 53 so that both the channels are installed between the common tube plate surfaces. Thus, corresponding to different phase states of water in the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54, the fin pitch of the corrugated fin channel 53 was set larger than that of the corrugated fin channel 54. In practice, when the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 is installed in the system shown in FIG. 8, a required number of heat exchanger modules are arranged side by side as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows an example in which two plate-fin type regenerative heat exchangers 61 are arranged in a bilaterally symmetrical relation. The number of steps of the plate fins stacked in the vertical direction is decided depending upon the required amount of heat to be exchanged. Since the number of steps stackable in a single block depends upon the specifications of a production facility, a plurality of heat exchanger modules are arranged side by side to lie in the vertical direction when the required number of steps is not obtained in one block. The operation of the advanced humid air turbine power system equipped with the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. Air taken into an intake chamber (not shown) is forced to pass through an intake filter (not shown) for removal of soot and dust. Then, small liquid droplets are sprayed from the water spraying device 40 at a mass flow rate equal to about 1% of that of the air. The liquid droplets at such a mass flow rate are substantially all evaporated in a space within the intake chamber prior to entering the compressor 10 while taking off latent heat for evaporation from the intake air and lowering the temperature of the intake air. Even if the liquid droplets are not perfectly evaporated because of improper atmosphere condition and spray condition, the remaining liquid droplets are all evaporated within the compressor as the air temperature in the compressor rises. Thus, since the temperature of the air to be compressed is lowered by spraying water to the intake air from the water spraying device 40, the compressor power can be reduced and the gas turbine output can be increased correspondingly. Subsequently, the air compressed by the compressor 10 is subjected to spray of small liquid droplets again from the water spraying device 42. Water sprayed from the water spraying device 42 and the later-described water spraying device 44 is heated to high temperatures of not lower than 150° C. by heat of the exhaust gas in the economizer 49 for the purpose of reducing the amount of heat taken off upon evaporation and increasing thermal efficiency of the system. Since the piping downstream of the water spraying device 42 has, as described above, a length required for the liquid droplets sprayed into the piping to evaporate, the sprayed liquid droplets are all evaporated midway the piping. Therefore, the compressed air heated to high temperatures of about 300° C. in the compressor 10 is cooled down to about 150° C. while the moisture content approaches 10% of the air mass flow rate. Further, prior to reaching the corrugated fin channel 53 of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61, the compressed air is subjected to third spray of small liquid droplets from the water spraying device 44. As a result of the third spray, the total moisture content takes a value exceeding 10% of the air mass flow rate. In the third spray, because the liquid droplets are sprayed at a moisture content exceeding the saturated steam pressure at the temperature in the spray position, the sprayed liquid droplets are not all evaporated and a part of them enters the corrugated fin channel 53 in the state of liquid droplets. In this embodiment, since the plain fin 92 is employed as the fin type of the corrugated fin channel 53, the small liquid droplets flow while being carried on the air flow without colliding against fin wall surfaces. During that process, the compressed air is heated through forced convection heat transfer with respect to the heat transfer surfaces, and the saturated steam pressure increases correspondingly. As a result, the liquid droplets flowing while being carried on the air flow are gradually evaporated, and at the time of reaching the header 87, almost all of the liquid droplets are evaporated. The liquid droplets having not evaporated in the corrugated fin channel 53 and the liquid films generated upon the liquid droplets collide against an inner wall surface of the header 87 and drop from there by gravity, followed by being discharged through the drain pipe 77 disposed below the header 87 and then heated again by the economizer 49 via the circulation pump 75. Also, though not shown, drain water generated downstream of the water spraying devices 42, 44 is supplied again to the economizer 49 for reuse through respective pipes similar to the drain pipe 77. The small liquid droplets tending to advance toward the downstream side while being carried on the air flow may still remain in the compressed air inside the header 87. Therefore, after separating and removing those small liquid droplets by the liquid droplet separator 78, only the humid compressed air in the gaseous phase is supplied to the distribution fin channel 51. The humid compressed air having passed the distribution fin channel 51 having the triangular form is subjected to heat exchange with the high-temperature exhaust gas in the corrugated fin channel 54 having the small fin pitch and the large heat transfer surface area. After being heated up to about 600° C., the humid compressed air changes its direction while flowing into the distribution fin channel 52 and is taken out through a compressed air outlet port 68 formed at the side. The reason why a large amount of moisture is added to the compressed air from the water spraying devices 42 and 44 is to increase the mass flow rate and the heat capacity of the working medium carrying out work in the turbine 14 and to produce a higher turbine output. An upper limit in amount of the moisture to be added is determined depending upon the amount of heat recoverable from the exhaust gas. If moisture is added too much, the temperature of the humid air after being heated by the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger would be relatively low and the amount of fuel to be loaded into the combustor 12 would be increased, thus resulting in no increase of the system efficiency. Taking into account such a result of the study, this embodiment is arranged to add about 12% of moisture in total with respect to the air mass flow rate. The reason why the compressed air is humidified in two divided positions using the water spraying devices 42 and 44 is as follows. If a large amount of liquid droplets are sprayed in one position without dividing the spray position, there would be a possibility that, depending upon the mixed condition of the liquid droplets and air, the mixture is separated into a low-temperature, high-moisture portion and a high-temperature, low-moisture portion. In such a case, the temperature difference between the compressed air serving as a heated fluid and the exhaust gas serving as a heating fluid is reduced in the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61, and the intended heat exchange action cannot be developed. In this embodiment, therefore, the compressed air flow is first entirely brought into a low-temperature, high-moisture state with humidification using the water spraying device 42. Then, the compressed air is humidified by the water spraying device 44 to surely produce low-temperature, high-moisture air containing the liquid droplets, thereby ensuring satisfactory heat exchange within the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61. The humid compressed air taken out from the compressed air outlet port 68 of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 is supplied to the combustor 12 and combusted therein together with fuel 50 to produce combustion gas at high temperatures exceeding 1100° C. Because the compressed air is heated by the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61, the flow rate of the fuel 50 required in the above process can be much reduced in comparison with the case of not employing the regenerative heat exchanger, thus resulting in higher thermal efficiency of the plant. The high-temperature combustion gas is supplied to the turbine 14 to pass a nozzle and a bucket (not shown) so that thermal energy is converted into rotation kinetic energy through the expansion process of Brayton cycle. The rotation kinetic energy drives the generator 16 coupled to the same shaft as the turbine 14 and is taken out as electric energy. Combustion exhaust gas exhausted from the turbine 14 after the expansion process is at high temperatures of not lower than 650° C. and is supplied to the flow passage of the exhaust gas from the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 to be utilized for heating the humid compressed air. Further, the exhaust gas exhausted from the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 is at high temperatures of not lower than 200° C. and is supplied to the economizer 49 to be utilized for heating the makeup water. The exhaust gas exhausted from the economizer 49 is introduced to the stack 76 and discharged into the atmosphere. Thus, by injecting a proper amount of moisture to the regenerative cycle gas turbine at a proper position in a proper manner, exhaust heat can be utilized with a smaller loss in the overall system, thus resulting in a higher thermal output and higher thermal efficiency. Although there has been a problem in a method for realizing the regenerative heat exchanger accompanying with evaporation of liquid phase water, it is possible to realize a regenerative heat exchanger, which is as compact as possible, can suppress an increase of pressure loss and clogging due to a drift of the liquid phase water, can reduce an influence of scales generated with evaporation of the liquid phase water, can provide means for draining the liquid phase water having passed the heat exchanger without evaporating, and can retard corrosion of the heat transfer surfaces, by employing the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger and arranging the heat transfer surface region in two sections partitioned depending upon the presence or absence of the liquid phase water. While the header 87 in this embodiment is of an integral structure having a flattened semi-cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 17, the header structure may be modified as follows. As shown in FIG. 18, for example, separate headers 87a, 87b are disposed respectively at the outlet of the corrugated fin channel 53 and the inlet of the distribution fin channel 51 and are connected to each other through a pipe. In such a case, the liquid droplet separator 78 can be detachably attached to the pipe through a flange 88 disposed midway the pipe. This structure is advantageous in maintenance of the components. From the viewpoint of thermal efficiency of the system, however, the integral flattened semi-cylindrical structure shown in FIG. 17 is more advantageous for the reason that, when the separate headers 87a, 87b are connected to each other through the pipe as shown in FIG. 18, there is a tendency that the fluid pressure loss increases depending upon the pipe diameter. Further, while the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 employed in this embodiment has the structure shown in FIG. 7, the corrugated fin channels 53, 54 may be constructed in a split structure and correspondingly the corrugated fin channel 56 may be constructed in a structure dividable into a pair of corrugated fin channels 56a and 56b, as shown in FIG. 11. In such a case, as shown in a perspective view of FIG. 19, a flange 89 is mounted to surfaces of the side plates 30 and the spacer bars 32, which constitute the sides of the heat exchanger core, so that the entire core is dividable at the boundary between the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54. By fastening the flange 89 with not-shown bolts and nuts, it is possible to easily integrate or divide the heat exchanger core constituted by the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54 as required. Compressed air channels serving as the heater fluid flow passage are also coupled to each other through a flange 88, shown in FIG. 19, so that those compressed air channels are similarly detachable from each other with ease. The other structure and operation are the same as those described above with reference to FIG. 7. The split structure shown in FIG. 11 is advantageous in that, should the corrugated fin channel 53 is damaged by erosion, etc., the heat exchanger can be relatively easily replaced with a new one and the maintenance cost can be cut. On other hand, the necessity of providing the flanges 88, 89 results in an increases of the equipment cost and leads to a potentiality that the working fluid may leak through the flanges. Moreover, while this embodiment has been described as providing the corrugated fin channel 53 in an only one-pass arrangement, the corrugated fin channel 53 may be constructed in a two-pass arrangement as shown in FIG. 12. Referring to FIG. 12, corrugated fin channels 53a, 53b are coupled to each other in series in this order from the upstream side, and water spraying devices 44a, 44b are disposed respectively upstream of the corrugated fin channels 53a, 53b. Also, drain pipes 77a, 77b are disposed respectively downstream of the corrugated fin channels 53a, 53b. The other structure is the same as that described above with reference to FIG. 7. In the embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 7, the corrugated fin channel 53 is installed, as described above, to perform heat exchange of the compressed air with respect to the exhaust gas through the orthogonal flow arrangement for the purpose of constructing the corrugated fin channel 53 in the linear form, and hence temperature efficiency is lower than that in counterflow heat exchange in which fluids for the heat exchange flow in opposite directions. In a modification shown in FIG. 12, therefore, the corrugated fin channel 53 is constructed in the two-pass arrangement comprising the corrugated fin channels 53a and 53b so that the amount of heat required for evaporation of liquid phase water can be easily obtained. With the construction shown in FIG. 12, humidification is also carried out in two stages using two water spraying devices. More specifically, because second humidification is carried out after heating the compressed air in the corrugated fin channel 53a on the upstream side, the saturated steam pressure is increased and hence a larger amount of moisture can be added. Also, because moisture is added a little by a little in a stepwise way, distributions of humidity and temperature tend to become more uniform and hence drain water can be prevented from generating in excessive amount. While the corrugated fin channel 53 shown in FIG. 12 is constructed in the two-pass arrangement, it is needless to say that a larger amount of moisture can be stably added by increasing the number of passes. However, the provision of the increased number of passes increases the overall size of the heat exchanger, requires a plurality of humidifiers, drain pipes, etc., and hence pushes up the equipment cost. Another advanced humid air turbine power system equipped with a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger according to still another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 13. The plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger of this embodiment differs from that of the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12 in that the drain pipe 77 for draining the liquid droplets is not provided and heat exchange is performed between the compressed air and the exhaust gas in the counterflow arrangement instead of the orthogonal flow arrangement. FIG. 13A is a horizontal sectional view showing the case in which two blocks of plate-fin type regenerative heat exchangers 61 are combined in a bilaterally symmetrical structure, and showing a channel arrangement of heated fluid flow passages 95. FIG. 13B is a horizontal sectional view showing a channel arrangement of one unit of a heating fluid flow passage 96. As in the above-described embodiment, the heated fluid flow passage 95 and the heating fluid flow passage 96 are alternately stacked in the vertical direction with the tube plate placed between them for partition. A water spraying device 44 is attached to a pipe constituting a compressed air inlet port 66. Four fin channels, i.e., a distribution fin channel 51, a corrugated fin channel 53, a corrugated fin channel 54, and a distribution fin channel 52, are arranged successively in this order. The compressed air is finally introduced to a compressed air outlet port 68. The heating fluid flow passage 96 serving as the flow passage of the exhaust gas extends from an exhaust gas inlet port 62 to an exhaust gas outlet port 64 through a corrugated fin channel 56 extending in the linear form from a macroscopic point of view. Specifications of those fin channels are listed in Table 1 given below. TABLE 1 Flow passage (Channel) Compressed air flow Exhaust passage gas flow Channel 53 Channel 54 passage Fin type Serrated fin Channel length (m) 0.464 0.928 1.392 Fin pitch Pf (mm) 5 2 4 Fin height Hf (mm) 3 3 6 Fin thickness tf (mm) 0.3 0.2 0.2 Tube plate thickness (mm) 1 Material Austenitic stainless steel In this embodiment, the serrated fin 91 shown in FIG. 10A is employed in each of the corrugated fin channels 53, 54 for the compressed air and the corrugated fin channel 56 for the exhaust gas, whereas the plain fin 92 shown in FIG. 10B is employed in each of the distribution fin channels 51 and 52. The reasons why the fin type is thus selected are as follows. In this embodiment, since the drain pipe 77 is not disposed downstream of the corrugated fin channel 53, the liquid droplets are required to perfectly evaporate in the corrugated fin channel 53. If the plain fin 92 is selected as the fin type of the corrugated fin channel 53, there would be a possibility that, because the liquid droplets flow straightforward while being carried on the air flow, they pass through the corrugated fin channel 53 without evaporating depending upon spray conditions of the liquid droplets. By employing the serrated fin 91 in which ridges are successively arranged at an alternate shift of a half-pitch as shown in FIG. 10A, or the herring bone fin 93 in which ridges extend in a zigzag shape as shown in FIG. 10C, the direction of the air flow can be forced to change continuously. Another example of the fin type capable of continuously changing the direction of the air flow is, though not shown, a louver fin. When the direction of the air flow changes continuously, the liquid droplets turn corners at larger radiuses due to a difference in momentum between gaseous molecules and the liquid droplets, and collisions of the liquid droplets against the fin members are promoted. Upon colliding against the fin members, the liquid droplets are given with shearing forces from the air flow and then flow in the form of liquid films. At this time, because the fin members are subjected to the heat from the exhaust gas serving as the heating fluid, the temperature of the fin members is higher than that of the compressed air. Therefore, the temperature of the liquid films becomes higher than that of the liquid droplets, and the steam pressure on the liquid film rises correspondingly. As a result, the difference in steam pressure between the compressed air and the liquid films increases, which increases an amount of material diffusion and hence promotes evaporation. The inventors studied such a process with numerical simulation and confirmed it quantitatively. The numerical simulation was performed by using the same fin and other conditions as those listed in Table 1 and by assuming a diameter of the sprayed liquid droplets to be 30 mm. Temperatures and flow rates were set to the same conditions as those in the advanced humid air turbine power system of this embodiment. FIG. 15A plots local distributions of a compressed air temperature indicated by 23, a liquid droplet temperature indicated by 27, and a liquid droplet flow rate indicated by 20 within the corrugated fin channel 53 when the sprayed liquid droplets evaporate thoroughly while remaining in the state of liquid droplets without colliding against any members. The horizontal axis of FIG. 15A represents a position in the corrugated fin channel 53. A right end of the horizontal axis corresponds to an inlet for the compressed air, and a left end corresponds to an outlet for the compressed air. The vertical axis on the left side of FIG. 15A represent a temperature, and the vertical axis on the right side represents a liquid droplet flow rate as a relative value on the basis of the total amount of the liquid droplets sprayed from the water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44. Referring to FIG. 15A, the liquid droplets flow to the left from the right end position as viewed on the graph and evaporate while taking off latent heat from the compressed air by utilizing, as driving forces for developing diffusion, the difference in steam pressure between the compressed air and the liquid droplet surfaces. The liquid droplet temperature 27 approaches a liquid droplet equilibrium temperature that is determined depending upon the humidity of the compressed air and a ratio of material transfer to heat transfer. Under the conditions of this embodiment, the liquid droplet equilibrium temperature is about 110° C. that is lower than the temperature of the compressed air. As the compressed air temperature 23 rises with the progress of heat exchange, the saturated steam pressure increases and therefore evaporation of the liquid droplets continues. Then, the liquid droplet flow rate 20 reduces to perfectly zero just before the outlet of the corrugated fin channel 53. FIG. 15B plots local distributions of a compressed air temperature indicated by 23, a fin temperature indicated by 25, a liquid film temperature indicated by 29, and a liquid film flow rate indicated by 21 within the corrugated fin channel 53 when the sprayed liquid droplets are assumed to collide against the fin members as soon as they flow into the corrugated fin channel 53, followed by flowing downward in the form of liquid films. The vertical axis and the horizontal axis of FIG. 15B represent the same variables as those in FIG. 15A except for that the vertical axis on the right side represents a liquid film flow rate instead of a liquid droplet flow rate. The liquid film temperature 29 is determined depending upon balance between latent heat absorbed with phase change on the liquid film surfaces and forced convection heat transfer between the liquid films and the compressed air. Referring to FIG. 15B, the liquid film temperature 29 takes a value between the fin temperature 25 and the compressed air temperature 23, and is higher than the liquid droplet temperature 27 plotted in FIG. 15A, thus resulting in a higher steam pressure on the liquid film surfaces. Because evaporation occurs by utilizing, as driving forces for developing diffusion, the difference in steam pressure between the humid compressed air and the liquid film surfaces, the liquid films evaporate at a higher rate than evaporation of the liquid droplets plotted in FIG. 15A. Hence, the liquid film is perfectly evaporated nearly at a center of the corrugated fin channel 53. Taking into account the above-described results of the numerical simulation, in this embodiment, the fin type capable of continuously changing the direction of the air flow was selected as each of the corrugated fin channels 53, 54 for colliding the liquid droplets against the fin members to bring them into a liquid film state so that evaporation of the liquid droplets is promoted. The reason why the serrated fin 91 was employed in the corrugated fin channel 56 for the exhaust gas and the reason why the plain fin 92 was employed in each of the distribution fin channels 51, 52 are the same as those in the above-described embodiment. The reasons why the fin pitch of the corrugated fin channel 53 was set to a larger value is, as in the above-described embodiment, to prevent bridging of the liquid droplets. In the serrated fin, because adjacent fin rows are arranged at a ½-pitch shift between them, the flow passage is narrowest at a boundary portion between the adjacent fin rows. In consideration of that the narrowest boundary portion has a width substantially equal to the capillary length determined in the above-described embodiment, the fin pitch was set to 5 mm, i.e., about twice the capillary length, in this embodiment. Further, although the fin thickness of the narrowest boundary portion is desirably increased to the extent possible in consideration of erosion resistance, it was set to 0.3 mm from the viewpoint of easiness in pressing for the reason of employing the serrated fin having a complicated shape unlike the above-described embodiment. The temperature at a division position at which the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54 are partitioned from each other was set to about 220° C. under the conditions of this embodiment. Since this temperature condition differs depending upon the pressure ratio of the gas turbine system, the injection rate of moisture into the compressed air, etc., the basis for determining the temperature condition will be described below. Even when the specifications of the gas turbine system, etc. differ from those in this embodiment, an optimum temperature at the division position can be determined by the following method. First, the length of the corrugated fin channel 53 in the flow direction is assumed to take, e.g., ten different values. Then, for each of the assumed lengths, the length of the corrugated fin channel 54 is calculated at which a total required amount of heat to be exchanged can be obtained. For each case, the temperature of the humid compressed air at the boundary between the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54 is determined, and the flow rate of the liquid droplets flowing from the corrugated fin channel 53 to the corrugated fin channel 54 through the boundary therebetween is determined. The relationship between the thus-determined values of the temperature and the flow rate is plotted in FIG. 16A. As seen from FIG. 16A, by setting the temperature at the division position to about 220° C., the liquid droplets can be prevented from flowing out of the corrugated fin channel 53. Also, FIG. 16B shows the relationships of the temperature at the division position versus the length of the corrugated fin channel 53, the length of the corrugated fin channel 54, and the total length which are necessary for obtaining the required amount of heat to be exchanged. When the temperature at the division boundary is high, the length of the corrugated fin channel 53 having a large fin pitch increases, while the length of the corrugated fin channel 54 having a small fin pitch decreases. Hence, as seen from FIG. 16B, the total length of both the corrugated fin channels increases. In order to minimize the total length, the temperature at the division position is desirably set to a value not exceeding 220° C. so much. It is also found from FIG. 16B that, even with the temperature at the division position increasing, an increase of the overall size is relatively moderate. The reason is as follows. The thermal conductivity of compressed air having a large fluid density is larger than that of exhaust gas. Looking at the entirety of a heat transfer path from the exhaust gas to the compressed air, therefore, there is a tendency that the forced convection heat transfer rate on the compressed air side is larger than that on the exhaust gas side. As a result, a main part of overall heat resistance is occupied by heat resistance on the exhaust gas side. In such a condition, influence acting on the overall heat resistance is small even when the heat resistance of the compressed air side occupying a small percentage of the overall heat resistance is changed. In other words, even with the fin pitch on the compressed air side increasing, influence acting on overall heat transfer characteristics is small. Accordingly, even when the temperature at the division position is increased and all of the fins are constructed using the channels having large fin pitches, this embodiment can be implemented without losing the advantages thereof in substance. Such a construction is equivalent to the case in which the corrugated fin channel 53 and the corrugated fin channel 54 are both constructed using the channels having large fin pitches. Thus, so long as the fin pitch of the corrugated fin channel 53 satisfies the above-mentioned “condition not causing the bridging of the liquid phase water”, the relationship regarding values of the pitch of the corrugated fin channel 54 and the pitch of the corrugated fin channel 53 is not necessarily required to satisfy the relationship that the pitch of the fin members installed in the first region is set larger than the pitch of the fin members installed in the second region. Also, since the partition between the corrugated fin channels 53 and 54 is a functional partition determined depending upon the presence or absence of the liquid phase water, both the corrugated fin channels may be constructed as fins having exactly the same shape, dimensions and material. Setting the pitch of the corrugated fin channel 54 to be the same as the pitch of the corrugated fin channel 53 is advantageous in that neither fabrication nor assembly of fins having different specifications for each region are required in manufacturing of the heat exchanger, the manufacturing process can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. Further, when the pitch of the corrugated fin channel 54 is large, a temperature gradient in the flow direction is moderate and therefore the use of the corrugated fin channel 53 having a large pitch is advantageous from the viewpoint of thermal stresses acting on the heat exchanger core. Moreover, the computation made for obtaining the graph of FIG. 16A takes into account evaporation of only the liquid droplets. If the liquid droplets are transformed into the liquid films halfway, the position where the evaporation is completed shifts toward a more upstream position. Accordingly, by setting the temperature at the division position to be not lower than 220° C., the liquid films are prevented from flowing into the corrugated fin channel 54. The basis for determining specifications of the other components is the same as that in the above-described embodiment. The construction of an advanced humid air turbine power system employing the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 of this embodiment is also the same as that in the case employing the above-described embodiment except that the circulating pump 75 is omitted corresponding to the omission of the drain pipe 77. The operation of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 13. The compressed air supplied through the compressed air inlet port 66 is subjected to spray of small liquid droplets from the water spraying device 44. In this spray, the small liquid droplets are sprayed at a moisture level exceeding the saturated steam pressure at the temperature in the spray position. Therefore, the sprayed liquid droplets are not all evaporated and a part thereof flows into the distribution fin channel 51 while remaining in the state of liquid droplets. In the distribution fin channel 51, the compressed air is heated and the saturated steam pressure increases correspondingly. At the same time, the liquid droplets take off heat from the compressed air and evaporate from their surfaces, whereby diameters of the liquid droplets decrease and a part of the liquid droplets is perfectly evaporated. The liquid droplets having not perfectly evaporated are forced to change the flow direction at the outlet of the distribution fin channel 51 at a right angle toward the corrugated fin channel 53. On that occasion, a part of the liquid droplets collides against the fin members of the corrugated fin channel 53 near the corner and transforms into liquid films. The liquid films flow while receiving shearing forces from the compressed air flow. Then, the compressed air is heated through forced convection heat transfer with respect to the heat transfer surfaces, and the saturated steam pressure increases. Therefore, the liquid films are gradually evaporated from their surfaces and are finally perfectly evaporated within the corrugated fin channel 53. The small liquid droplets having not transformed into the liquid films flow while being carried on the compressed air. As the saturated steam pressure of the compressed air increases with heating, those small liquid droplets take off heat from the compressed air to evaporate from their surfaces while reducing the diameters thereof. Finally, all the small liquid droplets are also perfectly evaporated within the corrugated fin channel 53. The humid compressed air, which has been heated in the corrugated fin channel 53 and from which the liquid phase water has perfectly evaporated, is subjected to heat exchange with respect to the high-temperature exhaust gas in the corrugated fin channel 54 having the small fin pitch and the large heat transfer surface area. After being heated up to about 600° C., the humid compressed air changes its direction at a right angle while flowing into the distribution fin channel 52 and is taken out through the compressed air outlet port 68 formed at the side. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the advanced humid air turbine power system according to the above-described embodiment. This embodiment is featured by heat exchange between the compressed air and the exhaust gas in the counterflow arrangement. This feature is advantageous in realizing higher temperature efficiency than that realized with the above-described embodiment in which the corrugated fin channel 53 has the orthogonal flow arrangement. Another advantage is that, since the drain pipe 77 is not disposed midway the flow passage and the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger of this embodiment has an entire shape similar to that of the conventional one, problems with manufacturing are lessened. When employing the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 shown in FIG. 13, however, because the liquid droplets pass the distribution fin channel 51 before entering the corrugated fin channel 53, there is a possibility, as described above, that many liquid films are generated near the corner between those two channels and the temperature distribution in the corrugated fin channel 53 becomes uneven. To cope with that problem, due care must be paid in design in a point of, for example, planning the heat transfer surface area with a sufficient margin. In this embodiment, the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 shown in FIG. 13 may be replaced with a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger 61 shown in FIG. 14. FIG. 14A is a horizontal sectional view showing the case in which two blocks of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchangers 61 are combined in a bilaterally symmetrical structure, and showing a channel arrangement of the heated fluid flow passages 95. FIG. 14B is a horizontal sectional view showing a channel arrangement of one unit of the heating fluid flow passage 96. As in the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 13, the heated fluid flow passage 95 and the heating fluid flow passage 96 are alternately stacked in the vertical direction. This modification differs from the embodiment of FIG. 13 in that, as seen from FIG. 14A, the compressed air supplied through the compressed air inlet port 66 flows substantially linearly into the corrugated fin channel 53 without passing the distribution fin channel. On the other hand, the flow passage on the exhaust gas side is constructed, as shown in FIG. 14B, such that a distribution fin channel 57 is installed downstream of the corrugated fin channel 56 to which the exhaust gas is introduced through the exhaust gas inlet port 62, thereby changing the flow direction of the exhaust gas, and the exhaust gas is taken out through the exhaust gas outlet port 64 opened in the side of the heat exchanger block. The exhaust gas outlet port 64 is connected to a space formed by a closing member 98 and a duct 97, and the space is connected to an exhaust gas inlet port of the economizer 49 not shown in FIG. 14. The operation of the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 14 differs from that shown in FIG. 13 as follows. Because humid air containing liquid droplets flows substantially linearly into the corrugated fin channel 53 without passing the distribution fin channel, distributions of temperature and liquid droplets or liquid films become more uniform in the width direction of the channel, and perfect evaporation of the liquid phase water is completed substantially at the same position in the flow direction. For the flow passage of the exhaust gas, the flow direction is changed at a right angle by the distribution fin channel 57 installed downstream of the corrugated fin channel 56. The pressure loss on the exhaust gas side is, therefore, increased as compared with the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 13. While the two embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 7 to 14 are premised on that the makeup water is externally supplied, moisture may recovered for reuse from the exhaust gas containing a large amount of moisture. Such a modification is advantageous in that the advanced humid air turbine power system according to any of the embodiments can be installed even in a place where there are restrictions on water resources. On the other hand, that modification increases the equipment cost because of the necessity of water recovery equipment, and reduces the power generation efficiency because motive power and thermal energy are required for the water recovery. Also, while, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, air is humidified by spraying small water droplets into the air from all of the water spraying devices 40, 42 and 44, the humidifying method can be modified as required. The water spraying device 40 may be of the type evaporating moisture from the wetted surface of a humidifying member, or using an ultrasonic vibrator for humidification. The water spraying device 42 may be of the type causing a liquid film to flow down over filler surfaces, or injecting steam generated by utilizing exhaust heat. However, the humidifying method of causing a liquid film to flow down over filler surfaces requires a pressure vessel for containing fillers, and the humidifying method of injecting steam consumes thermal energy and hence reduces the power generation efficiency. Further, the present invention is applicable to the case in which one of the water spraying devices 40 and 42 is omitted. In the case of omitting the water spraying device 40, however, because air taken in by the compressor 10 is not cooled, a power reduction of the compressor cannot be achieved and the effect of increasing the power generation efficiency is reduced correspondingly. Also, in the case of omitting the water spraying device 42, a proportion of moisture to be injected from the water spraying device 44 is increased, and therefore severer conditions must be satisfied to uniformly distribute the liquid phase water in the corrugated fin channel 53. The reason resides in that, when the water spraying device 42 is omitted, the temperature of the compressed air supplied to the compressed air inlet port 66 is higher than that of the exhaust gas, and the compressed air residing in areas not humidified due to uneven distribution of the liquid droplets flows into the corrugated fin channel 53 while remaining at the higher temperature, whereby areas not contributing to the heat exchange are generated. The plate-fin type regenerative heat exchangers having the above-described structures are effective in reducing the equipment cost of the heat exchanger required for heating the compressed air containing a large amount of moisture, and in making the heat exchanger as compact as possible. It is also possible to realize a regenerative heat exchanger, which can suppress an increase of pressure loss and clogging due to a drift of the liquid phase water, can reduce an influence of scales generated with evaporation of the liquid phase water, can promote evaporation of the liquid droplets, can provide means for draining the liquid phase water passing the heat exchanger without evaporating, and can retard corrosion of the heat transfer surfaces. Further, an advanced humid air turbine power system having higher power generation efficiency can be provided by employing any of the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchangers. According to the embodiments described above, the plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger can be realized in which the fin pitch is set so as not to cause bridging of liquid droplets between fin members, and therefore clogging of the flow passage due to a drift of liquid phase water can be prevented. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas turbine installation which utilizes highly humidified air as the combustion use air thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, JP-B-1-31012 (1989) and JP-A-9-264158 (1997) disclose conventional art gas turbine installation making use of humidified air, in particular, a gas turbine cycle in which compressed air compressed by a compressor and heated liquid phase water being used as heat recovery medium are caused to be contacted at a humidification tower to obtain humidified air (mixture of air/steam) and cooled liquid phase water, with the obtained humidified air heat recovery of turbine exhaust gas is performed as well as by using the obtained cooled liquid phase water as heat recovery medium, heat recovery due to the turbine exhaust gas and intermediate cooling of the compressor are performed, and further, liquid phase water in an amount corresponding to that transferred as steam into the compressed air in the exchange tower (the humidification tower) is supplied to the exchange tower and into the liquid phase served for the heat recovery which is used as cooling medium downstream the intermediate cooler of the compressor which is performed by the cooled liquid phase water obtained at the exchange tower. Further, JP-B-1-19053 (1989) discloses a gas turbine system in which without using the exchange tower (humidification tower) as disclosed in the above JP-B-1-31012 (1989) and JP-A-9-264158 (1997), with humidified air (mixture of mixed layers of compressed air/water/steam) which is obtained by injecting liquid phase water into outlet air of a compressor, heat recovery of turbine exhaust gas or the heat recovery of the turbine exhaust gas and intermediate cooling of the compressor are performed, and compressed air used for forming the humidified air is cooled in advance by a part of the humidified air. Still further, JP-A-11-324710 (1999) discloses a humidification method of compressed air supplied from a compressor to a combustor in a gas turbine system in which an atomizer for atomizing water or steam to compressed air flowing through a regenerative heat exchanger is provided in the regenerative heat exchanger. However, all of the above conventional arts do not sufficiently take into account a problem that scales (precipitates of impurities dissolved in water) caused when water droplets evaporate from a heat transfer surface of a heat exchanger stick on the heat transfer surface, therefore, the conventional art is possibly suffered to problems such as of lowering of heat transfer efficiency and increasing of flow passage pressure loss in a long time span. When scales stick inside the regenerative heat exchanger, heat resistance of the heat transfer wall surfaces increases which causes to reduce overall heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer efficiency. Further, when scales stick on a narrow flow passage, it is possible that the flow passage is clogged. Still further, when working medium at both a low temperature side and a high temperature side is gas, the heat transfer efficiency thereof is poor in comparison with a case when the work medium is liquid, therefore, the size of a heat exchanger is generally like to be increased. For this reason, a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger which is also called as a compact heat exchanger and is constituted by very small flow passages is frequently used as a heat exchanger between gases. When gas containing water droplets are heated by making use of such plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger, it is necessary to broaden space between heat transfer surfaces so as to avoid clogging, therefore, it was possible to cause problems of reducing heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger and increasing the size of the system. Still further, when such plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger is used, it was required to thicken the plate thickness for countermeasuring erosion caused by liquid droplet collision which also increases the size of the installation. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An object of the present invention is to provide a compact gas turbine installation which suppresses generation of erosion and scales due to water droplets and shows a high efficiency and a high output. To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plate-fin type regenerative heat exchanger for heating humid compressed air containing liquid phase water by combustion exhaust gas, wherein a pitch of fin members forming a flow passage of the compressed air is set to the Laplace length. Also, according to the present invention, the fin-plate type regenerative heat exchanger comprises a first region for heating the humid compressed air containing liquid phase water and a second region for heating the humid compressed air from which the liquid phase water has evaporated in the first region, and a pitch of fin members installed in the first region is set to the Laplace length. Further, the pitch of the fin members forming the flow passage of the compressed air and the height of the fin members are set to values sufficient to prevent the liquid phase water contained in the compressed air from bridging between adjacent two of the fin members or tube plates under action of surface tension. | 20040624 | 20070807 | 20050512 | 68473.0 | 0 | CASAREGOLA, LOUIS J | GAS TURBINE INSTALLATION | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,467 | ACCEPTED | Foil look printing technique | A process of manufacturing envelopes and a product manufactured in accordance with such process is disclosed. The process requires printing of an ink design on an envelope, coating of the ink design with a varnish and subsequently embossing the combined ink and varnish design so that a foil look is obtained on the envelope. | 1. A process of manufacturing envelopes comprising: feeding a web of paper into an envelope manufacturing machine; printing a design made of ink on said paper; printing a varnish coating on said design; embossing said paper at said design after the varnish coating has been printed thereon so that said design is raised above nonembossed areas of said paper; and folding and gluing said paper to form an envelope. 2. The process of claim 1 further comprising drying said varnish prior to embossing said paper. 3. The process of claim 1 wherein said folding and gluing of said paper is performed after said printing and embossing steps. 4. The process of claim 1 wherein said folding and gluing of said paper is performed prior to said printing and embossing steps. 5. The process of claim 1 wherein said step of printing ink comprises a flexographic printing technique. 6. The process of claim 1 further comprising cutting said web of paper prior to certain of said folding and gluing steps. 7. The process of claim 1 wherein said ink comprises metallic ink so that a foil look is obtained after said embossing step is performed. 8. The process of claim 1 wherein said ink comprises multiple colors arranged adjacent to each other within said design so that a multi-colored or rainbow appearance is obtained. 9. A process of manufacturing envelopes comprising: providing an envelope manufacturing machine including a paper feeding section, a printing section, a drying section, an embossing section, a cutting section, a folding section and a gluing section; feeding a web of paper through said paper feeding section; printing a design made of metallic ink at a selected area on said paper; printing a varnish coating on said design; and embossing said design at the selected area after the varnish coating has been printed thereon so that said design is raised above nonembossed areas of said paper whereby said design obtains a foil look. 10. The process of claim 9 wherein said metallic ink includes a color selected from the group consisting of gold, silver and bronze. 11. The process of claim 9 further comprising the step of drying said metallic ink as said paper passes through said drying section of said envelope manufacturing machine. 12. The process of claim 9 further comprising the step of drying said varnish as said paper passes through said drying section of said envelope manufacturing machine. 13. The process of claim 9 wherein printing of said metallic ink is performed using a flexographic printing technique. 14. The process of claim 12 further comprising cutting, folding and gluing preselected areas of said paper after completion of said printing and embossing steps. 15. The process of claim 12 further comprising cutting, folding and gluing selected areas of said paper prior to completion of at least one of said printing and embossing steps. 16. The process of claim 9 wherein said design comprises selected letters or numbers. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to manufacturing of envelopes. More particularly, the present invention relates to printing on envelopes, either before or after the desired envelope shape is formed, as part of the envelope manufacturing process. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Marketing of a company's products or services is often the most important part of a business. If a company is not effective at marketing its products or services, it usually will not remain in business for very long. Direct mailing is one marketing technique that is widely used in many industries, particularly in the financial industry by banks and other lending companies to solicit consumers to agree to use certain credit cards. In this regard, many million envelopes are sent by companies to potential consumers every day soliciting business from consumers. In order for direct mailing to be effective, it is imperative that the business solicitations be read by a certain portion of the recipients that they are sent to. It is not an easy task to convince recipients of unsolicited envelopes to open such envelopes and read the contents In order to accomplish this task, it is important for the envelopes in which the business solicitations are sent to have interesting and attractive designs that will encourage potential customers to open the envelopes and learn more about the solicitation inside. While the quality of print applied to envelopes as part of the manufacturing procedure has greatly improved in recent years, there remains a substantial need to further improve the print quality and to create interesting images on envelopes. One approach has been to apply gold or silver foil on envelopes in order to create a sophisticated high quality appearance that is attractive to potential customers. Such foil ornamental envelopes may be used by certain banks or credit facilities to advertise their Gold or Platinum brand credit cards. While existing foil printing techniques result in attractive and interesting products, it is a relatively expensive and slow process that is largely unacceptable to meet many high volume low cost commercial demands. It is believed that Commercial Envelope Manufacturing Co. has developed the highest quality and cost efficient printing techniques known in the industry. Notwithstanding such developments and the efforts of Commercial Envelope and other companies to improve upon printing techniques, a need continues to exist for improvements in this area. The present invention solves the aforementioned shortcomings of prior art envelope manufacturing processes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One aspect of the present invention relates to a process of manufacturing envelopes. The process comprises feeding a web of paper into an envelope manufacturing machine. A design made of ink is then printed at a selected area on the paper. A varnish coating is then printed on the design. It is desirable to then emboss the design at the selected area of the paper so that the design becomes raised above nonembossed areas of the paper. Optionally, the paper is then folded and glued at selected areas to form an envelope. In a preferred embodiment, the paper is also cut during the envelope manufacturing process. It is preferable and highly advantageous to integrate all of the foregoing into an in-line process It may be desirable to dry the ink after it is printed on the paper prior to performing the embossing step. It is also preferable to perform a drying process to dry the varnish coating prior to performing the embossing step. In one embodiment, the folding and gluing steps may be performed after the printing and embossing steps are performed. In another embodiment, the folding and gluing steps may be performed prior to the printing and embossing steps. This later embodiment may be used where the envelope body is first created and the printing, varnish and embossing steps are later performed. Preferably, the ink comprises a metallic ink so that a foil look is obtained after the embossing step is performed. In another preferred embodiment, the printed design comprises selected letters or numbers and the ink comprises multiple colors arranged adjacent to each other in the same letter or number so that a multicolored or rainbow appearance is obtained. It is preferable for the step of printing ink to comprise a flexographic printing technique. However, lithographic, gravure or other printing techniques may also be used within the scope of the present invention. Envelopes manufactured in accordance with a preferred process may be manufactured using an envelope manufacturing machine having an in-line printing and embossing process. Such an envelope manufacturing machine may include a paper feeding section (such as that adapted to receive a web of paper from a continuous roll), a printing section, a drying section, an embossing section, a cutting section, a folding section and a gluing section. The various sections of the performed envelope manufacturing machines need not be arranged in any particular order. Further, additional sections other than those discussed above may be used in accordance with preferred envelope manufacturing machines. In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, an envelope having a desired structure is provided. Such an envelope comprises a paper body and an ink design printed on the body. A varnish coating may be arranged on the ink design. The varnish coating may provide a desired “luster” (i.e., shine) to the ink design. If it is desired to increase the luster of the design, additional varnish coatings may be applied. The preferred envelope would also be embossed at the design so that the entire design, or a desired portion thereof, is raised above nonembossed portions of the envelope. In a preferred embodiment, the ink comprises a metallic ink. The colors of the metallic ink may vary widely within the scope of the present invention, preferred colors include silver, gold and bronze. The combination of metallic ink with a varnish and raised embossed areas create a foil look similar to the look obtained when true silver or gold foil is inlaid or embossed on the surface of a paper envelope. However, the present invention, which may include in-line printing and embossing sections of an envelope manufacturing machine to manufacture the desired envelopes, has substantial advantages over prior art foil printing techniques in terms of speed and cost. For example, the present printing technique can be used to manufacture the preferred envelopes of the present invention at speeds of greater than 1000 envelopes per minute at substantially reduced costs. As used herein, the term manufacturing of envelopes is intended to include printing and embossing of the envelopes. It also includes the steps required to manufacture envelopes without printing and embossing such as receiving a continuous web of paper, cutting, folding and gluing of the paper to form the envelope body and stacking of the envelopes after they are manufactured. As used herein, the term “design” is intended to include any printed image including, but not limited to letters, numbers, shapes, pictures, etc. The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an envelope manufacturing machine in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic view of one embodiment of a printing unit of the envelope manufacturing machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 2B is a schematic view of a second embodiment of a printing unit, of the envelope manufacturing machine of FIG. 1 FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an embossing unit of the envelope manufacturing machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross sectional view of a portion of an envelope with ink printed thereon. FIG. 5 is a schematic exaggerated cross sectional view of the portion of an envelope with ink and varnish printed thereon. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional view of a portion of an envelope with ink and varnish printed thereon and after it has been embossed in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a word design created on a portion of an envelope in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A process of manufacturing envelopes in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows an envelope manufacturing machine 10 which is operative to process envelope paper 100 from a web of paper 12. Envelope manufacturing machine includes a paper feeding section 14, a foil-look section 18, a cutting section 60, a folding section 70 and a gluing section 90. Paper feeding section is operative to feed the paper from web of paper 12 to the rest of envelope manufacturing machine 10. Cutting section 60 is provided to cut envelope paper 100, folding section 70 to fold envelope paper 100 and gluing section 90 to glue envelope paper 100. Foil-look section 18 is preferably inserted in-line with envelope manufacturing machine 10, before cutting section 60, folding section 70 and gluing section 90. Alternatively, foil-look section 18 may be inserted in-line after cutting section 60, folding section 70 and gluing section 90. Foil-look section 18 comprises a printing stage, a varnish stage and an embossing stage described below. The printing and varnish stages can incorporate various types of known printing techniques and may be accomplished in printing unit 20 or 30. The embossing stage occurs in embossing unit 50. A drying section 40 may also be inserted after the printing stage or after the varnish stage. Inserting the drying section 40 after the printing stage is especially useful for printing-type inks that require drying or for paper types that require additional assistance to dry inks printed thereon. Drying after the varnishing stage can also be desirable, especially where several layers of varnish are applied during the manufacturing process. Increasing the number of varnish coatings is desirable to increase the luster or shine of the ink design. Alternatively, drying section 40 may be inserted after both the printing and varnishing stages. The drying section 40 may comprise a conventional-type drying unit as commonly used in the industry, units such as the drying units manufactured by ______. The present invention can incorporate various types of printing techniques as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A comprises one particular printing technique in printing section 20 of foil-look section 18. The printing technique shown in FIG. 2A shows one way to complete the printing stage and varnishing stage of foil-look section 18. Printing section 20 contains printing press ink heads 24 for printing an ink design upon envelope paper 100, and printing press varnish heads 26 for spraying varnish on top of the printed ink design. Printing section 20 also includes conventional cylinders 32 that guide paper traveling into and out of printing section 20. FIG. 2B comprises another printing technique that may be used with the method of the present invention. Printing section 30 shown in FIG. 2B shows an alternative way to complete the printing and varnishing stage of foil-look section 18. Printing section 30 comprises outside printing flexographic printing heads 34 for printing an ink design on the outside of envelope paper 100. Printing ink by way of a flexographic printing technique is a common method known in the industry. It should also be noted that lithographic, gravure or other printing techniques may be used within the scope of the present invention. Printing section 30 also includes an outside printing drying system 36 for drying the outside printed ink design, a plurality of inside printing flexographic printing heads 38 for printing an ink design on the inside of the envelope paper and inside printing drying system 39 for drying the inside ink design. Printing section 30 is also comprised of a plurality of conventional cylinders 32 that guide the paper into the printing section 30 and then guide the paper out of the printing section 30 to the rest of the steps included in the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of embossing section 50 of envelope manufacturing machine 10. The embossing stage of foil-look section 18 is achieved in embossing section 50. Embossing section 50 comprises an edge guide 52 that properly aligns paper entering embossing section 50 received from previous stages of foil-look section 18. Embossing section 50 also includes conventional cylinders 32 to further align paper from edge guide 52 and embossing cylinders 54. Embossing cylinders 54 emboss paper after the printing and varnishing stages so that the ink design with varnish on top of the ink design created during said stages is raised above the non-embossed areas of envelope paper 100. Additional conventional cylinders 32 are included in the embossing section 50 to guide envelope paper 100 from the embossing cylinders 54 to the rest of the steps in the present invention. A cross-sectional view of a portion of envelope paper 100 with a printed ink design 102 printed thereon is shown in FIG. 4. The ink may comprise metallic ink so that a foil look is obtained after envelope paper 100 leaves embossing section 50. The metallic ink preferably includes a color selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, and bronze. The printing stage accomplished by the printing techniques such as in printing section 20 or printing section 30 may be performed with such metallic ink. Alternatively, the ink may comprise multiple colors arranged adjacent to each other within printed ink design 102 so that a multi-colored or rainbow appearance is obtained. The printing stage accomplished by the printing techniques in printing section 20 or printing section 30 may be performed with such ink comprising multiple colors. FIG. 5 displays an exaggerated, cross-sectional view of a portion of envelope paper 100 with printed ink design 102 and varnish coating 104 thereon. FIG. 6, shows an exaggerated, cross-sectional view of a portion of an envelope paper 100 with a printed ink design 102 and varnish coating 104 after it has been embossed. The portion of paper envelope 100 will appear as shown in FIG. 6 after leaving foil-look section 18. Finally, FIG. 7 illustrates a printed ink word design 110 created in accordance with the present invention. Printed ink design 102 may be comprised of any form, logo, design, etc. and may include letters and/or numbers. The preferred in-line arrangement of the present invention allows for a complete envelope manufacturing procedure wherein the envelopes are printed, embossed, cut, folded, and glued. Such an in-line arrangement has several advantages over prior techniques which are relatively expensive and increase the time necessary to manufacture high quality and attractive envelopes. For example, incorporating the components of the foil-look section in-line with the manufacturing machine eliminates the need for blank manufactured envelopes to be sent to another location to be printed upon. Thus, the cost of completing both printing and manufacturing of envelopes in one process is significantly less than manufacturing the envelopes and then paying transportation and printing costs to send the envelopes to an alternate location. Also, the time involved in printing and manufacturing an envelope in one process is considerably less than the time involved in manufacturing the envelopes, sending the envelopes out, printing on each envelope, sending the envelopes back to the envelope manufacturer, and then subsequently sending out the finished envelopes to the party that ordered the envelopes. While the present invention has been described with reference toward the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that numerous variations and modifications can be without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Marketing of a company's products or services is often the most important part of a business. If a company is not effective at marketing its products or services, it usually will not remain in business for very long. Direct mailing is one marketing technique that is widely used in many industries, particularly in the financial industry by banks and other lending companies to solicit consumers to agree to use certain credit cards. In this regard, many million envelopes are sent by companies to potential consumers every day soliciting business from consumers. In order for direct mailing to be effective, it is imperative that the business solicitations be read by a certain portion of the recipients that they are sent to. It is not an easy task to convince recipients of unsolicited envelopes to open such envelopes and read the contents In order to accomplish this task, it is important for the envelopes in which the business solicitations are sent to have interesting and attractive designs that will encourage potential customers to open the envelopes and learn more about the solicitation inside. While the quality of print applied to envelopes as part of the manufacturing procedure has greatly improved in recent years, there remains a substantial need to further improve the print quality and to create interesting images on envelopes. One approach has been to apply gold or silver foil on envelopes in order to create a sophisticated high quality appearance that is attractive to potential customers. Such foil ornamental envelopes may be used by certain banks or credit facilities to advertise their Gold or Platinum brand credit cards. While existing foil printing techniques result in attractive and interesting products, it is a relatively expensive and slow process that is largely unacceptable to meet many high volume low cost commercial demands. It is believed that Commercial Envelope Manufacturing Co. has developed the highest quality and cost efficient printing techniques known in the industry. Notwithstanding such developments and the efforts of Commercial Envelope and other companies to improve upon printing techniques, a need continues to exist for improvements in this area. The present invention solves the aforementioned shortcomings of prior art envelope manufacturing processes. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>One aspect of the present invention relates to a process of manufacturing envelopes. The process comprises feeding a web of paper into an envelope manufacturing machine. A design made of ink is then printed at a selected area on the paper. A varnish coating is then printed on the design. It is desirable to then emboss the design at the selected area of the paper so that the design becomes raised above nonembossed areas of the paper. Optionally, the paper is then folded and glued at selected areas to form an envelope. In a preferred embodiment, the paper is also cut during the envelope manufacturing process. It is preferable and highly advantageous to integrate all of the foregoing into an in-line process It may be desirable to dry the ink after it is printed on the paper prior to performing the embossing step. It is also preferable to perform a drying process to dry the varnish coating prior to performing the embossing step. In one embodiment, the folding and gluing steps may be performed after the printing and embossing steps are performed. In another embodiment, the folding and gluing steps may be performed prior to the printing and embossing steps. This later embodiment may be used where the envelope body is first created and the printing, varnish and embossing steps are later performed. Preferably, the ink comprises a metallic ink so that a foil look is obtained after the embossing step is performed. In another preferred embodiment, the printed design comprises selected letters or numbers and the ink comprises multiple colors arranged adjacent to each other in the same letter or number so that a multicolored or rainbow appearance is obtained. It is preferable for the step of printing ink to comprise a flexographic printing technique. However, lithographic, gravure or other printing techniques may also be used within the scope of the present invention. Envelopes manufactured in accordance with a preferred process may be manufactured using an envelope manufacturing machine having an in-line printing and embossing process. Such an envelope manufacturing machine may include a paper feeding section (such as that adapted to receive a web of paper from a continuous roll), a printing section, a drying section, an embossing section, a cutting section, a folding section and a gluing section. The various sections of the performed envelope manufacturing machines need not be arranged in any particular order. Further, additional sections other than those discussed above may be used in accordance with preferred envelope manufacturing machines. In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, an envelope having a desired structure is provided. Such an envelope comprises a paper body and an ink design printed on the body. A varnish coating may be arranged on the ink design. The varnish coating may provide a desired “luster” (i.e., shine) to the ink design. If it is desired to increase the luster of the design, additional varnish coatings may be applied. The preferred envelope would also be embossed at the design so that the entire design, or a desired portion thereof, is raised above nonembossed portions of the envelope. In a preferred embodiment, the ink comprises a metallic ink. The colors of the metallic ink may vary widely within the scope of the present invention, preferred colors include silver, gold and bronze. The combination of metallic ink with a varnish and raised embossed areas create a foil look similar to the look obtained when true silver or gold foil is inlaid or embossed on the surface of a paper envelope. However, the present invention, which may include in-line printing and embossing sections of an envelope manufacturing machine to manufacture the desired envelopes, has substantial advantages over prior art foil printing techniques in terms of speed and cost. For example, the present printing technique can be used to manufacture the preferred envelopes of the present invention at speeds of greater than 1000 envelopes per minute at substantially reduced costs. As used herein, the term manufacturing of envelopes is intended to include printing and embossing of the envelopes. It also includes the steps required to manufacture envelopes without printing and embossing such as receiving a continuous web of paper, cutting, folding and gluing of the paper to form the envelope body and stacking of the envelopes after they are manufactured. As used herein, the term “design” is intended to include any printed image including, but not limited to letters, numbers, shapes, pictures, etc. The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and drawings. | 20040623 | 20070220 | 20051229 | 58371.0 | 0 | YAN, REN LUO | FOIL LOOK PRINTING TECHNIQUE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,508 | ACCEPTED | Electrodes useful for molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide to aluminum | The present invention provides a method of making a carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises mixing an aggregate, comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke with coal tar pitch or petroleum pitch or a combination of these pitches at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said particulate shot coke may comprise a majority of said fine particles, and said paste comprises from about 80 to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said pitch; forming said paste into a solid body; and baking said solid body at an elevated temperature to form said carbon electrode. | 1. A method of making a carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises mixing an aggregate, comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke with coal tar pitch or combination pitch at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse (including recycled anode butts), medium, and fine particles and said particulate shot coke comprises a majority of said fine particles, and said paste comprises from about 80 to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said coal tar pitch or combination pitch; forming said paste into a solid body; and baking said solid body at an elevated temperature to form said carbon electrode. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said shot coke comprises more than 5%, by weight, of said aggregate. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said shot coke comprises up to 90%, by weight, of said aggregate. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said carbonaceous material is selected from the group consisting of sponge, needle or coal tar pitch cokes, and recycled carbon electrode remnants. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said shot coke has a coefficient of thermal expansion of greater than about 20×10−7/degrees Centigrade. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said shot coke has a sulfur content of up to 8%, by weight. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said shot coke is prepared by screening and milling shot coke from a delayed coker to provide a particulate mixture comprising at least 30%, by weight, of particles that are fine. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said solid body is subject to compressing or vibrating to form a green anode prior to baking. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said solid body is baked at a temperature of above 1000° Centigrade. 10. A method of making a carbon anode for use in an aluminum reduction cell, in which aluminum oxide is reduced to molten aluminum metal at an elevated temperature, which comprises: (a) mixing an aggregate comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, prepared by screening and milling calcined shot coke to provide a particulate mixture comprising at least 30%, by weight, particles that are fine, and a particulate carbonaceous material selected from the group consisting of sponge, needle or coal tar pitch cokes, and recycled carbon electrode remnants, with coal tar or combination pitches at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said particulate shot coke comprises a majority of said fine particles, and said paste comprises from about 80 to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said coal tar or combination pitches; (b) forming said paste into a solid body; (c) subjecting said solid body to compression or vibration to form a green anode; and (d) baking said green anode at an elevated temperature of greater then 1000° Centigrade to form said carbon electrode. 11. The product of claim 1. 12. The product of claim 10. 13. A carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises (a) an aggregate comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke, and (b) a coal tar pitch or combination pitch binder, wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said particulate shot coke comprises a majority of said fine particulates. 14. A method for producing aluminum by the molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide which comprises electrolyzing aluminum oxide dissolved in a molten salt at an elevated temperature by passing a direct current through an anode to a cathode disposed in said molten salt wherein said anode is the product of claim 1. 15. A method of making a carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises mixing an aggregate, comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke with coal tar pitch or combination pitch at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse (including recycled anode butts), medium, and fine particles wherein said particulate shot coke comprises more than 5%, by weight, of said aggregate, and said paste comprises from about 80 to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said coal tar pitch or combination pitch; forming said paste into a solid body; and baking said solid body at an elevated temperature to form said carbon electrode. | The present invention relates to an electrode for use in the manufacture of aluminum by molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide. More particularly, it relates to an electrode, specifically to an anode, for use in aluminum reduction cells. It has been known to manufacture aluminum by molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide dissolved in a bath of the fluorides of aluminum and sodium, or cryolite, using a carbon anode. Usually, such an electrolysis process is conducted at about 900° to 1000° Centigrade. In this process, the carbon anode is consumed by oxidation due to the oxygen produced by the decomposition of aluminum oxide to the aluminum metal. In commercial anode production processes, calcined sponge petroleum cokes or coal tar pitch cokes, along with recycled carbon anode remnants or butts, are used to provide an aggregate which is bound with coal tar pitch or a combination of coal tar and petroleum pitches (combination pitch) and subsequently shaped and heated at an elevated temperature, e.g. about 1100° C., to form the commercial anode. The manufacture of such commercial anodes requires a coke that has low volatile matter, vanadium and nickel under 500 ppm and sulfur under 4%, by weight, and preferably under 3%, by weight. Such coke is preferably calcined, sponge coke. Shot coke, with its higher impurity levels, more isotropic structure and higher thermal expansion coefficient when calcined has never been successfully used for such commercial anodes. In particular, carbon anodes, made from an aggregate comprising more than 5%, by weight, shot coke, exhibit a propensity for thermal shock cracking due to the high coefficient of thermal expansion and the anode strength is weakened due to the difficulty in binding shot coke particles with coal tar or combination pitch. As a result, the anode scrap rates are unacceptably high and anode carbon loss in the aluminum reduction cells creates a serious and unacceptable disruption to the smelting process. When discussing petroleum coke, it is essential to recognize that there are three different types of coking processes and the petroleum coke produced from each is distinctly different. These processes—delayed, fluid and flexicoking—are all effective in converting heavy hydrocarbon oil fractions to higher value, lighter hydrocarbon gas and liquid fractions and concentrating the contaminants (sulfur, metals, etc.) in the coke. Petroleum coke from the delayed process is described as delayed sponge, shot or needle coke depending on its physical structure. Shot is most prevalent when running the unit under severe conditions with very heavy crude oil residuum containing a high proportion of asphaltenes. Needle coke is produced from selected aromatic feedstocks. Although the chemical properties are most critical, the physical characteristics of each coke type play a major role in the final application of the coke. For example, sponge coke is more porous and contains greater surface area; if the quality is acceptable, it may be sold to the calcining industry as a raw material for anode coke production where it has a higher value. Shot coke looks like BB's, has much less surface area and is harder; it is almost always sold as a fuel coke for a relatively low value. Needle coke's unique structure lends to its use for graphitized electrodes. Unlike the others, needle coke is a product (not a by-product) which the refinery intentionally produces from selected hydrocarbon feedstocks. Shot coke is characterized by small round spheres of coke, the size of BB's, loosely bound together. Occasionally, they agglomerate into ostrich egg sized pieces. While shot coke may look like it is entirely made up of shot, most shot coke is not 100% shot. Interestingly, even sponge coke may have some measurement of embedded shot coke. A low shot coke percentage in petroleum coke is preferably specified for anode grades of petroleum coke. Shot coke, while useful as a fuel, is less valuable than sponge coke which can be used to prepare the more valuable carbon anodes. It is therefore desirable to find a way to use the less valuable shot coke in an application having a greater value, i.e. to manufacture carbon anodes, provided said carbon anodes do not have poor quality. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Preferably, in accordance with the present invention, the aggregate comprises more than 5%, by weight, of shot coke and may comprise up to 90%, by weight, of shot coke. The shot coke must be calcined to remove most of the volatiles prior to use in the method of the invention. The calcined shot coke may be milled to provide fine particles. For the purposes of the present invention, fine particles are defined as those whereby 100% will pass through a 60 mesh, Tyler Sieve Size and approximately 70% or more will pass through a 200 mesh U.S. Standard Sieve Size. The milling process to obtain the above fine particles is common knowledge in the art and need not be disclosed herein. The particulate shot coke may have a sulfur content of up to 8%, by weight. It is generally undesirable for the coke utilized in the manufacture of carbon electrodes for use in an aluminum reduction cell to have a sulfur content of greater than about 4%. The remainder of the aggregate may comprise any particulate carbonaceous material that is suitable for preparing carbon electrodes, including recycled anode butts, for use in aluminum reduction cells. Such carbonaceous materials are well known in the art. Preferably, said carbonaceous material is selected from the group consisting of sponge, needle or pitch cokes, and recycled carbon electrode remnants. It has now been discovered that a satisfactory carbon electrode, suitable for use in an aluminum reduction cell may be prepared from a particulate carbonaceous, aggregate, preferably comprising more than 5%, by weight, of shot coke. Thus, the present invention provides a method of making a carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises mixing an aggregate, comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, recycled anode butts, and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke with coal tar pitch or combination pitch at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said paste comprises up to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said coal tar pitch or combination pitch; forming said paste into a solid body; and baking said solid body at an elevated temperature to form said carbon electrode. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the method of the invention, the aggregate is combined with a coal tar pitch binder or a combination pitch binder. Coal tar pitch is a residue produced by distillation or heat treatment of coal tar. It is a solid at room temperature, consists of a complex mixture of numerous predominantly aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclics, and exhibits a broad softening range instead of a defined melting temperature. Petroleum pitch is a residue from heat treatment and distillation of petroleum fractions. It is solid at room temperature, consists of a complex mixture of numerous predominantly aromatic and alkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons, and exhibits a broad softening range instead of a defined melting temperature. Combination pitch is a mixture or combination of coal tar pitch and petroleum pitch. The hydrogen aromaticity in coal tar pitch (ratio of aromatic to total content of hydrogen atoms) varies from 0.7 to 0.9. The hydrogen aromaticity (ratio of aromatic to total hydrogen atoms) varies between 0.3 and 0.6. The aliphatic hydrogen atoms are typically present in alkyl groups substituted on aromatic rings or as naphthenic hydrogen. The aggregate utilized in the method of the present invention comprises a mixture of fine, medium and coarse particles. The mesh sizes for the fine particles are defined above. Medium particles will pass through a 4 mesh Tyler sieve and be retained on a 60 mesh screen. Coarse particles, which may also contain recycled anode butts, will be retained on a 16 mesh Tyler screen. It is noted, however, that coarse particles having a mesh size of over 2.5 mesh are generally to be excluded from the aggregates utilized in the method of the present invention. The aggregate is combined and mixed with the coal tar pitch or combination pitch. There are numerous mixing schemes in the art. Any of them may be adapted for shot coke use, simply by treating the shot aggregate in the same way as the current aggregate is combined with the pitch. It is important that the aggregate and the pitch are mixed together at an elevated temperature, e.g. greater than 150° C., in order to coat the particles with pitch, penetrate the pitch and the fine particles into the internal pores of the medium and coarse particles and fill the interstitial aggregate volume with the pitch and the fine particles. After mixing the aggregate and the coal tar pitch for 1 to 45 minutes, e.g. from 10 to 20 minutes, a paste is formed. The paste may be formed into a solid body, by methods known in the art, e.g. pressing or vibroforming, prior to baking to form the electrode. The green electrode is baked at an elevated temperature to provide a carbon electrode suitable for use in an aluminum reduction cell. Preferably, the green electrode is baked at a temperature of from 1000° C. to 1200° C., e.g. about 1100° Centigrade for a time sufficient for the green electrode to reach a temperature within the preferred range. The baking may take place in open or closed furnaces, as is well known in the art. The method of the invention provides carbon electrodes having characteristics including density, air permeability, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal conductivity, air reactivity, and carboxy-reactivity which are within acceptable ranges for aluminum smelters. In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carbon electrode, suitable for use an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises (a) an aggregate comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke, and (b) a coal tar or combination pitch binder, wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said particulate shot coke comprises a majority of said fine particulates. In said electrode, preferably said particulate shot coke is prepared by screening and milling shot coke from a delayed coker to provide a particulate mixture comprising at least 30%, by weight, particles that are fine. Preferably the particulate carbonaceous material in the electrode is selected from the group consisting of sponge, needle or pitch cokes, and recycled carbon electrode remnants. While the invention has been described in a preferred embodiment as a method of utilizing shot coke as fine particles to provide a satisfactory carbon electrode, it is also within the scope of the invention, as described, to utilize shot coke to provide the coarse and medium particles that make up the carbon electrodes of this invention. In this aspect of the present invention, the fines may comprise shot coke, e.g., milled shot coke, or some other particulate carbonaceous material, e.g., fine particulates from the delayed coking of heavy hydrocarbon oil fractions. In this aspect of the method of this invention and the resulting carbon electrodes, like the above preferred embodiment, the aggregate will preferably comprise from 10 to 50 weight percent fine particulates, from 10 to 50 weight percent medium particulates and from 5 to 50 weight percent coarse particulates. Any of the above, novel electrodes or electrodes made by the method of the present invention may be used in a method for producing aluminum by the molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide which comprises electrolyzing aluminum oxide dissolved in a molten salt at an elevated temperature by passing a direct current through an anode to a cathode disposed in said molten salt wherein said anode is any of the above electrodes. Although there has been hereinabove described a specific electrode useful for molten salt electrolysis of aluminum oxide to aluminum in accordance with the present invention for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be used to advantage, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the recited elements. Further, the invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein. Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations or equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art, should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Preferably, in accordance with the present invention, the aggregate comprises more than 5%, by weight, of shot coke and may comprise up to 90%, by weight, of shot coke. The shot coke must be calcined to remove most of the volatiles prior to use in the method of the invention. The calcined shot coke may be milled to provide fine particles. For the purposes of the present invention, fine particles are defined as those whereby 100% will pass through a 60 mesh, Tyler Sieve Size and approximately 70% or more will pass through a 200 mesh U.S. Standard Sieve Size. The milling process to obtain the above fine particles is common knowledge in the art and need not be disclosed herein. The particulate shot coke may have a sulfur content of up to 8 %, by weight. It is generally undesirable for the coke utilized in the manufacture of carbon electrodes for use in an aluminum reduction cell to have a sulfur content of greater than about 4%. The remainder of the aggregate may comprise any particulate carbonaceous material that is suitable for preparing carbon electrodes, including recycled anode butts, for use in aluminum reduction cells. Such carbonaceous materials are well known in the art. Preferably, said carbonaceous material is selected from the group consisting of sponge, needle or pitch cokes, and recycled carbon electrode remnants. It has now been discovered that a satisfactory carbon electrode, suitable for use in an aluminum reduction cell may be prepared from a particulate carbonaceous, aggregate, preferably comprising more than 5%, by weight, of shot coke. Thus, the present invention provides a method of making a carbon electrode, suitable for use as an anode in an aluminum reduction cell, which comprises mixing an aggregate, comprising a mixture of particulate shot coke, recycled anode butts, and a particulate carbonaceous material other than shot coke with coal tar pitch or combination pitch at an elevated temperature to form a paste wherein said aggregate comprises a combination of coarse, medium, and fine particles and said paste comprises up to about 90%, by weight, of said aggregate and from about 10 to about 20%, by weight, of said coal tar pitch or combination pitch; forming said paste into a solid body; and baking said solid body at an elevated temperature to form said carbon electrode. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040622 | 20061128 | 20051222 | 67554.0 | 0 | BELL, BRUCE F | ELECTRODES USEFUL FOR MOLTEN SALT ELECTROLYSIS OF ALUMINUM OXIDE TO ALUMINUM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,687 | ACCEPTED | Device and method for encrypting data | For a secure encryption of original data the original data are first of all encrypted using an encryption key or an encryption algorithm. The thus obtained data are then again decrypted using a decryption algorithm and a decryption key in order to obtain decrypted data. These data are again used together with the original data in order to calculate an auxiliary key. The decrypted data are then encrypted using the calculated auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. In case of a DFA attack no output of the device is suppressed, but the output result is encrypted using the auxiliary key which deviates from the original encryption key in case of the DFA attack so that an attacker cannot use the output data anymore and the DFA attack is useless. | 1. A device for encrypting original data, comprising: a first encrypter for encrypting original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; a decrypter for decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; an auxiliary key calculator for calculating an auxiliary key using an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order to provide the encryption key as an auxiliary key when the encrypted data are present in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not present in a predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and a second encrypter for encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. 2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a processor for processing the output data and the encrypted data using a processing function in order to obtain encrypted original data, wherein the processing function is implemented in order to combine the encrypted data and the output data in order to obtain a combination result and in order to process the combination result further, so that the encrypted original data are equal to the output data or the encrypted data when the encrypted data are equal to the output data and so that the encrypted original data are unequal to the output data or the encrypted data when the encrypted data are unequal to the output data. 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the processing function is implemented as follows: c ″ = 1 2 ( c + c ′ ) + f ( c - c ′ ) - f ( 0 ) , f() is a one-way function, wherein c illustrates the encrypted data, c′ illustrates the output data and c″ illustrates the encrypted original data. 4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the processing function is implemented as follows: c″={square root}{square root over (c+c′)}+(c−c)4′mod R″, wherein R′ and R″ are two arbitrarily selected random numbers, wherein mod represents the modulus function, wherein c represents the encrypted data, c′ represents the output data and c″ represents the encrypted original data. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the encryption algorithm and the decryption algorithm belong to a symmetrical cryptosystem and the encryption key is equal to the decryption key or is in a predetermined relation to the same, respectively. 6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the encryption algorithm and the decryption algorithm belong to an asymmetrical cryptosystem and the encryption key is a private key of the cryptosystem and the decryption key is a public key of the cryptosystem. 7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the original data are a message to be signed and the output data or the encrypted original data represent a digital signature of the message. 8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented as follows: ρ(m,m′,k)=k, if: m=m′ ρ(m,m′,k)≠k, if: m≠m′, wherein m is the original data, wherein m′ is the encrypted data, wherein p is the auxiliary key function and wherein k represents the encryption key. 9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the decryption algorithm is matched to the encryption algorithm so that with a correct functioning of the first encrypter and of the decrypter and with a correct selection of the encryption key and the decryption key the decrypted data are equal to the original data. 10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the original data are ciphered data, wherein the encryption algorithm is a deciphering algorithm of a cryptosystem, wherein the decryption algorithm is a ciphering algorithm of the cryptosystem, wherein the encryption key is a deciphering key of the cryptosystem and wherein the decryption key is a ciphering key of the cryptosystem. 11. A method for encrypting original data, comprising: encrypting the original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; calculating an auxiliary key using an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order provide the encryption key as the auxiliary key when the decrypted data are in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not in the predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. 12. A computer program having a program code for performing the method for encrypting according to claim 11 when the computer program runs on a computer. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10328860.0, which was filed on Jun. 26, 2003, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to encrypting technologies and in particular to encrypting technologies which are safe against DFA attacks. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent times it was found that the DFA attack (DFA=differential fault analysis) is a very effective attack on cryptosystems. In particular, it was stated that in RSA systems in which the Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) is used for modular exponentiation, already a single “faulty” output due to a DFA attack may be sufficient to “determine” the secret key for example in a signature calculation. On the other hand, the modular exponentiation in the RSA algorithm is preferably calculated using the CRT, as in particular for large modules a high calculating efficiency may be achieved. The RSA algorithm for message ciphering and message deciphering, respectively, or for signature calculation is described in its application with or without CRT in “Handbook of Applied Cryptography”, A. Menezes et al., CRC Press, 1996. While for an efficient calculation of the modular exponentiation without CRT calculating units are required whose width is at least as large as the modulus, based on the RSA CRT algorithm using a calculating unit with a predetermined number of elementary cells, i.e. a predetermined length, a calculation may be performed in which the modulus (and therefore the key) has almost twice the length compared to the calculating unit. This is especially important for RSA applications, as here the security against so called “brute force attacks” in which subsequently all possibilities are tested increases with an increasing key length. The basic idea of a DFA attack is to subject the cryptochip to an extreme situation during performing a cryptographical calculation, so that the output of the cryptochip becomes faulty. Such a measure is for example to expose the chip to a high mechanical voltage, a high electromagnetic radiation, a series of light flashes etc. during the calculation, such that for example register contents of the chip become faulty or that gates within the chip do not fulfill their specified function anymore but something different which leads to an output fault. It was shown that such a faulty output is faulty, still as much information about the secret on which an algorithm is based is contained, however, like for example the encryption key in case of a symmetric cryptosystem or the private key in case of an asymmetric cryptosystem, that an effective DFA attack may be performed. Defence measures against such DFA attacks in the simplest case consist in the fact that, for example, each cryptographic calculation is performed twice, wherein the result of the first cryptographic calculation is compared to the result of the (identical) second cryptographic calculation. Depending on this comparison a query takes place consisting in the fact that in a (positive) case in which both results are identical, an output is performed, while in the case in which the two results are different, an output is prevented or at least an alarm message is provided, respectively. The core of this defence measure is therefore, in the case in which the assumption about a fault is present, to suppress any outputs, so that an attacker will not obtain a chip output when he has performed a DFA attack, and therefore may not draw any conclusion to the secret that the algorithm is based on. The above-mentioned defence measure against DFA attacks is problematic in so far that it assumes that the chip does not make the same mistake in the double calculation. Such an attack would not be recognized. Alternative measures are to provide the cryptochip with voltage sensors, radiation sensors, temperature sensors etc. in order to be able to detect possible exterior attacks on the chip directly in order to then be able to suppress an output when an attack is detected. Due to the variety of attack scenarios and the many sensors connected to the same, such a defence measure may often not or only partially be performed. Still further defence measures are to compare intermediate results within a (longer) cryptoalgorithm to each other or observe the same, respectively. Often dependencies exist within an algorithm which require a number of intermediate results already before the output which have to be in a certain connection to each other independent of the data to be encrypted or the key, respectively. If it is determined that the intermediate results, which actually should be in a certain connection to each other in a correct algorithm run, are not in this connection it may be concluded that an attack is being performed. In this case again an IF branch, i.e. a conditional jump, is performed in so far that when the expected result of the query occurs an output is performed, while when a result deviating from the expectations occurs the output is suppressed or error messages, interrupts etc. are performed, respectively, in order to, for example, indicate a current (assumed) DFA attack to the operating system. DFA attacks on cryptosystems, like for example RSA, symmetrical systems like DES, AES and others or elliptical curve cryptosystems are thus blocked in so far that a correctness examination of some kind is performed and that in case of a fault the output of a false ciphered message or a false signature, e.g. a smartcard, respectively, is suppressed. Problematic about this defence measure is, however, the IF branch. Should an attacker be able to interfere in this final error examination, i.e. the conditional jump, then the output of a faulty ciphered message or a faulty “signature” is effected in order to thus successfully complete a DFA attack. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved concept for encrypting data comprising a higher security against DFA attacks. In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention provides a device for encrypting original data, having means for encrypting original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; means for decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; means for calculating an auxiliary key having an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order to provide the encryption key as an auxiliary key when the encrypted data are present in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not present in a predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and means for encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for encrypting original data, with the steps of encrypting the original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; calculating an auxiliary key having an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order provide the encryption key as the auxiliary key when the decrypted data are in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not in the predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. In accordance with a third aspect, the present invention provides a computer program having a program code for performing the method for encrypting according to claim 11 when the computer program runs on a computer. The present invention is based on the finding that the conditional jump contained in conventional DFA defence measures is a weak point of these measures. According to the invention, the DFA security is not based on this conditional jump. Instead, in case of a DFA attack the faulty result an attacker wants is encrypted again so that the information about the secret of the encryption contained in this faulty output becomes worthless for an attacker. The DFA security of the inventive concept is therefore not only restricted to the fact that a faulty output is suppressed, but that in every case an output is generated which is in case of a not performed attack the useful result of the encryption concept, which, however, is in case of an DFA attack automatically and system inherently an encrypted version of the faulty result searched by the attacker. The attacker has no possibility to decrypt the encrypted version of the faulty result, as he cannot obtain the key required for this. The key is nowhere given explicitly, and thus also unknown to the applier of the inventive concept. It merely depends on the original input data and the encrypted/decrypted data. The dependence for this is given via an auxiliary key function which may be implemented arbitrarily and which consists in the fact that the key only corresponds to the actual encryption key in the last encryption when the original data and the encrypted and again decrypted data are equal. According to the invention, original data are therefore first encrypted in order to obtain encrypted data. The encryption is performed via an encryption algorithm and an encryption key. Then, the encrypted data is decrypted using a corresponding decryption algorithm and a corresponding decryption key in order to obtain decrypted data. Hereupon, using the original data and the decrypted data an auxiliary key is calculated which is then used for a final encryption of the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm in order to obtain output data. In one embodiment of the present invention, this output data may be output directly. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the output data is still further processed in order to obtain encrypted original data as a final output. The processing takes place using a processing function which again relates the encrypted data obtained by the first encryption to the output data, so that the finally output encrypted original data only corresponds to the data encrypted using the encryption key when the encrypted data is equal to the output data at the output of the second encryption stage. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the encryption algorithm and the decryption algorithm corresponding to the encryption algorithm are part of a symmetrical cryptosystem, like e.g. the DES system, the AES system etc. This is the case as symmetrical cryptosystems typically run faster and more efficiently with regard to calculation time than asymmetrical cryptosystems. Alternatively, when calculation time resources are not decisive, the present invention is also useful in connection with an asymmetric cryptosystem, i.e. preferably with an RSA signature generation on the one hand or an RSA deciphering on the other hand. The present invention is advantageous in so far that always an output is generated, i.e. that the security is not based on an explicit correctness test typically present in the prior art. In case of a correct encryption/signature the result is also output, as in the case of a faulty encryption/signature. In case of a faulty encryption/signature, in which a DFA attack took place with a very high probability, the result is useless for an attacker, however, as it is again encrypted by the auxiliary key which is different from the original encryption key, so that a DFA attack is unsuccessful. In other words, the faulty output which was induced by an attacker will not be useful to him as the output is encrypted and the attacker has no chance to obtain the auxiliary key by which the output is encrypted. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention either with a direct output of output data or with a processing of output data in order to obtain the encrypted original data as an output; and FIG. 2 shows a comparison of algorithms/keys for a symmetric cryptosystem on the one hand and an asymmetric cryptosystem on the other hand. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an inventive device for encrypting original data m fed into the overall device via an input 10. The original data m is first of all fed into means 12 for encrypting the original data m using an encryption algorithm (E ALG) and encryption key kE in order to obtain encrypted data c at the output of means 12. The encrypted data c is then supplied to means 14 for decrypting the encrypted data supplying decrypted data m′ on the output side. Means 14 for decrypting is implemented in order to use a decryption algorithm (D ALG) and a decryption key kD. The encryption algorithm used in means 12 and the decryption algorithm used in means 14 form part of the cryptosystem and are matched to each other, as it is known in the prior art. Correspondingly, the encryption key kE and the decryption key kD also form parts of the cryptosystem, wherein the same are also matched to each other, as it is known in the prior art. If means 12 and 14 operate correctly, i.e. if they were not “victims” of a DFA attack, then the decrypted data m′ will correspond to the original data m. If, however, either means 12 or means 14 or both means 12 and 14 were attacked, then the original data m will be different from the decrypted data m′, as either one of means 12 and 14 or both means 12 and 14 made a mistake due to the DFA attack. Both the decrypted data m′ and the original data m are supplied to means 16 for calculating an auxiliary key k′E according to the present invention. Means 16 is implemented in order to perform an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order to provide the encryption key kE as the auxiliary key kE′ when the decrypted data m′ are in a predetermined relation to the original data m, in order to then provide a key k′E as the auxiliary key which deviates from the encryption key kE when the original data m are not in a predetermined relation to the decrypted data m′. The auxiliary key function which is in the following also referred to as ρ operates as follows: The following holds true: ρ: M×M×K→K M refers to the amount of any possible messages and K refers to the amount of any possible keys. In principle, the length in byte of the keys and the messages is not important. As far as the lengths of the messages and the keys are equal the following examples may be reconsidered. If the lengths of keys and messages are different, as it is for example the case in the DES encryption algorithm, this is correspondingly considered in the function ρ. ρ is further to have the following characteristics: ρ(m,m′,k)=k, if: m=m′ ρ(m,m′,k)≠k, if: m≠m′ From the above it may be seen that the auxiliary key function which is preferably implemented so that the described predetermined relation between the original data and the decrypted data is the equality relation, may be a simple function. Thus, the same may for example be implemented in order to operate as follows, if M=K=[0;2N [for e.g. N=64, 128, 1024, . . . KE′=m−m′+kE Alternative embodiments of the auxiliary key function may for example be as follows: kE′={square root}{square root over (m·m′)}+kE−m or kE′={square root}{square root over (m·m′)}+kE−m As the root function may provide non integer results, an integer calculation is preferred, however, it is preferred to round up or down the results of the root function, wherein rounding up is preferred. From the above it may be seen that for the auxiliary key function any functions may be found which fulfill the above provided general definition and which always provides something different to kE when the original data deviate from the encrypted data, so that in means 18 shown in the following in FIG. 1 for encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm (E ALG) obtained output data c′ are encrypted using kE′. In particular, it is preferred for the auxiliary key function and the processing function which is explained in more detail below to work without an IF condition but to calculate first of all a combination value, like e.g. a sum or a product etc. from the input data and then to combine another value with this combination value, for example using a sum, a difference etc. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, further no direct output of the output data c′ is performed. Instead, as it is shown in FIG. 1, the output data c′ together with the encrypted data c at the output of means 12 are supplied to means 20 for processing using a processing function. For the processing function, which is in the following referred to as μ, the following holds true: μ: M×M→C C is the amount of all encrypted messages (cipher texts). The function μ should again have the following characteristics: μ(c,c′)=c if c=c′ μ(c,c′)=c if c≠c′ For the processing function μ again any functions which fulfill the above given general definition may be used. Generally, μ should be selected so that from c″ and c the value of c′ cannot be simply calculated. Exemplary functions are: c ″ = 1 2 ( c + c ′ ) + f ( c - c ′ ) - f ( 0 ) . f() refers to a so called one-way function, like e.g. a Hash function, for which no inverse function f−1() may be given. f (0) could hereby be saved as a fixed constant so that it has not to be calculated again each time. An alternative processing function would be: c″={square root}{square root over (c+c′)}+(c−c′)R′mod R″ R and R″ are here two arbitrarily selected random numbers for which it only holds true that they are in a suitable magnitude. Although for the modular exponentiation in principle an inverse function may be indicated, however, this is hardly possible for an attacker as he does not have the random numbers R′ and R″. Data c″ output by means 20 therefore represent the encrypted original data which may then be output independent of whether a DFA attack took place or not. They will correspond to the encrypted data c if during the overall processing of the algorithm illustrated in FIG. 1 no attack took place. If, however, an attack took place, the encrypted original data c″ output by means 20 will be different to the encrypted data at the output of means 12. Here, it is to be noted, that modern crypto-algorithms, whether symmetric or asymmetric, have such a high encryption power that even with minimum differences between the auxiliary key k′E and the actual encryption key kE already a complete change of the output data c′ compared to the encrypted data c will be present, such that the output data even with minimum differences between the encryption key and the auxiliary key will have no similarity any more with reference to the encrypted data c at the output of means 12. In the following, an embodiment of the present invention is explained at the example of a symmetric cryptosystem: Input: m, k Output: c″ = AE(m, k) c: = AE(m, k) m′: = AD(c, k) k′: = ρ(m, m′, k) c′: = AE(m′, k′) c″: = μ(c, c′) return(c″) As in the above-mentioned algorithmic illustration of the inventive concept, the expression “AE” stands for the algorithm encryption, while the expression “AD” stands for algorithm decryption. As the considered cryptosystem is a symmetrical cryptosystem, the encryption key kE is equal to the decryption key kD, so that there is only a single key, i.e. the above illustrated key k. The case of the symmetrical cryptosystem is illustrated in the left half of the table shown in FIG. 2. The inventive concept may, however, also be applied to an asymmetrical cryptosystem. In case of the asymmetrical cryptosystem a DFA security has to be guaranteed always when the private key is “involved”, while in case the public key is “involved”, no defence measures need to be taken, as the public key is known to the attacker anyway. In case of an asymmetrical cryptosystem, further two cases need to be distinguished, i.e. the signature generation in order to obtain a digital signature for a document, and the message deciphering. So, in signature generation, the private key referred to as “e” is involved in order to generate the digital signature. In verification, however, only the public key is required, so that here no safety measures need to be taken. In an encryption using a symmetrical cryptosystem also only the public key is required. Therefore, in the encryption, no special DFA measure has to be taken. This is different, however, when a message ciphered, i. e. encrypted, within a symmetrical cryptosystem needs to be decrypted, i.e. needs to be processed using the private key of the receiver for which the message is determined. For purposes of the present invention, therefore the “original data” are either actual clear text data, like for example in ciphering messages using a symmetrical encryption algorithm or in generating a digital signature using an asymmetrical algorithm. The “original” data may, however, also be encrypted data, like for example in case of a deciphering of messages within a symmetrical cryptosystem or in case of a deciphering of messages in an asymmetrical cryptosystem in which the private key is used. If the “original data” are encrypted data, then the “encryption algorithm” and the “encryption key” with reference to the present application are indeed a deciphering algorithm or a deciphering key, respectively. In this case, the “decryption algorithm” and the “decryption key” with reference to the present invention are an “encryption algorithm” or an “encryption key”, respectively analogous to the above-mentioned implementations. The right half in FIG. 2 shows the designations of the algorithms for an asymmetrical cryptosystem using the example of a signature generation. The signature generation which takes place using the secrete key e of the asymmetrical cryptosystem corresponding to a public key d is as follows: Input: m, k Output: c″ = AE(m, e) c: = AE(m, e) m′: = AD(c, d) e′: = ρ(m, m′, e) c′: = AE(m′, e′) c″: = μ(c, c′) return(c″) In case of the decryption within a symmetrical cryptosystem, however, the second alternative in the last row of the left half of the table in FIG. 2 would apply, i.e. AE−1 for the encryption algorithm and AE for the decryption algorithm. In case of the message deciphering within an asymmetrical cryptosystem, also the second alternative in the last row of the right half of the table in FIG. 2 would apply, i.e. that the encryption algorithm (E ALG) with regard to the present invention would correspond to a deciphering algorithm (AD) of the asymmetrical cryptosystem using the private key e, while the decryption algorithm (D ALG) with reference to the present invention would correspond to a message ciphering algorithm using the public key e. Depending on the conditions, the inventive fault disguising method may be implemented in hardware or in software. The implementation may be performed on a digital storage medium, in particular a disc or a CD using control signals which may be read out electronically, which may thus cooperate with a programmable computer system so that the method is performed. Generally, the invention is also present in a computer program product comprising a program code stored on a machine readable carrier for performing the inventive method for encrypting original data when the computer program product runs on a computer. In other words, the invention may also be realized as a computer program having a program code for performing the method for encrypting original data when the computer program runs on a computer. While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to encrypting technologies and in particular to encrypting technologies which are safe against DFA attacks. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent times it was found that the DFA attack (DFA=differential fault analysis) is a very effective attack on cryptosystems. In particular, it was stated that in RSA systems in which the Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) is used for modular exponentiation, already a single “faulty” output due to a DFA attack may be sufficient to “determine” the secret key for example in a signature calculation. On the other hand, the modular exponentiation in the RSA algorithm is preferably calculated using the CRT, as in particular for large modules a high calculating efficiency may be achieved. The RSA algorithm for message ciphering and message deciphering, respectively, or for signature calculation is described in its application with or without CRT in “Handbook of Applied Cryptography”, A. Menezes et al., CRC Press, 1996. While for an efficient calculation of the modular exponentiation without CRT calculating units are required whose width is at least as large as the modulus, based on the RSA CRT algorithm using a calculating unit with a predetermined number of elementary cells, i.e. a predetermined length, a calculation may be performed in which the modulus (and therefore the key) has almost twice the length compared to the calculating unit. This is especially important for RSA applications, as here the security against so called “brute force attacks” in which subsequently all possibilities are tested increases with an increasing key length. The basic idea of a DFA attack is to subject the cryptochip to an extreme situation during performing a cryptographical calculation, so that the output of the cryptochip becomes faulty. Such a measure is for example to expose the chip to a high mechanical voltage, a high electromagnetic radiation, a series of light flashes etc. during the calculation, such that for example register contents of the chip become faulty or that gates within the chip do not fulfill their specified function anymore but something different which leads to an output fault. It was shown that such a faulty output is faulty, still as much information about the secret on which an algorithm is based is contained, however, like for example the encryption key in case of a symmetric cryptosystem or the private key in case of an asymmetric cryptosystem, that an effective DFA attack may be performed. Defence measures against such DFA attacks in the simplest case consist in the fact that, for example, each cryptographic calculation is performed twice, wherein the result of the first cryptographic calculation is compared to the result of the (identical) second cryptographic calculation. Depending on this comparison a query takes place consisting in the fact that in a (positive) case in which both results are identical, an output is performed, while in the case in which the two results are different, an output is prevented or at least an alarm message is provided, respectively. The core of this defence measure is therefore, in the case in which the assumption about a fault is present, to suppress any outputs, so that an attacker will not obtain a chip output when he has performed a DFA attack, and therefore may not draw any conclusion to the secret that the algorithm is based on. The above-mentioned defence measure against DFA attacks is problematic in so far that it assumes that the chip does not make the same mistake in the double calculation. Such an attack would not be recognized. Alternative measures are to provide the cryptochip with voltage sensors, radiation sensors, temperature sensors etc. in order to be able to detect possible exterior attacks on the chip directly in order to then be able to suppress an output when an attack is detected. Due to the variety of attack scenarios and the many sensors connected to the same, such a defence measure may often not or only partially be performed. Still further defence measures are to compare intermediate results within a (longer) cryptoalgorithm to each other or observe the same, respectively. Often dependencies exist within an algorithm which require a number of intermediate results already before the output which have to be in a certain connection to each other independent of the data to be encrypted or the key, respectively. If it is determined that the intermediate results, which actually should be in a certain connection to each other in a correct algorithm run, are not in this connection it may be concluded that an attack is being performed. In this case again an IF branch, i.e. a conditional jump, is performed in so far that when the expected result of the query occurs an output is performed, while when a result deviating from the expectations occurs the output is suppressed or error messages, interrupts etc. are performed, respectively, in order to, for example, indicate a current (assumed) DFA attack to the operating system. DFA attacks on cryptosystems, like for example RSA, symmetrical systems like DES, AES and others or elliptical curve cryptosystems are thus blocked in so far that a correctness examination of some kind is performed and that in case of a fault the output of a false ciphered message or a false signature, e.g. a smartcard, respectively, is suppressed. Problematic about this defence measure is, however, the IF branch. Should an attacker be able to interfere in this final error examination, i.e. the conditional jump, then the output of a faulty ciphered message or a faulty “signature” is effected in order to thus successfully complete a DFA attack. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved concept for encrypting data comprising a higher security against DFA attacks. In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention provides a device for encrypting original data, having means for encrypting original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; means for decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; means for calculating an auxiliary key having an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order to provide the encryption key as an auxiliary key when the encrypted data are present in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not present in a predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and means for encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for encrypting original data, with the steps of encrypting the original data using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key in order to obtain encrypted data; decrypting the encrypted data using a decryption algorithm matched to the encryption algorithm and using a decryption key matched to the encryption key in order to obtain decrypted data; calculating an auxiliary key having an auxiliary key function, wherein the auxiliary key function is implemented in order provide the encryption key as the auxiliary key when the decrypted data are in a predetermined relation to the original data and in order to provide an auxiliary key deviating from the encryption key when the original data are not in the predetermined relation to the decrypted data; and encrypting the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm and the auxiliary key in order to obtain output data. In accordance with a third aspect, the present invention provides a computer program having a program code for performing the method for encrypting according to claim 11 when the computer program runs on a computer. The present invention is based on the finding that the conditional jump contained in conventional DFA defence measures is a weak point of these measures. According to the invention, the DFA security is not based on this conditional jump. Instead, in case of a DFA attack the faulty result an attacker wants is encrypted again so that the information about the secret of the encryption contained in this faulty output becomes worthless for an attacker. The DFA security of the inventive concept is therefore not only restricted to the fact that a faulty output is suppressed, but that in every case an output is generated which is in case of a not performed attack the useful result of the encryption concept, which, however, is in case of an DFA attack automatically and system inherently an encrypted version of the faulty result searched by the attacker. The attacker has no possibility to decrypt the encrypted version of the faulty result, as he cannot obtain the key required for this. The key is nowhere given explicitly, and thus also unknown to the applier of the inventive concept. It merely depends on the original input data and the encrypted/decrypted data. The dependence for this is given via an auxiliary key function which may be implemented arbitrarily and which consists in the fact that the key only corresponds to the actual encryption key in the last encryption when the original data and the encrypted and again decrypted data are equal. According to the invention, original data are therefore first encrypted in order to obtain encrypted data. The encryption is performed via an encryption algorithm and an encryption key. Then, the encrypted data is decrypted using a corresponding decryption algorithm and a corresponding decryption key in order to obtain decrypted data. Hereupon, using the original data and the decrypted data an auxiliary key is calculated which is then used for a final encryption of the decrypted data using the encryption algorithm in order to obtain output data. In one embodiment of the present invention, this output data may be output directly. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the output data is still further processed in order to obtain encrypted original data as a final output. The processing takes place using a processing function which again relates the encrypted data obtained by the first encryption to the output data, so that the finally output encrypted original data only corresponds to the data encrypted using the encryption key when the encrypted data is equal to the output data at the output of the second encryption stage. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the encryption algorithm and the decryption algorithm corresponding to the encryption algorithm are part of a symmetrical cryptosystem, like e.g. the DES system, the AES system etc. This is the case as symmetrical cryptosystems typically run faster and more efficiently with regard to calculation time than asymmetrical cryptosystems. Alternatively, when calculation time resources are not decisive, the present invention is also useful in connection with an asymmetric cryptosystem, i.e. preferably with an RSA signature generation on the one hand or an RSA deciphering on the other hand. The present invention is advantageous in so far that always an output is generated, i.e. that the security is not based on an explicit correctness test typically present in the prior art. In case of a correct encryption/signature the result is also output, as in the case of a faulty encryption/signature. In case of a faulty encryption/signature, in which a DFA attack took place with a very high probability, the result is useless for an attacker, however, as it is again encrypted by the auxiliary key which is different from the original encryption key, so that a DFA attack is unsuccessful. In other words, the faulty output which was induced by an attacker will not be useful to him as the output is encrypted and the attacker has no chance to obtain the auxiliary key by which the output is encrypted. | 20040622 | 20081111 | 20050224 | 74779.0 | 0 | PEARSON, DAVID J | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENCRYPTING DATA | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,713 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus and methods for UPS bypass monitoring and control | Status of a bypass source of parallel-connected UPSs is determined from a load share when a loading of the parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion. Status of a bypass source of the parallel-connected UPSs is determined from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. The loading may include an aggregate loading, and failure of a bypass source of a UPS may be identified responsive to detecting that a load share of the UPS is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading. Alternatively, failure of the bypass source may be identified by detecting that a bypass voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion. Bypass circuits of the UPSs may be controlled responsive to a load share and/or a bypass source voltage. | 1. A method of operating a power conversion apparatus including a plurality of parallel-connected uninterruptible power supplies, the method comprising: determining a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion; and determining a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the loading comprises an aggregate loading. 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein determining a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion comprises identifying failure of a bypass source of a UPS responsive to detecting that a load share of the UPS is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading. 4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising decoupling the bypass source of the UPS from an output of the UPS responsive to identifying failure of the bypass source. 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion comprises: decoupling a bypass source of a UPS from an output of the UPS; determining a bypass source voltage of the decoupled bypass source; and identifying failure of the bypass source responsive to detecting that the determined bypass voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion. 6. A method according to claim 4, further comprising decoupling the bypass source from an output of the UPS responsive to identifying failure of the bypass source. 7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising controlling bypass circuits of the UPSs responsive to load share and/or bypass source voltage. 8. A method of operating a power conversion apparatus including a plurality of parallel-connected uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) having outputs coupled in common to load bus, the method comprising: determining an aggregate loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs at the load bus; selectively determining one of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading; and controlling a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. 9. A method according to claim 8: wherein selectively determining one of a load share provided by a first UPS or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading comprises determining the load share if the determined aggregate loading exceeds a predetermined threshold; and wherein controlling a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage comprises controlling the bypass circuit responsive to the determined load share. 10. A method according to claim 9: wherein determining an aggregate loading comprises determining a total current supplied by the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs; and wherein determining the load share comprises determining a current provided by the first UPS. 11. A method according to claim 9, wherein controlling a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage is followed by: determining a load share of a second UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs; and controlling a bypass circuit of the second UPS responsive to the determined load share of the second UPS. 12. A method according to claim 8: wherein selectively determining one of a load share provided by a first UPS or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading comprises determining respective load shares of multiple ones of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs if the determined aggregate loading exceeds a predetermined threshold; and wherein controlling a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage comprises concurrently controlling bypass circuits of the multiple ones of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs responsive to the respective determined load shares. 13. A method according to claim 8: wherein selectively determining one of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading comprises: decoupling a bypass source for the first UPS from the load bus if the determined aggregate loading is less than a predetermined threshold; and determining the bypass source voltage for the decoupled bypass source; and wherein controlling a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage comprises controlling the bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the determined bypass source voltage. 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein controlling the bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the determined bypass source voltage is followed by: decoupling a bypass source for a second UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from the load bus; determining a bypass source voltage for the decoupled bypass source for the second UPS; and controlling a bypass circuit for the second UPS responsive to the determined bypass source voltage for the second UPS. 15. A power conversion apparatus, comprising: a plurality of UPSs connected in parallel at a load bus; and a control circuit operative to determine an aggregate loading of the parallel-connected UPSs at the load bus, to selectively determine one of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. 16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the control circuit determines the load share if the determined aggregate loading exceeds a predetermined threshold. 17. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control circuit decouples a bypass source of the first UPS from the load bus if the load share is less than a predetermined proportion of the determined aggregate loading. 18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the control circuit is operative to decouple a bypass source for the first UPS from the load bus if the determined aggregate loading is less than a predetermined threshold, to determine the bypass source voltage for the decoupled bypass source, and to control the bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the determined bypass source voltage. 19. An apparatus according to claim 15: wherein the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs include communications circuits operative to communicate therebetween; and wherein the control circuit comprises a master control circuit positioned in one of plurality of parallel-connected UPSs and is operative to control bypass circuits of the parallel-connected UPSs responsive to loading and/or bypass source voltage information communicated by the communications circuits. 20. An apparatus according to claim 15: wherein the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs include communications circuits operative to communicate therebetween; and wherein the control circuit comprises respective control circuits positioned in respective ones of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs and operative to control bypass circuits of the respective parallel-connected UPSs responsive to loading and/or bypass source voltage information communicated by the communications circuits. 21. A power conversion apparatus comprising a plurality of parallel-connected UPSs; a control circuit operative to determine a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion and to determine a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. 22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the loading comprises an aggregate loading. 23. An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the control circuit is operative to identify failure of a bypass source of a UPS responsive to detecting that a load share of the UPS is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading. 24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the control circuit is further operative to decouple the bypass source of the UPS from an output of the UPS responsive to identifying failure of the bypass source. 25. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the control circuit is operative to decouple a bypass source of a UPS from an output of the UPS, to determine a bypass source voltage of the decoupled bypass source, and to identify failure of the bypass source responsive to detecting that the determined bypass voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion. 26. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the control circuit is further operative to control a bypass circuit of the UPSs responsive to a load share and/or a bypass source voltage. 27. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the control circuit comprises a plurality of control circuits positioned in respective ones of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs. 28. An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of control circuits comprises at least one master control circuit and at least one slave control circuit. 29. An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the plurality of control circuits comprises a plurality of peer control circuits. 30. A UPS, comprising: a power conversion circuit operative to transfer power to a load bus; a bypass circuit operative to couple and decouple a bypass source to and from the load bus; a communications circuit operative to communicate with at least one other UPS; a control circuit operatively associated with the communications circuit and the bypass circuit and operative to determine a loading of the UPS, to selectively determine a load share of the UPS or a bypass source voltage of the bypass source responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control the bypass circuit responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. 31. A UPS according to claim 30, wherein the control circuit is further operative to control a bypass circuit of at least one other UPS. 32. A UPS according to claim 31, wherein the control circuit is operative to determined an aggregate loading of the UPS and the at least one other UPS and to inform the at least one other UPS of the determined aggregate loading via the communications circuit. 33. A UPS according to claim 31, wherein the control circuit is operative to schedule a bypass voltage test of the at least one other UPS responsive to the determined loading. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to power conversion apparatus and methods, and more particularly, to uninterruptible power supply (UPS) apparatus and methods. A typical conventional “on-line” UPS may include an AC/DC converter (e.g., a rectifier) that is configured to be coupled to an AC power source, such as a utility source, and a DC/AC converter (e.g., an inverter) that is coupled to the AC/DC converter by a DC link and which produces an AC voltage at an output (load) bus of the UPS. The UPS may further include a bypass circuit, e.g., a static switch, which can be used to couple the AC power source directly to the output bus of the UPS, such that the AC/DC converter and DC/AC converter are bypassed. The bypass circuit can be used, for example, to provide an economy mode of operation and/or to provide power to the load when either or both of the converters are damaged or inoperative. Bypass circuits can create dangerous conditions in applications in which multiple UPSs are feeding a common load bus in parallel. In particular, a bypass source to a UPS in such a parallel-connected configuration may be absent due to, for example, tripping of a breaker or opening of a switch in the bypass source path. However, if the bypass circuit of the UPS is closed, voltage may be backfed from the common load bus through the closed bypass circuit. Accordingly, monitoring the voltage at an input of the bypass circuit may not reveal the absence of the bypass source, as the backfed voltage may provide an appearance that the bypass source is present. Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL®) views such a state as a potential hazard, and has promulgated standards that require that such a condition be detected and avoided. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In some embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus including a plurality of parallel-connected uninterruptible power supplies is monitored and/or controlled. A status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs is determined from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion. A status of the bypass source is determined from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. The loading may include an aggregate loading, and failure of a bypass source of a UPS may be identified responsive to detecting that a load share of the UPS is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading. Determining a status of the bypass source from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion may include decoupling a bypass source of a UPS from an output of the UPS, determining a bypass source voltage of the decoupled bypass source, and identifying failure of the bypass source responsive to detecting that the determined bypass voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion. Bypass circuits of the UPSs may be controlled responsive to load share and/or bypass source voltage. In further embodiments of the invention, an aggregate loading of a plurality of parallel-connected UPSs is determined. One of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS is selectively determined responsive to the determined aggregate loading. A bypass circuit of the first UPS is controlled responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. According to additional embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus includes a plurality of UPSs connected in parallel at a load bus. The apparatus further includes a control circuit operative to determine an aggregate loading of the parallel-connected UPSs at the load bus, to selectively determine one of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. In other embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus includes a plurality of parallel-connected UPSs and a control circuit operative to determine a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion and to determine a status of a bypass source from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. In some embodiments, the control circuit includes respective control circuits positioned in respective ones of the UPSs. The plurality of control circuits may include at least one master control circuit and at least one slave control circuit. In further embodiments, the plurality of control circuits includes a plurality of peer control circuits. In still further embodiments of the invention, a UPS includes a power conversion circuit operative to transfer power to a load bus, a bypass circuit operative to couple and decouple a bypass source to and from the load bus, and a communications circuit operative to communicate with at least one other UPS. The UPS further includes a control circuit operatively associated with the communications circuit and the bypass circuit and operative to determine a loading of the UPS, to selectively determine a load share of the UPS or a bypass source voltage of the bypass source responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control the bypass circuit responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 and 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a parallel connected UPS configurations and operations according to various embodiments of the invention. FIGS. 2 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 4 according to some embodiments of the invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations in a master/slave control configuration of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations in a peer/peer control configuration of FIG. 4 according to some embodiments of the invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Specific exemplary embodiments of the invention now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Embodiments of the invention include circuitry configured to provide functions described herein. It will be appreciated that such circuitry may include analog circuits, digital circuits, and combinations of analog and digital circuits. The invention is described below with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods and wireless terminals according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and/or operational illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or operational illustrations, can be implemented by analog and/or digital hardware, and/or computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, ASIC, and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or operational illustrations. In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the figures may occur out of the order noted in the block diagrams and/or operational illustrations. For example, two operations shown as occurring in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently or the operations may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Computer program code for carrying out operations of the invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java®, Smalltalk or C++, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, or lower-level code, such as assembly language and/or microcode. The program code may execute entirely on a single processor and/or across multiple processors, as a stand-alone software package or as part of another software package. FIG. 1 illustrates a power conversion apparatus 100 according to some embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 100 includes a plurality of UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n connected in parallel to a load bus. Each UPS 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n includes a power converter circuit 112 that receives power from a converter source 1201, 1202, . . . , 120n and a bypass circuit (e.g., a static switch or other switching circuit) 114 that receives power from a bypass source 1301, 1302, . . . , 130n. The converter sources 1201, 1202, . . . , 120n and the bypass sources 1301, 1302, . . . , 130n are shown as being separate to indicate that power may be provided to the converter circuits 112 and the bypass circuits 114 over separate paths, e.g., via separate conductors, switches, relays, breakers, and the like, even though the converter sources 1201, 1202, . . . , 120n and the bypass sources 1301, 1302, . . . , 130n are ultimately fed from a common AC power source, e.g., a utility source. It will, therefore, be understood that a “bypass source” as described herein may include this common AC power source and/or a path component, e.g., a line, breaker, switch, relay or the like, that feeds the bypass circuit 114, and that failure of such a bypass source may include failure of the common AC power source and/or a failure arising from a state of component in a path feeding the bypass circuit 114. The respective bypass circuits 114 are controlled by respective control circuits, here shown as including a master control circuit 116′ in a first UPS 1101 and slave control circuits 116″ in the other UPSs 1102, . . . , 110n. The control circuits 116′, 116″ are operatively associated with communications circuits (e.g., controller area network (CAN) transceivers) 118 that are operative to communicate loading info (e.g., current measurements) and control commands. FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary operations that may be performed by the apparatus 100 according to some embodiments of the invention. Responsive to a determination that the apparatus 100 is in a bypass mode (Block 205), the apparatus 100 determines if a loading of the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n meets a predetermined criterion (Block 210). For example, the apparatus 100 may determine an aggregate loading of the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n at the load bus 140 from individual loading (e.g., current) measurements made by each of the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n and communicated by the communications circuits 118, and may determine if the aggregate loading is greater than a predetermined threshold value. In some embodiments, the predetermined threshold value may be a value, for example, that corresponds to a loading level above which it may be accurately determined, using the load share measurements described below, which UPSs are supplying the load bus 140. The threshold value could also represent a loading level above which it is not feasible to disconnect a load-sharing UPS from the load bus 140 for the bypass voltage testing described below without overloading the remaining UPSs supplying power to the load bus 140. If the loading meets the predetermined criterion, load shares of the individual UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n may be evaluated to determine whether they meet a predetermined criterion (Block 215). For example, if n equivalent UPSs are connected in parallel, failure of a particular UPS's bypass source with respect to the load share criterion may be detected by detecting that the UPS's load share is significantly less than 1/n times the aggregate loading. If the load share of a particular UPS fails to meet the predetermined criterion, for example, is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading, the bypass circuit 114 of the UPS is turned off (Block 225) so that voltage on the load bus 140 does not backfeed through the UPS's bypass circuit. If the load share meets the predetermined criterion, however, the UPS's bypass circuit 114 is kept on (Block 220). It will be appreciated that the load share determination of the individual UPS's and/or control of their respective bypass circuits 114 may be done in a parallel or quasi-parallel manner, e.g., concurrently, or may be done in a serial fashion, as indicated by the dashed arrows. If the aggregate loading fails to meet the predetermined criterion (e.g., is less than a predetermined threshold value), individual bypass source voltage tests are performed on the UPSs. In particular, a bypass circuit 114 of a first UPS is turned off (Block 230) to decouple its bypass source from the load bus 140. The bypass source voltage may then be determined (Block 235), e.g., by measuring the voltage at an input of the bypass circuit 114. If the bypass source voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion (e.g., is less than a predetermined threshold value), indicating a failure of the bypass source, the UPS's bypass circuit 114 is left off to prevent voltage backfeed (Blocks 240, 250). If the bypass source voltage meets the predetermined criterion (e.g., is greater than the predetermined threshold value), the bypass circuit 114 is turned on (Blocks 240, 245). Upon completion of these steps, a next UPS may be evaluated (Block 255). It will be appreciated that bypass source voltage testing of the individual UPSs may also be done in a quasi-parallel manner, i.e., multiple units may be tested concurrently while leaving the bypass circuits of one or more units on to maintain the load. It will be appreciated that a variety of loading and voltage criteria may be used for the operations described above. For example, average loading, min-max loading, or other loading criteria may be used instead of or in conjunction with an aggregate loading criterion. FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary allocation of tasks along the lines illustrated in FIG. 2 in a master/slave control configuration such as that illustrated in FIG. 1. The slave control circuits 116″ communicate loading information (e.g., current measurements) to the master control circuit 116′ (Block 310). The master control circuit 116′ then determines the aggregate loading of the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n (Block 320). If the aggregate loading is less than a predetermined threshold value, the master control circuit 116′ determines the individual load shares of the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n (Blocks 330, 350). The master control circuit 116′ then instructs the slave control circuits 116″ to control their bypass circuits 114 accordingly (Block 350). Alternatively, the master control circuit 116′ could communicate the aggregate loading information to the other control circuits 116″, which could, in turn, compute their own load shares and control their bypass circuits 114 accordingly. If the aggregate loading is less than the predetermined threshold value, the master control circuit 116′ schedules bypass source voltage tests for the UPSs 1101, 1102, . . . , 110n (Blocks 330, 360). The master control circuit 116′ then instructs the slave control circuits 116″ to determine their respective bypass source voltages and to control their bypass circuits 114 accordingly (Block 370). These operations may occur in a number of different ways. For example, the slave control circuits 116″ could relay bypass source voltage measurements back to the master control circuit 116′, which could, in turn, responsively command the slave control circuits 116″ to place their bypass circuits 114 in appropriate states. Alternatively, each of the slave control circuits 116″ may independently test its bypass source voltage and responsively control its bypass circuit 114 responsive to a scheduling command from the master control circuit 116′. FIG. 4 illustrates a power conversion apparatus 400 according to further embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 400 includes a plurality of UPSs 4101, 4102, . . . , 410n connected in parallel to a load bus 440. Each UPS 4101, 4102, . . . , 410n includes a power converter 412 that receives power from a primary source 4201, 4202, . . . , 420n and a bypass circuit (e.g., a static switch) 414 that receives power from a bypass source 4301, 4302, . . . , 430n. The respective bypass circuits 414 are controlled by respective peer control circuits 416. The peer control circuits 416 are operatively associated with respective communications circuits (e.g., controller area network (CAN) transceivers) 418 that are operative to communicate loading info (e.g., current measurements) therebetween. The apparatus 400 may be configured to provide bypass source monitoring and bypass circuit control operations along the lines described above with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary allocation of tasks among the peer control circuits 416 according to further embodiments of the invention. The control circuits 416 communicate loading info among themselves via the communications circuits 418 (Block 510). Each control circuit 416 determines an aggregate loading of the apparatus 400 from the communicated information (Block 520). At an individual peer, if the determined aggregate loading is greater than a predetermined threshold, the control circuit determines a load share of the UPS and controls its bypass circuit accordingly (Blocks 530, 540, 550). If the determined aggregate loading is less than the predetermined threshold, the control circuit may determine its bypass source voltage (e.g., by opening its bypass circuit and measuring the bypass circuit input voltage), and control its bypass circuit accordingly (Blocks 570). It will be appreciated that the bypass source voltage tests may occur according to some predetermined schedule or order, such that sufficient power supply to the load is maintained. In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention. Although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined by the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention relates to power conversion apparatus and methods, and more particularly, to uninterruptible power supply (UPS) apparatus and methods. A typical conventional “on-line” UPS may include an AC/DC converter (e.g., a rectifier) that is configured to be coupled to an AC power source, such as a utility source, and a DC/AC converter (e.g., an inverter) that is coupled to the AC/DC converter by a DC link and which produces an AC voltage at an output (load) bus of the UPS. The UPS may further include a bypass circuit, e.g., a static switch, which can be used to couple the AC power source directly to the output bus of the UPS, such that the AC/DC converter and DC/AC converter are bypassed. The bypass circuit can be used, for example, to provide an economy mode of operation and/or to provide power to the load when either or both of the converters are damaged or inoperative. Bypass circuits can create dangerous conditions in applications in which multiple UPSs are feeding a common load bus in parallel. In particular, a bypass source to a UPS in such a parallel-connected configuration may be absent due to, for example, tripping of a breaker or opening of a switch in the bypass source path. However, if the bypass circuit of the UPS is closed, voltage may be backfed from the common load bus through the closed bypass circuit. Accordingly, monitoring the voltage at an input of the bypass circuit may not reveal the absence of the bypass source, as the backfed voltage may provide an appearance that the bypass source is present. Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL®) views such a state as a potential hazard, and has promulgated standards that require that such a condition be detected and avoided. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In some embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus including a plurality of parallel-connected uninterruptible power supplies is monitored and/or controlled. A status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs is determined from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion. A status of the bypass source is determined from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. The loading may include an aggregate loading, and failure of a bypass source of a UPS may be identified responsive to detecting that a load share of the UPS is less than a predetermined proportion of the aggregate loading. Determining a status of the bypass source from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion may include decoupling a bypass source of a UPS from an output of the UPS, determining a bypass source voltage of the decoupled bypass source, and identifying failure of the bypass source responsive to detecting that the determined bypass voltage fails to meet a predetermined criterion. Bypass circuits of the UPSs may be controlled responsive to load share and/or bypass source voltage. In further embodiments of the invention, an aggregate loading of a plurality of parallel-connected UPSs is determined. One of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS is selectively determined responsive to the determined aggregate loading. A bypass circuit of the first UPS is controlled responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. According to additional embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus includes a plurality of UPSs connected in parallel at a load bus. The apparatus further includes a control circuit operative to determine an aggregate loading of the parallel-connected UPSs at the load bus, to selectively determine one of a load share provided by a first UPS of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs or a bypass source voltage for the first UPS responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control a bypass circuit of the first UPS responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. In other embodiments of the invention, a power conversion apparatus includes a plurality of parallel-connected UPSs and a control circuit operative to determine a status of a bypass source of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs from a load share when a loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs meets a predetermined criterion and to determine a status of a bypass source from a bypass source voltage when the loading of the plurality of parallel-connected UPSs fails to meet the predetermined criterion. In some embodiments, the control circuit includes respective control circuits positioned in respective ones of the UPSs. The plurality of control circuits may include at least one master control circuit and at least one slave control circuit. In further embodiments, the plurality of control circuits includes a plurality of peer control circuits. In still further embodiments of the invention, a UPS includes a power conversion circuit operative to transfer power to a load bus, a bypass circuit operative to couple and decouple a bypass source to and from the load bus, and a communications circuit operative to communicate with at least one other UPS. The UPS further includes a control circuit operatively associated with the communications circuit and the bypass circuit and operative to determine a loading of the UPS, to selectively determine a load share of the UPS or a bypass source voltage of the bypass source responsive to the determined aggregate loading, and to control the bypass circuit responsive to the selectively determined load share or bypass source voltage. | 20040623 | 20080715 | 20051229 | 84474.0 | 0 | CAVALLARI-SEE, DANIEL | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR UPS BYPASS MONITORING AND CONTROL | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,822 | ACCEPTED | Support base for a structural pole | A support base for supporting a structural pole is provided. The support base includes a frame having an internal cavity for housing hardware, such as a speaker assembly, that is associated with the corresponding structural pole. The frame is generally open laterally thereabout for permitting access to the internal cavity. A footing region of the support base secures the frame to an underlying support surface and a platform atop the frame receives the structural pole thereon. The frame is sized to receive an ornamental protective cover thereabout for enhancing the aesthetic perspective of the base and for protecting the hardware within the frame internal cavity. | 1. A support base for supporting a structural pole upon and spaced above an underlying support surface, the support base comprising: a footing region adapted to secure the support base to the underlying support surface; a frame extending from the footing region, for supporting the structural pole upon the underlying support surface, the frame defining an internal cavity for housing hardware that is associated with the corresponding structural pole, the frame being generally open laterally thereabout for permitting access to the internal cavity; and a platform secured atop the frame, spaced apart from and opposing the footing region, the platform being adapted to secure the structural pole thereupon; wherein the frame is sized to receive an ornamental and protective cover thereabout for enhancing the aesthetic perspective of the base and for protecting the hardware within the frame internal cavity. 2. The support base of claim 1 wherein the support base is a weldment. 3. The support base of claim 1 wherein the underlying support surface is further defined as a pier base, and the footing region includes a hole pattern for mounting the base to a plurality of J-bolts extending from the pier base. 4. The support base of claim 1 wherein the frame further comprises a series of legs extending from the footing region to the platform. 5. The support base of claim 1 wherein the frame is a polyhedron. 6. The support base of claim 1 wherein the frame is a frustum of a pyramid. 7. The support base of claim 1 further comprising a two piece cover that is sized to be secured about the frame, the cover including an aperture for permitting the structural pole to extend therethrough. 8. The support base of claim 1 further comprising a cover defined by a series of ornamental panels, each adapted to be fastened to the frame. 9. The support base of claim 1 wherein the hardware is further defined as an electrical junction for connecting the structural pole to a power source. 10. The support base of claim 1 further comprising at least one plate oriented within the frame internal cavity and supported by the frame for receiving and supporting the hardware that is housed within the frame internal cavity at an orientation spaced above the underlying support surface. 11. The support base of claim 10 further comprising bracketry mounted therein for supporting the at least one plate. 12. The support base of claim 10 wherein the at least one plate is adjustable in height relative to the underlying support surface. 13. The support base of claim 1 further comprising a speaker assembly oriented within the frame and wherein the base has an acoustical outlet region for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass therethrough. 14. The support base of claim 13 further comprising a cover with an acoustically transparent region for transmitting acoustical vibrations caused by the speaker assembly out from the support base. 15. The support base of claim 13 wherein the speaker assembly further comprises: a mid-plate oriented within the frame internal cavity and supported by the frame; a speaker mounted to the mid-plate; and a resonating chamber member having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the frame internal cavity, the resonating chamber member having an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker, and the resonating chamber member internal cavity being sized to match the speaker. 16. The support base of claim 15 wherein the speaker is oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward one of the underlying support surface and the base platform. 17. A structural pole assembly comprising: a support base including: a footing region adapted to secure the support base to an underlying support surface, a frame extending from the footing region, the frame defining an internal cavity for housing hardware that is associated with the structural pole assembly, the frame being generally open laterally thereabout for permitting access to the internal cavity, and a platform secured atop the frame, spaced apart from and opposing the footing region; and a structural pole having a fixed end mounted to the base platform such that the structural pole is spaced apart from the underlying support surface and supported by the base and the underlying support surface; wherein the support base is sized to receive an ornamental and protective cover thereabout for enhancing the aesthetic perspective of the base and for protecting the hardware within the frame internal cavity. 18. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising a speaker assembly including: a mid-plate oriented within the frame internal cavity and supported by the frame; a speaker mounted to the mid-plate and oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward one of the underlying support surface and the base platform; and a resonating chamber member having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the frame internal cavity, the resonating chamber member having an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker, and the resonating chamber member internal cavity being sized to match the speaker; wherein the base has an acoustical outlet region for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass therethrough. 19. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising a speaker assembly including: a sub-plate adapted to be affixed to the structural pole adjacent to an internal cavity formed in the fixed end of the structural pole; a speaker mounted to the sub-plate and oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward the base platform; and a resonating chamber member having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the structural pole internal cavity, the resonating chamber member having an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker, and the resonating chamber member internal cavity being sized to match the speaker; wherein the structural pole fixed end has an acoustical outlet region for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass therethrough. 20. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising an electrical junction oriented within the frame internal cavity for connecting the structural pole to a power source. 21. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising a central processing unit oriented within the frame internal cavity. 22. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising a speaker assembly and an amplifier oriented within the frame internal cavity. 23. The structural pole assembly of claim 17 further comprising a battery oriented within the frame internal cavity for providing a power source to the structural pole. 24. A support base for supporting a structural pole upon and spaced above an underlying support surface, the support base comprising: a footing region adapted to secure the support base to an underlying support surface; a frame extending from the footing region, the frame defining an internal cavity for housing hardware that is associated with the structural pole assembly, the frame having an acoustical outlet region for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass therethrough; a platform secured atop the frame, spaced apart from and opposing the footing region, the platform being adapted to secure the structural pole thereupon; and a first speaker assembly including: a mid-plate oriented within the frame internal cavity and supported by the frame, a speaker mounted to the mid-plate and oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward one of the underlying support surface and the base platform, and a resonating chamber member having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the frame internal cavity, the resonating chamber member having an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker, and the resonating chamber member internal cavity being sized to match the speaker. 25. The support base of claim 24 further comprising a second speaker assembly including: a sub-plate adapted to be affixed to the structural pole adjacent to an internal cavity formed in the fixed end of the structural pole; a speaker mounted to the sub-plate and oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward the base platform; and a resonating chamber member having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the structural pole internal cavity, the resonating chamber member having an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker, and the resonating chamber member internal cavity being sized to match the speaker; wherein the structural pole fixed end has an acoustical outlet region for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass therethrough. 26. The support base of claim 25 wherein the acoustical vibrations provided by the second speaker assembly have a lower frequency than the acoustical vibrations provided by the first speaker assembly. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a structural pole, more particularly to a base of a structural pole. 2. Background Art Structural poles have been utilized for public thoroughfares, sidewalks, landscapes and large interior spaces. These areas include city streets, parks, residential neighborhoods, office buildings, campus areas, exterior walkways, shopping malls, atriums, casinos, and the like. These structural poles include light poles, traffic poles, utility poles, bollards, speaker poles and the like. The poles are fixed to an underlying support surface through various arrangements. For example, the poles may include a direct burial post, a base that is unitary with the pole and can be fastened to the underlying support surface, or a separate base that is fastened to the underlying support surface and receives the pole. For decorative purposes, these bases have been cosmetically enhanced with ornamental indicia cast or formed thereon or, alternatively provided in a cover or apron that may be affixed over the fixed end of the structural pole. Each of these structural pole base examples includes a removable access door or the like for providing access to an internal cavity of the pole so that cables, or wires for power or signals to equipment supported by the pole can be accessed. These access doors provide limited access to the components housed therein and limit the availability of components that can be inserted through the access door. In many thoroughfares it is desirable to provide more than just lighting on a structural pole. For example, electronic sign displays may be mounted to the pole or speaker systems or the like. It is also desirable to provide such auxiliary features to the structural pole while preventing the features from being accessible to the elements or vandalism. It is also desirable to conceal such auxiliary equipment to avoid obfuscating the aesthetic appeal within the given location. Accordingly, the prior art has partially addressed this need by mounting speaker assemblies within a fixed end of a structural pole and spacing the fixed end of the structural pole above the underlying support surface so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker assembly exit the structural pole omnidirectionally. A goal of the present invention is to provide a support base for a structural pole that enhances flexibility in hardware mounting without upsetting the aesthetic or ornamental aspects thereof. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the present invention is to provide a support base for supporting a structural pole upon and spaced above an underlying support surface. The base includes a footing region that is adapted to secure the support base to the underlying support surface. A frame extends upward from the footing region and defines an internal cavity for housing hardware that is associated with the pole. The frame is generally open laterally thereabout for permitting access to the internal cavity. A platform is secured atop the frame for mounting the structural pole thereto. The frame is sized to receive an ornamental and protective cover thereabout for enhancing the aesthetic perspective of the base and for protecting the hardware within the frame internal cavity. A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a plate within the frame internal cavity for receiving and supporting the hardware. Another aspect of the invention is to provide a speaker assembly within the frame internal cavity of the support base. The speaker assembly includes a mid-plate supported by the frame, a speaker mounted to the mid-plate, and a resonating chamber. The speaker is oriented so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward one of the underlying support surface of the support base and the base platform. The above aspects, and other aspects, objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded, side perspective view of a support base in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, illustrated in cooperation with a structural pole; FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the support base of FIG. 1, illustrated with an alternative embodiment cover affixed thereto; FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the support base of FIG. 1, illustrated with another alternative embodiment cover affixed thereto; FIG. 4 is an exploded, side perspective view of yet another alternative embodiment cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a front side elevation view of an alternative embodiment cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a front side elevation view of another alternative embodiment cover in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; FIG. 7 is an exploded, side perspective view of the support base in FIG. 1, illustrated with hardware mounted therein; FIG. 8 is an exploded, side perspective view of the support base in FIG. 1, illustrated with alternative hardware mounted therein; FIG. 9 is an exploded, side perspective view of the support base of FIG. 1, illustrated with hardware mounted within the support base and within the corresponding structural pole; and FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the support base and structural pole of FIG. 9, illustrating ranges of acoustical vibrations emitted therefrom. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a support base is illustrated exploded and is referenced generally by numeral 20. The support base 20 is provided for supporting a structural pole 22 upon and spaced above an underlying support surface 24. The support base 20 can be provided with the structural pole 22 or can be utilized to retrofit the structural pole 22 thereby raising the structural pole 22 and providing a housing for containing hardware thereunder. The underlying support surface 24 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided by a pier base 26. Structural poles are commonly mounted upon pier bases, which are commonly formed of concrete and poured as a footing for the associated structural pole. Pier bases 26 commonly include a plurality of J-bolts 28 that are provided in the pier base 26 when the pier base 26 is formed for mounting the structural pole 22 thereto. The support base 20 has a lower footing region 30 provided by a series of feet 32 that rest upon the underlying support surface 24. The feet 32 collectively include a hole pattern for mating with the corresponding J-bolts 28 so that the support base 20 is fastened to the J-bolts 28. The support base 20 includes a frame 34 extending from the footing region 30. The frame 34 is defined by a series of legs 36 that each include one of the feet 32. The legs 36 each terminate at a platform 38. The structural pole 22 is fastened to the platform 38 and the frame 34 supports the structural pole 22 upon the underlying support surface 24. The frame 34 is formed of aluminum, steel or the like, to satisfy the specific structural requirements dictated by the load provided by the structural pole 22. The support base 20 can be formed as a weldment or as a casting. The footing region 30 can be sized for an enlarged J-bolt 28 pattern as illustrated, or can include a hole pattern corresponding with a narrower J-bolt pattern that is sized to receive the structural pole 22 directly thereto. For example, the legs 36 can be aligned generally vertically rather than tapered as illustrated in FIG. 1. Alternatively, a flange may extend inwards from each foot 32 for fastening the foot 32 to the corresponding J-bolt 28. The frame 34 defines an internal cavity 40 for housing hardware that is associated with the structural pole 22. The frame internal cavity 40 includes more volume than that of a typical prior art pole base. Additionally, due to the structure of the frame 34, the frame internal cavity 40 includes a large area to mount the associated hardware. Structural pole assemblies and the structural pole internal cavities are an inconspicuous location to mount the associated hardware. By mounting hardware associated with the structural pole 22 within the frame internal cavity 40, the hardware is protected from the elements and is protected from vandalism and theft. Additionally, since the hardware is out of sight, it is less likely to be subjected to vandalism and theft. The frame 34 of the support base 20 provides a structure that includes a series of lateral openings 42 between sequential legs 36. The openings 42 cause the frame 34 to be generally open about its periphery. Specifically, the openings 42 are provided at each lateral side thereof. Therefore, a user or operator has a wide range of access into the frame internal cavity 40. Unlike prior art bases that provide limited windows of access through access doors formed within the base, the support base 20 of the present invention is generally open laterally about the frame 34 providing generally 360 degrees of access into the frame internal cavity 40. This wider range of access is possible because unlike the prior art, the support base 20 is provided independently of the ornamental features. Therefore, the access is not limited to access doors formed within ornamental features of the base, rather the support base 20 is provided separately from a corresponding cover 44. The support base 20 of the present invention is illustrated as a frustum of a pyramid. The pyramid includes four primary surfaces 46 and four beveled surfaces 48. Each beveled surface 48 is provided between a sequential pair of primary surfaces 46. Although an eight sided pyramid is illustrated, any structural arrangement is contemplated including any polyhedron, regardless of the number of surfaces and regardless if the surfaces are tapered or not. The platform 38 includes at least one aperture 50 formed therethrough for the passage of wires or cables to equipment provided upon the structural pole 22. Additionally, the platform 38 includes a plurality of slots 52 for providing a mounting pattern for fastening the structural pole 22 thereto. Each slot 52 extends outwardly in a radial direction so that various structural poles 22 ranging in size can be fastened to the platform 38. If the hole pattern from a structural pole does not mate with the slots 52 provided in the platform 38, an adapter plate 54 can be provided having a hole pattern 56 that matches a hole pattern 58 of the corresponding structural pole 22 and the slots 52 of the platform 38. The adapter plate 54 also includes at least one aperture 60 formed therethrough so that cables, wires or the like can be passed therethrough. The support base 20 includes a plate 62 within the frame internal cavity 40. The plate 62 is supported by the frame 34 for receiving and supporting hardware at an orientation spaced above the underlying support surface 24. The plate 62 raises the associated hardware so that if inclement weather, such as rain or snow were to pass underneath the frame 34 into the frame internal cavity 40, the hardware would be elevated to avoid damage caused by the elements. Additionally, the plate 62 raises the hardware to assist in organization of the hardware within the support base 20 and for ergonomic accessibility. The plate 62 is adjustable in height for enhancing the flexibility provided by the plate 62. Accordingly, mounting brackets 64 are provided within each leg 36, and support brackets 66 are fastened to the plate 62 and to each corresponding mounting bracket 64. Many structural poles 22 such as light poles, traffic poles and the like require a source of power. Accordingly, conduit 68 is typically provided within the pier base 26 for conveying power cables, wires or the like to the structural pole 22. Accordingly, an electrical junction box 70 is provided on the plate 62 for receiving power, signals or the like, provided from the conduit 68 so that equipment associated with the structural pole 22 is readily connected to the junction box 70. As discussed above, the support base 20 is formed independently of the associated ornamental effects, and various ornamental covers may be provided. Thus, the support base 20 does not limit the ornamental effects of the support base and the ornamental effects are interchangeable without having to replace the support base 20. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the cover 44 is provided by a plurality of panels 72, each fastened to one of the primary surfaces 46 of the support base 20. Each panel 72 includes ornamental indicia formed on the external side thereof. The cover enhances the aesthetic perspective of the support base 20 and protects the hardware within the frame internal cavity 40 from the elements, vandalism and theft. Ornamental panels may also be provided upon the beveled surfaces 48, although not shown. Of course, the panel 72 can be attached by any fastener, yet a tamper resistant fastener, such as a screw with an unconventional head is desired. Alternatively, a lock may be provided between each panel 72 and the frame 36. Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 3, the support base 20 is illustrated with alternative embodiment covers. Specifically, the support base 20 in FIG. 2 is illustrated cooperating with a two-piece cover 74. The cover 74 is provided in a clam shell configuration wherein two separate generally symmetrical pieces are fastened together to cover the support base 20. The ornamental structure of the cover 74 is independent of the geometrical arrangement of the support base 20. Therefore, various aesthetic perspectives are contemplated and are interchangeable with the support base 20 of the present invention. The cover 74 is generally tubular with a rectangular cross-section. In FIG. 3, another two-piece clam shell cover 76 is illustrated in accordance with the present invention. The cover 76 is similar to the cover 74 in FIG. 2, however the cover 76 in FIG. 3 is generally cylindrical. Of course, ornamental indicia can be provided on the exterior of the cover 74 and 76 in FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring now to FIG. 4, another two-piece cover 78 is illustrated. The cover 78 includes two clam shell portions 80, 82 that are adapted to wrap about the support base 20 and enclose the support base 20 therein. The clam shell portions 80, 82 are fastened together by a pair of screws 84 or the like. The clam shell portions 80, 82 collectively provide a lower open region 86 for permitting the support base 20 to engage the underlying support surface 24. The clam shell portions 80, 82 also collectively provide an upper open region 88 for permitting the structural pole 22 to pass therethrough. Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, alternative panels 90, 92 are illustrated respectively, which can be fastened directly to the support base 20. The panel 90 of FIG. 5 includes an ornamental raised panel 94 thereon. The panel 92 of FIG. 6 includes fluting 96 formed therein. The covers illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6 are by means of example only, as any ornamental cover is contemplated within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The covers can be attached by various methods and can be made of various materials. The covers can be decorative in shape or can have ornamental indicia formed thereon. The covers can include light sources affixed thereto for low leveling lighting, flag lighting or emergency illumination. Alternatively, the covers can be vented or be generally transparent to allow illumination from within the frame internal cavity 40 to emit through the corresponding cover. Referring now to FIG. 7, the support base 20 is illustrated with a central processing unit (CPU) 98 mounted to the plate 62. The CPU 98 is provided to control lighting or traffic signals provided upon the structural pole 22. Additionally, storage batteries can be contained within the unit. For example, photo-voltaic cells can be provided upon the structural pole 22 for recharging a battery within the support base 20. The CPU 98 may perform wireless communication for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, the CPU 98 may receive wireless signals associated with the controls thereof. The structural pole 22 may include an illuminated sign and the CPU 98 may provide a digital signage processor for controlling the image upon the sign. If the structural pole 22 includes a speaker assembly, mounted externally of the structural pole 22 or internally of the structural pole 22 or support base 20, the CPU 98 may provide signal boosting to the associated speaker assembly. If the structural pole 22 includes a digital identification card reader, the CPU 98 may provide the processing for this card reader. The aforementioned examples are provided to illustrate the hardware flexibility provided by the support base 20 and are not an exhaustive list of options that may be incorporated within the support base 20. With reference now to FIG. 8, the support base 20 is illustrated having a speaker assembly 100 mounted within the frame internal cavity 40. The speaker assembly 100 is directed downward to the underlying support surface 24 so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker assembly 100 are reflected from the underlying support surface 24 and out of the frame 34. The lateral openings 42 in the frame 36 provide an acoustical outlet region such that the acoustical vibrations pass from the frame 34. A cover 102 is provided having an acoustically transparent region 104 so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker assembly 100 pass through the cover 102. The speaker assembly 100 adopts the teachings of Applicant's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/324,563, titled Pole Speaker, which was filed on Dec. 19, 2002. The Pole Speaker patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. The speaker assembly 100 includes a mid-plate 106 mounted to the frame 34 within the frame internal cavity 40. A cone speaker 108 is mounted to the mid-plate 106 directed towards the underlying support surface 24. A resonating chamber member 110 is provided having a wall defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the frame internal cavity 40. The resonating chamber member 110 has an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker 108. The resonating chamber member internal cavity is sized to match the speaker 108. It may be desirable to prevent acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker assembly 100 from resonating within an internal cavity of the structural pole 22. Therefore, each aperture 112 can be filled with a rubber grommet, foam or the like after wires are passed therethrough. Additionally, gaps provided between the mid-plate 106 and the frame 34 can be plugged by foam or some other acoustically inert material. The speaker assembly 100 can be tuned by spacing the speaker assembly 100 relative to the pier base 26 such that the acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker 108 are reflected in a manner so that the sound reproduction lies in a region proximate to a head elevation of people passing thereby. Accordingly, spacing between the mid-plate 106 and the pier base 26 is a function of the distance between the support base 20 and a populated area proximate thereto. A preferred spacing of the speaker assembly 100 is adjusted by the brackets 64, 66. Due to the acoustically transparent region 104 provided in the cover 102, sound reproduction exits the support base 20 generally omnidirectionally, in a general 360 degree range about the support base 20. The invention contemplates various speakers and speaker arrangements for directing acoustical vibrations omnidirectionally, uni-directionally or in focused patterns or regions. Referring now to FIG. 9, the support base 20 is illustrated with the first speaker assembly 100 mounted therein as discussed with reference to FIG. 9. Further, a second speaker assembly 114 is provided within the structural pole 22. The second speaker assembly 114 also incorporates the teachings of the Pole Speaker application, which was incorporated by reference above. The second speaker assembly 114 includes a sub-plate 116, a speaker 118, a resonating chamber member 120 and a tubular port 122. The sub-plate 116 is adapted to be affixed to the structural pole 22 adjacent to an internal cavity formed in a fixed end of the structural pole 22. Specifically, the sub-plate 116 is illustrated having a foot print and hole pattern to match that of a mounting flange 124 of the structural pole 22. The speaker 118 is mounted to the sub-plate 116 and oriented such that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker 118 are directed toward a top surface of the platform 38 of the support base 20. The resonating chamber member 120 has a wall for defining an elongated internal cavity oriented within the structural pole internal cavity. The resonating chamber member 120 has an open end mounted adjacent to the speaker 118 for partially enclosing a back surface of the speaker 118. Preferably, the speaker 118 and resonating chamber member 120 are sealed to provide an airtight resonating chamber internal cavity. The resonating chamber member internal cavity is sized specifically for the speaker 118. The resonating chamber member internal cavity reflects backward acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker 118 and amplifies the overall sound reproduction created thereby. The tubular port 122 is connected to the resonating chamber member 120 and is in communication with the resonating chamber member internal cavity. The port 122 is sized to provide fluid resistance to air entering and exiting the resonating chamber member internal cavity in response to acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker 118 for improving the sound quality. Although the tubular port 122 improves the sound quality of the speaker system 100, the port 122 is optional. Without the tubular port 122, the resonating chamber member internal cavity prevents a vibrational overdraft to the speaker 118, similar to a properly sized tubular port 122. Elimination of the tubular port 122, also reduces manufacturing costs incurred by the inclusion of the port 122. The first speaker assembly 100 can include a tubular port as well. The sub-plate 116 is fastened to the mounting flange 124 of the structural pole 22. The sub-plate 116 has a hole pattern consistent with that of the mounting flange 124 such that it may utilize the same hardware, such as screws 126 for fastening the sub-plate 116 to the mounting flange 124. The cooperating screws 126, mounting flange 124, sub-plate 116 and platform slots 52 are also employed for spacing the bottom of the speaker assembly 114 away from a top surface of the platform 38. A plurality of adjustment nuts 128 are each mounted to one of the screws 126 such that the sub-plate 116 can rest thereupon, for spacing the second speaker assembly 114 from the platform 38. This spacing is adjusted to a user selected height for tuning the speaker assembly 114 as discussed with tuning the first speaker assembly 100. The sub-plate 116 is provided from an acoustically inert material so that it acts as a baffle for preventing acoustic vibrations from reflecting from the platform 38 and resonating within the structural pole 22. The platform 38 includes an offset aperture 130 and the sub-plate 116 includes a corresponding offset aperture 132 so that a wire harness can pass from the support base 20 into the structural pole 22 for providing wiring to the second speaker assembly 114 and to equipment associated with the structural pole 22. Apertures 130 and 132 can be plugged by a grommet or sealant for providing a sound tight connection therebetween. The sub-plate 116 includes a speaker aperture 134 for permitting acoustical vibrations to pass from the speaker 118 through the sub-plate 116. The sub-plate 116 includes a mounting hole pattern oriented thereabout for fastening the speaker 118 and/or the resonating chamber member 120 thereto. Adjacent to the speaker aperture 134 is a port aperture 136 in communication with the tubular port 122 for venting the resonating chamber internal cavity. The combination of two separated speaker assemblies 100, 114 provided within a common structural pole assembly permits the utilization of speakers varying in frequency. For example, the first speaker assembly 100 provides frequencies below human voice and therefore provides a low frequency acoustical output, such as a sub-woofer. The second speaker assembly 114 provides a high frequency acoustical output including human voice and above. With reference now to FIG. 10, the assembled structural pole assembly of FIG. 9 is illustrated. An acoustically transparent skirt 138 has been added atop the structural pole mounting flange 124 and extending to the platform 38 to cover the screws 126 and the gap provided between the sub-plate 116 and the platform 38 while permitting acoustical vibrations to emit therefrom. A range of acoustical vibrations provided by the first speaker assembly 100 is illustrated partially by R1. A range of acoustical vibrations provided by the second speaker assembly 114 is illustrated partially by R2. These ranges of acoustical vibrations can be tuned as discussed above so that the ranges overlap within a target region that will be received by passersby. Accordingly, passersby of the specific thoroughfare will receive a combination of acoustical vibrations encompassing frequencies provided by at least a pair of speaker assemblies resulting in a high quality sound reproduction. In summary, the present invention provides a low cost, simplifed support base 20 for a structural pole 22 providing flexibility for a range of functional equipment to be incorporated therein. While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a structural pole, more particularly to a base of a structural pole. 2. Background Art Structural poles have been utilized for public thoroughfares, sidewalks, landscapes and large interior spaces. These areas include city streets, parks, residential neighborhoods, office buildings, campus areas, exterior walkways, shopping malls, atriums, casinos, and the like. These structural poles include light poles, traffic poles, utility poles, bollards, speaker poles and the like. The poles are fixed to an underlying support surface through various arrangements. For example, the poles may include a direct burial post, a base that is unitary with the pole and can be fastened to the underlying support surface, or a separate base that is fastened to the underlying support surface and receives the pole. For decorative purposes, these bases have been cosmetically enhanced with ornamental indicia cast or formed thereon or, alternatively provided in a cover or apron that may be affixed over the fixed end of the structural pole. Each of these structural pole base examples includes a removable access door or the like for providing access to an internal cavity of the pole so that cables, or wires for power or signals to equipment supported by the pole can be accessed. These access doors provide limited access to the components housed therein and limit the availability of components that can be inserted through the access door. In many thoroughfares it is desirable to provide more than just lighting on a structural pole. For example, electronic sign displays may be mounted to the pole or speaker systems or the like. It is also desirable to provide such auxiliary features to the structural pole while preventing the features from being accessible to the elements or vandalism. It is also desirable to conceal such auxiliary equipment to avoid obfuscating the aesthetic appeal within the given location. Accordingly, the prior art has partially addressed this need by mounting speaker assemblies within a fixed end of a structural pole and spacing the fixed end of the structural pole above the underlying support surface so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker assembly exit the structural pole omnidirectionally. A goal of the present invention is to provide a support base for a structural pole that enhances flexibility in hardware mounting without upsetting the aesthetic or ornamental aspects thereof. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An aspect of the present invention is to provide a support base for supporting a structural pole upon and spaced above an underlying support surface. The base includes a footing region that is adapted to secure the support base to the underlying support surface. A frame extends upward from the footing region and defines an internal cavity for housing hardware that is associated with the pole. The frame is generally open laterally thereabout for permitting access to the internal cavity. A platform is secured atop the frame for mounting the structural pole thereto. The frame is sized to receive an ornamental and protective cover thereabout for enhancing the aesthetic perspective of the base and for protecting the hardware within the frame internal cavity. A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a plate within the frame internal cavity for receiving and supporting the hardware. Another aspect of the invention is to provide a speaker assembly within the frame internal cavity of the support base. The speaker assembly includes a mid-plate supported by the frame, a speaker mounted to the mid-plate, and a resonating chamber. The speaker is oriented so that acoustical vibrations provided by the speaker are directed toward one of the underlying support surface of the support base and the base platform. The above aspects, and other aspects, objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. | 20040623 | 20070522 | 20051229 | 87489.0 | 0 | STERLING, AMY JO | SUPPORT BASE FOR A STRUCTURAL POLE | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,885 | ACCEPTED | Device for transfering data between an unconscious capture device and another device | Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for accessing and distributing data that includes a portable first device and a second device wherein both devices have unconscious capture capability. The first device has a first memory wherein at least one document is stored in the first memory of the first device. The first device has a transceiver, an identifier, and a public key to access a second device. | 1-30. (canceled) 31. A portable apparatus comprising: a wireless transceiver to receive, via wireless communication, a document by a first device and to transmit the document to a second device, such that communication of the document occurs between the first and second devices; a memory coupled to the transceiver to store the document; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor controlling the transceiver to cause the transceiver to receive the document from the first device when the transceiver is within a proximity of the first device and to transfer the document to the second device when the transceiver is within a proximity of the second device. 32. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the processor sends a key to the first device and the document is received encrypted with the key. 33. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein capture of the document into the memory occurs without user intervention. 34. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the first device comprises a multifunction machine. 35. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the first device comprises a copier. 36. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the first device comprises a facsimile machine. 37. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the first device comprises a scanner. 38. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the first device comprises a printer. 39. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 when the second device comprises a computer system. 40. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the memory comprises at least one flash memory. 41. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the memory comprises at least one disk memory. 42. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the transceiver comprises a radio frequency (RF) transceiver. 43. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the transceiver comprises a modem. 44. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 wherein the transceiver comprises an infrared (IR) transceiver. 45. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 further comprising a proximity detector to determine when the transceiver is near the second device. 46. The portable apparatus defined in claim 31 further comprising a directional antenna coupled to the transceiver. 47. A cell phone comprising the portable apparatus defined in claim 31. 48. A method comprising: a portable device sending a first key to a first capture device; the portable device receiving a first encrypted version of a document without user intervention from the first capture device, the first encrypted version of the document having been encrypted with the key; the portable device storing of the first encrypted version of the document internally in memory; the portable device receiving a query requesting an indication as to whether the portable device contains one or more documents to be downloaded; and the portable device transmitting the document without user intervention. 49. The method defined in claim 48 further comprising the portable device decrypting the first encrypted version of the document using a second key. 50. The method defined in claim 49 further comprising: sending the first key to a first device prior to receiving the encrypted version of the document; encrypting the document with a second key; and sending a second encrypted version of the document to the first device for designing the first key. 51. The method defined in claim 50 wherein the first key comprises a public key and the second key comprises a private key. 52. A method comprising: a portable device receiving a document without user intervention from the first capture device; the portable device storing of the first document internally in memory; the portable device receiving a query requesting an indication as to whether the portable device contains one or more documents to be downloaded; and the portable device transmitting the document without user intervention. 53. A method of transferring a document stored in a first memory in a portable device to a second device, the portable device having capture capability and being physically separate from the second device, the method comprising: the second device receiving a public key from the portable device; the second device receiving a document from the portable device without user intervention; the second device performing at least one operation on the document the transaction being one from the group consisting of an encrypting operation, a printing operation, an electronic mailing operation, and a faxing operation. 54. The method of claim 53 further comprising transferring an identifier to identify a user. 55. The method of claim 53, further comprising determining whether the second device is capable of processing the document. 56. The method of claim 53, further comprising determining whether the second device has completed an operation on the document. 57. The method of claim 53, further comprising the second device encrypting data from the document. 58. The method of claim 53, further comprising encrypting a document token. 59. A system comprising: a memory appliance having a wireless transceiver; an office appliance with capture functionality, the appliance having a proximity detector and a wireless transceiver with a directional antenna, the office appliance sending a captured electronic document to the memory appliance using the wireless transceiver after the proximity detector determines the memory appliance is within a predetermined distance from the office appliance; and a computer having a wireless transceiver to receive the electronic document from the memory appliance. | This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/428,129, filed on Oct. 26, 1999, entitled “A Device for Transfering Data Between an Unconscious Capture Device and Another Device,” assigned to the corporate assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to devices capable of unconscious capture capability. More specifically, the invention relates to the unconscious capture of documents with a portable electronic device and the transfer of such documents using the portable device. 2. Description of Related Art Electronically transferring documents between various devices has become an integral part of the work environment. However, the capability to transfer documents between mobile devices is very limited. Usually, in order to send or receive documents with mobile devices, an individual must make a conscious decision to transfer the information. That is, documents are not transferred until the individual performs some action or actions that enable the transfer to occur. Increasingly, it is desirable to have devices capable of unconsciously transferring documents between a mobile device and another device without an individual making a conscious decision to do so and, thus, without the individual having to take action(s) to cause the transfers to occur. Systems for accessing and distributing electronic documents are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,321 issued to Lamming describes a system in FIG. 1 in which a portable device transfers a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to office equipment such as a copier, a facsimile machine, or a printer. Referring to FIG. 1, the office equipment uses the URL to access a document stored on a server. For example, the portable device sends a URL to a printer, which accesses the document from a document database using the URL, in order to print the document. One problem with the system of the '321 patent is that when the document is stored on a network system, the document is not secure from others that have access to the network system. In other words, the document is being transferred to the printer and its only security is based on whether the URL is known or not. Another difficulty in the system of the '321 patent is that the operation of the portable device receiving a URL is performed in response to an explicit user request. To request the device to perform its function, the user must enter some recognizable user identification to the device. Thus, the operation of the device is not unconscious, but instead is conscious. Another prior art device referred to as the “HP CapShare 910” manufactured by Hewlett Packard Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif., is a device that is also capable of transferring a document to a facsimile machine. The HP CapShare 910 system includes a scanner for scanning information and transferring the scanned image to the facsimile machine. This device has the same limitations as the device described above with respect to the system in the '321 patent. Additionally, the user of this device must have authorization by way of user identification to transfer a document to a facsimile machine. Accordingly, conventional devices are limited in that a document must be stored on a second device before an act is performed on the document by the second device. Additionally, these devices do not operate with unconscious capture capability. Therefore, it is desirable to have a system capable of transferring documents between unconscious capture devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A portable apparatus as described. In one embodiment, the portable apparatus comprises a wireless transceiver, a memory, and a processor. The wireless transceiver receives, via wireless communication, a document being unconsciously captured by a first device and to transmit the document to a second device, such that communication of the document occurs between the first and second devices. The memory is coupled to the transceiver and stores the document. The processor is coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and controls the transceiver to cause the transceiver to receive the document unconsciously from the first device and to transfer the document as part of being downloaded to the second device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become more thoroughly apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a prior art system which transfers URLs to devices that access the document using the URLs; and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system having an unconscious capture device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the SMA that synchronizes files between two or more PC's. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to accessing and transferring data from a device with unconscious capture to a portable device and then from the portable device to a third device. In one embodiment, the portable device has a memory capacity to store at least one document and a transceiver for receiving documents and transferring documents to another device, such as a personal computer. Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein. Overview In one embodiment, the portable device is a Shuttle Memory Appliance (SMA) that may be used for unconscious transfer of documents between office appliances (e.g., devices, equipment, peripherals, etc.) and document databases. In one embodiment, the SMA is packaged as a device carried on a belt (like a pager). The SMA has a mechanism for wireless communication and data transfer, a buffer memory (e.g., flash, disk, etc.), and a processor. The SMA is carried by users of SMA-capable unconscious capture devices, such as, for example, photocopiers, facsimile machines, multifunction machines, etc. In the case of the photocopier, when the users make copies on the photocopier, the scanned electronic versions of the copied documents are transferred unconsciously to the SMA. When the user returns to their personal computer (PC), the data on the SMA is unconsciously downloaded to a memory in the PC. In one embodiment, automatic indexing software is triggered on the PC and prepares the document for later retrieval. In another embodiment, the transfer is conscious; the original devices (copier, fax, printer, PC) may contain a user interface that is used to confirm data should be transferred to the SMA before the transfer occurs. For example, the user walks up to the copier, it detects there is an SMA present, and indicates this on the console. The user has the opportunity to confirm transfer to the SMA before it occurs. Using the SMA is advantageous in that it solves a significant security problem for users of unconscious capture devices. The images that are created do not have to exist on a local area network. They can be stored only on the user's PC. The user can then enforce whatever security protection on access to the document they desire. Using the SMA also solves the user identification and routing problem for users of unconscious capture devices. In one embodiment, users are not required to identify themselves to the device by, for example, pressing a button. The SMA performs this identification function automatically when the SMA is within communication range with the unconscious capture device. In the following description, numerous specific details such as various parameters, steps, etc. are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. One skilled in the art will recognize that these details need not be specifically adhered to in order to practice the claimed invention. In other instances, well known steps, etc. are not set forth in order to avoid obscuring the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a system having an SMA-capable office appliance (OA), an SMA and a PC. Referring to FIG. 2, the SMA-capable office appliance 201 includes a multifunction machine with unconscious capture capability 201A, a wireless transceiver 202B, a processor 201C, and a memory 201D. The unconscious capture capability 201 refers to the ability and (functionality) of appliance 201 to create a copy of the document, such as for archival purposes, whenever the device is performing its normal function. For more information on unconscious devices, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/754,721 entitled “Automatic and Transparent Document Archiving,” filed Nov. 21, 1996, assigned to the corporate assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment, appliance 201 comprises a digital copier. Appliance 201 performs unconscious capture in that an electronic version of a document is created for archival purposes while making a copy of the document (in the case of a copier). Appliance 201 could also be a scanner. Such a scanner could be an expensive high speed device. In an alternative embodiment, appliance 201 may comprise a facsimile (fax) machine, or a printer, etc. In one embodiment, the transceiver 202B comprises a radio frequency (RF) transceiver. Such an RF transceiver may include a highly directional antenna and a proximity detector for use in distinguishing SMA 202 from other SMAs. In one embodiment, appliance 201 includes processor 201C which controls operation of appliance 201. Processor 201C may be used to encrypt the data before it is transmitted to SMA 202. A public key system could be used with the public key being transmitted to appliance 201 by SMA 202. In one embodiment, appliance 201 includes a touchscreen user interface to indicate when appliance 201 detects more than one possible destination SMA. The user could indicate the correct destination. In another embodiment, the touchscreen user interface indicates the identity of the destination SMA or its registered user. The user could confirm the identification prior to the data being transferred between the appliance 201 and the SMA 202. The user might also be required to enter a password to confirm his identity. SMA 202 eliminates the need for a network connection. Users of SMA 202 would also not be required to explicitly indicate the destination for the scanned documents. This would be performed implicitly by SMA 202. In one embodiment, SMA 202 includes a processor 202A, a wireless transceiver 202B (preferably PF), a buffer memory 202C, and a touchscreen or a simple display (not shown) plus a keypad (not shown). Processor 202A manages the communication process, including sending the public key of the user to appliance 201 as necessary. Processor 202A also performs the required memory management functions. The operating system and any application-like software run on SMA 202 may include open source alternatives like Linux. A document is stored in appliance 201 and may be transferred to SMA 202 through an RF link, through an infrared (IR) link, or any wireless communication machine. If an IR link is used, appliance 201 and SMA 202 have IR ports that must be in a direct line of vision in order to transfer the document. If an RF link is used, the signal coming from appliance 201 to SMA 202 simply needs to be transmitted without requiring ports to be directly aligned. Prior to document transfer, SMA 202 transmits information to appliance 201 for identification. In one embodiment, this information is used by appliance 201 to select an encryption scheme which the user desires to use or is able to determine its use. In one embodiment, the identification information allows appliance 201 to identify which public key to use to encrypt the document prior to transfer to SMA 202. In one embodiment, buffer memory 202E comprises a flash memory or a Smartmedia memory from Delkin Devices of San Diego, Calif. for storing documents received from appliance 201. The user interface on appliance 201 allows the user to indicate an action to be performed on the data once it reaches PC 203. Actions might include electronic mailing or faxing. In this manner, the user can specify an operation to be performed on the stored document as soon as it is downloaded to PC 203. In one embodiment, SMA 202 also sends information notifying appliance 201 not to archive the document being copied, printed, faxed, etc., onto the network This information may be the same as the identification information. That is, the fact that an SMA 202 is in proximity to appliance 201 and sends information to appliance 201 may cause appliance 201 to automatically stop the automatic retention of an electronic version of the document. In one embodiment, once document transfer has been completed, SMA 202 sends a signal to appliance 201 and informs the user that the document transfer has been completed. Appliance 201 may inform the user in a variety of methods. For example, appliance 201 may have a display with a graphical user interface that may be used for informing the user that the document transfer has been completed. An icon, textual information, or other communication machine may be shown on the display. In another embodiment, appliance 201 may emit a sound to indicate that document transfer has been completed. After receiving a document from appliance 201, the SMA 202 may be used to specify an operation to be performed on the document. The operation may include printing the document, e-mailing the document, faxing the document, encrypting the document, storing the document, or any other type of operation, such as transferring the document to a third device or multiple devices. The user may specify the operation using an input device (e.g., keypad, styles, etc.) on SMA 202. After SMA 202 specified one or more operations to be performed on the document, SMA 202 may optionally encrypt the document and then transfer the document to PC 203. PC 203 then stores the document as a new document or replaces the old document with the document transferred from SMA 202 and performs the specified operation(s). In one embodiment, PC 203 is equipped with a wireless transceiver 203A compatible with SMA 202 as well as the necessary driver and application-level software (not shown). This software runs in the background, e.g., as a Windows Service or Unix daemon. In one embodiment, in normal operation, the software would monitor a specific frequency and periodically attempt to establish communication with its SMA. If successful, it would query whether there are any new documents on SMA 202. If there is one or more new documents, they would be transferred to PC 203. Once stored on PC 203, the documents could optionally be decrypted and stored. In this manner, the downloads can be performed unconsciously for the user. In one embodiment, initialization of SMA 202 is performed by software on the PC 203. In one embodiment, at initialization, this software prompts the user for the serial number of SMA 202 as well as the user's public key. Using this information, the software establishes communication with SMA 202 and sends it the appropriate initialization commands. A user's interaction with SMA 202 could be very limited, it may be as little as changing batteries or tending to certain error conditions, such as memory overflow or hardware reset. In one embodiment, SMA 202 and PC 203 may be coupled in communication using a cable. However, in such a case, the download is no longer unconscious. The documents might also undergo optical character recognition and be indexed for later retrieval. An SMA system could be used to synchronize data between PC's, exclusive of any office appliances. This would allow users to seemlessly maintain the same data on their office PC and their PC at home. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the SMA that synchronizes files between two or more PC's. This is useful for ensuring that the same data is present on the PCs. Every time a user sits down in front of such a PC and opens a file (e.g., a Microsoft Word document), the contents of that file are guaranteed to be the same, no matter which PC the file is opened on. The state-of-the-art requires a manually operated (i.e., conscious) step. Users must insert a device in a cradle, aim a device at an IR receiver and press a button, insert a disk into a disk drive, etc. The system of FIG. 3 eliminates this bothersome and error-prone process by communicating unconsciously with two or more PCs 301 and 303. Every time PC 301 is in proximity to SMA 302, files are transferred to PC 303 via SMA 302 over a wireless communication link using wireless transceiver 301B (e.g., wireless transceiver PCI bus card) of PC 301 and wireless transceiver 302A of SMA 302. At this time, files on SMA 302 that had been uploaded to it by PC 303 (and stored in buffer memory 302C) for transfer to PC 301 are sent to PC 301 over a wireless communication link using wireless transceiver 301B and wireless transceiver 302A. The analogous operations are performed when SMA 302 is in proximity to PC 303. In one embodiment, software is installed on each PC that uses an SMA for file synchronization. Files may be synchronized between more than two PCs. In one embodiment, this application may contain a user interface, a data structure, an operating system upgrade, and software for communication with an SMA. Upon installation on a first PC (e.g., PC 301), a user indicates (using the user interface) his/her identity, encryption/decryption passwords, files that should be exported from the PC, as well as the identity of at least one SMA that are to be used to transfer data between various PCs. The user can also indicate the identity of other PCs (e.g., PC 303) that are to receive data from the first PC. This could be entered manually or it could be selected from a list of alternatives downloaded from SMA 302. In one embodiment, this list includes PCs (other than 301) that communicated with SMA 302 in the past. The data downloaded from SMA 302 may also indicate whether the other PCs (e.g., PC 303) are ready to export any files or directories. In one embodiment, the user indicates whether he/she would like to receive them. In one embodiment, the destination on PC 301 where files from PC 303 are stored is indicated on the user interface. This destination may be exactly the same location the file is stored on PC 303. In this case, the system maintains a mirror (location and contents being the same) of those files and directories. Alternatively, the destination where the files from PC 303 are stored on PC 301 is different (e.g., C:\PC303). The files or directories that a user would like to export from any particular PC are selected with the user interface. Specific files or directories, or entire directory hierarchies may be selected. For example, a user might indicate that every file in the C:\PROGRAMS hierarchy should be exported. The target PC and destination directory for these files on the target PC can also be selected at this time. The data structure maintained by the software application on PC 301 includes a description of the files and directories that are being exported and imported. This description includes their location (e.g., path name), size, date of last modification, date of last transfer to (or receipt from) SMA 302, and one or more checksum values (e.g., MD5 and CRC are well known checksum algorithms). The data structure also maintains information about other PCs (e.g., PC 303) that communicate with PC 301 via SMA 302. In one embodiment, this includes the identifies of those PCs, information about the status of the communication between them (e.g., the last time files were exchanged was 5 days ago), and information about the update status of individual files and directories on PC 303 (e.g., C:\PROGRAMS\WORD\WORD.DLL was last modified 23 days ago). In one embodiment, an operating system upgrade is included to trigger another application whenever a FILE SAVE operation is performed. A modification to the file system performs an interrupt every time a file is saved to disk. The interrupt service routine is passed the name of the file being saved. The interrupt service routine passes this name to the communications software and returns control to the calling application. In an alternative embodiment, a modification to the disk controller driver software performs an interrupt every time it writes a block to a physical disk drive. The interrupt service routine is passed an identification for the block and information that allows it to identify the file in which the block occurs. The interrupt service routine passes this identification to the communications software and returns control to the calling application. In both cases (file system trigger or disk controller trigger), the data structure may be queried and the interrupt performed if the data being written occurs in a file that is being exported or imported. This check could also be done in the interrupt service routine, thereby preventing unnecessary calls to the communications software. In any case, every time a file or block is written, the system data structure is updated and a dirty bit for that file indicating the file or block has been written is set to 1. A value of 1 for the dirty bit indicates that the file has been changed, but the data in the file has not been written to an SMA yet. The communications software on the PC establishes communication with SMAs in its vicinity, as described earlier, and transfers data between the PC and the SMA. After communication is first established (after some interruption), the PC asks the SMA whether it has any files that need to be downloaded. These candidates are files that were uploaded to the SMA at some time in the past (by some other PC) and have never been downloaded to the PC. The SMA supplies the PC the names of these files, their destinations (if known), their last date of modification, their sizes, and their checksums. The communications software compares the information for each candidate file to copies of the candidate file on the PC (if they exist). Information about the copies can be extracted from the data structure. If the last modification time of the candidate file is newer than its copy on the PC and the files are different (e.g., as indicated by the checksum, difference in sizes, or a direct comparison), the candidate file overwrites the copy. Instead of overwriting the file, the candidate might be maintained as a copy on the PC, perhaps indicated by a modified file name and such as an appended version number. The user might also be prompted for confirmation before any file is overwritten. In one embodiment, the PC dynamically uploads data to the SMA. In one embodiment, this procedure includes an initialization mode and a continuous mode. After establishing communication (after some interruption) and performing the download as described above, the communications software enters upload initialization mode. Any files the data structure indicates have either never been uploaded or changed since the last time they were uploaded are now transferred to the SMA. The data structure is modified to indicate this has occurred. In one embodiment, this includes setting the dirty bit for these files to 0. Continuous upload mode is entered after initialization is complete and maintained for as long as communication is maintained between the PC and the SMA. Every time a file is modified (as directed by the operating system update), either the entire file or a portion of it is transformed to the SMA. The entire file is transferred if no copy of it exists on the SMA. Otherwise, a file diffferencing utility is applied to the PC and SMA versions, where the SMA version is the previous version sent to the SMA and only the differences are transferred to the SMA. This can significantly reduce bandwidth usage on the PC bus and in the wireless channel. If this is not a significant consideration, the entire file might be transferred every time it is changed. In one embodiment, the upload mode described herein is dynamic. Previous methods for the synchronization require that an explicit conscious operation be performed (docking, insertion of diskette, pressing a button, etc.) before a user leaves the console of a PC. Dynamic updating, performed unconsciously, allows the user to leave from the console of a PC without performing any conscious act and still allow files to be synchronized with a different PC at some later time. The SMA performs communications between unconscious capture devices and PCs while ensuring that the documents are only stored on the PC and not on a network. The use of the SMA also identifies the user of an unconscious capture device and eliminates the requirement of having the user log in. In one embodiment, the SMA and/or PC may comprise a network attached server that receives documents from unconscious capture devices. One embodiment of such a server is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “An Appliance to Mingle Content from an Unconscious Capture and Retrieval System and an Internet Portal,” filed Sep. 30, 1999, assigned to the corporate assignee and incorporated herein by reference. In the preceding detailed description, the invention is described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to devices capable of unconscious capture capability. More specifically, the invention relates to the unconscious capture of documents with a portable electronic device and the transfer of such documents using the portable device. 2. Description of Related Art Electronically transferring documents between various devices has become an integral part of the work environment. However, the capability to transfer documents between mobile devices is very limited. Usually, in order to send or receive documents with mobile devices, an individual must make a conscious decision to transfer the information. That is, documents are not transferred until the individual performs some action or actions that enable the transfer to occur. Increasingly, it is desirable to have devices capable of unconsciously transferring documents between a mobile device and another device without an individual making a conscious decision to do so and, thus, without the individual having to take action(s) to cause the transfers to occur. Systems for accessing and distributing electronic documents are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,321 issued to Lamming describes a system in FIG. 1 in which a portable device transfers a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to office equipment such as a copier, a facsimile machine, or a printer. Referring to FIG. 1 , the office equipment uses the URL to access a document stored on a server. For example, the portable device sends a URL to a printer, which accesses the document from a document database using the URL, in order to print the document. One problem with the system of the '321 patent is that when the document is stored on a network system, the document is not secure from others that have access to the network system. In other words, the document is being transferred to the printer and its only security is based on whether the URL is known or not. Another difficulty in the system of the '321 patent is that the operation of the portable device receiving a URL is performed in response to an explicit user request. To request the device to perform its function, the user must enter some recognizable user identification to the device. Thus, the operation of the device is not unconscious, but instead is conscious. Another prior art device referred to as the “HP CapShare 910” manufactured by Hewlett Packard Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif., is a device that is also capable of transferring a document to a facsimile machine. The HP CapShare 910 system includes a scanner for scanning information and transferring the scanned image to the facsimile machine. This device has the same limitations as the device described above with respect to the system in the '321 patent. Additionally, the user of this device must have authorization by way of user identification to transfer a document to a facsimile machine. Accordingly, conventional devices are limited in that a document must be stored on a second device before an act is performed on the document by the second device. Additionally, these devices do not operate with unconscious capture capability. Therefore, it is desirable to have a system capable of transferring documents between unconscious capture devices. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A portable apparatus as described. In one embodiment, the portable apparatus comprises a wireless transceiver, a memory, and a processor. The wireless transceiver receives, via wireless communication, a document being unconsciously captured by a first device and to transmit the document to a second device, such that communication of the document occurs between the first and second devices. The memory is coupled to the transceiver and stores the document. The processor is coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and controls the transceiver to cause the transceiver to receive the document unconsciously from the first device and to transfer the document as part of being downloaded to the second device. | 20040622 | 20060801 | 20050106 | 58956.0 | 0 | PEESO, THOMAS R | DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING DATA BETWEEN AN UNCONSCIOUS CAPTURE DEVICE AND ANOTHER DEVICE | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,899 | ACCEPTED | Vehicle console pet seat | A console pet seat. The console pet seat comprises a central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section. A front strap forms a loop for securing to a vehicle console. A rear strap assembly comprises a primary strap with a first end and a second end. A first secondary strap is attached to the first end of the rear strap and a second secondary strap attached to the second end of the rear strap. A tether is attached to the primary strap between the first end and the second end and located in the bed section. | 1. A method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle comprising: placing a console pet seat on a console of said vehicle wherein said console pet seat comprises a front strap and a rear strap assembly; circumventing said console with said front strap; attaching said rear strap assembly to a vehicle structural element. 2. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 1 wherein said rear strap assembly comprises a primary strap and at least one secondary strap. 3. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 2 wherein said secondary strap is attached to said vehicle structural element. 4. The method for providing a pet seat of claim 3 wherein said rear strap assembly comprises a second secondary strap secured to a second vehicle structural element. 5. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 1 wherein said console pet seat comprises a central frame; 6. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 5 wherein said pet seat further comprises a cover over said central frame. 7. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 6 wherein said cover is removable. 8. The method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle of claim 6 wherein said cover comprises a cushion. 9. A console pet seat comprising: a central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section; a front strap forming a loop for securing to a vehicle console; a rear strap assembly comprising a primary strap with a first end and a second end; a first secondary strap attached to said first end of said rear strap and a second secondary strap attached to said second end of said rear strap; a tether attached to said primary strap between said first end and said second end and located in said bed section. 10. The console pet seat of claim 9 further comprising a cover over said central frame. 11. The console pet seat of claim 10 wherein said cover comprises a cushion. 12. The console pet seat of claim 10 wherein said cover is removable. 13. The console pet seat of claim 10 wherein said cover comprises an elastic edge. 14. The console pet seat of claim 9 wherein said front strap comprises a latch. 15. The console pet seat of claim 9 wherein rear strap assembly comprises a woven cloth. 16. The console pet seat of claim 9 wherein said first secondary strap comprises a latch. 17. (canceled) 18. The console pet seat of claim 9 wherein said primary strap comprises a latch. 19. The console pet seat of claim 9 wherein said central frame comprises foam. 20. A console pet seat comprising: a central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section; a front strap forming a loop for securing to a vehicle console; a rear strap assembly comprising a primary strap; and a tether attached to said primary strap and located in said bed section. 21. The console pet seat of claim 20 further comprising a cover over said central frame. 22. The console pet seat of claim 21 wherein said cover comprises a cushion. 23. The console pet seat of claim 21 wherein said cover is removable. 24. The console pet seat of claim 21 wherein said cover comprises an elastic edge. 25. The console pet seat of claim 20 wherein said front strap comprises a latch. 26. The console pet seat of claim 20 wherein rear strap assembly comprises a woven cloth. 27. The console pet seat of claim 20 wherein said primary strap comprises a latch. 28. The console pet seat of claim 20 wherein said central frame comprises foam. 29. A console pet seat comprising: a foam central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section and a removable cover over said central frame; a front strap forming a loop for securing to a vehicle console wherein said front strap comprises a latch; a woven cloth rear strap comprising a latch; and a tether attached to said rear strap and located in said bed section. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to a pet seat for use in a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention is related to a pet seat secured to the console of a vehicle while the pet is restrained by a harness which is, in turn, secured to vehicle structure. It has long been a desire to allow pets to travel in vehicles. It is known that pets traveling in a vehicle can create particular safety problems for the driver including interfering with the steering mechanism or pedals and obstructing the view of the driver. These safety problems are to be avoided. In addition to the safety problems associated with interference there are safety risk to the pet if an accident occurs. In most jurisdictions passengers are required to be secured by safety belts to limit injury if a collision occurs. Pets are not required to be secured and, in the event of a collision, can be catapulted within the vehicle causing harm to the pet or passengers. Many devices have been developed for transporting a pet in a vehicle. Many of these involve a strap, of some type, for securing the pet seat to the vehicle. Examples include the Portable Pet Booster Seat Apparatus of O'Donnell described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,373 wherein the car seat belt secures the pet seat. The pet is unrestrained. A similar apparatus is described as a Pet Carrier Apparatus, also by O'Donnell, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,191 wherein the pet is ultimately secured to the seat post of a bicycle. In most instances the pet is secured to the pet seat instead of directly to the vehicle. While being secured to the pet seat is helpful the ability to adequately restrain a pet during a collision is limited by the structural integrity of the pet seat. It is desirable to have a soft pet seat for comfort. This is contrary to the desire to have high structural strength. Yet another problem with the pet seats available in the art is the fact that they occupy a seat which could otherwise be utilized by a human passenger. It is desirable to place the pet in a place which is otherwise not usable by a human passenger such as on the center console. A pet seat for such use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,787 to Gantz et al. The pet is restrained by a leash to the pet seat. The pet seat itself, however, is only secured from moving in a forward direction. If the vehicle accelerates rapidly, or is hit in the rear, the pet and seat can be dislodged in a rearward direction. Furthermore, the pet seat described by Gantz et al., renders the console inaccessible. Consoles are typically used to store a variety of items. If the console is opened the device of Gantz et al. would easily slide into the rear of the vehicle which is undesirable. There has been a long felt desire for a pet seat which can utilize the console and which does not render the console inaccessible. There is also a desire to provide a pet seat for a vehicle which secures the pet to structural elements of the vehicle thereby enhancing safety in the event of a collision. The present invention meets these goals. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pet seat which can be secured to a console of a vehicle without hindering access to the contents of the console. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pet seat which easily secures the pet to structural elements of the vehicle without alteration of the vehicle. A particular feature of the present invention is the simplicity of design and the ability to remove portions of the pet seat for cleaning. These and other advantages, as will be realized, are provided in a method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle. The method comprises placing a console pet seat on a console of the vehicle. The console pet seat comprises a front strap and a rear strap assembly. The front strap is placed to circumvent the console lid and the rear strap assembly is attached to a vehicle structural element. Yet another advantage is provided in a console pet seat. The console pet seat comprises a central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section. A front strap forms a loop for securing to a vehicle console. A rear strap assembly comprises a primary strap with a first end and a second end. A first secondary strap is attached to the first end of the rear strap and a second secondary strap attached to the second end of the rear strap. A tether is attached to the primary strap between the first end and the second end and located in the bed section. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an inventive pet seat as used in a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pet seat of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken perpendicular to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will be described with reference to the various figures forming an integral part of the present invention. In the various figures similar elements will be numbered accordingly. A console pet seat, generally represented at 1, is shown in FIG. 1 as utilized on a console, 2, of a vehicle. The console, 2, typically comprises a top, 3, which is hinged to allow access to items stored in the console. The console pet seat is specifically designed to allow the top to be opened without having to remove the console pet seat. A front strap, 4, wraps around the top, 3, thereby securing the seat to the console. A rear strap assembly, 11, 12 and 14, which will be described in more detail herein, secures the console pet seat to a vehicle structural element, 5. A tether, 6, is connected to the rear strap assembly and to the pet at a harness, 7, thereby providing a secure attachment between the pet and the vehicle. The console pet seat comprises a bed portion, 20, formed by walls within which the pet resides during travel. Cross-sectional views of the console pet seat are provided in FIG. 2 taken from front to back and in FIG. 3 taken from side to side. The console pet seat comprises a central frame, 8, preferably in the general shape of an open top rectangle with an elevated bottom, 21, and side walls, 22. The central frame is preferably made of closed cell foam due to the advantages of weight, low cost, simplicity of manufacture and flexibility. The central frame can be of unitary construction or manufactured from a floor panel and four side panels glued together as known in the art of foam construction. The front strap, 4, is preferably a single loop passing through grommets, 9, on either side to prevent tearing of the central frame. The front strap, 4, preferably terminates at mating latches, 10, to facilitate securing the front strap around the console. An elastic front strap can be employed. The rear strap assembly comprises a primary loop, 11, with the tether, 6, approximately centrally located thereon and within the interior bed portion, 20, of the console pet seat. At each terminus of the primary loop, 11, is a secondary loop, 12, which, in use, is secured to a vehicle structural element as described further herein. The secondary loop may be attached to the primary loop by passing through a closed terminal loop, 13, formed by sewing or the like, or the secondary loop may be directly attached by sewing, or the like, to the primary loop. Mating latches, 14, at either end of the secondary loop are preferred to facilitate attachment, and removal of the console pet seat from the vehicle. A mating latch, 18, may be incorporated in the primary loop, 11, to facilitate removal of the tether, 6. A cover comprising a backing, 15, such as a fabric or the like is preferred to protect the frame from soil and the like. The cover preferably comprises a cushion, 16, of a soft material on the fabric to provide a soft rest area for the pet. Preferable soft materials include felt, fur and the like. It is most preferable that all elements of the cover be machine washable. A void, 17, in the cover is preferably provided for passing the primary loop, and associated tether, through to remove the cover for washing. The cover may also have an elastic edge, 23, around the lower edge to draw the cover towards the center thereby prohibiting undesirable removal. Grommets, 9, are preferably employed at each passage of the strap through an element of the console pet seat. The rear strap assembly may be rubber, cloth, hemp or any similar flexible material with a low stretch modulus. It is preferred that the strap not stretch significantly as would be appreciated from the description herein. Woven cloth is the most preferred due, in part, to the high strength, low weight, low cost and the ease with which woven cloth straps can be sewn into the various components described herein. Adjustment elements may be incorporated into the strap as desired or into the latches as commonly known in the art. The front strap may stretch more than the rear straps since the front strap is primarily to secure the pet seat to the console whereas the rear straps are primarily to secure the pet within the seat. The vehicle structural element can be a seat belt or a seat structural element such as a seat back strut or seat frame element. One advantage provided by the present invention is the ability to secure the tether to a structural element thereby providing a secure attachment point for the pet. In use, the pet set is positioned on the console. The top of the console is lifted a sufficient amount to allow the front strap to be secured around the console. The rear strap assembly is then secured to a vehicle structural element such that the secondary loop circumvents the vehicle structural element. The straps are drawn tight and the pet seat is ready to accept a pet. It would be apparent that the tether is secured to a harness or collar of the pet. The invention has been provided with particular emphasis on the preferred embodiments. It would be readily apparent from the description herein that other embodiments, alterations and configurations could be envisioned without departing from the scope of the invention which is more specifically set forth in the claims appended hereto. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is related to a pet seat for use in a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention is related to a pet seat secured to the console of a vehicle while the pet is restrained by a harness which is, in turn, secured to vehicle structure. It has long been a desire to allow pets to travel in vehicles. It is known that pets traveling in a vehicle can create particular safety problems for the driver including interfering with the steering mechanism or pedals and obstructing the view of the driver. These safety problems are to be avoided. In addition to the safety problems associated with interference there are safety risk to the pet if an accident occurs. In most jurisdictions passengers are required to be secured by safety belts to limit injury if a collision occurs. Pets are not required to be secured and, in the event of a collision, can be catapulted within the vehicle causing harm to the pet or passengers. Many devices have been developed for transporting a pet in a vehicle. Many of these involve a strap, of some type, for securing the pet seat to the vehicle. Examples include the Portable Pet Booster Seat Apparatus of O'Donnell described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,373 wherein the car seat belt secures the pet seat. The pet is unrestrained. A similar apparatus is described as a Pet Carrier Apparatus, also by O'Donnell, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,191 wherein the pet is ultimately secured to the seat post of a bicycle. In most instances the pet is secured to the pet seat instead of directly to the vehicle. While being secured to the pet seat is helpful the ability to adequately restrain a pet during a collision is limited by the structural integrity of the pet seat. It is desirable to have a soft pet seat for comfort. This is contrary to the desire to have high structural strength. Yet another problem with the pet seats available in the art is the fact that they occupy a seat which could otherwise be utilized by a human passenger. It is desirable to place the pet in a place which is otherwise not usable by a human passenger such as on the center console. A pet seat for such use is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,787 to Gantz et al. The pet is restrained by a leash to the pet seat. The pet seat itself, however, is only secured from moving in a forward direction. If the vehicle accelerates rapidly, or is hit in the rear, the pet and seat can be dislodged in a rearward direction. Furthermore, the pet seat described by Gantz et al., renders the console inaccessible. Consoles are typically used to store a variety of items. If the console is opened the device of Gantz et al. would easily slide into the rear of the vehicle which is undesirable. There has been a long felt desire for a pet seat which can utilize the console and which does not render the console inaccessible. There is also a desire to provide a pet seat for a vehicle which secures the pet to structural elements of the vehicle thereby enhancing safety in the event of a collision. The present invention meets these goals. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is an object of the present invention to provide a pet seat which can be secured to a console of a vehicle without hindering access to the contents of the console. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pet seat which easily secures the pet to structural elements of the vehicle without alteration of the vehicle. A particular feature of the present invention is the simplicity of design and the ability to remove portions of the pet seat for cleaning. These and other advantages, as will be realized, are provided in a method for providing a pet seat in a vehicle. The method comprises placing a console pet seat on a console of the vehicle. The console pet seat comprises a front strap and a rear strap assembly. The front strap is placed to circumvent the console lid and the rear strap assembly is attached to a vehicle structural element. Yet another advantage is provided in a console pet seat. The console pet seat comprises a central frame comprising sides and a bottom forming a bed section. A front strap forms a loop for securing to a vehicle console. A rear strap assembly comprises a primary strap with a first end and a second end. A first secondary strap is attached to the first end of the rear strap and a second secondary strap attached to the second end of the rear strap. A tether is attached to the primary strap between the first end and the second end and located in the bed section. | 20040623 | 20070417 | 20051229 | 62214.0 | 2 | NGUYEN, SON T | VEHICLE CONSOLE PET SEAT | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,874,943 | ACCEPTED | Compressible welded wire retaining wall and rock face for earthen formations | A retaining wall and face for an earthen formation is provided by embedding generally horizontally disposed welded wire soil reinforcing mats within the formation at vertically spaced intervals and securing face members between successive soil reinforcing mats at the face of the formation. The soil-reinforcing mats comprise spaced longitudinal elements extending into the formation and spaced transverse elements welded to and extending across the longitudinal elements in a disposition wherein an outer of the transverse elements extends across the face of the formation and an inner of the elements is spaced inwardly of the face. Each face member is secured between successive upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats by extending an upper portion of the face member behind the outer transverse element of the upper soil reinforcing mat and securing an inwardly extending portion of the face member to connection with an inner transverse element of the lower soil reinforcing mat. Wire baskets are disposed to the interior of the face members to contain a layer of rocks at the face of the formation. | 1. A retaining wall for reinforcing an earthen formation and securing a face of the formation against sloughing, said wall comprising: a. successive, generally horizontally disposed, welded wire soil-reinforcing mats embedded within the formation at vertically spaced intervals, each of said mats having: i. spaced longitudinal elements extending into the formation; and, ii. transverse elements welded to and extending across the longitudinal elements at spaced intervals, with an outer of said transverse elements extending across the face of the formation and an inner of said transverse elements spaced inwardly of the face; b. a welded wire face member extending over the face of the formation between successive upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats, said face member being separate from the upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats; c. an upwardly extending projection on the face member engaged with and disposed interiorly of the outer transverse element of the upper soil-reinforcing mat; and, d. an inwardly extending projection on the face member connected to the inner transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat. 2. A retaining wall according to claim 1, wherein: a. a hook is formed on the inwardly extending projection: and, b. the inwardly extending projection is connected to the inner transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat by engagement of the hook with said inner transverse element. 3. A retaining wall according to claim 2, wherein: a. the inwardly extending projection has a transverse element engaged over the longitudinal elements of the lower soil-reinforcing mat; and, b. the hook extends beneath and hooks around the inner transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat. 4. A retaining wall according to claim 2 wherein the upwardly extending projection comprises prongs extending distally from the face member. 5. A retaining wall according to claim 4 wherein the face member has an upper transverse element disposed for engagement by the upper soil-reinforcing mat as the earthen formation settles. 6. A retaining wall according to claim 1, further comprising a wire basket disposed interiorly of and engaged with the face member, said basket containing rock and extending over the face member between the upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats. 7. A retaining wall according to claim 1 wherein: a. the face member extends interiorly of the outer transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat; and, b. the inwardly extending projection is so connected to the inner transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat as to maintain the face member interiorly of and closely adjacent to the outer transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat as the earthen formation settles. 8. A retaining wall for reinforcing an earthen formation and securing a face of the formation against sloughing, said wall comprising: a. successive, generally horizontally disposed, welded wire soil-reinforcing mats embedded within the formation at vertically spaced intervals, each of said mats having: i. spaced longitudinal elements extending into the formation; and, ii. transverse elements welded to and extending across the longitudinal elements at spaced intervals, with an outer of said transverse elements extending across the face of the formation; b. a first welded wire face member extending over the face of the formation between first and second successive soil-reinforcing mats, said first face member being separate from the first and second soil-reinforcing mats; c. means securing the first face member interiorly of the outer transverse elements of the first and second soil-reinforcing mats, said means permitting vertical movement of the first face member relative to at least one of the first and second soil-reinforcing mats to accommodate settling of the earthen formation; and, d. a first wire basket disposed interiorly of and in engagement with the first face member, said first basket containing rock and extending over the first face member between the first and second soil-reinforcing mats. 9. A retaining wall according to claim 8, further comprising: a. a second welded wire face member extending over the face of the formation between the second soil-reinforcing mat and a successive third soil-reinforcing mat above the second soil-reinforcing mat; and, b. a second wire basket disposed interiorly of and in engagement with the second face member, said second basket containing rock and extending over the second face member between the second and third soil-reinforcing mats. 10. A retaining wall according to claim 9 wherein the first and second baskets are open to one another. 11. A retaining wall according to claim 9, further comprising an uppermost wire basket resting on the third soil-reinforcing mat, said uppermost basket containing rock and having a face generally coextensive with the second face member. 12. A retaining wall according to claim 11, wherein the uppermost basket has a bottom open to the second basket. 13. A retaining wall according to claim 12, wherein the uppermost basket is closed by a cover. 14. A method for reinforcing an earthen formation and securing a face of the formation against sloughing, said method comprising: a. embedding generally horizontally disposed, welded wire soil reinforcing mats within the formation at vertically spaced intervals, each of said mats having: i. spaced longitudinal elements extending into the formation; and, ii. transverse elements welded to and extending across the longitudinal elements at spaced intervals, with an outer of said transverse elements extending across the face of the formation and an inner of said transverse elements spaced inwardly of the face; b. positioning a first welded wire face member over the face of the formation between successive upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats, said first face member being separate from the upper and lower soil-reinforcing mats; c. securing the first face member in place by the steps of: i. providing an upwardly extending projection on the first face member and engaging the upwardly extending projection interiorly of the outer transverse element of the upper soil-reinforcing mat; and, ii. providing an inwardly extending hooked projection on the first face member and engaging the hooked projection with the inner transverse element of the lower soil-reinforcing mat. 15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising positioning a first wire basket interiorly of and in engagement with the first face member, said first basket containing rock and extending over the first face member between the lower and upper soil-reinforcing mats. 16. A method according to claim 14, further comprising: a. positioning a second welded wire face member over the face of the formation between the upper soil-reinforcing mat and a next successive uppermost soil reinforcing mat thereabove, said second face member being separate from the upper and uppermost soil-reinforcing mats; b. securing the second face member in place by the steps of: i. providing an upwardly extending projection on the second face member and engaging the upwardly extending projection of the second face member interiorly of the outer transverse element of the uppermost soil-reinforcing mat; and, ii. providing an inwardly extending hooked projection on the second face member and engaging the hooked projection with the inner transverse element of the upper soil-reinforcing mat. 17. A method according to claim 16, further comprising: a. positioning a first wire basket interiorly of and in engagement with the first face member, said first basket containing rock and extending over the first face member between the lower and upper soil-reinforcing mats; and, b. positioning a second wire basket interiorly of and in engagement with the second face member, said second basket containing rock and extending over the second face member between the upper and uppermost soil-reinforcing mats. 18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising positioning an uppermost wire basket on the uppermost soil-reinforcing mat, said uppermost basket containing rock and having a face generally coextensive with the second face member. 19. A face for securement between vertically spaced welded wire soil-reinforcing mats embedded within an earthen formation, said face comprising: a. an L-shaped body formed with a vertically extending face section and a horizontally extending foot section, said body being of a welded wire construction and having: i. continuous longitudinal wires extending vertically across the face section and horizontally across the foot section; and, ii. transverse wires welded to and extending across the longitudinal wires at spaced intervals; b. prongs extending upwardly from the face section, said prongs being formed by distally extending ends of the longitudinal elements; and, c. hooks extending from the foot section, said hooks being formed by horizontally extensions of the longitudinal elements with distal ends extending laterally from the horizontal extensions. 20. A face according to claim 19 wherein at least one transverse wire is welded to and extends across the horizontal extensions of the longitudinal elements in spaced relationship to the distal ends extending laterally from said horizontal extensions. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the retention of earthen formations with a retaining and reinforcing mechanism made up of vertically spaced welded wire soil-reinforcing mats embedded within a formation, and face members secured to the mats to secure the formation against sloughing. In its more specific aspects, the invention is directed to an improved method and apparatus which accommodates settling of the earthen formation, without bulging of the face members. It is also concerned with an arrangement wherein the face members comprise welded wire gridworks, and a column of rock is contained in baskets to the interior of these gridworks. The prior art relating to the present invention is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,970 to Harold K. Hilfiker, one of the co-inventors herein, and William B. Hilfiker. That patent discloses a retaining wall comprised of L-shaped welded wire gridworks having floor sections which are embedded at vertically spaced intervals in the formation being retained and upright face sections which provide a face for the formation. In the structure of the patent, each successive soil-reinforcing mat is supported on a backing mat carried by the face section of the mat therebelow, and the backing mats are movable relative to the face sections to accommodate settlement of the retained formation, without bulging of its face. Other patents of interest to various techniques which have been provided for securing the face sections of compressible welded wire retaining walls together are William K. Hilfiker U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,505,621, 4,856,939, 5,722,799 and 5,733,072. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a reinforced soil retaining wall for an earthen formation wherein welded wire soil-reinforcing mats are embedded within the formation at vertically spaced intervals and welded wire face members are secured between the mats at the face of the formation. The face members are separate from the mats and so secured thereto as to accommodate settlement of the formation, without bulging. In a preferred embodiment, baskets are provided to the interior of the face members to contain rock at the face of the formation. The invention also provides an improved face member for securement between successive soil-reinforcing mats. The member comprises an L-shaped body formed with a vertically extending face section and a horizontally extending foot section, which body has prongs extending upwardly from the face section for engagement with a mat disposed thereabove, and hooks extending from the foot section for engagement with a mat disposed therebelow, interiorally of the face of the formation. A principal object of the present invention is to provide a soil-reinforced retaining wall for an earthen formation, wherein the face members of the wall are separate from the soil-reinforcing elements and so secured thereto that settling of the formation does not result in bulging of the face members. Another object of the invention is to provide a wire faced retaining wall for a soil-reinforced earthen formation, wherein rock baskets are provided to the interior of the face to contain rock within a relatively narrow vertical column. Still another object related to the later object is to provide such a wall wherein the face has layered sections and a basket is provided to the interior of each section, with successive baskets being in open communication to provide a continuous rock column over the height of the formation. Another object of the invention is to provide such a layered wall wherein the uppermost layer of the wall is provided by a wire basket of greater breath than the baskets therebelow, to provide a buttress for the top of the formation. Still another object of the invention is to provide such a wall wherein the buttress forming basket at the top of the formation is in open communication with the basket therebelow, so that the rock within the buttress forming basket forms part of the column of rock at the face of the formation. Yet another and more specific object of the invention is to provide a soil-reinforced retaining wall for an earthen formation wherein the soil-reinforcing elements comprise welded wire gridworks and the face members of the wall are separate from the gridworks and connected thereto so as to be compressible, without bulging, and to be secured against outward movement by two transverse wires of each gridwork. Another and more general object of the invention is to provide a method of forming a soil-reinforced wall for an earthen formation wherein the soil-reinforcing elements comprise welded wire mats and the face of the wall is comprised of welded wire members separate from the mats, with basket structures to the interior thereof containing a column of rocks extending over the height of the wall. These and other objects will become more apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a soil-reinforced wall constructed according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wall shown in FIG. 1, with parts thereof broken away; FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken within the boundary designated by line 2A of FIG. 2; FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 3G and 3H are diagrammatic views, in elevational cross-section, schematically illustrating the successive steps for constructing a soil-reinforced retaining wall according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view, with parts thereof broken away, illustrating the inventive connection between the face member foot section and the soil-reinforcing mat, as the connection appears before compression of the face member; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevational view, similar to FIG. 4, illustrating the inventive connection between the face member foot section and the soil-reinforcing mat, as the connection appears after compression of the face member; FIG. 6 is a perspective view, illustrating a face member according to the present invention, in the process of being connected to the soil-reinforcing mat disposed therebelow; FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view, illustrating a basket and filter fabric layer being assembled into place behind the face member of the invention; FIGS. 7A and 7B are sectional views taken within the boundaries designated by lines 7A and 7B of FIG. 7; FIG. 8 is a perspective view, with parts thereof broken away, illustrating the face member and basket of the invention engaged with a soil-reinforcing mat therebelow, with a partial layer of rock and backfill in place; FIG. 9 is a perspective view, with parts thereof broken away, illustrating the face member and basket of the invention engaged with a soil-reinforcing mat therebelow, with a full layer of rock and backfill in place; and, FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective view, illustrating the spanning relationship of the rock baskets relative to the face members. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Structure Referring now to FIG. 1, the basic elements are soil-reinforcing mats SM, face members FM, narrow rock baskets NRB, top basket TRB, and filter fabric layers FL. Preferably, the mats and face members, as well as all other metallic components are fabricated of steel and coated with a suitable anticorrosive coating, such as zinc. The soil-reinforcing mats SM and face members FM are of a welded wire construction and typically constructed of W3.5 to W12 wire. The length of the mats SM is determined by the depth of the formation being reinforced. A typical width for the soil-reinforcing mats SM and the face member FM is 8 feet. A typical height for the face members, as measured between the uppermost and lowermost transverse wires thereof, is 36 inches. Typical dimensions for the narrow rock baskets NRB are 8 feet long by 3 feet high by 1 foot deep. Typical dimensions for the top basket TRB are 8 feet long by 3 feet deep by 3 feet high. The soil-reinforcing mats SM have longitudinally extending wires 10 with transverse wires 12 extending thereacross, which longitudinal and transverse wires are welded together at their intersections. The face members FM have longitudinal wires 14, with transverse wires 16 extending thereacross at spaced intervals. The longitudinal wires 14 and transverse wires 16 are also welded together at their intersections. Typical spacing for the wires in both the mats SM and the members FM is 8 inches for the longitudinal wires and 21 inches for the transverse wires. The face members FM are all of the same construction and each comprise a vertically extending face section 18 and a horizontally extending foot section 20. Prongs 22 extend upwardly from the face sections, which prongs are formed by distally extending ends of the longitudinal wires 14. Hooks 24 extend upwardly from the foot sections, which hooks are also formed by distal extensions of the longitudinal wires 14. The baskets NRB comprise welded wire front and rear panels 26 and 28, respectively, secured together in spaced relationship by welded wire diaphragms 30. The diaphragms 30 are a frame like construction; comprising horizontal elements 32 welded to vertical elements 34. Spiral connectors 35, 37 (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) hingedly secure the diaphragms to the front and rear panels. The mesh of the front and rear panels is sufficiently small to prevent fill rock from passing therethrough. The horizontal elements 32 are sufficiently spaced so as to not impede the passage of rock therethrough. The baskets NRB are open at the top and bottom so that rock may pass therethrough. The top basket TRB is of a construction similar to the narrow baskets NRB, except for its depth. It comprises front and rear panels 36 and 38, respectively, and connecting diaphragms 40. The diaphragms 40 comprise horizontal elements 42 welded to intersecting vertical elements 44. The front and rear panels are hingedly secured to the diaphragms by spiral connectors 35, 37 corresponding to those used for the baskets NRB. A lid 48 is hingedly secured to the top of the basket TRB by a spiral connector 50 (see FIG. 2A). The lid is comprised of intersecting welded wires and, upon filling of the basket TRB with rock, is secured in closed condition by a spiral connector 52 (see FIG. 2). Assembly The assembly sequence for constructing a wall according to the present invention is diagrammatically illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3H. FIG. 3A shows the first step of the assembly process wherein a foundation F has been formed at the foot of the formation over which the soil-reinforced wall is to be constructed. As there shown, the top of the foundation is generally horizontal and the first soil-reinforcing mat SM is in the process of being placed. FIG. 3B shows step 2 of the assembly process wherein the foot section 20 of the first face member FM is being secured to the lowermost soil-reinforcing mat SM. This step is shown in more detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein it will be seen that the hooks 24 are engaged beneath a transverse wire 12A spaced one inwardly from the outermost transverse wire 12B, and that the face member is then swung downwardly so that section 18 thereof is in a vertical disposition. In the later condition, the transverse wire 16A of the foot section 20 rests on the longitudinal wires 10 of the soil-reinforcing mat, and the face section 18 is disposed to the interior of the outermost transverse wire 12B of the soil-reinforcing mat (see FIG. 4). As a result, the face member is secured against outward displacement by both the wire 12A and the wire 12B. This has the advantage that the connection between the soil-reinforcing mat and the face member is not dependent upon the integrity of a single transverse wire of the soil-reinforcing mat. At the same time, however, the face member may slide downwardly relative to the wire 12B, as shown in FIG. 5. The provision of such downward movement permits the face member to compress, as may result from settlement of the earthen formation being retained, without bulging. FIG. 3C shows the third step of the assembly technique wherein baskets NRB are placed to the interior of the first course of face members FM and filter fabric layer FL is disposed over the interior of the baskets. This assembly step may be seen, in more detail, in FIG. 7. During the course of the assembly process, hog rings HR are secured between the baskets, face members and filter fabric layers. Such hog rings are shown at the top of FIG. 3C. While the hog rings provide a relatively secure connection, they may bend and release as the earthen formation settles. The step of FIG. 3C also includes backfilling and compacting soil to the interior of the basket NRB to a level of approximately 12 inches, and then filling the baskets NRB with rock to level of approximately 18 inches. This process is continued by successively backfilling and compacting additional layers of soil behind the lower most level of baskets NRB, as depicted in FIGS. 3D and 3E. In the step of FIG. 3D, soil is backfilled and compacted to a level of approximately 24 inches and the basket NRB is filled to its upper level. FIG. 3E shows the next step wherein soil is backfilled and compacted to the upper level of the first layer of baskets. This may be seen, in more detail, in FIG. 9. The step of FIG. 3E also includes placing the next lift of soil-reinforcing mats SM over the backfill soil so that the outermost transverse wires 12B of the mats extend across the face members FM to the exterior of the prongs 22. Through the later interrelationship, as may be seen from the step of FIG. 3F, the second lift of soil-reinforcing mats serves to secure the upper ends of the face members therebelow, against outward displacement, while permitting the members to slide downwardly. This interrelationship is shown in larger detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. It also may be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3F shows the placement of the next course of face members FM over the soil-reinforcing mats supported on the first level of backfill. This placement corresponds to that described with reference to FIGS. 3B and 6. It is completed by swinging the face member so that its face section 18 is near-vertical. Thereafter, the steps depicted in FIGS. 3C, 3D and 3E are repeated until the wall reaches the lower level of the top lift, as seen in FIG. 3G. Upon reaching the later level, the top basket TRB is placed on the top most soil-reinforcing mat SM so that the outside surface of the basket is to the interior of the prongs 22 of the face member immediately therebelow. The lower innermost corner of the basket TRB is preferably spiral connected to the soil-reinforcing mat. Backfill soil is then placed and compacted behind the basket TRB in successive 12 inch lifts as the basket TRB is filled with rock, until the backfill reaches the level of the top of the basket TRB. At this point, the rear top edge of the lid 48 is secured in the closed condition by spiral connectors or hog rings. Thereafter, the filter fabric layer FL to the interior of the basket NRB is wrapped over the top of the basket, as may be seen from FIG. 3H. The final step, in the completed wall, is shown in FIG. 3H. As there illustrated, the backfill has been placed and compacted to final grade. This condition is also seen in FIG. 1. The spiral connector securing the basket TRB to the top of the soil-reinforcing mat SM therebelow is depicted by the numeral 54, and may be seen from FIG. 2. This figure also illustrates how spiral connectors 56 may be used to secure the basket TRB to the longitudinal wires of the soil-reinforcing mat SM. FIG. 10 shows one level of a wall comprised of four face members FM and spanning baskets NRB. This staggered arrangement of baskets and face members insures against sloughing between the face members. All levels of the wall beneath the basket TRB are so constructed. Operation The wall of the present invention functions to both reinforce the earthen formation and to secure its face against sloughing. Reinforcement is provided by the soil-reinforcing mats SM. Securing on the face against sloughing is provided by the face members FM and the column of rock to the interior thereof provided by the baskets NRB and TRB. These baskets are open to one another and, thus, provide a continuous column of rock at the face of the retained formation. The filter fabric layer FL contains the backfill soil to the interior of the baskets. In the event of settling of the earthen formation, the face members FM may move downwardly, as seen in FIG. 5. Such downward movement is provided by the slidable interrelationship between the prongs 22 and the wires 12B at the top of each face member and the slidable interrelationship between the longitudinal wires 14 and the outermost wires 12B at the bottom of each face member. During such settlement, the face members continue to be secured against outward displacement by both the transverse wires 12A and 12B of the soil-reinforcing mats. The transverse wire 16A of each face member maintains the hook in engagement with the wire 12A, with the result that downward compression of the face member functions to bend the longitudinal wires in the foot section of the member downwardly, as seen in FIG. 5. CONCLUSION From the foregoing description, it believed apparent that the present invention enables the attainment of the objects initially set forth herein. In particular, it provides a soil reinforced wall with a rock face wherein the face retaining elements of the wall may accommodate settlement of the earthen formation, without bulging. The number of lifts in the wall may vary, without departing from the invention. The three lift embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the four lift embodiment shown in FIG. 3H, are simply examples. The invention is not intended to be limited by the specifics of the illustrated embodiments, but rather as defined by the accompanying claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to the retention of earthen formations with a retaining and reinforcing mechanism made up of vertically spaced welded wire soil-reinforcing mats embedded within a formation, and face members secured to the mats to secure the formation against sloughing. In its more specific aspects, the invention is directed to an improved method and apparatus which accommodates settling of the earthen formation, without bulging of the face members. It is also concerned with an arrangement wherein the face members comprise welded wire gridworks, and a column of rock is contained in baskets to the interior of these gridworks. The prior art relating to the present invention is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,970 to Harold K. Hilfiker, one of the co-inventors herein, and William B. Hilfiker. That patent discloses a retaining wall comprised of L-shaped welded wire gridworks having floor sections which are embedded at vertically spaced intervals in the formation being retained and upright face sections which provide a face for the formation. In the structure of the patent, each successive soil-reinforcing mat is supported on a backing mat carried by the face section of the mat therebelow, and the backing mats are movable relative to the face sections to accommodate settlement of the retained formation, without bulging of its face. Other patents of interest to various techniques which have been provided for securing the face sections of compressible welded wire retaining walls together are William K. Hilfiker U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,505,621, 4,856,939, 5,722,799 and 5,733,072. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides a reinforced soil retaining wall for an earthen formation wherein welded wire soil-reinforcing mats are embedded within the formation at vertically spaced intervals and welded wire face members are secured between the mats at the face of the formation. The face members are separate from the mats and so secured thereto as to accommodate settlement of the formation, without bulging. In a preferred embodiment, baskets are provided to the interior of the face members to contain rock at the face of the formation. The invention also provides an improved face member for securement between successive soil-reinforcing mats. The member comprises an L-shaped body formed with a vertically extending face section and a horizontally extending foot section, which body has prongs extending upwardly from the face section for engagement with a mat disposed thereabove, and hooks extending from the foot section for engagement with a mat disposed therebelow, interiorally of the face of the formation. A principal object of the present invention is to provide a soil-reinforced retaining wall for an earthen formation, wherein the face members of the wall are separate from the soil-reinforcing elements and so secured thereto that settling of the formation does not result in bulging of the face members. Another object of the invention is to provide a wire faced retaining wall for a soil-reinforced earthen formation, wherein rock baskets are provided to the interior of the face to contain rock within a relatively narrow vertical column. Still another object related to the later object is to provide such a wall wherein the face has layered sections and a basket is provided to the interior of each section, with successive baskets being in open communication to provide a continuous rock column over the height of the formation. Another object of the invention is to provide such a layered wall wherein the uppermost layer of the wall is provided by a wire basket of greater breath than the baskets therebelow, to provide a buttress for the top of the formation. Still another object of the invention is to provide such a wall wherein the buttress forming basket at the top of the formation is in open communication with the basket therebelow, so that the rock within the buttress forming basket forms part of the column of rock at the face of the formation. Yet another and more specific object of the invention is to provide a soil-reinforced retaining wall for an earthen formation wherein the soil-reinforcing elements comprise welded wire gridworks and the face members of the wall are separate from the gridworks and connected thereto so as to be compressible, without bulging, and to be secured against outward movement by two transverse wires of each gridwork. Another and more general object of the invention is to provide a method of forming a soil-reinforced wall for an earthen formation wherein the soil-reinforcing elements comprise welded wire mats and the face of the wall is comprised of welded wire members separate from the mats, with basket structures to the interior thereof containing a column of rocks extending over the height of the wall. These and other objects will become more apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. | 20040623 | 20060425 | 20051229 | 64647.0 | 0 | LAGMAN, FREDERICK LYNDON | COMPRESSIBLE WELDED WIRE RETAINING WALL AND ROCK FACE FOR EARTHEN FORMATIONS | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,094 | ACCEPTED | Charge tags and the separation of nucleic acid molecules | The present invention relates to novel phosphoramidites, including positive and neutrally charged compounds. The present invention also provides charge tags for attachment to materials including solid supports and nucleic acids, wherein the charge tags increase or decrease the net charge of the material. The present invention further provides methods for separating and characterizing molecules based on the charge differentials between modified and unmodified materials. | 1-50. (canceled) 51. A method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a charge-balanced oligonucleotide containing a charge tag under conditions such that a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide containing said charge tag is produced, wherein said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide is contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide from said reaction mixture. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein said conditions comprise treating said charge-balanced oligonucleotide with a reactant. 53. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag is attached to a terminal end of said oligonucleotide, said charge tag comprising a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. 54. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag comprises a dye. 55. The method of claim 54, wherein said dye is positioned between said oligonucleotide and said positively charged moiety. 56. The method of claim 54, wherein said positively charged moiety is positioned between said oligonucleotide and said dye. 57. The method of claim 53, wherein said charge tag further comprises a second positively charged moiety. 58. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag comprises one or more nucleotides. 59. The method of claim 58, wherein said oligonucleotide comprises a sequence complementary to a target nucleic acid, wherein said one or more nucleotides of said charge tag are not complementary to said target nucleic acid. 60. The method of claim 53, wherein said oligonucleotide comprises a first portion complementary to a target nucleic acid and a second portion that is not complementary to said target nucleic acid, wherein said second portion comprises said terminal end. 61. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge-balanced oligonucleotide has a net neutral charge and wherein said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide has a net positive charge. 62. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge-balanced oligonucleotide has a net negative charge and wherein said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide has a net positive charge. 63. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag contains a primary amine. 64. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag contains a secondary amine. 65. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag contains a tertiary amine. 66. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag contains an ammonium group. 67. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag comprises a positively charged phosphoramidite. 68. The method of claim 51, wherein said charge tag comprises a neutral phosphoramidite. 69. The method of claim 51, wherein said separating comprises capillary electrophoretic separation. 70. The method of claim 51, wherein said separating comprises capillary zone electrophoretic separation. 71. The method of claim 51, wherein said separating occurs in a microchannel. 72. A method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides, each containing different charge tags, under conditions such that two or more charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing said charge tags are produced, wherein said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides are contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides from said reaction mixture. 73. The method of claim 72, wherein said separating comprises separating said charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides such that charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing different charge tags are separated from one another. 74. The method of claim 72, wherein said plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprise four or more charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprising different charge tags. 75. The method of claim 72, wherein said plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprise ten or more charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprising different charge tags. 76. The method of claim 72, wherein said plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprise twenty or more charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprising different charge tags. 77. The method of claim 72, wherein said plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprise fifty or more charge-balanced oligonucleotides comprising different charge tags. 78. The method of claim 72, wherein said conditions comprise treating said charge-balanced oligonucleotide with a reactant. 79. The method of claim 72, wherein said charge tags are attached to terminal ends of said plurality of oligonucleotides, said charge tags comprising a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. 80. The method of claim 72, wherein said charge tags comprise a dye. 81. The method of claim 72, wherein said charge tags comprise a positively charged phosphoramidite. 82. The method of claim 72, wherein said charge tags comprise a neutral phosphoramidite. 83. The method of claim 72, wherein said separating comprises capillary electrophoretic separation. 84. The method of claim 72, wherein said separating comprises capillary zone electrophoretic separation. 85. The method of claim 72, wherein said separating occurs in a microchannel. | The present application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/777,430, filed Feb. 6, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08,682,853, filed on Jul. 12, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,567, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to novel phosphoramidites, including positive and neutrally charged compounds. The present invention also provides charge tags for attachment to materials including solid supports and nucleic acids, wherein the charge tags increase or decrease the net charge of the material. The present invention further provides methods for separating and characterizing molecules based on the charge differentials between modified and unmodified materials. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Methods for the detection and characterization of specific nucleic acid sequences and sequence variations have been used to detect the presence of viral or bacterial nucleic acid sequences indicative of an infection and to detect the presence of variants or alleles of genes associated with disease and cancers. These methods also find application in the identification of sources of nucleic acids, as for forensic analysis or for paternity determinations. Various methods are known to the art that may be used to detect and characterize specific nucleic acid sequences and sequence variants. Nonetheless, with the completion of the nucleic acid sequencing of the human genome, as well as the genomes of numerous other organisms such as pathogenic organisms, the demand for fast, reliable, cost-effective and user-friendly tests for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences continues to grow. Importantly, these tests must be able to create a detectable signal from samples that contain very few copies of the sequence of interest. There are a number of techniques that have been developed for characterizing specific nucleic acid sequences. Examples of detection techniques include the “TaqMan” or nick-translation PCR assay described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015 to Gelfand et al. (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the assays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,775,619 and 5,118,605 to Urdea (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference), the catalytic hybridization amplification assay described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,711 to Walder and Walder (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the cycling probe assay described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,876,187 and 5,011,769 to Duck et al., the target-catalyzed oligonucleotide modification assay described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,110,677 and 6,121,001 to Western et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference), the SNP detection methods of Orchid Bioscience in U.S. Pat. 5,952,174 (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the methods of U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,867 to Ullman et al. (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195, 4,683,202, and 4,965,188 to Mullis and Mullis et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference) and the ligase chain reaction (LCR) described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,930 and 5,494,810 to Birkenmeyer et al. and Barany et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference). The above examples are intended to be illustrative of nucleic acid-based detection assays and do not provide an exhaustive list. Each of these techniques requires a detection step for detecting a reaction product that is indicative of a desired target nucleic acid (e.g., detection of cleavage products, extension products, etc.). While a number of advances have been made in the assay methods and detection instrumentation to improve the sensitively, speed, and cost of detection methods the art is still in need of further improved methods, compositions, and systems to make the assays more sensitive and efficient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to novel phosphoramidites, including positive and neutrally charged compounds. The present invention also provides charge tags for attachment to materials including solid supports and nucleic acids, wherein the charge tags increase or decrease the net charge of the material. The present invention further provides methods for separating and characterizing molecules based on the charge differentials between modified and unmodified materials. For example, the present invention provides a composition comprising a charge tag attached to a nucleic acid molecule (e.g., to a terminal end of a nucleic acid molecule). In some embodiments, the charge tag comprises a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. In some preferred embodiments, the charge tag further comprises a dye. The present invention is not limited by the position of the individual modular components of the charge tag. For example, in some embodiments, the dye is positioned between the nucleic acid and the positively charged moiety, while in other embodiments, the positively charged moiety is positioned between the nucleic acid and the dye. The present invention is also not limited by the number of each type of component in the charge tag (e.g., the number of dyes, positively charged moieties, etc.). For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag comprises first and second positively charged moieties. In some embodiments of the present invention, the charge tag has a net positive charge. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag has a net positive charge of 1, 2, 3, etc. In some embodiments, the charge tag possesses a positive charge only under certain reaction conditions (e.g., pH 6-10). In some embodiments, the charge tag further comprises one or more nucleotides. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule to which the charge tag is attached contains a sequence that is complementary to a target nucleic acid. In some such embodiments, the one or more nucleotides in the charge are not complementary to the target nucleic acid. In other such embodiments, the nucleic acid comprises a first portion complementary to a target nucleic acid and a second portion that is not complementary to said target nucleic acid, wherein the charge tag is attached to the second portion of the nucleic acid (e.g., to a terminal end of the nucleic acid that is located in the second portion). In some embodiments of the present invention, the nucleic acid and the charge tag have a combined net neutral charge, wherein the charge tag, in isolation, has a net positive charge. In other embodiments, the nucleic acid and the charge tag have a combined net negative charge, wherein the charge tag has a net positive charge. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the positively charged moiety of the charge tag. Positively charged moieties include, but are not limited to primary amines, secondary amines, tertiary amines, ammonium groups, positively charged metal groups (e.g., caged ions attached to the charge tag through a linking group), and the like. In some embodiments, the charge tag further comprises a positively charged phosphoramidite or a neutral phosphoramidite. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the positively charged phosphoramidite or the neutral phosphoramidite. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tags comprise a novel phosphoramidite of the present invention. For example, the present invention provides a composition comprising a positively charged phosphoramidite. In some embodiments, the positively charged phosphoramidite contains one or more positively charged moieties including, but not limited to, primary amine groups, secondary amine groups, tertiary amine groups, ammonium groups, charged metal ions, and the like. In some embodiments, the phosphoramidite has a net positive charge of one. In some particularly preferred embodiments, the phosphoramidite has the structure: wherein, X is a reactive phosphate group (e.g., PO4) and Y is a protecting group (e.g., dimethoxy trityl [DMT]) and/or a protected group (e.g., DMT-protected hydroxyl group). The present invention further provides a composition comprising a nucleic acid molecule containing a positively or neutrally charged phosphoramidite. The present invention also provides a composition comprising a charge tag attached to a terminal end of a nucleic acid molecule, wherein the charge tag comprises a positively charged or neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the positively charged phosphoramite comprises an amine group, wherein the amine group is not further attached to another molecule (a molecule other than the phosphoramidite). The present invention further provides a composition comprising a neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the neutrally charged phosphoramidite comprises a nitrogen-containing chemical group selected from the group comprising primary amine, secondary amine, tertiary amine, ammonium group, and charged metal ion. In some embodiments, the composition further comprises a nucleic acid molecule attached to the neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule is attached to a charge tag comprising the neutrally charged phosphoramidite. The charge tag may further comprise, in any order, other components. For example, the charge tag may further comprise a positively charged phosphoramidite. In some embodiments of the present invention, the charge tag containing the neutrally charged phosphoramidite has a net positive charge. In some particularly preferred embodiments of the present invention, the neutrally charged phosphoramidite has the structure: wherein X is a protecting group (e.g., dimethoxy trityl group [DMT]) and/or a protected group (e.g., DMT-protected hydroxyl group), Z is a reactive phosphate, and N comprises an amine group. In some preferred embodiments, the N group is N—(CH2)nCH3, wherein n is 0 or a positive integer from 1 to 12. The present invention also provides a composition comprising a solid support attached to a charge tag. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag comprises a positively charged moiety and a reactive group configured to allow the charge tag to covalently attach to a nucleic acid molecule. Any of the charge tags described herein, may be attached to the solid support. The present invention further provides a composition comprising a fluorescent dye directly bonded to a phosphate group, wherein the phosphate group is directly bonded to an amine group. In some embodiments, the composition comprises a charge tag, wherein the fluorescent dye is contained within the charge tag. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the fluorescent dye. However, in some preferred embodiments, the fluorescent dye comprises a Cy dye (e.g., Cy3). The present invention also provides a mixture comprising a plurality of oligonucleotides attached to charge tags. In some embodiments, each oligonucleotide is attached to a different charge tag. In other embodiments, two or more different oligonucleotides have the same type of charge tag. In some preferred embodiments, each of the charge tags comprises a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. While not limited by the number of oligonucleotides attached to different charge tags, in some embodiments, the plurality of oligonucleotides comprises four or more oligonucleotides (e.g., 5, 6, 7, . . . , 10, . . . , 50, . . . , 100, . . . ), each attached to a different charge tag. Any of the charge tags described herein are contemplated for use in the mixtures. The present invention further provides a method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a charge-balanced oligonucleotide containing a charge tag under conditions such that a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide containing the charge tag is produced, wherein the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide is contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide from the reaction mixture. While the present invention is not limited by the means by which a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide is generated, in some preferred embodiments, the oligonucleotides are treated with a reactant (e.g., a nuclease). Any of the charge tags described herein are contemplated for use in the method. While the present invention is not limited by the nature of the separation step, contemplated separation steps include, but are not limited to, gel electrophoretic separation, capillary electrophoretic separation, capillary zone electrophoretic separation, and separation is a microchannel. The present invention also provides a method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides, each containing different charge tags, under conditions such that two or more charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing the charge tags are produced, wherein the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides are contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides from the reaction mixture. In some preferred embodiments, the separating comprises separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides such that charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing different charge tags are separated from one another. Any of the charge tag, oligonucleotide mixtures, and separation methods described herein may be used with this method. DEFINITIONS To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, a number of terms and phrases are defined below: The term “charge-balanced” molecule or oligonucleotide refers to a molecule or oligonucleotide (the input oligonucleotide in a reaction) that has been modified such that the modified molecule or oligonucleotide bears a charge, such that when the modified molecule or oligonucleotide is either reduced in size (e.g., cleaved, shortened, disassociated, unbound, or otherwise altered such that it is part of a complex or molecule having a lower aggregate molecular weight) or increased in sized (e.g., enlarged, elongated, associated, bound, or otherwise altered such that it is part of a complex or molecule having a higher aggregate molecular weight), a resulting product bears a net charge or charge to mass ratio different from the input molecule or oligonucleotide (the resulting molecule thus being a “charge-unbalanced” molecule or oligonucleotide) thereby permitting separation of the input and reacted molecules or oligonucleotides on the basis of charge. The term “charge-balanced” does not imply that the modified or balanced molecule or oligonucleotide has a net neutral charge (although this can be the case). Charge-balancing refers to the design and modification of a molecule or oligonucleotide such that a specific reaction product generated from this input molecule or oligonucleotide can be separated on the basis of charge from the input molecule or oligonucleotide. For example, in an INVADER oligonucleotide-directed cleavage assay in which the probe oligonucleotide bears the sequence: 5′ TTCTTTTCACCAGCGAGACGGG 3′ (i.e., SEQ ID NO:1 without the modified bases) and cleavage of the probe occurs between the second and third residues, one possible charge-balanced version of this oligonucleotide would be: 5′ Cy3-AminoT-Amino-TCTTTTCACCAGCGAGAC GGG 3′ (SEQ ID NO:1). This modified oligonucleotide bears a net negative charge. After cleavage, the following oligonucleotides are generated: 5′ Cy3-AminoT-Amino-T 3′ and 5′ CTTTTCACCAGCGAGACGGG 3′ (residues 3-22 of SEQ ID NO:1). 5′ Cy3-AminoT-Amino T-3′ bears a detectable moiety (the positively charged Cy3 dye) and two amino-modified bases. The amino-modified bases and the Cy3 dye contribute positive charges in excess of the negative charges contributed by the phosphate groups and thus the 5′ Cy3-AminoT-Amino-T 3′ oligonucleotide has a net positive charge. The other, longer cleavage fragment, like the input probe, bears a net negative charge. Because the 5′ Cy3-Amino-T-Amino-T 3′ fragment is separable on the basis of charge from the input probe (the charge-balanced oligonucleotide), it is referred to as a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide. The longer cleavage products are not generally separated on the basis of charge from the input oligonucleotide as both oligonucleotides bear a net negative charge. The term “net neutral charge” when used in reference to a molecule or oligonucleotide, including modified oligonucleotides, indicates that the sum of the charges present (e.g., R—NH3+groups on thymidines, the N3 nitrogen of cytosine, presence or absence or phosphate groups, etc.) under the desired reaction or separation conditions is essentially zero. A molecule or oligonucleotide having a net neutral charge. would not migrate in an electrical field. The term “net positive charge” when used in reference to a molecule or oligonucleotide, including modified oligonucleotides, indicates that the sum of the charges present (e.g., R—NH3+groups on thymidines, the N3 nitrogen of cytosine, presence or absence or phosphate groups, etc.) under the desired reaction conditions is +1 or greater. A molecule or oligonucleotide having a net positive charge would migrate toward the negative electrode in an electrical field. The term “net negative charge” when used in reference to a molecule or oligonucleotide, including modified oligonucleotides, indicates that the sum of the charges present (e.g., R—NH3+groups on thymidines, the N3 nitrogen of cytosine, presence or absence or phosphate groups, etc.) under the desired reaction conditions is −1 or lower. A molecule or oligonucleotide having a net negative charge would migrate toward the positive electrode in an electrical field. As used herein, the terms “complementary” or “complementarity” are used in reference to polynucleotides (i.e., a sequence of nucleotides such as an oligonucleotide or a target nucleic acid) related by the base-pairing rules. For example, for the sequence “5′-A-G-T-3′,” is complementary to the sequence “3′-T-C-A-5′.” Complementarity may be “partial,” in which only some of the nucleic acids' bases are matched according to the base pairing rules. Or, there may be “complete” or “total” complementarity between the nucleic acids. The degree of complementarity between nucleic acid strands has significant effects on the efficiency and strength of hybridization between nucleic acid strands. This is of particular importance in amplification reactions, as well as detection methods which depend upon binding between nucleic acids. Either term may also be used in reference to individual nucleotides, especially within the context of polynucleotides. For example, a particular nucleotide within an oligonucleotide may be noted for its complementarity, or lack thereof, to a nucleotide within another nucleic acid strand, in contrast or comparison to the complementarity between the rest of the oligonucleotide and the nucleic acid strand. The term “homology” and “homologous” refers to a degree of identity. There may be partial homology or complete homology. A partially homologous sequence is one that is less than 100% identical to another sequence. As used herein, the term “hybridization” is used in reference to the pairing of complementary nucleic acids. Hybridization and the strength of hybridization (i.e., the strength of the association between the nucleic acids) is influenced by such factors as the degree of complementary between the nucleic acids, stringency of the conditions involved, and the Tm of the formed hybrid. “Hybridization” methods involve the annealing of one nucleic acid to another, complementary nucleic acid, i.e., a nucleic acid having a complementary nucleotide sequence. The ability of two polymers of nucleic acid containing complementary sequences to find each other and anneal through base pairing interaction is a well-recognized phenomenon. The initial observations of the “hybridization” process by Marmur and Lane, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 46:453 (1960) and Doty et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 46:461 (1960) have been followed by the refinement of this process into an essential tool of modem biology. With regard to complementarity, it is important for some diagnostic applications to determine whether the hybridization represents complete or partial complementarity. For example, where it is desired to detect simply the presence or absence of pathogen DNA (such as from a virus, bacterium, fungi, mycoplasma, protozoan) it is only important that the hybridization method ensures hybridization when the relevant sequence is present; conditions can be selected where both partially complementary probes and completely complementary probes will hybridize. Other diagnostic applications, however, may require that the hybridization method distinguish between partial and complete complementarity. It may be of interest to detect genetic polymorphisms. For example, human hemoglobin is composed, in part, of four polypeptide chains. Two of these chains are identical chains of 141 amino acids (alpha chains) and two of these chains are identical chains of 146 amino acids (beta chains). The gene encoding the beta chain is known to exhibit polymorphism. The normal allele encodes a beta chain having glutamic acid at the sixth position. The mutant allele encodes a beta chain having valine at the sixth position. This difference in amino acids has a profound (most profound when the individual is homozygous for the mutant allele) physiological impact known clinically as sickle cell anemia. It is well known that the genetic basis of the amino acid change involves a single base difference between the normal allele DNA sequence and the mutant allele DNA sequence. The complement of a nucleic acid sequence as used herein refers to an oligonucleotide which, when aligned with the nucleic acid sequence such that the 5′ end of one sequence is paired with the 3′ end of the other, is in “antiparallel association.” Certain bases not commonly found in natural nucleic acids may be included in the nucleic acids of the present invention and include, for example, inosine and 7-deazaguanine. Complementarity need not be perfect; stable duplexes may contain mismatched base pairs or unmatched bases. Those skilled in the art of nucleic acid technology can determine duplex stability empirically considering a number of variables including, for example, the length of the oligonucleotide, base composition and sequence of the oligonucleotide, ionic strength and incidence of mismatched base pairs. As used herein, the term “Tm ” is used in reference to the “melting temperature.” The melting temperature is the temperature at which a population of double-stranded nucleic acid molecules becomes half dissociated into single strands. Several equations for calculating the Tm of nucleic acids are well known in the art. As indicated by standard references, a simple estimate of the Tm value may be calculated by the equation: Tm=81.5+0.41(% G+C), when a nucleic acid is in aqueous solution at 1 M NaCl (see e.g., Anderson and Young, Quantitative Filter Hybridization, in Nucleic Acid Hybridization (1985). Other references (e.g., Allawi, H. T. & SantaLucia, J., Jr. Thermodynamics and NMR of internal G.T mismatches in DNA. Biochemistry 36, 10581-94 (1997) include more sophisticated computations which take structural and environmental, as well as sequence characteristics into account for the calculation of Tm. As used herein the term “stringency” is used in reference to the conditions of temperature, ionic strength, and the presence of other compounds, under which nucleic acid hybridizations are conducted. With “high stringency” conditions, nucleic acid base pairing will occur only between nucleic acid fragments that have a high frequency of complementary base sequences. Thus, conditions of “weak” or “low” stringency are often required when it is desired that nucleic acids which are not completely complementary to one another be hybridized or annealed together. The term “oligonucleotide” as used herein is defined as a molecule comprising two or more deoxyribonucleotides or ribonucleotides, preferably at least 5 nucleotides, more preferably at least about 10-15 nucleotides and more preferably at least about 15 to 30 nucleotides. The exact size will depend on many factors, which in turn depend on the ultimate function or use of the oligonucleotide. The oligonucleotide may be generated in any manner, including chemical synthesis, DNA replication, reverse transcription, PCR, or a combination thereof Because mononucleotides are reacted to make oligonucleotides in a manner such that the 5′ phosphate of one mononucleotide pentose ring is attached to the 3′ oxygen of its neighbor in one direction via a phosphodiester linkage, an end of an oligonucleotide is referred to as the “5′ end” if its 5′ phosphate is not linked to the 3′ oxygen of a mononucleotide pentose ring and as the “3′ end” if its 3′ oxygen is not linked to a 5′ phosphate of a subsequent mononucleotide pentose ring. As used herein, a nucleic acid sequence, even if internal to a larger oligonucleotide, also may be said to have 5′ and 3′ ends. A first region along a nucleic acid strand is said to be upstream of another region if the 3′ end of the first region is before the 5′ end of the second region when moving along a strand of nucleic acid in a 5′ to 3′ direction. The term “label” as used herein refers to any atom or molecule that can be used to provide a detectable (preferably quantifiable) signal, and that can be attached to a nucleic acid or protein. Labels may provide signals detectable by fluorescence, radioactivity, colorimetry, gravimetry, X-ray diffraction or absorption, magnetism, enzymatic activity, and the like. A label may be a charged moiety (positive or negative charge) or alternatively, may be charge neutral. Labels can include or consist of nucleic acid or protein sequence, so long as the sequence comprising the label is detectable. The tenn “sample” in the present specification and claims is used in its broadest sense. On the one hand it is meant to include a specimen or culture (e.g., microbiological cultures). On the other hand, it is meant to include both biological and environmental samples. A sample may include a specimen of synthetic origin. Biological samples may be animal, including human, fluid, solid (e.g., stool) or tissue, as well as liquid and solid food and feed products and ingredients such as dairy items, vegetables, meat and meat by-products, and waste. Biological samples may be obtained from all of the various families of domestic animals, as well as feral or wild animals, including, but not limited to, such animals as ungulates, bear, fish, lagamorphs, rodents, etc. Environmental samples include environmental material such as surface matter, soil, water and industrial samples, as well as samples obtained from food and dairy processing instruments, apparatus, equipment, utensils, disposable and non-disposable items. These examples are not to be construed as limiting the sample types applicable to the present invention. The term “source of target nucleic acid” refers to any sample that contains nucleic acids (RNA or DNA). Particularly preferred sources of target nucleic acids are biological samples including, but not limited to cultures, blood, saliva, cerebral spinal fluid, pleural fluid, milk, lymph, sputum, semen, and animal or plant tissue. As used herein, the term “charge tag” refers to a modular chemical complex that is attached to or to be attached to another molecule, wherein the charge tag has a net charge that differs from the net charge of the other molecule. For example, charge tags may be attached to nucleic acid molecules (e.g., to the terminal end of a nucleic acid molecule). Charge tags contain any number of desired components including, but not limited to, dyes, linker groups, nucleotides, phosphoramidites, phosphonates, phosphate groups, amine groups, fluorescent quencher groups and the like. In a “mixture comprising a plurality of oligonucleotides with each oligonucleotide attached to a different charge tag,” two or more oligonucleotides each possess a distinct charge tag, wherein the chemical makeup of the charge tags differ from one another. A mixture of oligonucleotides, each with a different charge tag, may also comprise additional oligonucleotides. For example, the mixture may contain a first set of oligonucleotides, each with identical first charge tags and a second set of oligonucleotides, each with an identical second charge tags. As used herein, the term “positively charged moiety” refers to a chemical group or molecule that contains a net positive charge. Positively charged moieties may be attached to or associated with other molecules or materials. A composition containing a positively charged moiety may itself have a net positive charge (because of the positively charged moiety or otherwise), but need not. In some embodiments of the present invention, positively charged moieties include, but are not limited to, amines (e.g., primary, secondary, and tertiary amines). For example, in some embodiments of the present invention, phosphoramidites contain a positively charged moiety comprising an amine. Amine groups are often used as linking chemistries for attaching to or more molecules (e.g., attaching a phosphoramidite to another molecule). However, in some embodiments of the present invention, amine groups are not used as linking groups, but are provided to give a molecule a positive charge. Thus, in some embodiments, the amines are attached to a molecule of interest (e.g., a phosphoramidite), but are not further attached to another molecule (e.g., are not attached to a molecule other than the phosphoramidite). As used herein, the term “dye” refers to a molecule, compound, or substance that can provide an optically detectable signal (e.g., fluorescent, luminescent, colorimetric, etc). For example, dyes include fluorescent molecules that can be associated with nucleic acid molecules (e.g., Cy3). As used herein, the term “protecting group” refers to a molecule or chemical group that is covalently attached to a compound to prevent chemical modification of the compound or modification of specific chemical groups of the compound. For example, protecting groups may be attached to a reactive group of a compound to prevent the reactive group from participating in chemical reactions including, for example, intramolecular reactions. In some cases, a protecting group may act as a leaving group, such that when the molecule is added to another compound in a desired synthesis reaction, the protecting group is lost, allowing a reactive group to participate in covalent bonding to the compound. The phosphoramidites of the present invention typically contain one or more protective groups prior to their addition to nucleic acid molecules. For example, the reactive phosphate of the phosphoramidite (i.e., the phosphate group that is covalently attached to another molecule when the phosphoramidite is added to the other molecule) may contain one or more protecting groups. A detailed description of phosphoramidites and their addition to nucleic acid molecules is provided Beaucage and Iyer (Tetrahedron 49:1925 [1993]), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. As used herein, the terms “solid support” or “support” refer to any material that provides a solid or semi-solid structure with which another material can be attached. Such materials include smooth supports (e.g., metal, glass, plastic, silicon, and ceramic surfaces) as well as textured and porous materials. Such materials also include, but are not limited to, gels, rubbers, polymers, and other non-rigid materials. Solid supports need not be flat. Supports include any type of shape including spherical shapes (e.g., beads). Materials attached to solid support may be attached to any portion of the solid support (e.g., may be attached to an interior portion of a porous solid support material). Preferred embodiments of the present invention have biological molecules such as nucleic acid molecules, charge tags, and proteins attached to solid supports. A biological material is “attached” to a solid support when it is associated with the solid support through a non-random chemical or physical interaction. In some preferred embodiments, the attachment is through a covalent bond. However, attachments need not be covalent or permanent. In some embodiments, materials are attached to a solid support through a “spacer molecule” or “linking group.” Such spacer molecules are molecules that have a first portion that attaches to the biological material and a second portion that attaches to the solid support. Thus, when attached to the solid support, the spacer molecule separates the solid support and the biological materials, but is attached to both. As used herein, the term “directly bonded,” in reference to two molecules refers to covalent bonding between the two molecules without any intervening linking group or spacer groups that are not part of parent molecules. As used herein, the terms “linking group” and “linker group” refer to an atom or molecule that links or bonds two entities (e.g., solid supports, oligonucleotides, or other molecules), but that is not a part of either of the individual linked entities. As used herein, the term “reactant,” when referring to an agent that is used to generate charge-unbalanced molecules from charge-balanced molecules, refers to any agent (e.g., enzyme, chemical, physical device, etc.) that can alter a charge-balanced molecule such that a charge-unbalanced molecule is created. As used herein, the methods of “capillary electrophoresis,” “capillary zone electrophoresis,” and “microfluids” refer to methods for use in the separation methods of the present invention. The methods of capillary electrophoresis, capillary zone electrophoresis, and microfluids are described in texts and journals including, but not limited to, Baker (1995) Capillary Electrophoresis, Wiley-lnterscience, New York, N.Y., Weinberger (2000) Capillary Electrophoresis, Second Edition, Academic Press, San Deigo, Calif., Atamna et al., J. Liq. Chromatogr., 13:2517 (1990), Nishi et al., Anal. Chem., 61:2434 (1989), Terabe et al., Anal. Chem., 56:111 (1984), Bousse et al., Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biomol. Struct., 29:155 (2000), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,916,426, 5,807,682, 5,703,222, 5,470,705, 5,777,096, and 5,514,543, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. As used herein, the term “kit” refers to any delivery system for delivering materials. In the context of reaction assays, such delivery systems include systems that allow for the storage, transport, or delivery of reaction reagents (e.g., oligonucleotides, enzymes, etc. in the appropriate containers) and/or supporting materials (e.g., buffers, written instructions for performing the assay etc.) from one location to another. For example, kits include one or more enclosures (e.g., boxes) containing the relevant reaction reagents and/or supporting materials. As used herein, the term “fragmented kit” refers to a delivery systems comprising two or more separate containers that each contain a subportion of the total kit components. The containers may be delivered to the intended recipient together or separately. For example, a first container may contain an enzyme for use in an assay, while a second container contains oligonucleotides. The term “fragmented kit” is intended to encompass kits containing Analyte specific reagents (ASR's) regulated under section 520(e) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, but are not limited thereto. Indeed, any delivery system comprising two or more separate containers that each contain a subportion of the total kit components are included in the term “fragmented kit.” In contrast, a “combined kit” refers to a delivery system containing all of the components of a reaction assay in a single container (e.g., in a single box housing each of the desired components). The term “kit” includes both fragmented and combined kits. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the chemical structure of several positively charged heterodimeric DNA-binding dyes. FIG. 2 is the image generated by a fluorescence imager showing thermal degradation of oligonucleotides containing or lacking a 3′ phosphate group. FIG. 3 depicts the structure of amino-modified oligonucleotides 70 and 74. FIG. 4a depicts the structure of amino-modified oligonucleotide 75. FIG. 4b depicts the structure of amino-modified oligonucleotide 76. FIG. 5 diagrams the steps leading to the formation of a reactive H-phosphonate intermediate. The wavy lines shown linking the various constituents of these compositions in this and other drawings represent any organic group that can serve this linking purpose. FIG. 6 diagrams the conversion step leading to the synthesis of V and VI compounds. FIG. 7 illustrates the creation of an additional compound VII by altering the order of addition of the constituents (compared, e.g., with the order leading to the creation of compound VI, FIG. 6). FIG. 8 illustrates several possible modification configurations for a probe containing two points of modification. FIG. 9 diagrams the process of introducing a reporter group (e.g., a dye) into a synthesized compound using H-phosphonate chemistry. FIG. 10 diagrams the release of a positively-charged tag from an oligonucleotide by cleavage in an INVADER assay. FIG. 11 diagrams five different charge tags, shown as they would be attached to an oligonucleotide. FIG. 12 diagrams a chiral phosphoramidite. FIG. 13 diagrams the conversion of a phosphoramidite group to a phosphodiester linkage, as during oligonucleotide synthesis. FIG. 14 diagrams the general structures of neutral (A) and positively charged (B) phosphoramidites. FIG. 15 illustrates several possible combinations in the synthesis of a charge balanced probe, using one each of dye, building block, neutral and positively charged phosphoramidites. FIG. 16 diagrams examples of synthesized neutral and positively charged phosphoramidites. FIG. 17 shows the structures of a group of charge balances oligonucleotide probes made using neutral and positively charged phosphoramidites. FIG. 18 is the image generated by a fluorescence imager scan of an IEF gel showing the migration of substrates 70, 70dp, 74, 74dp, 75, 75dp, 76 and 76dp. FIG. 19A provides a schematic showing an arrangement of a target-specific INVADER oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NO:2) and a target-specific probe oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NO:1) bearing a 5′ Cy3 label along a target nucleic acid (SEQ ID NO:49). FIG. 19B is the image generated by a fluorescence imager showing the detection of specific cleavage products generated in an invasive cleavage assay using charge reversal (i.e., charge based separation of cleavage products). FIG. 20 is the image generated by a fluorescence imager that depicts the sensitivity of detection of specific cleavage products generated in an invasive cleavage assay using charge reversal. FIGS. 21A and 21B are images generated by a fluorescence imager showing the products produced using the CLEAVASE A/G and Pfu FEN-1 nucleases and probes having or lacking a 5′ positive charge; the gel shown in FIG. 21A was run in the standard direction and the gel shown in FIG. 21B was run in the reverse direction. FIG. 22 shows a graph comparing rates of cleavage of charge-modified probes. FIG. 23A shows a schematic diagram of an H-phosphonate (HP)-charge modified probe in an invasive cleavage. FIG. 23B diagrams the structures of the charge-modified nucleoside (dN) and hexanol (HEX) tags. FIG. 24A is an image generated by a fluorescence imager showing the products of cleavage of 5 different charge-balanced probes, resolved by gel electrophoresis run in the standard direction. FIG. 24B is an image generated by a fluorescence imager showing the products of cleavage of 5 different charge-balanced probes, resolved by gel electrophoresis run in the reverse direction. FIG. 25 shows a graph comparing the rates of cleavage of five charge balanced probes and one fluorescein-labeled control probe. FIG. 26A shows a graph comparing the rates of specific signal accumulation in reaction performed for different times, ranging from one to twenty four hours. FIG. 26B shows a graph comparing the amounts of background signal detected in reactions performed for different times, ranging from one to twenty four hours. FIG. 27 is an image generated by a fluorescence imager showing the products of cleavage of four different charge-balanced probes, either alone or combined in a single lane, resolved by gel electrophoresis run in the reverse direction. FIG. 28A shows a schematic diagram of oligonucleotides used for the detection of human MCP-1 RNA in a cascading cleavage reaction releasing a charge tag for detection. FIG. 28B shows a schematic diagram of oligonucleotides used for the detection of human Ubiquitin RNA in a cascading cleavage reaction releasing a charge tag for detection. FIG. 29 is an image generated by a fluorescence imager showing the products of INVADER assays for the detection of human MCP-1 and ubiquitin mRNAs alone or combined in the same reaction. Products were resolved by gel electrophoresis run in the reverse direction. FIG. 30A shows images generated by a fluorescence imager, comparing the products of INVADER assays for the detection of human MCP-1 and ubiquitin RNAs either alone or combined in the same reaction, and resolved by gel electrophoresis run in either the reverse or normal polarity. FIG. 30B shows images generated by a fluorescence imager, comparing the products of INVADER assays for the detection of human MCP-1 and ubiquitin RNAs either alone or combined in the same reaction, and resolved by gel electrophoresis run in either the reverse or normal polarity. FIG. 31 shows micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MECC) profiles showing the effects of sample buffer components on CE resolution. FIG. 32 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of injection time on CE resolution. FIG. 33 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of capillary type on CE resolution. FIG. 34 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of ionic strength of the separation buffer on CE resolution. FIG. 35 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of the pH of the separation buffer on CE resolution. FIG. 36 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of the concentration of Bis-Tris borate buffer on CE resolution. FIG. 37 shows MECC profiles showing the effects of the detergent of the efficiency of CE resolution. FIG. 38 shows MECC profiles for the four net positively charged tags, 5′-V-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dA)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dG)-Cy3-C-3′, and 5′-V-(dT)-Cy3-C-3′, separated individually and as an equimolar mixture of all four molecules. FIG. 39 shows MECC profiles demonstrating the effect of the use of a fresh capillary on the separation of the tag mixture shown in FIG. 38. FIG. 40 shows MECC profiles for each of six net positively charged tags separated individually or as an equimolar mixture of all six molecules. FIG. 41 shows images generated by a fluorescence imager comparing the mobility of 5′-Tagl-G-3′ or 5′-Tag2-G-3′ under the conditions of a denaturing gel (A) to the mobility under conditions of a native gel (B). DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As described above, some nucleic acid-based detection assays involve the elongation and/or shortening of oligonucleotide probes. For example, as described herein, the primer-directed, primer-independent, and INVADER-directed cleavage assays, as well as the “nibbling” assay all involve the cleavage (i.e., shortening) of oligonucleotides as a means for detecting the presence of a target nucleic sequence. Examples of other detection assays that involve the shortening of an oligonucleotide probe include the “TaqMan” or nick-translation PCR assay, the assays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,775,619 and 5,118,605 to Urdea, the catalytic hybridization amplification assay described in of Walder and Walder, the cycling probe assay of Duck et al., and the target-catalyzed oligonucleotide modification assay of Western. Examples of detection assays that involve the elongation of an oligonucleotide probe (or primer) include the SNP detection methods of Orchid Bioscience in U.S. Pat. 5,952,174, the methods of U.S. Pat. 5,882,867 to Ullman et al., the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the ligase chain reaction (LCR). The above examples are intended to be illustrative of nucleic acid-based detection assays that involve the elongation and/or shortening of oligonucleotide probes and do not provide an exhaustive list. Typically, nucleic acid-based detection assays that involve the elongation and/or shortening of oligonucleotide probes require post-reaction analysis to detect the products of the reaction. It is common that the specific reaction product(s) must be separated from the other reaction components, including the input or unreacted oligonucleotide probe. One detection technique involves the electrophoretic separation of reacted and unreacted oligonucleotide probes. When the assay involves the cleavage or shortening of a probe, the unreacted product will be longer than the reacted or cleaved product. When the assay involves the elongation of a probe (or primer), the reaction products will be greater in length than the unreacted probes. Gel-based electrophoresis of a sample containing nucleic acid molecules of different lengths separates these fragments primarily on the basis of size. This is due to the fact that, in solutions having a neutral or alkaline pH, nucleic acids having widely different sizes (i.e., molecular weights) possess very similar charge-to-mass ratios and do not separate based solely on charge (Andrews, Electrophoresis, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press (1986), pp. 153-154). The gel matrix acts as a molecular sieve and allows nucleic acids to be separated on the basis of size and shape (e.g., linear, relaxed circular or covalently closed supercoiled circles). Unmodified nucleic acids have a net negative charge due to the presence of negatively charged phosphate groups contained within the sugar-phosphate backbone of the nucleic acid. Typically, the sample is applied to gel near the negative pole and the nucleic acid fragments migrate into the gel toward the positive pole with the smallest fragments moving fastest through the gel. For gel electrophoresis to effectively resolve different fragments (i.e., to make them distinguishable from each other), the differences in size or shape must be great enough to cause perceptible differences in the rates of migration of the different fragments through the gel. The present invention provides novel compositions and methods for characterizing molecules, including nucleic acid molecules, based on differences in charge between starting molecules and molecules that have undergone a modification to add or remove one or more chemical constituents. For example, the present invention provides novel methods and compositions for modifying nucleic acid molecules wherein a cleaved or elongated nucleic acid molecule contains a different charge than unmodified nucleic acids, allowing for the efficient separation and detection of the reacted molecules. While the charge-based separation methods of the present invention are applicable to any number of systems (e.g., separation and characterization of products and intermediates in chemical synthesis and drug design), and are not limited to the use of nucleic acids, the following description focuses on nucleic acid applications to illustrate certain preferred aspects of the present invention. The detailed description of the invention is presented in the following sections: I. Fractionation of Specific Nucleic Acids by Selective Charge Reversal a. Applications in INVADER assay cleavage reactions II. Positively Charged Moieties in the Synthesis of Charge-Balanced Molecules a. H-phosphonate Chemistry b. A New Class of Phosphoramidite Building Blocks I. Fractionation of Specific Nucleic Acids by Selective Charge Reversal The present invention provides a novel means for fractionating nucleic acid fragments on the basis of charge. This novel separation technique is related to the observation that positively charged adducts can affect the electrophoretic behavior of small oligonucleotides because the charge of the adduct is significant relative to charge of the whole complex. In addition to the use of positively charged adducts (e.g., Cy3 and Cy5 fluorescent dyes, the positively charged heterodimeric DNA-binding dyes shown in FIG. 1, etc.), the oligonucleotide may contain amino acids (particularly useful amino acids are the charged amino acids: lysine, arginine, asparate, glutamate), polypeptides, modified bases, such as amino-modified bases, charged ions or metals, a phosphonate backbone (at all or a subset of the positions), or any other chemical or molecular constituent that adds to the net positive charge of the oligonucleotide. In other embodiments, as discussed further below, a neutral dye or detection moiety (e.g., biotin, streptavidin, etc.) may be employed in place of a positively charged adduct, in conjunction with the use of amino-modified bases and/or a complete or partial phosphonate backbone. This observed effect is of particular utility in assays based on the cleavage of DNA molecules. Using the INVADER assays described herein as an example, when an oligonucleotide is shortened through the action of a CLEAVASE enzyme or other cleavage agent, the positive charge can be made to not only significantly reduce the net negative charge, but to actually override it, effectively “flipping” the net charge of the labeled entity. This reversal of charge allows the products of target-specific cleavage to be partitioned from uncleaved probe by extremely simple means. For example, the products of cleavage can be made to migrate towards a negative electrode placed at any point in a reaction vessel, for focused detection without gel-based electrophoresis. When a slab gel is used, sample wells can be positioned in the center of the gel, so that the cleaved and uncleaved probes can be observed to migrate in opposite directions. Alternatively, a traditional vertical gel can be used, but with the electrodes reversed relative to usual DNA gels (i.e., the positive electrode at the top and the negative electrode at the bottom) so that the cleaved molecules enter the gel, while the uncleaved disperse into the upper reservoir of electrophoresis buffer. Similarly, the electrodes of a capillary or microchannel device can be configured so that positively charged cleaved molecules preferentially enter the capillary or channel for separation. An significant benefit of this type of readout is the absolute nature of the partition of products from substrates (i.e., the separation may be as high as 100%). This means that an abundance of uncleaved probe can be supplied to drive the hybridization step of a probe-based assay, yet the unconsumed (i.e., unreacted) probe can, in essence, be subtracted from the result to reduce background by virtue of the fact that the unreacted probe will not migrate toward the same pole as the specific reaction product. Through the use of multiple positively charged adducts, synthetic molecules can be constructed with sufficient modification that the normally negatively charged strand is made nearly neutral. When so constructed, the presence or absence of a single phosphate group can mean the difference between a net negative or a net positive charge. This observation has particular utility when one objective is to discriminate between enzymatically generated fragments of DNA, which generally lack a 3′ phosphate, and the products of thermal degradation, which generally retain a 3′ phosphate (and thus two additional negative charges, FIG. 2). Examples 1 and 2 demonstrate the ability to separate positively charged reaction products from a net negatively charged substrate oligonucleotide. As discussed in these examples, oligonucleotides may be transformed from net negative to net positively charged compounds. In Example 2, the positively charged dye, Cy3 was incorporated at the 5′ end of a 22-mer (SEQ ID NO:1) which also contained two amino-substituted residues at the 5′ end of the oligonucleotide; this oligonucleotide probe carries a net negative charge. After cleavage, which occurred 2 nucleotides into the probe, the following labeled oligonucleotide was released: 5′-Cy3-Amino-TAmino-T-3′ (in addition to unlabeled fragment comprising the remaining 20 nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:1). This short fragment bears a net positive charge while the remainder of the cleaved oligonucleotide and the unreacted or input oligonucleotide bear net negative charges. The present invention contemplates embodiments wherein the specific reaction product produced by any cleavage of any oligonucleotide or molecule can be designed to carry a net positive charge while the unreacted molecule is charge neutral or carries a net negative charge. The present invention also contemplates embodiments where the released product may be designed to carry a net negative charge while the input nucleic acid carries a net positive charge. Depending on the length of the released product to be detected, positively charged dyes may be incorporated at the one end of the probe and modified bases may be placed along the oligonucleotide such that upon cleavage, the released fragment containing the positively charged dye carries a net positive charge. Amino-modified bases may be used to balance the charge of the released fragment in cases where the presence of the positively charged adduct (e.g., dye) alone is not sufficient to impart a net positive charge on the released fragment. In addition, the phosphate backbone may be replaced with a phosphonate backbone at a level sufficient to impart a net positive charge (this is particularly useful when the sequence of the oligonucleotide is not amenable to the use of amino-substituted bases); FIGS. 3 and 4 show the structure of short oligonucleotides containing a phosphonate group on the second T residue). An oligonucleotide containing a fully phosphonate-substituted backbone would be charge neutral (absent the presence of modified charged residues bearing a charge or the presence of a charged adduct) due to the absence of the negatively charged phosphate groups. Phosphonate-containing nucleotides (e.g., methylphosphonate-containing nucleotides) are readily available and can be incorporated at any position of an oligonucleotide during synthesis using techniques that are well known in the art. In essence, in these embodiments the invention contemplates the use of charge-BASED separation to permit the separation of specific reaction products from the input oligonucleotides in nucleic acid-based detection assays. The foundation of this novel separation technique is the design and use of oligonucleotide probes (typically termed “primers” in the case of PCR) that are “charge balanced” so that upon either cleavage or elongation of the probe it becomes “charge unbalanced,” and the specific reaction products may be separated from the input reactants on the basis of the net charge. In some embodiments, in the context of assays that involve the elongation of an oligonucleotide probe (i.e., a primer), such as is the case in PCR, the input primers are designed to carry a net positive charge. Elongation of the short oligonucleotide primer during polymerization will generate PCR products that now carry a net negative charge. The specific reaction products may then easily be separated and concentrated away from the input primers using the charge-based separation technique described herein. a. Applications in INVADER assay cleavage reactions i. Detection of Specific Nucleic Acid Sequences Using 5′ Nucleases in an INVADER Directed Cleavage Assay The present invention finds application in the detection of cleavage products generated in the INVADER assay. The IVADER assay provides means for forming a nucleic acid cleavage structure that is dependent upon the presence of a target nucleic acid and cleaving the nucleic acid cleavage structure so as to release distinctive cleavage products. 5′ nuclease activity, for example, is used to cleave the target-dependent cleavage structure and the resulting cleavage products are indicative of the presence of specific target nucleic acid sequences in the sample. When two strands of nucleic acid, or oligonucleotides, both hybridize to a target nucleic acid strand such that they form an overlapping invasive cleavage structure, as described below, invasive cleavage can occur. Through the interaction of a cleavage agent (e.g., a 5′ nuclease) and the upstream oligonucleotide, the cleavage agent can be made to cleave the downstream oligonucleotide at an internal site in such a way that a distinctive fragment is produced. Such embodiments have been termed the INVADER assay (Third Wave Technologies) and are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,846,717, 5,985,557, 5,994,069, 6,001,567, and 6,090,543 and PCT Publications WO 97/27214 and WO 98/42873, herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. The INVADER assay further provides assays in which the target nucleic acid is reused or recycled during multiple rounds of hybridization with oligonucleotide probes and cleavage of the probes without the need to use temperature cycling (i.e., for periodic denaturation of target nucleic acid strands) or nucleic acid synthesis (i.e., for the polymerization-based displacement of target or probe nucleic acid strands). When a cleavage reaction is run under conditions in which the probes are continuously replaced on the target strand (e.g. through probe-probe displacement or through an equilibrium between probe/target association and disassociation, or through a combination comprising these mechanisms, (Reynaldo et al., J. Mol. Biol. 97:511 [2000])), multiple probes can hybridize in turn to the same target, allowing multiple cleavages, and the generation of multiple cleavage products. By the extent of its complementarity to a target nucleic acid strand, an oligonucleotide may be said to define a specific region of said target. In an invasive cleavage structure, the two oligonucleotides define and hybridize to regions of the target that are adjacent to one another (i.e., regions without any additional region of the target between them). Either or both oligonucleotides may comprise additional portions that are not complementary to the target strand. In addition to hybridizing adjacently, in order to form an invasive cleavage structure, the 3′ end of the upstream oligonucleotide must comprise an additional moiety. When both oligonucleotides are hybridized to a target strand to form a structure and such a 3′ moiety is present on the upstream oligonucleotide within the structure, the oligonucleotides may be said to overlap, and the structure may be described as an overlapping, or invasive cleavage structure. In one embodiment, the 3′ moiety of the invasive cleavage structure is a single nucleotide. In this embodiment the 3′ moiety may be any nucleotide (i.e., it may be, but it need not be complementary to the target strand). In a preferred embodiment, the 3′ moiety is a single nucleotide that is not complementary to the target strand. In another embodiment, the 3′ moiety is a nucleotide-like compound (i.e., a moiety having chemical features similar to a nucleotide, such as a nucleotide analog or an organic ring compound; See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,557). In yet another embodiment the 3′ moiety is one or more nucleotides that duplicate in sequence one or more nucleotides present at the 5′ end of the hybridized region of the downstream oligonucleotide. In a further embodiment, the duplicated sequence of nucleotides of the 3′ moiety is followed by a single nucleotide that is not further duplicative of the downstream oligonucleotide sequence, and that may be any other nucleotide. In yet another embodiment, the duplicated sequence of nucleotides of the 3′ moiety is followed by a nucleotide-like compound, as described above. The downstream oligonucleotide may have additional moieties attached to either end of the region that hybridizes to the target nucleic acid strand. In a preferred embodiment, the additional moiety comprises a tag of the present invention. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the downstream oligonucleotide comprises a tag or other moiety at its 5′ end (i.e., a 5′ moiety). When an overlapping cleavage structure is formed, it can be recognized and cleaved by a nuclease that is specific for this structure (i.e., a nuclease that will cleave one or more of the nucleic acids in the overlapping structure based on recognition of this structure, rather than on recognition of a nucleotide sequence of any of the nucleic acids forming the structure). Such a nuclease may be termed a “structure-specific nuclease.” In some embodiments, the structure-specific nuclease is a 5′ nuclease. In a preferred embodiment, the structure-specific nuclease is the 5′ nuclease of a DNA polymerase. In another preferred embodiment, the DNA polymerase having the 5′ nuclease is synthesis-deficient. In another preferred embodiment, the 5′ nuclease is a FEN-1 endonuclease. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the 5′ nuclease is thermostable. In some embodiments, the structure-specific nuclease preferentially cleaves the downstream oligonucleotide. In a preferred embodiment, the downstream oligonucleotide is cleaved one nucleotide into the 5′ end of the region that is hybridized to the target within the overlapping structure. Cleavage of the overlapping structure at any location by a structure-specific nuclease produces one or more released portions or fragments of nucleic acid, termed “cleavage products.” Detection of the cleavage products may be through release of a label. Such labels may include, but are not limited to one or more of any of dyes, radiolabels such as 32P or 35S, binding moieties such as biotin, mass tags, such as metal ions or chemical groups, charge tags, such as polyamines or charged dyes, haptens such as digoxgenin, luminogenic, phosphorescent or fluorogenic moieties, and fluorescent dyes, either alone or in combination with moieties that can suppress or shift emission spectra, such as by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) or collisional fluorescence energy transfer. Examples 1-3 and 9-18, below, demonstrate the use of charge balanced oligonucleotides in the INVADER assay. Cleavage results in the production of charge unbalanced products which are readily separated from the input molecules. The cleavage products are easily detected, providing an efficient and sensitive assay. II. Positively Charged Moieties in the Synthesis of Charge-Balanced DNA Probes The present invention provides novel positively charged moieties that may be attached to any number of molecules, including nucleic acid molecules. These positively charged moieties find use in the charge reversal separation methods (“CRE” methods) of the present invention. As used herein, the term “positively charged moiety” refers to a chemical structure that possesses a net positive charge under the reaction conditions of its intended use (e.g., when attached to a molecule of interest under the pH of the desired reaction conditions). Positively charged moieties need not always carry a positive charge. Indeed, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the positively charged moiety does not carry a positive charge until it is introduced to the appropriate reaction conditions. This can also be thought of as “pH-dependent” and “pH-independant” positive charges. pH-dependent charges are those that possess the charge only under certain pH conditions, while pH-independent charges are those that possess a charge regardless of the pH conditions. The positively charged moieties, or “charge tags,” when attached to another entity, can be represented by the formula: X—Y where X is the entity (e.g., a solid support, a nucleic acid molecule, etc.) and Y is the charge tag. The charge tags can be attached to other entities through any suitable means (e.g., covalent bonds, ionic interactions, etc.) either directly or through an intermediate (e.g., through a linking group). In preferred embodiments, where X is a nucleic acid molecule, the charge tag is attached to either the 3′ or 5′ end of the nucleic acid molecule. The charge tags may contain a variety of components. For example, the charge tag Y can be represented by the formula: Y1—Y2 where Y1 comprises a chemical component that provides the positive charge to the charge tag and where Y2 is another desired component. Y2 may be, for example, a dye, another chemical component that provides a positive charge to the charge tag, a functional group for attachment of other molecules to the charge tag, a nucleotide, etc. Where such a structure is attached to another entity, X, either Y1 or Y2 may be attached to X. X—Y1—Y2 or X—Y2—Y1 The charge tags are not limited to two components. Charge tags may comprise any number of desired components. For example, the charge tag can be represented by the formula: Y1—Y2—Y3—Yn (n=any positive integer). where any of the Y groups comprises a chemical component that provides the positive charge to the charge tag and where the other Y groups are any other desired components. For example, in some embodiments, the present invention provides compositions of the structure: X—Y1—Y2—Y3—Y4 where X is an entity attached to the charge tag (e.g., a solid support, a nucleic acid molecule, etc.) and where Y1 is a dye, Y2 is a chemical component that provides the positive charge to the charge, Y3 is a component containing a functional group that allows the attachment of other molecules, and Y4 is a second chemical component that provides a positive charge. The identity of each of Y1-Y4 can be interchanged (i.e., the present invention is not limited by the order of the components). The present invention is not limited by the nature of the chemical components that provides the positive charge to the charge tag. Such chemical components include, but are not limited to, amines (primary, secondary, and tertiary amines), ammoniums, and phosphoniums. The chemical components may also comprise chemical complexes that entrap or are otherwise associated with one or more positively charged metal ions. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, charge tags are attached to nucleic acid molecules (e.g., DNA molecules). The charge tags may be synthesized directly onto a nucleic molecule or may be synthesized, for example, on a solid support or in liquid phase and then attached to a nucleic acid molecule or any other desired molecule. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, charge tags that are attached to nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more components synthesized by H-phosphonate chemistry (described in detail below), by incorporation of novel phosphoramidites (described in detail below), or a combination of both. For example, compositions of the present invention include structures such as: [X]—[Y1—Y2—Y3—Y4] where [X] is a nucleic acid molecule and [Y . . . ] is a charge tag. In some embodiments, Y1 is a dye, Y2 is synthesized using H-phosphonate chemistry and comprises a chemical component that provides a positive charge to the charge tag, Y3 is a positively charged phosphoramidite, and Y4 is a nucleotide or polynucleotide. Any of the Y components are interchangeable with one another. Such compositions find use in the charge-separation assays of the present invention. For example, a probe molecule in the INVADER assay may have a charge tag attached to its 5′ end. The probe may comprise a net negative charge because of the plurality of negatively charge phosphate groups in the oligonucleotide backbone. Cleavage of the probe releases the charge tag from the rest of the probe. The released cleavage fragment, containing the charge tag, carries a net positive charge, while the remaining probe oligonucleotide carries a net negative charge. The cleaved fragments can then be readily separated from the uncleaved probes and detected, indicating the presence of a specific target sequence in the experimental sample. a. H-Phosphonate Chemistry. As discussed above, one or more components of a charge tag can be synthesized using H-phosphonate chemistry. Production of charge tags using the methods described herein provides a convenient and flexible modular approach for the design of a wide variety of charge tags. Since its introduction, solid phase H-phosphonate chemistry (B. C. Froehler, Methods in Molecular Biology, 20:33, S. Agrawal, Ed. Humana Press; Totowa, N.J. [1993]) has been recognized as an efficient tool in the chemical synthesis of natural, modified and labeled oligonucleotides and DNA probes. Those skilled in the art know that this approach allows for the synthesis of the oligonucleotide fragments with a fully modified phosphodiester backbone (e.g., oligonucleotide phosphorothioates; Froechler [1993], supra) or the synthesis of oligonucleotide fragments in which only specific positions of the phosphodiester backbone are modified (Agrawal, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 85:7079 [1988], Froehler,Tetrahedron Lett. 27:5575 [1986], Froehler, et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 16:4831 [1988]). The use of H-phosphonate chemistry allows for the introduction of different types of modifications into the oligonucleotide molecule (Agrawal, et al., Froehler[ 1986], supra, Letsinger, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:4470 [1988], Agrawal and Zamecnik, Nucl. Acid Res. 18:5419 [1990], Handong, et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 8:49 [1997], Vinogradov, et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 7:3 [1995], Schultz, et al., Tetrachedron Lett. 36:8407 [1995]), however the replacement of the phosphodiester linkage by the phosphoramidate linkage is one of the most frequent changes due to its effectiveness and synthetic flexibility. Froehler and Letsinger were among first to use this approach in the synthesis of modified oligonucleotides in which phosphodiester linkages were fully or partially replaced by the phosphoramidate linkages bearing positively charged groups (e.g., tertiary amino groups; Froehler [1986], Froehler, et al., [1988], and Letsinger, et al., supra). In some embodiments of the present invention, charge tags are generated using H-phosphonate chemistry. The charge tags may be assembled on the end of a nucleic acid molecule or may be synthesized separately and attached to a nucleic acid molecule. Any suitable phosphorylating agent may be used in the synthesis of the charge tag. For example, the component to be added may contain the structure: A—B—P where A is a protecting group, B is any desired functional group (e.g., a functional group that provides a positive charge to the charge tag), and P is a chemical group containing phosphorous. In preferred embodiments, B comprises a chemical group that is capable of providing a positive charge to the charge tag. However, in some embodiments B is a functional group that allows post-synthetic attachment of a positively charged group to the charge tag. The process of the synthesis of the charge-balanced charge tag containing (CRE) probes using H-phosphonate chemistry can be divided into steps. 1. In the first step, the specific DNA sequence is synthesized using a standard automated phosphoramidite protocol (a reporter molecule (dye) may be introduced into the molecule at this stage using phosphoramidite or H-phosphonate chemistry, or it can be attached to the probe after the completion of other steps of the modification procedure using any of the standard post-synthetic labeling protocols). 2. In the second step, a modification procedure is performed using solid-phase H-phosphonate chemistry. The DNA probe, suspended on the solid support, is coupled to an appropriate H-phosphonate monomer in the presence of an appropriate activating reagent (e.g., pivaloyl chloride). This step leads to the formation of the reactive H-phosphonate intermediate (FIG. 5). Group “Z” in FIG. 5 represents any organic group (with any other functional groups present protected as necessary for protocols of chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides). Group “Z” may optionally contain other DMT-protected hydroxyl groups (or other appropriately protected functional groups), to which additional monomeric units (e.g., H-phosphonate, phosphoramidite, etc.) can be attached, either covalently or noncovalently (e.g. thorough complex formation). Wavy lines in FIG. 5 and other figures in this patent disclosure, e.g., as shown linking controlled pore glass (CPG) and the DNA molecule (and which may link any two entities of these compositions), represent any kind of atom or organic group that can serve these purposes. This step should be performed on a DNA synthesizer with H-phosphonate adaptation or should be performed manually according to a solid phase H-phosphonate coupling protocol. A subsequent step of the modification procedure involves the conversion of the intermediate H-phosphonate into the phosphoramidate-bearing group(s) that can introduce positive charges into the composition. Usually, this conversion is performed with the help of an Atherton-Tod reaction, in which the intermediate H-phosphonate III or IV is treated with a solution of an appropriate primary or secondary amine, carbon tetrachloride (or other reagent(s) leading to the same type of transformation in which phosphoramidate bond between the amine used in the reaction and phosphorus atom is formed) in anhydrous aprotic solvent(s), preferably pyridine, mixture of pyridine and acetonitrile, or pyridine and tetrahydrofuran. FIG. 6 shows the conversion leading to the synthesis of V and VI. The structure of the monomeric H-phosphonate may optionally contain additional, appropriately protected functional groups (e.g., amino, hydroxyl, mercapto or carboxy groups) that can be used in other steps of the synthesis and modification of the probe containing the charge tag. If the modification procedure involves multiple coupling steps performed using H-phosphonate chemistry or phosphoramidite chemistry, the H-phosphonate monomer(s) used in the modification procedure should contain selectively protected hydroxyl group, preferably with the DMT protecting group, while other functional groups should be protected with protecting groups compatible with the protocol of the chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides. It is important to note that the possibility of the use of the intermediate materials I or II significantly increases the synthetic flexibility of the modification procedure (and helps to create a broad variety of charge-balanced probes). By altering the sequence of coupling of the H-phosphonate reagents and another reagents (e.g. reporter molecules) to the synthesized DNA sequence, different probes (CRE-VI) can be synthesized. The probes generate fragments of varying polarity and/or mobility upon cleavage in, for example, an INVADER assay. The synthetic flexibility of the H-phosphonate approach can be conveniently illustrated on the example of the synthesis of the multiple labeled CRE probe. Introduction of multiple points of modification with moieties bearing positive charge(s) may be desired, in order to compensate negative charges introduced into the probe by another group (e.g., a dye bearing multiple negative charges or other groups). The synthesis of CRE probes containing only two points of modification, one introducing a positively charged moiety and one introducing a neutral group for structure modulation, and having only one dye that does not alter the net charge (e.g., Cy3 dye introduced using phosphoramidite chemistry), is illustrated in FIG. 8. As it can be seen, the synthetic procedure in which only one reporter group, one type of H-phosphonate monomer and two different amines were used, can generate six different charge-balanced CRE probes. The number of possible structural variations of the synthesized charge-balanced CRE probes using a single reporter molecule (e.g,. Cy3) can be significantly expanded if the synthesis is performed using one of two structurally different H-phosphonate monomers, one of two different amines for introducing positive charge, and one of two different amines for structure modulation. The use of those reagents will lead to the creation of four different modifications introducing positive charge and four different structure modulating modifications. In the discussed example, the structure of a charge-balanced CRE probe should contain one position occupied by a reporter molecule (e.g. Cy3), one position occupied by a modification introducing positive charge and (optionally) one position occupied by a structure-modulating modification. A total 96 different charge-balanced CRE probes can be synthesized using the above mentioned reagents. It is clear that a large number of possible structural permutations are achieved with the use of only seven different reagents, allowing for the selection of the structural arrangement that will offer a particular desired probe performance (i.e., assay performance and/or the desired electrophoretic mobility of the cleaved positively charged fragments). The same set of reagents can be used in the synthesis of charge balanced probes that do not contain any neutral modifications (e.g., as used for structure modulation) or that contain multiple points at which structure-modulating modification can be added. This further expands the number of possible structures of charge-balanced probes that can be synthesized using a relatively small (seven in the discussed example) number of reagents. It is important to note that reporter groups can be also introduced into CRE probes using H-phosphonate chemistry. FIG. 9 diagrams a process in which an activated H-phosphonate of a reporter molecule (e.g., a dye) reacts with an available hydroxyl group of an oligonucleotide attached to a solid phase, leading to the formation of an intermediate H-phosphonate IVa, which is subsequently converted to a phosphoramidate-derivative using an appropriate primary or secondary amine and the chemical reaction described above. In all cases, these procedures lead to the attachment of a specific structure of charged organic moiety (described later as COM(+)) to a DNA sequence. As a result, a positively charged fragment (positively charged Tag; called later “PCT”) cleaved in the enzymatic process, will be composed of one nucleotide and the COM(+), and will have the desired net positive charge (FIG. 10). As an example illustrating the use of H-phosphonate chemistry in the synthesis of the CRE probes, the synthesis of five different charge-balanced CRE probes was performed (FIG. 11). All synthesized charge-balance probes were tested in an INVADER assay. It was found that the cleaved PCTs have different electrophoretic mobility under the conditions of reverse capillary electrophoresis. The use of H-phosphonates in the modification of CRE probes is associated with the generation of a new center of chirality at the tetracoordinated phosphoramidate phosphorus atom (FIG. 12). The use of chiral (optically active) and more sterically bulky H-phosphonate monomers (e.g. dT, dA, dC, dG H-phosphonates) can lead to the formation of diastereoisomers, which will have different chromatographic and electrophoretic properties. When relatively small and achiral H-phosphonate monomer was used (e.g., DMT-protected H-phosphonate of 1,6-hexanediol), the formation of the stereoisomers was not detectable under either reverse phase HPLC and capillary electrophoresis conditions. However, diastereoisomeric forms of the larger synthesized materials can be detected as separate peaks in the analytical RP HPLC profiles, and in the CE profiles of both the intact CRE probes and the positively charged products of enzymatic cleavage. The separations between diastereoisomers under those conditions can vary and can depend on the nature of the groups introduced in the modification step. Introduction of multiple points (n) of modification using H-phosphonate reagents leads to the formation of 2n diastereoisomers, which may or may not be separated under the conditions used for the probe purification, analysis or under the conditions of the CRE experiments. The separation of the diastereoisomers can be disadvantageous in situations where probes will be used in a multiplex assay. Formation of the diastereoisomeric forms of the charge balanced CRE probes was observed in all cases in which H-phosphonates of the 5′-DMT protected deoxynucleosides were used. In one case, (dA H-phosphonate, amine used in the conversion of the intermediate H-phosphonate into the phosphoramidate: H2NCH2CH2NMe2) the separation of the diastereoisomers under reverse phase HPLC conditions (C-18 column) allowed separation of the isomers. Analysis of the isolated fractions by mass spectrometry revealed that the materials had identical molecular weight, corresponding to that of the desired product. Therefore, if a step of purifying the individual diastereoisomers is not intended, or when complete separation is not possible, the use of achiral H-phosphonates as a building block in the synthesis of the CRE probes for such system may be preferred to the use of chiral H-phosphonates. However, in cases when the separation of the diastereoisomers in pure form is possible (e.g., by reverse phase HPLC), the individual diastereoisomers can be used as separable tags in CRE assays, further expanding the diverse library of the H-phosphonate-generated CRE probes. In some embodiments of the present invention, an H-phosphonate of Cy3 is used to directly introduce a charge-bearing unit into a charge tag. For example, use of an H-phosphonate of Cy3 can provide a charge tag containing the structure: where any desired amine can be readily incorporated into the position NR. This allows, for example, the production of a palette of different charge tags that will provide different mobility in separation assays. b. A New Class of Phosphoramidite Building Blocks:“Positively Charged Phosphoramidites” (PCP) and “Neutral Phosphoramidites” (NP). Positively charged phosphoramidites (PCP) and neutral phosphoramidites (NP) represent a new class of phosphoramidite building blocks designed to introduce both positive charge and structure modulation into the synthesized charge-balanced CRE probe. A standard coupling protocol using phosphoramidite reagents is associated with the introduction into the growing molecule, of one negative charge per coupling step, due to the formation of the phosphodiester linkage (FIG. 13). In the synthesis of charge-balanced CRE probes in which a specific ratio of negative and positive charges should be maintained, the introduction of additional negative charges can represent a disadvantage. To eliminate this disadvantage, new types of phosphoramidites were designed to either introduce a net positive charge(s) at each coupling step (positively charged phosphoramidites, PCPs), or to introduce no extra charge (neutral phosphoramidites, NPs) into the synthesized CRE probe. FIG. 14 shows general structures of the PCP and NP phosphoramidites in some embodiments of the present invention. The positively charged group (Y+) represents any organic group that can exist in a positively charged form, preferably primary, secondary or tertiary amines. Modification with the introduction of quartemary ammonium groups or other organic positively charged groups is also contemplated. Both PCPs and NPs can be used in combination with other phosphoramidite building blocks (PBBs), which introduce one negative charge per coupling, but which can serve as structure modulating factors. Diversification of the structures of the PCPs and NPs can also serve as factors for the structure modulation of the synthesized CRE probe. This approach allows for the synthesis of a large variety of the charge-balanced CRE probes using a standard phosphoramidite coupling protocol for oligonucleotide synthesis. For example, FIG. 15 illustrates possible combinations in the synthesis of the charge-balanced CRE probe when the synthesis is performed with the use of one dye phosphoramidite (DP), which introduces zero net charge (e.g., Cy3 phosphoramidite), PBB, which introduces one negative charge, one NP introducing zero net charge, and one PCP, which introduces one net positive charge. As shown in FIG. 15, due to the large number of positional permutations possible in the design of the probe structure, a large variety of charge-balanced structures can be synthesized using only four reagents. While FIG. 15 illustrates the synthesis of the charge-balanced CRE probes in which the reporter molecule (Cy3) is attached directly to the oligonucleotide sequence, other structural permutations in which the reporter molecule can occupy other positions are also contemplated. Therefore, this approach creates a unique opportunity to synthesize a large number of the charge-balanced CRE probes using only one reporter molecule. For example, FIG. 13 presents an embodiment in which a dye that does not introduce any net. charge (e.g., Cy3 phosphoramidite) was used in probe synthesis. This does not preclude the use other dyes in the synthesis of a different set of charge-balanced CRE probes for use, e.g., in multiplex detection systems using, for example, the INVADER Assay. It is also worth noting that, in contrast to the H-phosphonate approach, the use of the new type of phosphoramidites does not lead to the creation of new centers of chirality. In an additional embodiment, the H-phosphonates and the phosphoramidites of the present invention are used in combination, e.g., in the synthesis of the specifically modified charge-balanced CRE probes. FIG. 16 shows an example of the synthesized neutral phosphoramidite and positively charged phosphoramidite, and FIG. 17 shows the structures of a set of charge-balanced CRE probes that were synthesized utilizing PCPs and NPs. Commercially available phosphoramidite of the 18-atom linker (polyethylene glycol derivative; Glen Research; Cat.# 10-1918-90) was used as a building block phosphoramidite used for structure modulation, (indicated in FIG. 17 as “18AL”). Linkers of different lengths and of different chemical natures can be used as structure modulating reagents. The present invention also provides new synthetic methods using phosphoramites to generate charge tags containing a unit with a charge group and a phosphate group. For example, as described above, H-phosphonate chemistry can be used to add a charged unit onto a nucleic acid structure: (where X is one or more additional components of the charge tag and the R groups are any other desired chemical groups). The same structure may be generated using phosphoramidite addition by first adding the phosphoramite, then using a Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction in the presence of, for example, an amine: The above methods of generating charge tags allow an extremely wide variety of charge tags to be made. This variety of options allows for multiplex detection methods. For example, in the context of the INVADER assay, a charge tag attached to a probe oligonucleotide could have three components: 3′-[probe]-5′-[Y1—Y2—Y3] where Y1 is one of any number of dyes, Y2 is one of any number of groups containing a positive charges, and Y3 is one of four nucleotides (e.g., not complementary to the target nucleic acid). If four different dyes and four different charged groups are used, this would introduce 4×4×4, or 64 distinct charge tags that could be individually resolvable using the methods described herein (e.g., microfluidics). By adding additional components or additional choices at each component, hundred to thousands or more distinct charge tags can be made and used in multiplex analyses. EXAMPLES The following examples serve to illustrate certain preferred embodiments and aspects of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof. In the disclosure which follows, the following abbreviations apply: Afu (Archaeoglobus fulgidus); Mth (Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum); Mja (Methanococcus jannaschii); Pfu (Pyrococcus furiosus); Pwo (Pyrococcus woesei); Taq (Thermus aquaticus); Taq DNAP, DNAPTaq, and Taq Pol I (T. aquaticus DNA polymerase I); DNAPStf (the Stoffel fragment of DNAPTaq); DNAPEcl (E. coli DNA polymerase I); Tth (Thermus thermophilus); Ex. (Example); FIG. (Figure); ° C. (degrees Centigrade); g (gravitational field); hr (hour); min (minute); olio (oligonucleotide); rxn (reaction); vol (volume); w/v (weight to volume); v/v (volume to volume); BSA (bovine serum albumin); CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide); HPLC (high pressure liquid chromatography); DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid); p (plasmid); μl (microliters); ml (milliliters); μg (micrograms); mg (milligrams); M (molar); mM (milliMolar); μM (microMolar); pmoles (picomoles); amoles (attomoles); zmoles (zeptomoles); nm (nanometers); kdal (kilodaltons); OD (optical density); EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid); FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate); SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate); NaPO4 (sodium phosphate); NP-40 (Nonidet P-40); Tris (tris(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane); PMSF (phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride); TBE (Tris-Borate-EDTA, i.e., Tris buffer titrated with boric acid rather than HCl and containing EDTA); PBS (phosphate buffered saline); PBS (phosphate buffered saline containing 1 mM PMSF); PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis); Tween (polyoxyethylene-sorbitan); ATCC (American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md.); Coriell (Coriell Cell Repositories, Camden, N.J.); DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellculturen, Braunschweig, Germany); Sigma (Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis, Mo.); MJ Research (MJ Research, Watertown,Mass.); Novagen (Novagen, Inc., Madison, Wis.); Perkin Elmer (Perkin Elmer Instruments, Norwalk, Conn.); Promega (Promega Corp. Madison, Wis.); Clonetech (Clonetech, Palo Alto, Calif.); Pharmacia (Pharmacia, Piscataway, N.J.); Hitachi (Hitachi Instruments Inc. San Jose, Calif.), Qiagen (Qiagen, Inc. Valencia, Calif.); Bio101 (Bio 101 Inc. Vista, Calif.); Aldrich (Aldrich Chemical Company Inc. Milwaukee, Wis.); VWR (VWR Scientific Products, West Chester, Pa.); Glen Research (Glen Research Corporation, Sterling Va.); PE Biosystems (PE/Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.); Wheaton (Wheaton Science Products, Millville, N.J.); EM Science (EM Science, Gibbstown N.J.); Gelman (Gelman Science, Ann Arbor, Mich.); Becton Dickensen (Becton Dickensen Labware, Bedford, Mass.); Büchi (Büichi Analytical, Switzerland); Chemglass (Chemglass Inc. Vineland, N.J.); Dot Scientific (Dot Scientific Inc. Burton, Mich.); Eppendorf Scientific (Eppendorf Scientific Inc. Westbury, N.Y.); Applied Biosystems (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.); Invitrogen (Invitrogen Corporation, Carlsbad, Calif.); Ambion (Ambion Inc. Austin, Tex.); Gibco BRL (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, Md.); USB (US Biochemical, Cleveland, Ohio); Calbiochem (Calbiochem, San Diego, Calif.). Example 1 Detection of DNA by Charge Reversal The detection of specific targets is achieved in the INVADER-directed cleavage assay by the cleavage of a probe oligonucleotide. The cleaved probe may be separated from the uncleaved probe using the charge reversal technique described below. This novel separation technique is related to the observation that positively charged adducts can affect the electrophoretic behavior of small oligonucleotides because the charge of the adduct is significant relative to charge of the whole complex. Observations of aberrant mobility due to charged adducts have been reported in the literature, but in all cases found, the applications pursued by other scientists have involved making oligonucleotides larger by enzymatic extension. As the negatively charged nucleotides are added on, the positive influence of the adduct is reduced to insignificance. As a result, the effects of positively charged adducts have been dismissed and have received little notice in the existing literature. Through the use of multiple positively charged adducts, synthetic molecules can be constructed with sufficient modification that the normally negatively charged strand is made nearly neutral. When so constructed, the presence or absence of a single phosphate group can mean the difference between a net negative or a net positive charge. This observation has particular utility when one objective is to discriminate between enzymatically generated fragments of DNA, which generally lack a 3′ phosphate, and the products of thermal degradation, which generally retain a 3′ phosphate (and thus two additional negative charges). a) Characterization of the Products of Thermal Breakage of DNA Oligonucleotides Thermal degradation of DNA probes results in high background that can obscure signals generated by specific enzymatic cleavage, decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio. To better understand the nature of DNA thermal degradation products, the 5′ tetrachloro-fluorescein (TET)-labeled oligonucleotides 78 (SEQ ID NO:3) and 79 (SEQ ID NO:4) (100 pmole each) were incubated in 50 μl 10 mM NaCO3 (pH 10.6), 50 mM NaCl at 90° C. for 4 hours. To prevent evaporation of the samples, the reaction mixture was overlaid with 50 μl of CHILLOUT liquid wax (MJ Research). The reactions were then divided in two equal aliquots (A and B). Aliquot A was mixed with 25 μl of methyl violet loading buffer and Aliquot B was dephosphorylated by addition of 2.5 μl of 100 mM MgCl2 and 1 μl of 1 unit/μl Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIAP) (Promega), with incubation at 37° C. for 30 min. after which 25 μl of methyl violet loading buffer was added. One microliter of each sample was resolved by electrophoresis through a 12% polyacrylamide denaturing gel and imaged as described in Example 21; a 585 nm filter was used with the FMBIO Image Analyzer. The resulting imager scan is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, lanes 1-3 contain the TET-labeled oligonucleotide 78 and lanes 4-6 contain the TET-labeled oligonucleotide 79. Lanes 1 and 4 contain products of reactions that were not heat treated. Lanes 2 and 5 contain products from reactions that were heat treated and lanes 3 and 6 contain products from reactions that were heat treated, then subjected to phosphatase treatment. As shown in FIG. 2, heat treatment causes significant breakdown of the 5′-TET-labeled DNA, generating a ladder of degradation products (FIG. 2, lanes 2, 3, 5 and 6). Band intensities correlate with purine and pyrimidine base positioning in the oligonucleotide sequences, indicating that backbone hydrolysis may occur through formation of abasic intermediate products that have faster rates for purines than for pyrimidines (Lindahl and Karlström, Biochem., 12:5151 [1973]). Dephosphorylation decreases the mobility of all products generated by the thermal degradation process, with the most pronounced effect observed for the shorter products (FIG. 2, lanes 3 and 6). This demonstrates that thennally degraded products possess a 3′ end terminal phosphoryl group that can be removed by dephosphorylation with CIAP. Removal of the phosphoryl group decreases the overall negative charge by 2. Therefore, shorter products that have a small number of negative charges are influenced to a greater degree upon the removal of two charges. This leads to a larger mobility shift in the shorter products than that observed for the larger species. The products generated by the CLEAVASE enzyme do not contain this additional 3′ phosphate. Therefore, if an assay is designed such that the desired reaction products contain one or two positive charges, similar thermal breakdown products would be neutral or negative. This allows for easy separation of product from background via the reverse charge methods described below. b) Dephosphorylation of Short Amino-Modified Oligonucleotides can Reverse the Net Charge of the Labeled Product To demonstrate how oligonucleotides can be transformed from net negative to net positively charged compounds, the four short amino-modified oligonucleotides labeled 70, 74, 75 and 76 and shown in FIGS. 3-4 were synthesized. All four modified oligonucleotides possess Cy3 dyes positioned at the 5′-end, which individually are positively charged under reaction and isolation conditions described in this Example. Compounds 70 and 74 contain two amino modified thymidines that, under reaction conditions, display positively charged R—NH3+groups attached at the C5 position through a C10 or C6 linker, respectively. Because compounds 70 and 74 are 3′-end phosphorylated, they consist of four negative charges and three positive charges. Compound 75 differs from 74 in that the internal C6 amino modified thymidine phosphate in 74 is replaced by a thymidine methyl phosphonate. The phosphonate backbone is uncharged and so there are a total of three negative charges on compound 75. This gives compound 75 a net negative one charge. Compound 76 differs from 70 in that the internal amino modified thymidine is replaced by an internal cytosine phosphonate. The pKa of the N3 nitrogen of cytosine can be from 4 to 7. Thus, the net charges of this compound, can be from −1 to 0 depending on the pH of the solution. For the simplicity of analysis, each group is assigned a whole number of charges, although it is realized that, depending on the pKa of each chemical group and ambient pH, a real charge may differ from the whole number assigned. It is assumed that this difference is not significant over the range of pHs used in the enzymatic reactions studied here. Dephosphorylation of these compounds, or the removal of the 3′ end terminal phosphoryl group, results in elimination of two negative charges and generates products that have a net positive charge of one. In this experiment, the method of isoelectric focusing (IEF) was used to demonstrate a change from one negative to one positive net charge for the described substrates during dephosphorylation. Substrates 70, 74, 75 and 76 were synthesized by standard phosphoramidite chemistries and deprotected for 24 hours at 22° C. in 14 M aqueous ammonium hydroxide solution, after which the solvent was removed in vacuo. The dried powders were resuspended in 200 μl of H2O and filtered through 0.2 μm filters. The concentration of the stock solutions was estimated by UV-absorbance at 261 nm of samples diluted 200-fold in H2O using a spectrophotometer (Spectronic Genesys 2, Milton Roy, Rochester, N.Y.). Dephosphorylation of compounds 70 and 74, 75 and 76 was accomplished by treating 10 μl of the crude stock solutions (ranging in concentration from approximately 0.5 to 2 mM) with 2 units of CIAP in 100 μl of ClAP buffer (Promega) at 37° C. for 1 hour. The reactions were then heated to 75° C. for 15 min. in order to inactivate the CIAP. For clarity, dephosphorylated compounds are designated ‘dp’. For example, after dephosphorylation, substrate 70 becomes 70dp. To prepare samples for IEF experiments, the concentration of the stock solutions of substrate and dephosphorylated product were adjusted to a uniform absorbance of 8.5×10−3 at 532 nm by dilution with water. Two microliters of each sample were analyzed by IEF using a PhastSystem electrophoresis unit (Phannacia) and PhastGel IEF 3-9 media (Pharmacia) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Separation was performed at 15° C. with the following program: pre-run; 2,000 V, 2.5 mA, 3.5 W, 75 Vh; load; 200 V, 2.5 mA, 3.5 W, 15 Vh; run; 2,000 V; 2.5 mA; 3.5 W, 130 Vh. After separation, samples were visualized by using the FMBIO Image Analyzer (Hitachi) fitted with a 585 nm filter. The resulting imager scan is shown in FIG. 18. FIG. 18 shows results of IEF separation of substrates 70, 74, 75 and 76 and their dephosphorylated products. The arrow labeled “Sample Loading Position” indicates a loading line, the ‘+’ sign shows the position of the positive electrode and the ‘−’ sign indicates the position of the negative electrode. The results shown in FIG. 18 demonstrate that substrates 70, 74, 75 and 76 migrated toward the positive electrode, while the dephosphorylated products 70dp, 74dp, 75dp and 76dp migrated toward negative electrode. The observed difference in mobility direction was in accord with predicted net charge of the substrates (minus one) and the products (plus one). Small perturbations in the mobilities of the phosphorylated compounds indicate that the overall pIs vary. This was also true for the dephosphorylated compounds. The presence of the cytosine in 76dp, for instance, moved this compound further toward the negative electrode, which was indicative of a higher overall pI relative to the other dephosphorylated compounds. It is important to note that additional positive charges can be obtained by using a combination of natural amino modified bases (70dp and 74dp) along with uncharged methylphosphonate bridges (products 75dp and 76dp). The results shown above demonstrate that the removal of a single phosphate group can flip the net charge of an oligonucleotide to cause reversal in an electric field, allowing easy separation of products, and that the precise base composition of the oligonucleotides affect absolute mobility but not the charge-flipping effect. Example 2 Detection of Specific Cleavage Products in the INVADER-Directed Cleavage Reaction by Charge Reversal In this Example the ability to isolate products generated in the INVADER-directed cleavage assay from all other nucleic acids present in the reaction cocktail using charge reversal is demonstrated. Enzymes for Cleavage Assays The CLEAVASE A/G enzyme was prepared as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,606, and PCT application WO 98/23774 (herein incorporated by reference in their entireties); Afu FEN 1 and Pfu FEN1 were isolated as described in WO 98/23774. Two other enzymes used in these studies, CLEAVASE TthAKK enzyme and Ave FEN1 nuclease, were produced as described in the following sections. Cloning and Expression of Cleavase TthAKK Initial TthPol Isolation Genomic DNA was prepared from 1 vial of dried Thermus themophilus strain HB-8 from ATCC (ATCC #27634). The DNA polymerase gene was amplified by PCR using the following primers: 5′-CACGAATTCCGAGGCGATGCTTCCGCTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:5) and 5′-TCGACGTCGACTAACCCTTGGCGGAAAGCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:6). The resulting PCR product was digested with EcoRI and Sall restriction endonucleases and inserted into EcoRI/Sal I digested plasmid vector pTrc99G . The pTrc99G vector was created by modification of the pTrc99A vector (Pharmacia) to remove the G at position 270 of the pTrc99A map. To this end, pTrc99A plasmid DNA was cut with NcoI and the recessive 3′ ends were filled-in using the Klenow fragment of E.coli polymerase I in the presence of all four dNTPs at 37° C. for 15 min. After inactivation of the Klenow fragment by incubation at 65° C. for 10 min, the plasmid DNA was cut with EcoRI and the ends were again filled-in using the Klenow fragment in the presence of all four dNTPs at 37° C. for 15 min. The Klenow fragment was then inactivated by incubation at 65° C. for 10 min. The plasmid DNA was ethanol precipitated, recircularized by ligation, and used to transform E.coli JM109 cells (Promega). The pTrc99G plasmid DNA was isolated from single colonies, and deletion of the G at position 270 (by reference to the pTrc99A map) was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Insertion of the Tth DNA into this vector as described above created the plasmid pTrcTth-1. This Tth polymerase construct is missing a single nucleotide that was inadvertently omitted from the 5′ oligonucleotide, resulting in the polymerase gene being out of frame. This mistake was corrected by site specific mutagenesis of pTrcTth-1 using the TRANSFORMER Site Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Clontech) according to the manufacturer's instructions, and the following oligonucleotide: 5′-GCATCGCCTCGGAATTCATGGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:7), to create the plasmid pTrcTth-2. The protein and the nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein are referred to as TthPol, and are listed as SEQ ID NOS:8 and 9 respectively. Modified TthPol Gene: Tth DN The Tth DN construct was created by mutating the TthPol-2 described above. The sequence encoding an aspartic acid at position 787 was changed by site-specific mutagenesis as described above to a sequence encoding asparagine. Mutagenesis of pTrcTth-2 with the following oligonucleotide: 5′-CAGGAGGAGCTCGTTGTGGACCTGGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:10) was performed to create the plasmid pTrcTthDN. The mutant protein, termed Tth DN, and protein coding nucleic acid sequence are SEQ ID NOS:11 and 12, respectively. Tth DN HT A six-amino acid histidine tag (his-tags) was added onto the carboxy terminus of Tth DN. The site-directed mutagenesis was performed using the TRANSFORMER Site Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Clontech) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The mutagenic oligonucleotides used on the plasmid pTth DN was sequence 5′-TGCCTGCAGGTCGACGCTAGCTAGTGGTGGTGGTGGTGGTGACCCTTGGCG GAAAGCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:13), sequence 136-037-05. The selection primer Trans Oligo AlwNI/SpeI (Clontech, catalog #6488-1) was used for both mutagenesis reactions. The resulting mutant gene was termed Tth DN HT (SEQ ID NO:14, nucleic acid sequence; SEQ ID NO:15, amino acid sequence). Purification of Tth DN HT The Tth DN HT protein was expressed in E. coli strain JM109 as described above. After ammonium sulfate precipitation and centrifugation, the protein pellet was suspended in 0.5 ml of Q buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.1 mM EDTAm 0.1% Tween 20). The protein was further purified by affinity chromatography using His-Bind Resin and Buffer Kit (Novagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. 1 ml of His-Bind resin was transferred into a column, washed with 3 column volumes of sterile water, charged with 5 volumes of 1× Charge Buffer, and equilibrated with 3 volumes of 1× Binding Buffer. Four ml of 1× Binding Buffer was added to the protein sample and the sample solution was loaded onto the column. After washing with 3 ml of 1× Binding Buffer and 3 ml of 1× Wash Buffer, the bound His-Tag protein was eluted with 1 ml of 1× Elute Buffer. The pure enzyme was then dialyzed in 50% glycerol, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 50 mM KCl, 0.5% Tween 20, 0.5% Nonidet P40, and 100 μg.ml BSA. Enzyme concentrations were determined by measuring absorption at 279 mn. Generation of Tth DN RX HT Mutagenesis was performed to introduce 3 additional, unique restriction sites into the polymerase domain of the Tth DN HT enzyme. Site specific mutagenesis was performed using the Transformer Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit from (Clontech) according to manufacturer's instructions. One of two different selection primers, Trans Oligo AlwN/SpeI or Switch Oligo SpeI/AlwNI (Clontech catalog #6488-1 or catalog #6373-1) was used for all mutagenesis reactions described. The selection oligo used in a given reaction is dependent on the selection restriction site present in the vector. All mutagenic primers were synthesized by standard synthetic chemistry. Resultant colonies were expressed in E.coli strain JM109. The Not I site (amino acid position 328) was created using the mutagenic primer 5′-GCCTGCAGGGGCGGCCGCGTGCACCGGGGCA (SEQ ID NO:16) corresponding to the sense strands of the Tth DN HT gene. The BstI (amino acid position 382) and NdeI (amino acid position 443) sites were introduced using sense strand mutagenic primers 5′-CTCCTGGACCCTTCGAACACCACCCC (SEQ ID NO:17) and 5′-GTCCTGGCCCATATGGAGGCCAC (SEQ ID NO:18), respectively. The mutant plasmid was over-expressed and purified using Qiagen QiaPrep Spin Mini Prep Kit (cat. #27106). The vector was tested for the presence of the restriction sites by DNA sequencing and restriction mapping. The construct is termed Tth DN RX HT (DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:19; amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:20) Addition of Point Mutations Plasmid DNA was purified from 200 ml of JM109 overnight culture using QIAGEN Plasmid Maxi Kit (QIAGEN) according to the manufacturer's protocol to obtain enough starting material for all mutagenesis reactions. All site-specific mutations were introduced using the Transformer Site Directed mutagenesis Kit (Clontech) according to the manufacturer's protocol. One of two different selection primers, Trans Oligo AlwNI/Spel or Switch Oligo Spel/AlwNI (Clontech, Palo Alto Calif. catalog #6488-1 or catalog #6373-1) was used for all mutagenesis reactions described. The selection oligo used in a given reaction is dependent on the restriction site present in the vector. All mutagenic primers were synthesized by standard synthetic chemistry. Resultant colonies for both types of reactions were E. coli strain JM109. Expression and purification of the mutant protein was done as detailed above. Construction of Tth DN RX HT H786A Site specific mutagenesis was performed on pTrc99G Tth DN RX HT DNA using the mutagenic primer 583-001-04: 5′-CAG GAG GAG CTC GTT GGC GAC CTG GAG GAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:21) to generate the H786A mutant enzyme (DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:22; amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:23). Construction of Tth DN RX HT (H786A/G506K/Q509K) Starting with the mutant Tth DN RX HT H786A, generated above, site specific mutagenesis was done using the mutagenic primer 604-022-02: 5′-GGA GCG CTT GCC TGT CTT CTT CGT CTT CTT CAA GGC GGG AGG CCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:24) to generate this variant termed “Cleavase TthAKK”, (DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:25; amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:26). Large Scale Preparation of Recombinant Proteins The recombinant proteins were purified by the following technique which is derived from a Taq DNA polymerase preparation protocol (Engelke el al., Anal. Biochem., 191:396 [1990]) as follows. E. coli cells (strain JMIO9) containing either pTrc99A TaqPol, pTrc99GTthPol were inoculated into 3 ml of LB containing 100 mg/ml ampicillin and grown for 16 hrs at 37° C. The entire overnight culture was inoculated into 200 ml or 350 ml of LB containing 100 mg/ml ampicillin and grown at 37° C. with vigorous shaking to an A600 of 0.8. IPTG (1 M stock solution) was added to a final concentration of 1 mM and growth was continued for 16 hrs at 37° C. The induced cells were pelleted and the cell pellet was weighed. An equal volume of 2×DG buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.6, 0.1 mM EDTA) was added and the pellet was suspended by agitation. Fifty mg/ml lysozyme (Sigma) were added to 1 mg/ml final concentration and the cells incubated at room temperature for 15 min. Deoxycholic acid (10% solution) was added dropwise to a final concentration of 0.2% while vortexing. One volume of H2O and 1 volume of 2×DG buffer were added, and the resulting mixture was sonicated for 2 minutes on ice to reduce the viscosity of the mixture. After sonication, 3 M (NH4)2SO4 was added to a final concentration of 0.2 M, and the lysate was centrifuged at 14000×g for 20 min at 4° C. The supematant was removed and incubated at 70° C. for 60 min at which time 10% polyethylimine (PEI) was added to 0.25%. After incubation on ice for 30 min., the mixture was centrifuged at 14,000×g for 20 min at 4° C. At this point, the supernatant was removed and the protein precipitated by the addition of (NH4)2SO4 as follows. Two volumes of 3 M (NH4)2SO4 were added to precipitate the protein. The mixture was incubated overnight at room temperature for 16 hrs centrifuged at 14,000×g for 20 min at 4° C. The protein pellet was suspended in 0.5 ml of Q buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.1 mM EDTA, 0.1% Tween 20). The suspended protein preparations were quantitated by determination of the A279 dialyzed and stored in 50% glycerol, 20 mM Tris HCl, pH8.0, 50 mM KCl, 0.5% Tween 20, 0.5% Nonidet P-40, with 100 μg/ml BSA. Cloning and Expression of AveFEN1 Nuclease A common method for cloning new members of a gene family is to run PCR reactions using degenerate oligonucleotides complementary to conserved amino acid sequences in that family, and then to clone and sequence the gene-specific PCR fragments. This sequence information can then be used to design sense and anti-sense gene-specific primers which can be used in PCR walking reactions (Nucleic Acids Res. 1995a. 23(6)1087-1088) to obtain the remainder of the gene sequence. The sequences obtained from the sense and anti-sense PCR walks can then be combined to generate the DNA sequence for the entire open reading frame (ORF) of the gene of interest. Once the entire ORF is known, primers specific to both the 5′ and the 3′ end of the gene can be designed, and PCR reactions can be performed on genomic DNA to amplify the gene in its entirety. This organism-specific, amplified fragment can then be cloned into an expression vector, and via methods know in the art, and detailed below, the protein of interest can be expressed and purified. A. Degenerate PCR and PCR Walking to Obtain the Sequence of the Ave FEN1 Gene The protein sequences of the FEN1 genes from Pyrococcus furiosus (SEQ ID NO:27) Methanococcus jannaschii (SEQ ID NO:28), Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (SEQ ID NO:29), and Archaeoglobus fulgidus (SEQ ID NO:30) were aligned and blocks of conserved amino acids were identified. The conserved sequence blocks VFDG (valine, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, glycine), EGEAQ (glutamic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, alanine, glutamine), SQDYD (serine, glutamine, aspartic acid, tyrosine, aspartic acid), and GTDYN/GTDFN (glycine, threonine, aspartic acid, tyrosine or phenylalanine, asparagine) were chosen as sequences that would likely be present in all Archaeal FEN1 genes. Degenerate oligonucleotides were designed for each of these conserved sequence blocks. In addition to the FEN1 gene specific portion of the oligonucleotides a 15-nucleotide tail was added to the 5′ end of the oligonucleotides to enable nested PCR. A different tail sequence was used depending on whether the degenerate oligonucleotide targets the sense or antisense strand of the FEN1 gene. Forward and/or reverse versions of the oligonucleotides were made and target the sense and antisense strands of the FEN1 gene respectively. The oligonucleotides are VFDG-Fwd (SEQ ID NO:31), EGEAQ-Fwd (SEQ ID NO:32) QDYD-Fwd (SEQ ID NO:33), EGEAQ-Rev (SEQ ID NO:34), SQDYD-Revl (SEQ ID NO:35), SQDYD-Rev2 (SEQ ID NO:36), and GTDYN-Rev (SEQ ID NO:37). Two oligonucleotides were made for the SQDYD-Rev sequence because serine is encoded by 6 different codons. For use in PCR, the SQDYD-Revl and SQDYD-Rev2 oligonucleotides were mixed in a ratio of 1:2. For the QDYD-Fwd oligonucleotide, the requirement for mixing was avoided by targeting only the last four amino acids of the conserved SQDYD sequence. The GTDYN-Rev oligonucleotide also recognizes the sequence GTDFN since the codons for tyrosine and phenylalanine share 2 of 3 nucleotides. First, genomic DNA was prepared from 1 vial of the live bacterial strain as described below. All bacterial strains were obtained from the DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, Acidianus ambivalens—DSM # 3772). When the cells were lyophilized, they were resuspended in 200 μl of TNE (10 mM TrisHCL, pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaCl). When the cells were in liquid suspension, they were spun down at 20,000×G for 2 minutes and the cell pellets were resuspended in 200 μl of TNE. 20 μl of 20% SDS (sodium dodecylsulfate) and 2 μl of 2 mg/ml proteinase K were added and the suspension was incubated at 65° C. for 30 minutes. The lysed cell suspension was extracted in sequential order with buffered phenol, 1:1 phenol: chloroform, and chloroform. The nucleic acid was precipitated by the addition of on equal volume of cold 100% ethanol. The nucleic acid was pelleted by spinning at 20,000×G for 5 minutes. The nucleic acid pellet was washed with 70% ethanol, air dryed and resuspended in 50 μl of TE (10 mM TrisHCL, pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA). The final DNA pellet was re-suspended in 50 μl of TE (10 mM Tris HCl, pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA). Both reactions of the nested PCR were done using the Advantage cDNA PCR kit (Clontech) according to manufacturer's instructions using a final concentration of 1 μM for all oligonucleotides. The first reaction is done in a 20 μl volume with one of the 6 possible combinations of forward and reverse degenerate oligonucleotides, and includes either 1 μl of the genomic DNA preparation described above. The cycling conditions were 20 cycles of 95° C. for 15 seconds, 50° C. or 55° C. for 15 seconds, and 68° C. for 30 seconds. The second reactions utilize primers that have the same sequence as the 5′ tail sequence of the degenerate oligonucleotides described above. The two primers are 203-01-01 (SEQ ID NO:38) and 203-01-02 (SEQ ID NO:39). The second reaction is carried out exactly as described for the first reaction, except 30 cycles are done instead of 20 and the reaction volume is 25 μl. Following the second PCR, 5 μl of the reaction were loaded on a 2% or 4% agarose gel and the DNA was visualized by ethidium bromide staining. The expected product sizes based on the previously identified FEN1 sequences for all primer pairs are as follows: VFDG-Fwd and EGEAQ-Rev; 275 base pairs, VFDG-Fwd and SQDYD-Rev; 325 base pairs, VFDG Fwd and GTDYN-Rev; 510 base pairs, EGEAQ-Fwd and SQDYD-Rev; 100 base pairs, EGEAQ-Fwd and GTDYN-Rev; 290 base pairs, QDYD-Fwd and GTDYN-Rev; 230 base pairs. The primer pair, VFDG-Fwd and EGEAQ-Rev was able to generate a correctly sized DNA product for all samples attempted. The primer pair, VFDG-Fwd and GTDYN-Rev was able to generate a correctly sized DNA product for most of the DNA samples attempted. When a DNA product of the expected size was made by the degenerate PCR, that DNA fragment was isolated and cloned into pGEM-T Easy (Promega) using the pGEM-T Easy ligation kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. The DNA sequence was determined and the sequence was used to generate sense and antisense genome walking oligonucleotides for cloning the remainder of the FEN1 gene. The oligonucleotides were designed according to the parameters of the GenomeWalker kit (Clontech) which was used prepare the various genomic DNA samples for the genome walking PCR reactions. The genomic DNA was randomly amplified using a random 12-mer oligonucleotide. One hundred-μl PCR reactions were set up with the Advantage cDNA PCR kit (Clontech) and contained 10 μl of genomic DNA and 15 μM random 12-mer oligonucleotide. 50 cycles were carried out with the following parameters: 95° C. for 30 seconds, 50° C. for 30 seconds, 68° C. for 5 minutes. After the PCR reactions were complete, amplified DNA was purified with the High Pure PCR Product Purification kit (Boehringer Mannheim). The purified DNA was eluted into a total of 200 μl of 10 mM TrisHCL, pH 8.5. The genome walking protocol consists of 3 steps. First, a genomic DNA sample is cut with 5 different blunt-end restriction enzymes in 5 separate reactions. Second, the cut DNA is ligated to an adapter which serves as a tag sequence and also is designed to prevent background amplification. Third, the ligated DNA is amplified with a gene-specific primer and a primer with the same sequence as a portion of the adapter sequence. 50 μl restriction digests contained 30 μl of randomly amplified genomic DNA and the Dra I restriction enzyme. After 4 hours at 37° C., the cut DNA was purified with either GENECLEANII (Bio 101) or QIAEX II (Qiagen) according to manufacturer's instructions. DNA was eluted into 10 μl of 10 mM TrisHCl, pH 8.5 in either case. 5.6 μl of this cut DNA was used in 10 μl ligation reactions containing 6 μM GenomeWalker adapter. Reactions were carried out at room temperature overnight followed by heating at 70° C. for 10 minutes to inactivate the T4 DNA ligase. The ligation reactions were then diluted with 70 μl of TE (10 mM TrisHCl, pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA). One μl of the diluted ligation mix was used in 25 μl PCR reactions with 0.2 μM gene-specific primer and 0.2 μM primer AP-1 (Clontech) which has the same sequence as the 5′ portion of the GenomeWalker adapter. Ten reactions were done for each DNA sample. Five antisense walk PCR reactions (for the 5 different restriction enzymes used to cut the genomic sample) were done using the sense gene-specific primer and five sense walk PCR reactions were done using the antisense gene-specific primer for each DNA sample. The cycling parameters were as recommended by the Universal Genome Walking kit (Clontech) and were as follows: 7 cycles of 94° C. for 25 seconds and 72° C. for 3 minutes, 32 cycles of 94° C. for 25 seconds and 67° C. for 3 minutes, followed by 67° C. for 7 minutes. The Archaeoglobus veneficus (Ave) genome walks were done as follows. The primary antisense primer was Ave 34AS (SEQ ID NO:40) and the primary sense primer was Ave 65S (SEQ ID NO:41). Nested PCR reactions were done using the nested primer AP-2 and either the nested antisense primer Ave 32AS (SEQ ID NO:42) or the nested sense primer Ave 67S (SEQ ID NO:43). 25-μl nested reactions were done as descibed above for the primary PCR walk reactions. The primary reactions were diluted 1:50 in H2O and 0.5 μl of those dilutions were added to the nested PCR reactions. The cycling parameters for the nested PCR reactions were as recommended by the Universal Genome Walking kit (Clontech) and are as follows: 5 cycles of 94° C. for 25 seconds and 72° C. for 3 minutes, 20 cycles of 94° C. for 25 seconds and 67° C. for 3 minutes, followed by 7 minutes at 67° C. The nested antisense PCR reaction on Stu I cut Ave genomic sample generated a 1 kilobase DNA product which was cloned into pGEM-T Easy (Promega) following manufacturer's instructions and sequenced. The nested sense PCR reaction on Eco RV cut Ave genomic sample generated a 1.1 kilobase product which was cloned into pGEM-T Easy (Promega) following manufacturer's instructions and sequenced. Cloning of Ave FEN-1 Nuclease I into an Expression Vector PCR reactions were performed using the primers designed above and genomic DNA from the organism of interest. The PCR products were gel purified and then cut with restriction endonucleases corresponding to the sites incorporated in the PCR primers. The cut PCR products were then purified away from the smaller digest fragments and these cut products were cloned into an expression vector. In some cases, this was the final step of the cloning process, prior to transformation and protein expression/purification. In some cases a fifth step was needed. In some cases, a mutagenesis step had to be performed to remove any nucleotides that were incorporated into the ORF as a result of primer sequences required for cloning. Finally, a bacterial host (e.g., E. coli JM109) was transformed with the expression vector containing the cloned FEN-1, and protein expression and purification were done as detailed below. The cloning of a FEN-1 from Archaeaglobus veneficus (Ave) was performed as described above using the DSM # 11195 genomic DNA and PCR primers Ave 5′ -3′ TAACGAATTCGGTGCAGACATAGGCGAACTAC (SEQ ID NO:44) and Ave 3′ -5′ GGTGTCGACTCAGGAAAACCACCTCTCAAGCG (SEQ ID NO:45). The mutagenic oligonucleotide used was Ave ΔR1-5′ CACAGGAAACAGACCATGGGTGCAGACATAGGCGAAC (SEQ ID NO:46). The open reading frame (ORF) encoding the Ave FEN-1 endonuclease is provided in SEQ ID NO:47; the amino acid sequence encoded by this ORF is provided in SEQ ID NO:48. Large Scale Preparation of Recombinant Ave FEN-1 Protein Ave FEN-1 protein was purified by the following technique, which is derived from a Taq DNA polymerase preparation protocol (Engelke et al., Anal. Biochem., 191:396 [1990]) as follows. E. coli cells (strain JM1O9) containing the construct described above were inoculated into 3 ml of LB (Luria Broth) containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin and grown for 16 hrs at 37° C. The entire overnight culture was inoculated into 200 ml or 350 ml of LB containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin and grown at 37° C. with vigorous shaking to an A600 of 0.8. IPTG (1 M stock solution) was added to a final concentration of 1 mM and growth was continued for 16 hrs at 37° C. The induced cells were pelleted and the cell pellet was weighed. An equal volume of 2×DG buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.6, 0.1 mM EDTA) was added and the pellet was resuspended by agitation. Fifty mg/ml lysozyme (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) was added to 1 mg/ml final concentration and the cells were incubated at room temperature for 15 min. Deoxycholic acid (10% solution) was added dropwise to a final concentration of 0.2% while vortexing. One volume of H2O and 1 volume of 2×DG buffer was added and the resulting mixture was sonicated for 2 minutes on ice to reduce the viscosity of the mixture. After sonication, 3 M (NH4)2SO4 was added to a final concentration of 0.2 M and the lysate was centrifuged at 14000×g for 20 min at 4° C. The supernatant was removed and incubated at 70° C. for 60 min at which time 10% polyethylimine (PEI) was added to 0.25%. After incubation on ice for 30 min., the mixture was centrifuged at 14,000×g for 20 min at 4° C. At this point, the supernatant was removed and the FEN-1 protein was precipitated by the addition of (NH4)2SO4 as follows. The FEN-1 protein was precipitated by the addition of solid (NH4)2SO4 to a final concentration of 3 M (˜75% saturated). The mixture was incubated on ice for 30 min and the protein was centrifuged at 14,000×g for 20 min at 4° C. The protein pellet was resuspended in 0.5 ml of Q buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.1 mM EDTA, 0. 1% Tween 20). The resuspended protein preparations were quantitated by determination of the A279. INVADER Assay Using Charged-balanced Probes This experiment utilized the following Cy3-labeled oligonucleotide: 5′-Cy3-AminoT-AminoT-CTTTTCACCAGCGAGACGGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:1; termed “oligo 61”). Oligo 61 was designed to release upon cleavage a net positively charged, labeled product. To test whether or not a net positively charged 5′-end labeled product would be recognized by the CLEAVASE enzymes in the INVADER-directed cleavage assay format, probe oligo 61 (SEQ ID NO:1) and INVADER oligonucleotide 67 (SEQ ID NO:2) were chemically synthesized on a DNA synthesizer (ABI 391) using standard phosphoramidite chemistries and reagents obtained from Glen Research (Sterling, Va.). Each assay reaction comprised 100 fmoles of M13mp18 single stranded DNA, 10 pmoles each of the probe (SEQ ID NO:1) and INVADER (SEQ ID NO:2) oligonucleotides, and 20 units of CLEAVASE A/G in a 10 μl solution of 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.4 with 100 mM KCl. Samples were overlaid with mineral oil to prevent evaporation. The samples were brought to 50° C., 55° C., 60° C., or 65° C. and cleavage was initiated by the addition of 1 μl of 40 mM MnCl2. Reactions were allowed to proceed for 25 minutes and then were terminated by the addition of 10 μl of 95% formamide containing 20 mM EDTA and 0.02% methyl violet. The negative control experiment lacked the target M13mp18 and was run at 60° C. Five microliters of each reaction were loaded into separate wells of a 20% denaturing polyacrylamide gel (cross-linked 29:1) with 8 M urea in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-Borate (pH 8.3) and 1.4 mM EDTA. An electric field of 20 watts was applied for 30 minutes, with the electrodes oriented as indicated in FIG. 19B (i.e., in reverse orientation). The products of these reactions were visualized using the FMBIO fluorescence imager and the resulting imager scan is shown in FIG. 19B. FIG. 19A provides a schematic illustration showing an alignment of the INVADER (SEQ ID NO:2) and probe (SEQ ID NO:1) along the target M13mp18 DNA; only 53 bases of the M13mp18 sequence is shown (SEQ ID NO:49). The sequence of the INVADER oligonucleotide is displayed under the M13mp18 target and an arrow is used above the M13mp18 sequence to indicate the position of the INVADER relative to the probe and target. As shown in FIG. 19A, the INVADER and probe oligonucleotides share a 2 base region of overlap. In FIG. 19B, lanes 1-4 contain reactions performed at 50° C., 55° C., 60° C., and 65° C., respectively; lane 5 contained the control reaction (lacking target). In FIG. 19B, the products of cleavage are seen as dark bands in the upper half of the panel; the faint lower band seen appears in proportion to the amount of primary product produced and, while not limiting the invention to a particular mechanism, may represent cleavage one nucleotide into the duplex. The uncleaved probe does not enter the gel and is thus not visible. The control lane showed no detectable signal over background (lane 5). As expected in an invasive cleavage reaction, the rate of accumulation of specific cleavage product was temperature-dependent. Using these particular oligonucleotides and target, the fastest rate of accumulation of product was observed at 55° C. (lane 2) and very little product observed at 65° C. (lane 4). When incubated for extended periods at high temperature, DNA probes can break non-specifically (i.e., suffer thermal degradation) and the resulting fragments contribute an interfering background to the analysis. The products of such thermal breakdown are distributed from single-nucleotides up to the full length probe. In this experiment, the ability of charge based separation of cleavage products (i.e., charge reversal) would allow the sensitive separation of the specific products of target-dependent cleavage from probe fragments generated by thermal degradation was examined. To test the sensitivity limit of this detection method, the target M13mp18 DNA was serially diluted ten fold over than range of 1 fmole to 1 amole. The INVADER and probe oligonucleotides were those described above (i.e., SEQ ID NOS:2 and 1, respectively). The invasive cleavage reactions were run as described above with the following modifications: the reactions were performed at 55° C., 250 mM or 100 mM KGlu was used in place of the 100 mM KCl and only 1 pmole of the INVADER oligonucleotide was added. The reactions were initiated as described above and allowed to progress for 12.5 hours. A negative control reaction that lacked added m13mp18 target DNA was also run. The reactions were terminated by the addition of 10 μl of 95% formamide containing 20 mM EDTA and 0.02% methyl violet, and 5 μl of these mixtures were electrophoresed and visualized as described above. The resulting imager scan is shown in FIG. 20. In FIG. 20, lane 1 contains the negative control; lanes 2-5 contain reactions performed using 100 mM KGlu; lanes 6-9 contain reactions performed using 250 mM KGlu. The reactions resolved in lanes 2 and 6 contained 1 fmole of target DNA; those in lanes 3 and 7 contained 100 amole of target; those in lanes 4 and 8 contained 10 amole of target and those in lanes 5 and 9 contained 1 amole of target. The results shown in FIG. 20 demonstrate that the detection limit using charge reversal to detect the production of specific cleavage products in an invasive cleavage reaction is at or below 1 attomole or approximately 6.02×105 target molecules. No detectable signal was observed in the control lane, which indicates that non-specific hydrolysis or other breakdown products do not migrate in the same direction as enzyme-specific cleavage products. The excitation and emission maxima for Cy3 are 554 and 568, respectively, while the FMBIO Imager Analyzer excites at 532 and detects at 585. Therefore, the limit of detection of specific cleavage products can be improved by the use of more closely matched excitation source and detection filters. Example 3 Examination of the Effects of a 5′ Positive Charge on the Rate of Invasive Cleavage using the CLEAVASE A/G or Pfu FEN-1 Nucleases To investigate whether the positive charges on the 5′ ends of probe oligonucleotides containing a positively charged adduct(s) have an effect on the ability of the CLEAVASE A/G or Pfu FEN-1 nucleases to cleave the 5′ arm of the probe, the following experiment was performed. Two probe oligonucleotides having the following sequences were utilized in INVADER reactions: Probe 34-180-1: (N-Cy3)TNH2TNH2CCAGAGCCTAATTTGCC AGT(N-fluorescein)A, where N represents a spacer containing either a Cy3 or fluorescein group (SEQ ID NOS:50 or 51, respectively) and Probe 34-180-2: 5′-(N-TET)TTCCAGAGCC TAATTTGCCAGT-(N-fluorescein)A, where N represents a spacer containing either a TET or fluorescein group (SEQ ID NOS:52 or 53, respectively). Probe 34-180-1 (SEQ ID NO:50) has amino-modifiers on the two 5′ end T residues and a Cy3 label on the 5′ end, creating extra positive charges on the 5′ end. Probe 34-180-2 (SEQ ID NO:52) has a TET label on the 5′ end, with no extra positive charges. The fluorescein label on the 3′ end of probe 34-180-1 enables the visualization of the 3′ cleaved products and uncleaved probes together on an acrylamide gel run in the standard direction (i.e., with the DNA migrating toward the positive electrode). The 5′ cleaved product of probe 34-180-1 has a net positive charge and will not migrate in the same direction as the uncleaved probe, and is thus visualized by resolution on a gel run in the opposite direction (i.e.; with this DNA migrating toward the negative electrode). The cleavage reactions were conducted as follows. All conditions were performed in duplicate. Enzyme mixes for the Pfu FEN-1 and CLEAVASE A/G nucleases were assembled. Each 2 μl of the Pfu FEN-1 mix contained 100 ng of Pfu FEN-1 and 7.5 mM MgCl2. Each 2 μl of the CLEAVASE A/G nuclease mix contained 26.5 ng of CLEAVASE A/G nuclease and 4.0 mM MnCl2. Four master mixes containing buffer, M13mp18, and INVADER oligonucleotides were assembled. Each 7 μl of mix 1 contained 5 fmol M13mp18, 10 pmoles INVADER oligonucleotide 123 (SEQ ID NO:54) in 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.2). Each 7 μl of mix 2 contained 1 fmol M13mp18, 10 pmoles INVADER oligonucleotide 123 in 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.2). Each 7 pl of mix 3 contained 5 fmol M13mp18, 10 pmoles INVADER oligonucleotide 123 in 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.2), 250 mM KGlu. Each 7 μl of mix 4 contained I fmol M13mp18, 10 pmoles INVADER oligonucleotide 123 in 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.2), 250 mM KGlu. For every 7 μl of each mix, 10 pmoles of either probe 34-180-1 (SEQ ID NO:50) or probe 34-180-2 (SEQ IDNO:52) were added. The DNA solutions described above were covered with 10 μl of CHILLOUT evaporation barrier and brought to 65° C. The reactions made from mixes 1-2 were started by the addition of 2 μl of the Pfu FEN-1 mix, and the reactions made from mixes 3-4 were started by the addition of 2 μl of the CLEAVASE A/G nuclease mix. After 30 minutes at 65° C., the reactions were terminated by the addition of 8 μl of 95% formamide containing 10 mM EDTA. Samples were heated to 90° C. for 1 minute immediately before electrophoresis through a 20% denaturing acrylamide gel (19:1 cross-linked) with 7 M urea, in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-Borate (pH 8.3), 1.4 mM EDTA and a 20% native acrylamide gel (29:1 cross-linked) in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-Borate (pH 8.3), 1.4 mM EDTA. The products of the cleavage reactions were visualized following electrophoresis by the use of a Hitachi FMBIO fluorescence imager. The resulting images are shown in FIG. 21. FIG. 21A shows the denaturing gel, which was run in the standard electrophoresis direction, and FIG. 21B shows the native gel, which was run in the reverse direction. The reaction products produced by Pfu FEN-1 and CLEAVASE A/G nucleases are shown in lanes 1-8 and 9-16, respectively. The products from the 5 fmol M13mp18 and 1 fmol M13mp18 reactions are shown in lanes 1-4, 9-12 (5 fmol) and 5-13-16 (1 fmol). Probe 34-180-1 is in lanes 1-2, 5-6, 9-10, 13-14 and probe 34-180-2 is in lanes 3-4, 7-8, 11-12, 15-16. The fluorescein-labeled 3′ end fragments from all cleavage reactions are shown in FIG. 21A, indicated by a “3” mark at the left. The 3 nt 5′ TET-labeled products are not visible in this Figure, while the 5° Cy3-labeled products are shown in FIG. 21B. The 3′ end bands in FIG. 21A can be used to compare the rates of cleavage by the different enzymes in the presence of the different 5′ end labels. It can be seen from this band that regardless of the amount of target nucleic acid present, both the Pfu FEN-1 and the CLEAVASE A/G nucleases show more product from the 5′ TET-labeled probe. With the Pfu FEN-1 nuclease this preference is modest, with only an approximately 25 to 40% increase in signal. In the case of the CLEAVASE A/G nuclease, however, there is a strong preference for the 5′ TET label. Therefore, although when the charge reversal method is used to resolve the products, a substantial amount of product is observed from the CLEAVASE A/G nuclease-catalyzed reactions, the Pfu FEN-1 nuclease is a preferred enzyme for cleavage of Cy3-labeled probes. Example 4 Manual Coupling of the 5′ Phosphoramidite (Positively Charged Phosphoramidite or Neutral Phosphoramidite) to Solid Support This example demonstrates one means by which a phosphoramidite with a positive or neutral charge can be coupled to an oligonucleotide on a solid support. The coupling method described below is provided by way of example and not by way of limitation; other coupling methods may also prove to be effective. A ¼ inch plug of Pyrex Brand Fiber Glass Wool (Aldrich, Cat# Z 25,289-0) was tightly packed into a 2.5 ml gas-tight Hamilton syringe (VWR, Cat. # 90168) using first a pasteur piptte or like device to drive the glass wool to the bottom of the syringe, followed by compression with the syringe plunger. The plunger was removed and approximately 40 mg of dry Control Pore Glass (CPG) support, coupled with oligonucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO:55 (still protected with the dimethoxy trityl [DMT] moiety at the 5′ end) was added to the syringe, on top of the packed glass wool. The amount of the CPG added varies with the batch of CPG synthesized, and is specifically dependent on the amount of oligonucleotide loaded onto the solid support. The plunger was reinserted and depressed to pack the CPG coupled DNA onto the glass wool. A 5-inch, 18 gauge Luer Lock needle was secured to the syringe, and all reagents were drawn into the reaction vessel (the syringe) via the needle. The plunger remained in the syringe for the rest of the procedure. Once the plunger was reinserted, the CPG-oligonucleotide complex was washed 3 times with methylene chloride (stored over 3-angstrom pore size, activated, Molecular Sieves [Aldrich, Cat. # 20,858-2]) by drawing 1 ml into the syringe via the needle, inverting 3-5 times and ejecting the wash solution by depressing the plunger. Reactions were then washed with 1 ml of deblock (dichloroacetic acid [a 15% solution in methylene chloride was special ordered from Glen Research] diluted to 3% in methylene chloride) to remove the DMT as described above. Washes were performed until the orange color generated by the free trityl groups was completely gone, with a maximum incubation time of 1 minute for all 3 washes. After the final wash, the reactions were neutralized with three 1 ml washes of a 1:1 mixture of acetonitrile:pyridine, stored over calcium hydride. This was followed by 8, 2 ml washed with acetonitrile stored over calcium hydride. 1.5 ml of the appropriate phosphoramidite solution (either 50-100 mM of the positively charged or the neutral phosphoramidite in acetonitrile, stored over calcium hydride) and 1 ml of activator (0.25M 5-ethylthio-1H-tetrazole [Glen Research, Cat.# 30-3140) in anhydrous acetonitrile over activated Molecular Sieves) was drawn up into the syringe. The needle was sealed using a silicone stopper (Aldrich, Cat.# Z16608-1) and rocked gently, by hand for 20 minutes at room temperature. After the 20 minute incubation, the solution was ejected and six 1 ml washes with acetonitrile stored over calcium hydride were done as described above. Two ml of oxidizer (0.02M iodine in tetrahydrofuran/pyridine/water [Glen Research, Cat.# 40-4330]) was drawn into the syringe, the needle was again sealed with a silicone stopper and the reaction was rocked gently at room temperature for 3 minutes. This was followed by 4, 1 ml acetonitrile (stored over calcium hydride) washes and 2, 1 ml acetonitrile:pyridine (1:1 mixture, stored over calcium hydride) washes. 1 ml of Cap B solution (10% n-methylimidazole in a solution of 8:1 tetrahydrofuran and pyrimidine [PE Biosystems]) and 1 ml of Cap A (THF/Acetic Anhydride, 9: 1, PE Biosystems) were drawn into the syringe, the needle was capped and the reaction was rocked gently for 3 minutes at room temperature. This was followed by six 1 ml washes with acetonitrile:pyridine (1 :1 mixture, stored over calcium hydride) and five 1 ml washes with methylene chloride stored over activated, Molecular Sieves. For subsequent manual couplings, the above procedure can be repeated, starting with the deblock washes. For subsequent automated couplings, the support can be transferred to a synthesis column and attach to synthesizer. If the reaction is complete, the 5′ dimethoxy trityl can be removed by washing with deblock, neutralizing with 3three 1 ml acetonitrile:pyrimidine washes, and eight 2 ml acetonitrile washes, as described above. Deprotection Protocol: The dried support (CPG) carrying the newly modified oligonucleotide was transferred to a 4 ml glass vial (Wheaton, 224801) with a TEFLON-lined cap (Wheaton 240408). lml of concentrated ammonium hydroxide (EM Sciences AX 1303-13) was added and the reaction was incubated overnight at room temperature. The mixture was then Filter through a 0.2 μm TEFLON Acrodisc filter (Gelman, 4423T) using a 1 ml disposable syringe (B-D, 309602), and finally dried to completion in a speedvac. Example 5 Synthesis of Positively Charged Phosphoramidite 1) Preparation of mono-DMT protected 4,4′-timethylene(bis(1-piperdine ethanol)): 10 grams (33.4 mmol) of 4,4′-timethylene(bis-(1-piperdine ethanol)) [Aldrich, Cat. # 12,122-3] and 1.46 ml (8.4 mmol) of N-N-di-isopropylethylamine [Aldrich, Cat. # 38,764-9] were combined in a 250-ml round-bottom flask (such as ChemGlass, Cat.# CG-1506). A magnetic stir bar was added and stirring was initiated at medium speed. 2.84 grams (8.4 mmol) of 4,4′-dimethoxytrityl chloride (Aldrich, Cat.# 10,001-3) was added as a solid, slowly (over the course of about 1 minute) with constant stirring. The flask was covered with a rubber septum and the reaction was incubated at room temperature with continued stirring, until complete, for about 1 hour. The reaction was monitored by thin layer chromatography (EM Science 60F254 silica plates from VWR, Cat.# 5715-7) using standard methods known in the art until the starting material, 4,4′-dimethoxytrityl chloride, was no longer detected on the chromatography plate. The reaction products were then filtered and purified by column chromatography using a 4.5 by 25 cm glass chromatography column (with glass frit and TEFLON stopcock) and 70-230 mesh, 60 angstrom silica gel (Aldrich, Cat.# 28,862-4). The running solvent was a solution of 5% methanol, 5% triethylamine and 90% methylene chloride. Chromatography was performed by standard methods known in the art. The product was a yellow oil, with a yield of approximately 4.8 grams (95%) with an Rf value of 0.55 as determined by TLC. TLC was performed using EM Science 60F254 silica plates (VWR, Cat.# 5715-7), in a running buffer of 5% triethylamine/95% dioxane. 2) Preparation of phosphoramidite: 1.3 grams (2.2 mmol) of mono-DMT protected 4,4′-timethylene(bis-(1-pipirdine ethanol)) synthesized in the above reaction was co-evaporated in a 250 ml round bottom flask, three times with 20 ml of acetonitrile. A Büichi Rotovapor with dry ice/alcohol condenser, (Büichi, model number R-114) was used for the evaporation, and the mixture was dried to completion for each co-evaporation. The dry product was then dissolved in 12 ml of methylene chloride followed by an addition of 0.85 ml (2.7 mmol) of 2-cyanoethyl tetraisopropyl phosphorodiamidite (Aldrich, Cat.# 30,599-5). 122 mg (1.7 mmol/4 ml) of tetrazole dissolved in 3 ml dry acetonitrile was added with vigorous swirling, and the reaction vessel was secured in a cork ring, taped to a vortexer and vortexed at medium speed, at room temperature, for 1.5 hours. The reaction was monitored by TLC and was complete when mono-DMT protected 4,4′-timethylene(bis(1-piperdine ethanol)) was no longer visible by TLC. 25 ml of methylene chloride were added to increase the volume, and the entire reaction was transferred to a 100 ml separatory funnel. An equal volume (approximately 40 ml) of a 5% sodium bicarbonate:1% triethylamine solution was added, the mixture was shaken for 15 seconds and allowed to equilibrate. The lower, organic phase was drained from the funnel and retained. The upper aqueous phase was discarded, the organic phase was transferred back to the separatory funnel and the wash was repeated for a total of three sodium bicarbonate/triethylamine washes. The organic phase was transferred to an Ehrlenmeyer flask and solid magnesium sulfate (approximately 20 g) was slowly added, with swirling, until no clumping of the solids was detected. The magnesium sulfate was filtered via a Büchner filter funnel with ground glass adaptor (Chemglass, Cat.# CG-1406) and the solution was concentrated and co-evaporated twice with 20 ml of acentonitrile on a Büichi Rotovapor in a tared, round-bottom flask. The amount of dry product was determined by mass, and then re-dissolved in acetonitrile to a final concentration of approximately 150-200 mg/ml. Several granules of calcium hydride were added. The dissolved product was then dispensed (2 ml/bottle) into amber glass vials (Wheaton, Cat. # 224754) and dried, first via a water aspirator until the product appears as an extremely viscous oil, and then overnight under vacuum in a glass dessicator (VWR) containing phosphorous pentoxide (Aldrich, Cat. # 29822-0) and DRIERITE (VWR, Cat. # 22891-040). The yield was approximately 1.6 grams (92.1%) with an Rf value of 0.7 as determined by TLC. TLC was performed using pre-run EM Science 60F254 silica plates (VWR, Cat.# 5715-7), in a running buffer of 5% triehtylamine/95% dioxane. Example 6 Synthesis of Neutral Phosphoramidite 1) Synthesis of Mono-DMT Protected N-methyldithanolamine: 8.3 grams (70.0 mmol) of N-methyldiethanolamine, 2.2 ml (12.6 mmol) of di-isopropyl ethylamine and 100 ml of acetonitrile were combined in a 250-ml round-bottom flask (such as ChemGlass, Cat.# CG-1506). A magnetic stir bar was added and stirring was initiated at medium speed. 4 grams (11.8 mmol) 4,4′-dimethoxytrityl chloride (Aldrich, Cat.# 10,001-3) was added as a solid, slowly (over the course of about 1 minute) with constant stirring. The flask was covered and the reaction was incubated at room temperature with continued stirring, until complete, for about 1 hour. The reaction was monitored by thin layer chromatography (EM Science 60F254 silica plates from VWR, Cat.# 5715-7) using standard methods known in the art. The reaction is complete when the starting material, N-methyldiethanolamine is no longer detected on the chromatography plate. After the 1 hour incubation, the reaction products were concentrated using the Büichi Rotovapor, and then dissolved in 50 ml of methylene chloride. The dissolved product was transferred to a 250 ml glass separatory funnel and washed 3 times with 50 ml of 5% sodium bicarbonate and once with saturated sodium chloride, as described above. The reaction products were then filtered and purified by column chromatography using a 4.5×25 cm glass chromatography column (with glass frit and TEFLON stopcock) and 70-230 mesh, 60 angstrom silica gel (Aldrich, Cat.# 28,862-4). The running solvent was a solution of 5% methanol, 5% triethylamine and 90% methylene chloride. Chromatography was performed by standard methods known in the art. The product was a yellow oil, with a yield of approximately 4.8 grams (95%), with an Rf value of 0.55 as determined by TLC. TLC was performed using pre-run EM Science 60F254 silica plates (VWR, Cat.# 5715-7), in a running buffer of 5% triehtylamine/95% dioxane. 2) Preparation of Phosphoramidite: 1.3 grams (3.2 mmol) of mono-DMT protected N-methyldiethanolamine, synthesized in the above reaction, was co-evaporated in a 250 ml round bottom flask, three times with 20 ml of acetonitrile (ACN). A dry ice/alcohol, Büichi Rotovapor, (Büichi, model number R-114) was used for the evaporation, and the mixture was dried to completion for each co-evaporation. The dry product was then dissolved in 12.6 ml of methylene chloride followed by and addition of 1.2 ml (3.8 mmol) of 2-cyanoethyl tetraisopropyl phosphorodiamitide (Aldrich, Cat.# 30,599-5). 173 mg (2.5 mmol/4 ml) of tetrazole/acetonitrile was added with vigorous swirling, and the reaction vessel was secured in a cork ring, taped to a vortex and vortexed at medium speed, room temperature, for 3 hours. 25 ml of methylene chloride were added to increase the volume, and the entire reaction was transferred to a 100 ml separatory funnel. An equal volume (approximately 40 ml) of a 5% sodium bicarbonate: 1% triethylamine solution was added, the mixture was shaken for 3-5 seconds and allowed to equilibrate, and the lower, organic phase was drained from the funnel and saved. The upper aqueous phase was discarded, the organic phase was transferred back to the separatory funnel and the wash was repeated, for a total of three sodium bicarbonate/triethylamine washes. The organic phase was transferred to an Ehrlenmeyer flask and solid magnesium sulfate (approximately 20 g) was slowly added, with swirling, until no clumping of the solids was detected. The magnesium sulfate was filtered out via a Büchner filter funnel with ground glass adaptor (Chemglass, Cat.# CG-1406), and the solution was concentrated and co-evaporated twice with 20 ml of acentonitrile in a Büichi Rotovapor in a tared, round-bottom flask. The amount of dry product was determined by mass, and as then re-dissolved in acetonitrile (and several granules of calcium hydride) to a final concentration of approximately 150-200 mg/ml. The dissolved product was then aliquoted (2 ml/bottle) into amber glass bottles (Wheaton) and dried, first via a water aspirator until the product appears as an extremely viscous oil, then overnight under vacuum in a glass dessicator (VWR) containing phosphorous pentoxide (Aldrich) and DRIERITE (VWR). The yield was approximately 1.9 grams (97.0%) with an Rf value of 0.8 as determined by TLC. TLC was performed using pre-run EM Science 60F254 silica plates (VWR, Cat.# 5715-7), in a running buffer of 5% triehtylamine/95% dioxane. Example 7 Synthesis of the 1,6 Hexanediol H-Phosphonate 1) Synthesis of the DMT protected 1,6-Hexanediol Three grams (25 mmol) of 1,6-hexanediol (Aldrich, Cat.24,011-7) was dissolved in 120 mL of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (THF) (Aldrich, Cat.# 18,656-2). 1.5 mL (1.1 g, 88 mmol) of di-isopropylethylamine (Aldrich, Cat.# 38,764-9) were added, and the resulting mixture (protected from moisture) was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes. Three grams (9 mmol) of Dimethoxytrityl Chloride (DMTCl) was then added, and the solution was incubated, with stirring for two hours at room temperature. The resulting mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure via a Büichi Rotovapor (Büichi, model R-1 14), and the concentrated material was filtered and purified via column chromatography using silica gel column (70-230 mesh)/Hexane: Ethyl Acetate 1:1 by standard methods known in the art. Fractions containing isolated material (as determined by TLC; Rf=0.3) were combined and concentrated. The yield was 77% (2.9 g; 7 mmol). 2) Synthesis of the DMT-1,6-Hexanediol H-phosphonate All reactions described below were performed under nitrogen in a system protected from moisture. a) Synthesis of the Phosphorus Triimidazolide (PIm3) 4.3 mL (5.9 g; 43 mmol) of Phosphorus trichloride (PCI3, Aldrich, Cat.#31,011-5) was dissolved in 100 mL of anhydrous THF at 0° C. with gentle stirring. The temperature was held at 0° C., and stirring was continued while, over a period of 10 minutes, 18.8 mL (18 g, 129 mmol) of Trimethylsilylchloride (Me3Si—Cl, Aldrich, Cat.#C7,285-4) dissolved in 40 mL of anhydrous THF was added to the reaction. After the addition of Me3Si—Cl, the reaction mixture was incubated at 0° C. for 30 minutes with continued stirring, and then at room temperature for 30 minutes with continued stirring. Finally, the reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure, protected from moisture, to 75% of its original volume. b) Synthesis of H-Phosphonate 5.9 g (14 mmol) of the DMT-protected 1,6-hexanediol synthesized above was dissolved in 10 mL of anhydrous acetonitrile, and was then added slowly (over a period of about 5 minutes, with constant stirring) at room temperature, to the phosphorus triimidazolide (PIm3) solution. The reaction was incubated at room temperature with stirring for 4 hours, and then transferred to a separatory funnel containing 100 ml of water, 50 g of ice, 20 ml of Triethylamine and 50 ml of methylene chloride. The organic and aqueous phases were allowed to separate, and the organic (lower) fraction was isolated. The extraction was repeated until no DMT-containing material was present in the organic fraction as determined by TLC, described previously. Combined organic fractions were dried over magnesium sulfate for lhr, followed by concentration under reduced pressure. The concentrated product was purified by column chromatography using Silica gel 70-230 mesh, methylene chloride/methanol 10%Triethylamine 5% (Rf=0.5). Product containing fractions were combined and concentrated. Yield: 5.8 g (61%). The final concentrated product was then co-evaporated 5 times with 50 ml of anhydrous Acetonitrile, dried under high vacuum for 18 hours and dissolved in 18 mL of Pyridine/Acetonitrile 1:1. Activated Molecular sieves (3 angstrom) were added. Example 8 Manual Introduction of Modifications into CRE Probes using H-phosphonate Chemistry A 2.5 ml gas-tight Hamilton syringe (VWR, Cat.#90168) was loaded (as detailed in Example 4) with 1 μmol CPG support (DMT on) coupled with a DNA CRE probe (for example, SEQ ID NO:55). To remove the DMT, the CPG/oligonucleotide complex was washed twice (as described in Example 4) with 1 ml of methylene dichloride, then washed for 1 minute with 5 ml of 3% dichloroacetic acid in methylene dichloride. The reaction was then washed 10 times with 1 ml of anhydrous acetonitrile/pyridine 1:1. After the final wash, one of 5 different H-phosphonate moieties (the 1,6 hexanediol H-phosphonate synthesized in Example 7; dA-H-Phosphonate, dC-H-Phosphonate, dG-H-Phosphonate, or dT-H-Phosphonate [Glen Research, Cat.# 10-1200-05, 10-1210-05, 10-1220-05, 10-1230-05]) was added as follows. 1 ml of H-phosphonate solution (concentration: 50-150 mol/mL) and 1 mL of the trimethylacetyl chloride solution in anhydrous acetonitrile/pyridine 1:1 (concentration: 100-250 μmol/mL) were drawn into the syringe, the needle was sealed and the reaction was incubated at room temperature with gentle shaking for 5-10 minutes. The syringe contents were expelled, and 6, 1 ml acetonitrile/pyridine 1:1 washes were done. After the last wash, 0.1-0.2 g of a primary or secondary amine (for example N,N-dimethylethylenediamine, Aldrich, Cat.#D15,780-5) in 1 mL of anhydrous pyridine, followed by 0.5 mL of anhydrous carbon tetrachloride were drawn into the syringe and incubated at room temperature, with gentle shaking for 5-15 minutes. The syringe contents were expelled, and six 1 ml anhydrous acetonitrile/pyridine 1:1 washes were done. This was followed by six 1 ml methylene chloride washes; a 1 minute wash with 5 ml 3% dichloroacetic acid/methylene dichloride; ten 1 ml washes with anhydrous acetonitrile/pyridine 1:1 and six 1 ml washes with methylene chloride. The dried support (CPG) was transferred to a 4 ml glass vial (Wheaton, 224801) with a TEFLON-lined cap (Wheaton 240408). 1 ml of concentrated ammonium hydroxide (EM Sciences AX 1303-13) was added and the reaction was incubated for 12 hours at 55° C. After the cleavage and deprotection was completed, the product containing ammonia solution was concentrated under reduced pressure and subjected to ion exchange HPLC or reverse phase HPLC purification. For all HPLC purifications, the Hitachi HPLC (Interface model# D-7000; pump model# 7100; diode array detector model# L-7455) system, and standard methods known in the art were used. The specific conditions used for the Reverse Phase HPLC purification were: C-18 Dionex analytical column (4.6×250 mm) with a flow rate of 1 m/min, starting with 100% buffer A (0.1 M TEAA) and 0% buffer B (acetonitrile), and transitioning to buffer B at a rate of 1% buffer B per minute. Fractions were collected and analyzed via mass spectrometry by methods known in the art, to identify the complete product. The specific conditions used for the ion exchange HPLC purification were: Amersham Pharmacia Biotech HR 10/10 15Q IE column (10×100 mm) with a flow rate of 5 ml/min. Buffer A (20 mM sodium perchlorate, 20 mM sodium acetate, 10% acetonitrile, pH 7.35) and Buffer B (600 mM sodium perchlorate, 600 mM sodium acetate, 10% acetonitrile, pH 7.35) were used in a gradient beginning and ending at 5%A/95%B, with a gradient increase of approximately 65%B per minute. Fractions were collected and analyzed by mass spectrometry by methods known in the art, to identify the desired product. Example 9 Effect of Tag Modifications on the INVADER Assay Reaction In this example, oligonucleotide probes containing positively charged tags at their 5′ ends were tested in INVADER assay reactions, and the reaction turnover rates using two, differently modified probe oligonucleotides were compared. Here, turnover rate is defined as the number of cleavage events per target per unit time. The turnover rates were determined as described in (Lyamichev, et al., Biochemistry 39:9523 [2000]). The first oligonucleotide probe, 5′-Cy3-AminoT-AminoT-ACG CCA CCA GCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:56, termed 203-85-5), utilized AminoT modifications such as those described in Example 2. The second oligonucleotide probe, 5′-V-(Hex)-Cy3-CGC TGT CTC GCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:57, termed 490-52), was synthesized using the H-phosphonate modification V-(HEX), depicted in FIG. 11. The INVADER-directed cleavage of probes 203-85-5 and 490-52 was designed to release net positively charged Cy3-labeled products 5′-Cy3-AminoT-AminoT-3′ and 5′-V-(Hex)-C-3′, respectively. The first product is generated by enzymatic cleavage after AminoT, whereas the second product is produced by the cleavage after a natural base C. The INVADER oligonucleotide 5′-GCT CAA GGC ACT CTT GCC C-3′ (SEQ ID NO:58, termed 203-85-4) and the target oligonucleotide 5′-ATG ACT GAA TAT AAA CTT GTG GTA GTT GGA GCT GGT GGC GTA GGC AAG AGT GCC TTG ACG ATA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:59, termed 203-85-3) used with the probe 203-85-5 were synthesized using phosphoramidite reagents obtained from Glen Research and standard phosphoramidite chemistries known in the art. The underlined nucleotides denote 2′-O-methyl modifications. The INVADER and target oligonucleotides used with the probe 490-52 were combined into the single molecule 5′-biotin-TTT TTT TTT AAT TAG GCT CTG GAA AGA CGC TCG TGA AAC GAG CGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:60, termed IT5). All oligonucleotides were gel purified and quantitated as described (Lyamichev, et al., supra). The INVADER assay reactions utilizing the AminoT-modified probe 203-85-5 were perforrned as follows: 10 μl reactions were prepared and contained (final concentrations): 2 μM amino modified probe (203-85-5), 1 μM INVADER oligonucleotide 203-85-4 (SEQ ID NO:58), 1 nM target oligonucleotide 203-85-3 (SEQ ID NO:59), 32 nM AfuFEN1 CLEAVASE enzyme, 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, and 4 mM MgCl2. The INVADER reactions utilizing probe 490-52 (2 μM) were prepared as above, except 1 nM of the IT5 oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NO:60) was used, and served as both the INVADER oligonucleotide and the target oligonucleotide. The reactions were assembled on ice in 200 μl thin wall PCR tubes (Dot Scientific, Cat.#620-PCR), overlaid with 10 μl of Chill-out liquid wax (MJ Research) and transferred to a Mastercycler heating block (Eppendorf, Cat.# 5331 000.045). The reactions were incubated for 60 minutes at 55.3, 57.7, 60.5, 63.4, 66.2, and 68.7° C. using a temperature gradient of62 ±10° C. (controlled by the heating block). The reactions were stopped after 1 hour with the addition of 10 μL of 95% formamide containing 20 mM EDTA and 0.02% methyl violet. One microliter aliquots of each reaction were loaded onto each of two 200×200×1 mm slabs of 15% denaturing polyacrylamide gel (crosslinked 19:1) with 7 M urea in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris borate, pH 8.3 and 1 mM EDTA. An electric field of 20 watts was applied for 30 minutes with the positive electrode connected either to the top buffer reservoir (reverse orientation) or bottom reservoir (normal orientation). The net positively charged products generated in the course of the INVADER reactions were detected by gel electrophoresis in the reverse orientation and the uncleaved probes of the same samples were analyzed by separation in the normal orientation. The intensities of bands corresponding to the products and uncleaved probes were measured using FMBIO-100 fluorescence imager (Hitachi, Alameda, Calif.) equipped with 532-nm laser and 585-nm filter at 10% sensitivity level. The measured turnover rates for probes 203-85-5 (SEQ ID NO:56) and 490-52,(SEQ ID NO:57) as a function of temperature are shown in FIG. 22. The probe 490-52 which was synthesized using H-phosphonate chemistry to introduce the modification V-(Hex), has approximately 10-fold greater turnover rate than the AminoT modified probe 203-85-5. Example 10 Detection of Specifilc Cleavage Products by Charge Reversal This example demonstrates that a CLEAVASE enzyme that recognizes cleavage structures containing RNA targets (CLEAVASE TthAKK) also recognizes and cleaves structures containing RNA targets and the above-described positively charged probe oligonucleotides. In this example, 5 different, modified probe oligonucleotides were used in an INVADER reaction to detect human MCP1 in vitro transcripts. Each probe oligonucleotide was designed to release a labeled product with a net positive charge such that the cleavage products could be detected using charge reversal methods. The five different, 5′-end modified, Cy3-labeled probe oligonucleotides tested were: 5′-V-(HEX)-Cy3-CTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:61; termed “oligo P1”), 5′-V-(dA)-Cy3-CTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:62; termed “oligo P2”), 5′-V-(dC)-Cy3-CTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:63; termed “oligo P3”), 5′-V-(dG)-Cy3-CTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:64; termed “oligo P4”), and 5′-V-(dT)-Cy3-CTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:65; termed “oligo P5”) (FIG. 23). The 5′ modifications were synthesized as described previously, and all 5 of the above oligonucleotides and the INVADER oligonucleotide, Invl 5′-GGGTTGTGGAGTGAGTGTTCAAGTA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:66) were chemically synthesized on a DNA synthesizer (ABI 391) using standard phosphoramidite chemistries and reagents obtained from Glen Research (Sterling, Va.). All probe oligonucleotides were purified by Anion exchange HPLC. There was one major and one or more minor peaks observed with this purification method. The material from the major (first) peak was used in all experiments described below. In vitro transcripts were synthesized as follows. The human Ubiquitin cDNA was isolated from a first-strand human liver cDNA library (Clontech Cat #7407-1) by PCR using a universal 5′ primer (API, 5′ CATCCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGC-3′, SEQ ID NO:67) provided with the library and a Ubiquitin-specific 3′ primer (5′-CTCATACAGTTACTTGTCTTC-3′, SEQ ID NO:68). PCR reactions were performed with an error-correcting polymerase mixture from Clontech (Cat # 8417-1) according to manufacturer's instructions. The expected size of the PCR products was 500 bases. PCR products were gel purified on 1% agarose gel run in 0.5×TBE. The gel was Stained in 10μg/ml ethidium bromide, visualized under UV light, the appropriately sized band was excised and the DNA recovered with a QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen Cat #28706). The gel-purified fragment was then cloned into the pCR2.1-TOPO cloning vector (Invitrogen, Cat. # K4500-01) by methods known in the art. Positive clones were selected and insert identity was confirmed by DNA sequencing. The positive plasmids were transformed into TOPIO cells (Invitrogen). Cells were grown and plasmid isolated by methods well known in the art of molecular biology. The same 5′ and 3′ primers used above were then used in PCR reactions to generate templates for use in in vitro transcription reactions. In vitro transcriptions were done performed using the Ambion T7 MEGAshortscript RNA Transcription Kit (Ambion, Cat.# 1354) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The resulting human ubiquitin transcript is SEQ ID NO:69. Note that the use of the AP15′ primer includes the T7 RNA polymerase promoter, which is necessary for the generation of in vitro transcripts. All transcripts used in the following reactions contained tRNA (Sigma) at 20 ng/μl as carrier. HMCP1 in vitro transcripts were synthesized as follows. The human Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (hMCP-1) cDNA was obtained from 10 μg/ml Con-A (concanavalin-A) and PHA (phytohemagglutinin) stimulated human PMBC's (Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells) total RNA. Total RNA was isolated from 1×107 cells with TRIzol® Reagent (Gibco BRL Cat #15596) according to the manufacturing protocol. 500 ng of total RNA was used for reverse transcription using the GeneAmp RNA PCR kit (Perkin Elmer cat #N808-0017) for the generation of the cDNA. This RT-PCR was performed using a gene specific 5′ primer that also contained the T7 RNA polymerase promoter site (5′-GGAATACGACTCACTATAGGGAAAGTCTCTGCCGCCCTTCTGTGCCTGCTGC-3′, SEQ ID NO:70) and a 3′ hMCP-specific primer (5′-AATAGTTACAAAATATTCATTTCCACAATAA-3′, SEQ ID NO:71). The 665 base fragment was re-amplified using the same PCR primers and Taq DNA Polymerase (Perkin Elmer Cat. #N808-0152). The fragment was column purified using the Wizard® PCR Preps DNA Purification System (Promega Cat # A7170) and quantitated by O.D.260 measurement. In vitro transcription was performed using 600 ng of the purified PCR product in the Ambion T7 MEGAshortscript RNA Transcription Kit (Ambion Cat #1354) according to the manufacturer's protocol. The hMCP in vitro transcript generated (SEQ ID NO:72) was 647 nt long. The solution of the in vitro transcript was mixed with an equal volume of loading dye (95% Formamide, 10 mM EDTA, Methyl violet dye), heat denatured at 90° C. for 3 minutes and then loaded on a 6% denaturing (19:1 cross-linked) with 7 M urea acrylamide gel run in 0.5×TBE. After the electrophoresis, one of the glass plates was removed and the gel was covered with plastic wrap. The gel then was placed wrap-side-down on the TLC (DC Fertigplatten Kieselgel 40 F254 Merck, Art 5634) plate and the other glass plate was removed. The RNA bands were visualized in the dark room by shining a hand-held UV light source (254 nM; short wave) on the surface of the gel. The nucleic acid will appear as dark bands while the TLC plate will appear green. The bands corresponding to the RNA were excised with a razor blade and eluted in TE (10 mM Tris, 0.1 mM EDTA) containing 0.3 M sodium acetate at 37° C. for 4 hours. The in vitro transcript was ethanol precipitated at −20° C. over night (alternatively, precipitation at −70° C. for 1 hour is also sufficient) and pelleted at 14,000 rpm for 30 min at 4° C. The pelleted nucleic acid was then washed with 70% ethanol and spun again for 5 minutes. After the ethanol was discarded, the pelleted nucleic acid was dried under vacuum and resuspended in RNase-free H2O (USB Cat #US70783). The concentration of the in vitro transcript was determined by OD260. All dilutions of the in vitro transcript used in the reactions were prepared in 20 ng/μl of yeast tRNA (Sigma Cat # R5636). Five sets of reactions were done, one for each different probe oligonucleotide. A negative (no-target) control containing 100 ng of yeast tRNA was performed for each reaction set. Each 10 μl reaction was prepared at room temperature as follows. Five different master mixes were prepared, one for each probe. Each mix comprised (final concentration): 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 100 mM KCl, 0.05% Tween, and 0.05% Nonidet NP40, 12.5 mM MgSO4, 5 pmoles of INVADER oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NO:66) and 20 ng of CLEAVASE TthAKK enzyme. Finally, 10 pmoles of one of the probes (SEQ ID NOS:61, 62, 63, 64 or 65) were added for a final volume of 10 μl per reaction/per master mix. The master mixes were vortexed briefly and 5 μl of each was transferred to the appropriate reaction vessel (200 μl thin wall PCR tubes, Dot Scientific, Cat. #620-PCR), followed by the addition of 5 μl (containing 0, 0.1, 1 or 10 fmoles) of human MCP1 in vitro transcript. 100 ng of yeast tRNA (Sigma) was used as a negative control. Samples were pipetted up and down 3 times to mix. The samples were then overlaid with 10μl colored Chill out 14 liquid wax (MJ Research) to prevent evaporation and incubated at 63° C. for 60 min. Reactions were terminated by the addition of 50 μl of 95% formamide containing 10 mM EDTA. Samples were run on a 15% denaturing acrylamide gel (19:1 cross-linked) with 7 M urea, in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-Borate (pH 8.3), 1 mM EDTA. The gel was pre-run, with the electrodes in the normal orientation prior to loading. The samples were heated to 90° C. for 1 minute immediately before loading, and 2 μl were loaded per well. An electric field of 20 watts was applied for 30 minutes with the electrodes in the normal orientation. The products were visualized following electrophoresis with a Hitachi FMBIO fluorescence imager with 585-nM filter at 20% sensitivity. The gel was then replaced on the running apparatus, and fresh buffer was added to the reservoirs. The electrodes were then placed in the reverse orientation, the gel was pre-run and loaded as above. The gel was run for I hour in the reverse orientation, and products were visualized as above. The resulting images are shown in FIG. 24. FIG. 24A shows the denaturing gel, which was run in the standard electrophoresis direction, and FIG. 24B shows the denaturing gel, which was run in the reverse direction. Probe V-(HEX) panel A; probe V-(dA) panel B; probe V-(dC) panel C; probe V-(dG) panel D; and probe V-(dT) panel E. Example 11 Effects of a 5′ Positive Charge on Cleavage Rate using CLEAVASE TthAKK Enzyme The previous example demonstrated the ability of the CLEAVASE TthAKK enzyme to recognize and cleave a cleavage structure containing an RNA target and a positively charged probe oligonucleotide. This example tests the effect of the positively charged probes on cleavage rates. All 5 of the positively charged probe oligonucleotides described in Example 10 were tested against a 5′ fluorescein labeled “control” probe oligonucleotide (SEQ ID NO:73; 5′ fluorescein phosphoramidite from Glen Research). Both the positively charged and the control probe were designed to detect the same sequence, so are identical in the analyte specific region. The difference between the fluorescein labeled and the CRE-V labeled probes include the charge difference at the 5′ end, and the length of the cleaved products, or 5′ flap. The 5′ flap of the positively charged probes is 1 base, while the control probe yields a 3 base, 5′ flap. Reactions were performed as described in Example 10, using the hMCP1 in vitro transcripts as target. Only one target level was used to test the cleavage rate for each probe oligonucleotide. Each reaction received either 1 fmole of the hMCP1 in vitro transcript with 100 ng of yeast tRNA as carrier; 100 ng of yeast tRNA also served as a negative control. Reactions containing target were done in quadruplicate, while the tRNA control reactions were done singly. Turnover rates were determined as described in Lyamichev, et al., supra, and are shown graphically in FIG. 25. The rates ranged from 2-to 9 cleavage events/target/minute with P3 (SEQ ID NO:63) showing the highest rate among the positively charged probes. The average cleavage rate of the fluorescein labeled probe was 12 cleavage events/target/minute. Example 12 Examination of the Rate of Background Accumulation With 5′ Positively Charged Probe Oligonucleotides A key advantage to using positively charged probe oligonucleotides is the ability to completely separate signal (e.g., the single base flap carrying the positively charged signal molecule) from any other aberrant reaction products or uncleaved probes using simple, reverse polarity gel electrophoresis, as described and detailed in the above examples. This experiment confirms that background cleavage products (aberrant cleavage, or thermodegradation products) will not migrate in the reverse polarity gel, even if the reaction is incubated with large amounts of target for an extended period of time, allowing for greater certainty and simplicity in data interpretation. The probe oligonucleotide used was P2 (described in Experimental Example 10, SEQ ID NO:62) and the INVADER oligonucleotide used was Invl (SEQ ID NO:66), also described in Example 10. The reaction conditions and gel based separation method were performed as described in 10. Reactions were performed with 0 (100 ng/5 μl of tRNA as a negative control; background estimate), 0.01, 0.1 and 1 fmole of hMCP1 in vitro transcript in a 10 μl reaction volume. Reactions were assembled as described in Example 10, and incubated for 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours at 63° C. Reaction products were separated in normal or reverse polarity gels, as described in Example 10, and were analyzed based on the intensities from the Hitachi FMBIO scanner images and software, also described in Example 10. The results are shown graphically in FIG. 26. FIG. 26A represents the results of the denaturing gel, which was run in the standard electrophoresis direction, and FIG. 26B represents the results of the denaturing gel, which was run in the reverse direction. Example 13 Detection of an RNA Target using Multiple, Positively Charged Probes. The previous experiments have demonstrated that the positively charged probes cleaved in a structure specific manner by the CLEAVASE enzyme, can be used to detect RNA targets, and, in certain detection platforms, can be analyzed such that the signal to background ratio is superior to “normal,” negatively charged probe oligonucleotides. The present experiment demonstrates that the cleavage products of different, 5′ positively charged probes can be distinguished (based on the different mass to charge ratios), even when used in the same reaction. The oligonucleotides used in this experiment, the reaction conditions, gel-based separation and the analysis were conducted as described in Example 10, except that 2 pmoles of each of 4 different probes [P1, P2, P4, and P5] were used, and the target levels were 0 (100 ng of tRNA only), 0.1, 1 and 10 fmoles of hMCP1 in vitro transcript. Two μl of each reaction was loaded on the gel in reverse polarity and separated as described. The resulting image is shown in FIG. 27. All cleavage products have a net positive charge. The mobility of the cleaved products from probe oligonucleotides P1, P2 and P4 were easily separated on the gel due to the differences in size (molecular weight) between them. In contrast, the cleaved products from the PS probe oligonucleotide were barely distinguishable from the P4 products; the size and charge of these products are very similar. This demonstrates that a preferred, multiplex embodiment utilizes probes whose cleaved products can be easily distinguished in the detection system of choice. Example 14 Human MCP1 and Human Ubiquitin in vitro Transcript Detection in a Cascade Reaction with Positively Charged Tags In this example, a two-step, sequential invasive cleavage reaction is used to detect both hMCP1 and hubiquitin in vitro transcripts, in a true, multiplex reaction (both targets are detected in the same reaction). The positively charged probes (termed reporter oligonucleotides, or reporter-labeled oligonucleotides in this example) are used in the second step of the sequential invasive cleavage reaction, as shown in FIG. 28A and B. The added amplification provided by the cascading INVADER scheme yields greater sensitivity and lower limits of detection, important if target levels are limiting. The mechanism of the sequential invasive cleavage reaction is as follows. The primary INVADER and probe oligonucleotides (those which hybridize to the target) are unlabeled and, when hybridized to the appropriate target sequence, form the overlapping structure recognized by the CLEAVASE enzyme (FIG. 28A). The enzyme cuts the structure and frees the 5′ flap. The flap then acts as an INVADER oligo for the secondary reaction. The secondary reaction comprises 3 different oligonucleotides: 1) a flap-reporter bridging oligonucleotide that has adjacent regions complementary to both the 5′ flap and the reporter-labeled, secondary probe oligonucleotide; 2) a reporter-labeled, secondary oligonucleotide, complementary to a portion of the bridging oligonucleotide, and 3) the INVADER oligonucleotide, which is the 5′ flap from the primary reaction, and which is complementary to a portion of the bridging oligonucleotide. When the overlapping structure forms in the secondary reaction, the enzyme cleaves the 5′ flap from the reporter-labeled oligonucleotide, generating detectable signal with a positive charge. In the secondary reaction, the 5′-flaps of the uncleaved probe molecules can compete with the released 5′-flaps for hybridization to the flap-reporter bridging oligo, thus decreasing signal generation in the secondary reaction. To avoid this competition, the uncleaved probe is sequestered after the primary incubation by the addition of a complementary oligonucleotide called an “ARRESTOR oligonucleotide.” The ARRESTOR oligonucleotide is fully complementary to the target-specific region of the probe, and partially extends into the 5′-flap region; thus, it does not interfere with the binding of the 5′-flap to the flap-reporter bridging oligonucleotide. ARRESTOR oligonucleotides thus promote more effective signal generation in the secondary reaction by preventing interactions between uncleaved probes and flap-reporter binding oligonucleotides. All of the bases of the ARRESTOR oligonucleotide are 2′ 0-methyl-modified, making the ARRESTOR oligonucleotide resistant to cleavage by the CLEAVASE enzyme. The tag used for the hMCP1 secondary, reporter probe oligonucleotide was 5′ V(dC)-Cy3 (FIG. 28A), while the hUbiquitin secondary, reporter probe oligonucleotide incorporated the 5′ V(dG)-Cy3 tag (FIG. 28B). These tags were chosen since, as demonstrated in Example 10 and shown in FIG. 24 they are easily separated and identified due to the difference in mass-to-charge ratio between them. The oligonucleotides used for the detection of Human MCP1 in vitro transcripts were: the primary probe oligonucleotide 5′-CCGTCACGCCTCCTTCGGAGTTTGGG-NH2-3′(SEQ ID NO:74), the primary INVADER oligonucleotide Invl (SEQ ID NO:66), the arrestor oligonucleotide 5′ AACCCAAACTCCGAAGGAGGCGTG-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:75), the flap-reporter bridging oligonucleotide 5′ GCGCAGTGAGAATGAGGAGGCGTGACGGT-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:76), and the reporter-labeled secondary probe oligonucleotide 5′-V(dC)--Cy3 CTCATTCTCAGTGCG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:77). The underlined bases denote 2′-O-methyl modifications. The oligonucleotides used for the detection of Human Ubiquitin in vitro transcripts were: the primary probe oligonucleotide 5′-AACGAGGCGCACCTTTACATTTTCTATCGT-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:78), the primary INVADER oligonucleotide 5′-CCTTCCTTATCCTGGATCTTGGCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 79, the ARRESTOR oligonucleotide 5′ ACGATAGAAAATGTAAAGGTGCGC NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:80), the flap-reporter bridging oligonucleotide 5′-CGGAAGAAGCAAGTGGTGCGCCT CGTTAA-NH2-3′ (SEQ ID NO:81, and the secondary reporter-labeled probe oligonucleotide 5′-V(dG)-Cy3 CACTTGCTTCCTCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:82). Three control reaction sets were included in this experiment: 1) control reaction using a non-cascading reaction (basic INVADER, described in Example 10) to detect hMCP1 transcripts, using the 5′ V(dC) probe (P3, SEQ ID NO:63) and the INVADER oligonucleotide Invl (SEQ ID NO:66) also used in Example 10; 2) a control reaction set designed to demonstrate the lack of cross reactivity between the oligonucleotides used for the detection of one target and the signal generating mechanism of the other target; and 3) a control set in which all primary and secondary components were present as for the multiplex reaction, but only one secondary reporter oligonucleotide was present: either for the detection of hMCP1 or hUbiquitin. The primary reaction volumes were 10 μl and secondary reaction volumes were 15 μl. Each assay reaction comprised of 0, 1, 10 100 or 1000 amoles human ubiquitin and/or MCP1 in vitro transcript (SEQ ID NOS: 69 or 72, respectively) for the single and multiplex reactions, 10 pmoles each of the primary probe oligonucleotides (SEQ ID NOS:71 and 75) 5 pmoles of each primary INVADER (SEQ ID NO:66 and 79) oligonucleotides, and 20 ng of CLEAVASE TthAKK enzyme in a 10 μl solution of 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 100 mM KCl., 0.05% Tween, 0.05% Nonidet NP40, 12.5 mM MgSO4 Reactions were performed by dispensing 5 μl of the appropriate primary reaction mix (buffer, enzyme, MgSO4, primary probe oligo and primary INVADER oligonucleotide) into the reaction vessel (low profile MJ Research, Inc. Cat.#MLL9601) and then adding 5 μl of target, or tRNA as the negative control. Samples were overlaid with colored Chill-out 14 liquid wax (MJ Research) to prevent evaporation and incubated at 60° C. for 60 minutes. After the primary reactions were completed, 5 μl of the appropriate secondary reaction mixture (2.5 pmoles of appropriate flap-reporter bridging oligonucleotide [SEQ ID NOS: 76 and/or 81] 40 pmoles of ARRESTOR oligonucleotide [SEQ ID NOS:75 and/or 80] and 10 pmoles of each secondary reporter-labeled oligonucleotide [SEQ ID NOS: 77 and 82] such that the final concentration of the secondary reaction was 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 0.05% Tween, 0.05% Nonidet NP40, 20 mM MgSO4) were added to each reaction and incubated at 60° C. for 1 hour. The reactions were stopped by addition of 50μl of stop buffer containing 95% formamide and 10 mM EDTA. Two μl of each reaction were analyzed by both normal and reverse polarity gel electrophoresis. Samples were heated to 90° C. for 1 minute immediately before electrophoresis through a 15% denaturing acrylamide gel (19:1 cross-linked) with 7 M urea, in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-Borate (pH 8.3), 1.4 mM EDTA. An electric field of 20 watts was applied for for 1 hour in reverse orientation. The gel was scanned on the Hitachi FMBIO-100 fluorescence imager with 585-nM filter at 20% sensitivity. Images of the reverse polarity gel are shown in FIG. 29, panel A: basic non-cascading reaction; panel B: multiplex, cascading reaction; panel C: cascading reaction with MPCI reporter oligo; and panel D: cascading reaction with Ubiquitin reporter oligo. Example 15 Detection of Human MCP1 and Ubiquitin Transcripts from Cell Lysates with a Multiplex CRE Format The previous experiment demonstrated that the positively charged probe oligonucleotides can be used to detect in vitro transcripts in a cascading, invasive cleavage reaction, and that they function well in a true, multiplex reaction format. The present experiment demonstrates that the assay format described in Example 14 can be used to detect both the HMCP1 and hubiquitin transcripts from cell lysates, and from preparations of total cellular RNA. Cell lysates and total RNA were prepared from MG 63 cells (ATCC # CRL-1427). The cells were grown according to instructions supplied by ATCC, and by standard methods known in the art. Cells used for the lysate preparation were grown in 96 well flat bottom tissue culture plates, while cells used for the total RNA preparation were grown in 10 cm tissue culture dishes. Prior to either procedure, cells were stimulated with both human tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α [Calbiochem, Cat.# 654205]) and human interleukin-β (IL-β [Calbiochem, Cat.# 407615]). The final concentration in the induction medium was 10 ng/ml for both TNF-α and for IL-β. Cell lysates were prepared as follows: Prior to lysis, cells were washed 2× with 200 μl of phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Cells were then lysed by adding 30 μL of cell lysis buffer (20 mM Tris pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCL2, 20 ng/μl tRNA, 0.5% Nonidet NP-40) and incubating at room temperature for 5 minutes. 20 μl of each lysate was transferred into a 96-well microplate (MJ Research). The plate was covered to prevent volume loss due to evaporation, and cellular nucleases were inactivated by heating the microplate at 80° C. for 15 minutes prior to the INVADER reaction. Total RNA was isolated with Trizol reagent (Gibco BRL, Cat.# 15596) from stimulated and unstimulated cells following the manufacturer's protocol. Cells were grown in 10 cm plates to approximately 6-7×106 cells/plate and treated for 2 hours with TNF-α and IL-1β, both at 10 ng/ml. The RNA was then suspended in RNAse free distilled water (USB Cat # US70783) and stored at −70° C. In the following experiment 3 different INVADER assay formats were used. The multiplex, cascading reaction format was used to detect each analyte; the non-multiplex, (single) cascading reaction format was also used to detect each analyte; and a basic INVADER (non-cascading) reaction format was used for hMCP1detection only. All of the formats used the positively charged, labeled probes of the present invention as the detection moiety. Detection of each analyte was performed using total RNA, cell lysates and in vitro transcripts. Target levels for the single and multiplex cascade reactions, as well as for the basic, non-cascading INVADER reaction were: either 0 or 1 fmole of in vitro transcript in 5 μl; 5 μl of cell lysate (approximately 2000 cells); or 50 ng of total RNA in 5 μl. The multiplex, cascading reaction were prepared as described in Example 14 and included all the oligonucleotides required to detect both targets. The cascading reactions performed to detect only one target were prepared as described in Example 14, except the oligonucleotides required for the detection of only one of the targets (either hUbiquitin or hMCP1) were added, not both. The basic, non-cascading INVADER reactions were prepared as described in Example 10. The products of the INVADER reaction were separated on reverse polarity gel electrophoresis (positively charged cleavage products) or normal polarity gel electrophoresis (full length probes) and the gels were scanned on the Hitachi FMBIO-100 fluorescence imager with 585-nM filter at 20% sensitivity. Images of the normal and reverse polarity gels are shown in FIGS. 30A and B. The normal polarity images are shown as panels below the reverse polarity panels, with the lanes showing the products of the same reactions aligned vertically. Lanes 1-4 show results with either 0 (noted by the − symbol) or 1 fmole (noted by the + symbol) of in vitro transcript; lanes 5-8 show results using cell lysates (approximately 2000 cells per reaction) with either no cellular stimulation (noted by the − symbol) or 4 hours of cellular stimulation (noted by the + symbol) prior to the lysate preparation; lanes 9-12 show results using approximately 50 ng per reaction total RNA with either no cellular stimulation (noted by the − symbol) or with 4 hours of cellular stimulation (noted by the + symbol) prior to the total RNA preparation. Lanes 1-3, 5-7 and 9-11 show the results of the cascading reaction; lanes 4, 8 and 12 show the results of the basic, non-cascading reaction. Example 16 Detection of Positively Charged, Labeled Oligonucleotide Tags by Capillary Electrophoresis Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an extremely useful tool that can be used for fast and effective separation of a wide variety of molecules, including DNA oligonucleotides (Baker, D. R. (1995) Capillary Electrophoresis, Wiley Interscience Publications, New York, USA), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. CE offers the advantages of high sensitivity, ease of use, and low cost. It provides a fast and effective method for the detection of dye-labeled tags, using, for example laser induced fluorescence. Most of the commercially available CE instruments are also capable of charge reversal electrophoresis (CRE). Therefore, it was decided to employ CRE as a method to detect the positively-charged tags generated by the invasive cleavage reactions, described and demonstrated above. An interesting feature of the different, positively charged tags (e.g., products of an INVADER assay reaction using CRE probes) is their low charge-to-mass ratio. The oligonucleotide-positive charge tags used in this study have a net charge of +1 and a mass slightly higher than that of a DNA nucleotide base. Thus, it would be extremely difficult to use the conventional CE-based DNA separation methods (such as gel-filled capillaries) because the injection times required for appropriate sample delivery would result in line broadening and poor sensitivity. Therefore, other CE techniques, such as hydrodynamic injection and sample stacking using charged zone electrophoresis (CZE), and micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis (MECC or MEKCC) (Weinberger, R. (1993) Practical capillary electrophoresis, Academic Press, San Diego, U.S.A, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety) were employed to achieve the sensitivity and resolution required for separation of the positively charged, tagged oligonucleotides. The following examples demonstrate optimization of experimental conditions for MECC-CE based separation of the positively charged tagged oligonucleotides generated by INVADER reactions. Optimizations of CRE Conditions: Detection of Positively Charged Oligonucleotide Tags In order to determine the optimal conditions for running CRE experiments using capillary electrophoresis employing sample stacking and micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis (MECC), a number of variables were tested. The variables were determined to have the greatest effect on the resolution and sensitivity of detection of INVADER-cleaved tag products. The CRE probes were synthesized as described in Examples 4-6. The tags are depicted top to bottom in FIG. 17, and are called Tag 6, Tag 3, Tag 5, Tag 4, Tag 1 and Tag 2, respectively. The INVADER assay reactions used in these to release these tags were conducted using the oligonucleotides, target DNAs, probes and conditions described in Example 18. Unless otherwise indicated, all experiments described below were performed on a Beckman-Coulter P/ACE MDQ capillary electrophoresis system equipped with a YAG 532 nm laser (JDS Uniphase) and a 580±10 nm emission filter (Andover Corporation, Cat.#580FS10-12.5). 100 micron eCAP (Beckman-Coulter) capillary (10 cm to window) was run at 25° C. with a constant separation voltage of 25 kV, using a separation buffer of 50 mM Bis-Tris borate pH 6.5. The capillary was pre-filled with 50 mM Bis-Tris borate pH 6.5 and 2% octylglucaside. The injected sample consisted of 10 nM final concentration mixture of the 6 tags in 10 mM MOPS, 0.05% NP40, 0.05% Tween 20, 7.5 mM MgCl2, and 10 ng/μL tRNA, and was hydrodynamically injected into the capillary using a vacuum injection of 0.5 psi from the positive electrode side of the capillary. The sample was run from the positive electrode capillary end to the negative electrode capillary end, for a distance of 10 cm to the capillary window. Data is represented as stacked traces of the raw CE chromatographs without any calculations or manipulations. 1) Effect of Sample Buffer Components on CE Resolution: Since sample stacking relies on the conductivity and ionic strength differences between the sample buffer and the separation buffer, the effect of INVADER reaction buffer components on the efficiency of stacking was initially tested. To do this, 10 nM concentrations of each of the 6 tags were mixed in buffers containing water (A), 10 mM MOPS (B), 10 mM MOPS, 0.05% NP40, and 0.05% Tween 20 (C), 10 mM MOPS, 0.05% NP40, 0.05% Tween 20, and 7.5 mM MgCl2 (D), 10 mM MOPS, 0.05% NP40, 0.05% Tween 20, 7.5 mM MgCl2, and 10 ng/μL tRNA (E), and 10 mM MOPS, 0.05% NP40, 0.05% Tween 20, 7.5 mM MgCl2, 10 ng/μL tRNA, and 10 ng/μL Afu FEN1 nuclease (F). Results are shown in FIG. 31. It can be seen that the suggested minimal sample buffer components for optimal stacking and sensitivity are the presence of detergents (0.05% NP40 and Tween 20) along with 10 mM MOPS. Sample in water or 50 mM MOPS did not achieve any detection suggesting that the presence of detergent is important to the method. It can also be seen that sample buffer F still allows for good resolution and detection sensitivity. Since the INVADER reactions are carried out in sample buffer F, no sample treatment (i.e. desalting or concentrating) is required prior to running CRE. 2) Injection time effects: Effective sample stacking is highly dependent on the volume injected into the capillary (Weinberger, R. Practical capillary electrophoresis, Academic Press, San Diego, U.S.A [1993]). In this experiment, the optimal (maximum) injection volume of sample was determined. The injected sample volume that gave the best resolution was then used in subsequent experiments. Samples were injected using a 0.5 psi vacuum for periods of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 seconds. Results are shown in FIG. 32 (A, B, C, D, and E, respectively). Results show that 10 to 40 seconds injection resulted in an increase in sensitivity. However, somewhere between 40 and 60 seconds a loss in resolution is apparent, suggesting that stacking is no longer optimal. Therefore a 40 second injection time was used for all subsequent experiments. 3) Effect of capillary type: The electroendosmotic flow (EOF) of CE is very dependent on the type of capillary coating used (Weinberger, (supra)). Commonly used bare-fused silica capillaries have an EOF that may cause problems for certain CE applications (Baker, D. R. Capillary Electrophoresis, Wiley Interscience Publications, New York, USA [1995]). Coated capillaries are usually used as a solution to the EOF problem. There are two different types of coatings, dynamic and static. Dynamic coating is usually achieved by adding a surfactant to the capillary filling buffer. This surfactant interacts with the silanol groups of the capillary wall, minimizing the EOF. Static coating, on the other hand, is achieved by pre-treating the bare-silica capillary with a chemical that reacts with the hydroxyls of the silanol groups coating the capillary wall, thus making it neutral and eliminating the EOF. In order to determine the best coating material for optimal CRE performance several statically coated capillaries were tested. Capillaries tested were: A) 100μ eCAP DNA polyacrylamide coated capillary (Beckman-Coulter); B) 75μ CEP coated capillary (Agilent Technologies); C) 75μμ SIL-Wax coated capillary (J&W Scientific); D) 75μ 5%T, 5%G pre-filled μ PAGE capillary (J&W Scientific); E) 75μ bare fused silica (Beckman-Coulter) (FIG. 33). Results show that capillaries with hydrophilic coatings (i.e. polyacrylamide 100μ eCAP and 75μ CEP) yield the best separation and sensitivity. This suggests that with the appropriate coating material (dynamic or static), bare-silica can be efficiently used to resolve CRE-based INVADER assays. 4) Separation (electrode) and capillary filling buffer effects on CRE To determine the ionic strength of the separation buffer that will yield maximum sample stacking, CRE was performed on INVADER assay tag products using 50 mM concentrations, pH 7.2 of: (A) Bis-Tris.borate, (B) Tris-borate, and (C) MOPS. For these experiments, the capillary was filled with the same buffer as the separation buffer, with the addition of 2% octylglucoside to achieve MECC conditions. FIG. 34 shows the results of the different buffers used. Optimal stacking is obtained for the buffer containing 50 mM Bis-Tris borate, pH 7.2. Next, the pH of this buffer was optimized for use in subsequent CE experiments. The buffer pHs tested were: 50 mM Bis-Tris borate buffers of (A) pH 6.0, (B) 6.5, and (C) 7.2. Results are shown in FIG. 35. Optimal sample stacking and separation of INVADER-generated positive tags are obtained at pH 6.5. Finally, to determine the optimal concentration of Bis-Tris.borate buffer to be used, concentrations of 25 mM (A), 50 mM (B), and 100 mM (C)—all at pH 6.5—were tested (FIG. 36). Results indicate that the optimal concentration of Bis-Tris borate is 50 mM. The use of non-borate based buffers such as TAE, phosphate, and citrate, for example, are also contemplated. 5) Effect of Detergent on the Efficiency of MECC Separation of INVADER assay-generated Positive Tags MECC takes advantage of interactions between the sample to be separated by CE and the hydrophilic charged ends of micelles commonly formed by detergent (Weinberger, supra). To determine which micelle-forming detergent would give optimal results, a number of different detergents were tested. CRT was performed using capillaries filled with 50 mM Bis-Tris borate, pH 6.5 buffer (A) without any detergent additions; (B) with 2% octylglucoside; (C) 2% NP-40; (D) 2% Tween-20; (E) 2% Triton X100; (F) 2% MEGA-9; (G) 2% Brij 35; and (H) 30 mM Sodium Cholate. Results are shown in FIG. 37. It can be seen that optimal MECC resolution is obtained in the presence of 2% octylglucoside and that the use of NP-40, Tween-20, Triton X100, and Brij 35 result in lower resolution. The use of MEGA-9 and sodium cholate resulted in no sample detection. It is also worth noting that the presence of no detergent produced a single peak of poor resolution suggesting that sample stacking was still successful. Example 17 Analysis of H-phosphonate Modifications by using Capillary Electrophoresis In this example, the products of the INVADER reactions using H-phosphonate tags described above (e.g., in Example 10) were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Compared with gel electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis offers higher sensitivity and resolution, faster separation time, automation capabilities and the ability to use conditions that cannot be applied to a gel format, such as MECC. Four net positively charged tags 5′-V-(Hex)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dA)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dG)-Cy3-C-3′, and 5′-V-(dT)-Cy3-C-3′ were generated by the invasive cleavage of the corresponding probes, as described in Example 10 (SEQ ID NOS:61-65, respectively). Briefly, 10 pmole of each probe oligo (P1, P2, P4 and P5) were cleaved in the presence of 10 fmole of human MCP 1 in vitro transcripts for 3 hours to ensure nearly complete conversion of the probes to the cleaved products. The cleaved tags were diluted to 10 nM concentration using a solution containing 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 7.5 mM MgCl2, 10 ng/μL tRNA (Sigma), 0.05% Tween 20, and 0.05% Nonidet P40 to mimic the buffer conditions of INVADER reaction. The samples were separated in 60 cm eCAP DNA 100 μm diameter capillary (Beckman) under conditions of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MECC) using a PageMDQ CE instrument (Beckman) equipped with a 532-nm laser and 580±20 nm emission filter. The capillary-filling buffer contained 50 mM bis-Tris-borate, pH 6.5 and 2% octylglucoside (Sigma) and the electrode buffers contained 50 mM bis-Tris borate, pH 6.5. The samples were injected by applying 0.5 psi vacuum to the outlet end of the capillary for 20 seconds. The tags were separated by applying 16 kV electric field, with the positive electrode connected to the inlet buffer. The separation distance from the inlet end of the capillary to the detector window was 10 cm. FIG. 38 shows MECC profiles for the four net positively charged tags 5′-V-(HEX)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dA)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dG)-Cy3-C-340 , and 5′-V-(dT)-Cy3-C-3′ separated individually and as an equimolar mixture of all four molecules. Tag 5′-V-(Hex)-Cy3-C-3′ produced a single band, whereas each of the tags 5′-V-(dA)-Cy3-C-3′, 5′-V-(dG)-Cy3-C-3′, and 5′-V-(dT)-Cy3-C-3′ demonstrated two major peaks. The double-peak profiles can be explained by the presence of diastereoisomers formed during the synthesis of each of the studied tags. The stereoisomers formed by tag 5′-V-(Hex)-Cy3-C-3′ are not separated under these experimental conditions. The separation of a mixture of all four tags shows only four peaks rather than expected seven peaks, suggesting that some tags or diastereoisomers have similar mobilities in these conditions. It was observed that resolution of eCAP DNA capillaries gradually decreases after 10-20 runs, which could affect the separation of tags mixture shown in FIG. 38. When a fresh capillary was used to analyze the same mixture of the four tags, all seven peaks were observed under the same conditions (FIG. 39). Example 18 Separation of Net Positively Charged Tags Synthesized Using Phosphoramidite Chemistry Synthesis of charge-balanced oligonucleotides can be performed using a phosphoramidite chemistry as described in Examples 4-6. In comparison with H-phosphonate chemistry used for the tags described in Examples 7 and 8, the phosphoramidite chemistry offers the advantage of using commercially available synthesizers and avoiding the introduction of centers of chirality at the phosphoramidate phosphorus atom during the synthesis. Six oligonucleotides with a general structure 5′-TagN-GCT CCC GCA GAC AC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:83), where TagN denotes one of the six net positively charged modifications described in Examples 4-6, (shown top to bottom in FIG. 17, and called Tag 6, Tag 3, Tag 5, Tag 4, Tag 1 and Tag 2, respectively). Each probe was cleaved in an invasive cleavage reaction with the INVADER oligonucleotide 5′-CAA AGA AAA GCT GCG TGA TGA TGA AAT CGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:84, termed 509-54-3) and the target oligonucleotide 5′-GAA GGT GTC TGC GGG AGC CGA TTT CAT CAT CAC GCA GCT TTT CTT TGA GG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:85, termed 509-54-1) to generate net positively charged tags 5′-TagN-G-3′. Each INVADER assay reaction was performed with 2 μM of one of the six probes, 0.1 μM INVADER oligonucleotide 509-54-3, 10 nM target oligonucleotide 509-54-1, and 100 ng of Ave FEN1 CLEAVASE enzyme (at 10 ng/μl) in a 10 μL solution containing 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 7.5 mM MgCl2. The reactions were incubated at 63° C. for 3 hours. Under these conditions, nearly all the probe molecules were cleaved generating approximately 2μM of each positively charged tag. The cleaved products were diluted to 10 nM concentration in a solution containing 10 mM MOPS, pH 7.5, 7.5 mM MgCl2, 10 ng/μL tRNA (Sigma), 0.05% Tween 20, and 0.05% Nonidet P40 and analyzed by MECC as described in Examples 16 and 17. FIG. 40 shows MECC profiles for each of the six net positively charged tags separated individually or as an equimolar mixture of all six molecules. Each of the tags produced a single peak, confirming the absence of chirality centers from the modifications. The MECC separation of the mixture of all six tags shows six peaks, indicating that the CE conditions described here are able to detect the differences in chemical structure of all six tags bearing net positively charged modifications. Separation demonstrating the power of the MECC assay is emphasized by the fact that modifications in two pairs of tags, Tag1/Tag2 and Tag4/Tag5, are composed of identical chemical building blocks differing only in the order of attachment, and therefore have an identical chemical composition. Nonetheless, they were easily resolved, demonstrating that the order of addition can be used as an additional variable, further extending the library of tags that can be configured from a collection of simple building blocks. Superior resolution of MECC assay compared with gel electrophoresis is demonstrated in FIG. 41. Samples containing 0.2 pmol of 5′-Tagl-G-3′ or 5′-Tag2-G-3′ in 2 μL of 95% formamide, 20 mM EDTA and 0.02% methyl violet were loaded on a 100×100×2 mm slab of 20% denaturing polyacrylamide gel (crosslinked 19:1) with 7 M urea in a buffer containing 45 mM Tris-borate, pH 8.3 and 1 mM EDTA FIG. 41A) or on a 100×100×2 mm slab of 10% native polyacrylamide gel (crosslinked 19:1) in a buffer containing 50 mM bis-Tris-borate, pH 6.5 (FIG. 41B). The samples were separated by applying an electric field of 5 watts power for 30 minutes with the positive electrode connected to the top buffer reservoir (reverse orientation). The tags were visualized using FMBIO-100 fluorescence imager as described in Example 9. FIG. 41A shows that 5′-Tagl-G-3′ or 5′-Tag2-G-3′ have very low mobility under the conditions of the denaturing gel, precluding their identification based on this characteristic. Under the native conditions (FIG. 41B), each of the net positively charged tags was separated as two bands. There was no significant difference in the electrophoretic mobility between the two tags to distinguish them from each other. All publications and patents mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference. Various modifications and variations of the described methods and systems of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the relevant fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Methods for the detection and characterization of specific nucleic acid sequences and sequence variations have been used to detect the presence of viral or bacterial nucleic acid sequences indicative of an infection and to detect the presence of variants or alleles of genes associated with disease and cancers. These methods also find application in the identification of sources of nucleic acids, as for forensic analysis or for paternity determinations. Various methods are known to the art that may be used to detect and characterize specific nucleic acid sequences and sequence variants. Nonetheless, with the completion of the nucleic acid sequencing of the human genome, as well as the genomes of numerous other organisms such as pathogenic organisms, the demand for fast, reliable, cost-effective and user-friendly tests for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences continues to grow. Importantly, these tests must be able to create a detectable signal from samples that contain very few copies of the sequence of interest. There are a number of techniques that have been developed for characterizing specific nucleic acid sequences. Examples of detection techniques include the “TaqMan” or nick-translation PCR assay described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015 to Gelfand et al. (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the assays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,775,619 and 5,118,605 to Urdea (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference), the catalytic hybridization amplification assay described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,711 to Walder and Walder (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the cycling probe assay described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,876,187 and 5,011,769 to Duck et al., the target-catalyzed oligonucleotide modification assay described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,110,677 and 6,121,001 to Western et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference), the SNP detection methods of Orchid Bioscience in U.S. Pat. 5,952,174 (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference), the methods of U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,867 to Ullman et al. (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195, 4,683,202, and 4,965,188 to Mullis and Mullis et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference) and the ligase chain reaction (LCR) described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,930 and 5,494,810 to Birkenmeyer et al. and Barany et al. (the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference). The above examples are intended to be illustrative of nucleic acid-based detection assays and do not provide an exhaustive list. Each of these techniques requires a detection step for detecting a reaction product that is indicative of a desired target nucleic acid (e.g., detection of cleavage products, extension products, etc.). While a number of advances have been made in the assay methods and detection instrumentation to improve the sensitively, speed, and cost of detection methods the art is still in need of further improved methods, compositions, and systems to make the assays more sensitive and efficient. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to novel phosphoramidites, including positive and neutrally charged compounds. The present invention also provides charge tags for attachment to materials including solid supports and nucleic acids, wherein the charge tags increase or decrease the net charge of the material. The present invention further provides methods for separating and characterizing molecules based on the charge differentials between modified and unmodified materials. For example, the present invention provides a composition comprising a charge tag attached to a nucleic acid molecule (e.g., to a terminal end of a nucleic acid molecule). In some embodiments, the charge tag comprises a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. In some preferred embodiments, the charge tag further comprises a dye. The present invention is not limited by the position of the individual modular components of the charge tag. For example, in some embodiments, the dye is positioned between the nucleic acid and the positively charged moiety, while in other embodiments, the positively charged moiety is positioned between the nucleic acid and the dye. The present invention is also not limited by the number of each type of component in the charge tag (e.g., the number of dyes, positively charged moieties, etc.). For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag comprises first and second positively charged moieties. In some embodiments of the present invention, the charge tag has a net positive charge. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag has a net positive charge of 1, 2, 3, etc. In some embodiments, the charge tag possesses a positive charge only under certain reaction conditions (e.g., pH 6-10). In some embodiments, the charge tag further comprises one or more nucleotides. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule to which the charge tag is attached contains a sequence that is complementary to a target nucleic acid. In some such embodiments, the one or more nucleotides in the charge are not complementary to the target nucleic acid. In other such embodiments, the nucleic acid comprises a first portion complementary to a target nucleic acid and a second portion that is not complementary to said target nucleic acid, wherein the charge tag is attached to the second portion of the nucleic acid (e.g., to a terminal end of the nucleic acid that is located in the second portion). In some embodiments of the present invention, the nucleic acid and the charge tag have a combined net neutral charge, wherein the charge tag, in isolation, has a net positive charge. In other embodiments, the nucleic acid and the charge tag have a combined net negative charge, wherein the charge tag has a net positive charge. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the positively charged moiety of the charge tag. Positively charged moieties include, but are not limited to primary amines, secondary amines, tertiary amines, ammonium groups, positively charged metal groups (e.g., caged ions attached to the charge tag through a linking group), and the like. In some embodiments, the charge tag further comprises a positively charged phosphoramidite or a neutral phosphoramidite. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the positively charged phosphoramidite or the neutral phosphoramidite. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tags comprise a novel phosphoramidite of the present invention. For example, the present invention provides a composition comprising a positively charged phosphoramidite. In some embodiments, the positively charged phosphoramidite contains one or more positively charged moieties including, but not limited to, primary amine groups, secondary amine groups, tertiary amine groups, ammonium groups, charged metal ions, and the like. In some embodiments, the phosphoramidite has a net positive charge of one. In some particularly preferred embodiments, the phosphoramidite has the structure: wherein, X is a reactive phosphate group (e.g., PO 4 ) and Y is a protecting group (e.g., dimethoxy trityl [DMT]) and/or a protected group (e.g., DMT-protected hydroxyl group). The present invention further provides a composition comprising a nucleic acid molecule containing a positively or neutrally charged phosphoramidite. The present invention also provides a composition comprising a charge tag attached to a terminal end of a nucleic acid molecule, wherein the charge tag comprises a positively charged or neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the positively charged phosphoramite comprises an amine group, wherein the amine group is not further attached to another molecule (a molecule other than the phosphoramidite). The present invention further provides a composition comprising a neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the neutrally charged phosphoramidite comprises a nitrogen-containing chemical group selected from the group comprising primary amine, secondary amine, tertiary amine, ammonium group, and charged metal ion. In some embodiments, the composition further comprises a nucleic acid molecule attached to the neutrally charged phosphoramidite. In some preferred embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule is attached to a charge tag comprising the neutrally charged phosphoramidite. The charge tag may further comprise, in any order, other components. For example, the charge tag may further comprise a positively charged phosphoramidite. In some embodiments of the present invention, the charge tag containing the neutrally charged phosphoramidite has a net positive charge. In some particularly preferred embodiments of the present invention, the neutrally charged phosphoramidite has the structure: wherein X is a protecting group (e.g., dimethoxy trityl group [DMT]) and/or a protected group (e.g., DMT-protected hydroxyl group), Z is a reactive phosphate, and N comprises an amine group. In some preferred embodiments, the N group is N—(CH 2 ) n CH 3 , wherein n is 0 or a positive integer from 1 to 12. The present invention also provides a composition comprising a solid support attached to a charge tag. For example, in some embodiments, the charge tag comprises a positively charged moiety and a reactive group configured to allow the charge tag to covalently attach to a nucleic acid molecule. Any of the charge tags described herein, may be attached to the solid support. The present invention further provides a composition comprising a fluorescent dye directly bonded to a phosphate group, wherein the phosphate group is directly bonded to an amine group. In some embodiments, the composition comprises a charge tag, wherein the fluorescent dye is contained within the charge tag. The present invention is not limited by the nature of the fluorescent dye. However, in some preferred embodiments, the fluorescent dye comprises a Cy dye (e.g., Cy3). The present invention also provides a mixture comprising a plurality of oligonucleotides attached to charge tags. In some embodiments, each oligonucleotide is attached to a different charge tag. In other embodiments, two or more different oligonucleotides have the same type of charge tag. In some preferred embodiments, each of the charge tags comprises a phosphate group and a positively charged moiety. While not limited by the number of oligonucleotides attached to different charge tags, in some embodiments, the plurality of oligonucleotides comprises four or more oligonucleotides (e.g., 5, 6, 7, . . . , 10, . . . , 50, . . . , 100, . . . ), each attached to a different charge tag. Any of the charge tags described herein are contemplated for use in the mixtures. The present invention further provides a method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a charge-balanced oligonucleotide containing a charge tag under conditions such that a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide containing the charge tag is produced, wherein the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide is contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide from the reaction mixture. While the present invention is not limited by the means by which a charge-unbalanced oligonucleotide is generated, in some preferred embodiments, the oligonucleotides are treated with a reactant (e.g., a nuclease). Any of the charge tags described herein are contemplated for use in the method. While the present invention is not limited by the nature of the separation step, contemplated separation steps include, but are not limited to, gel electrophoretic separation, capillary electrophoretic separation, capillary zone electrophoretic separation, and separation is a microchannel. The present invention also provides a method of separating nucleic acid molecules, comprising the steps of: a) treating a plurality of charge-balanced oligonucleotides, each containing different charge tags, under conditions such that two or more charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing the charge tags are produced, wherein the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides are contained in a reaction mixture; and b) separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides from the reaction mixture. In some preferred embodiments, the separating comprises separating the charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides such that charge-unbalanced oligonucleotides containing different charge tags are separated from one another. Any of the charge tag, oligonucleotide mixtures, and separation methods described herein may be used with this method. | 20040623 | 20080610 | 20050616 | 90773.0 | 0 | RILEY, JEZIA | CHARGE TAGS AND THE SEPARATION OF NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULES | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,107 | ACCEPTED | Erasure detection and power control for a transport channel with unknown format in a wireless communication system | Erasure detection and power control are performed for an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format. A receiver processes each received block and determines whether it passes or fails CRC. For each received block with CRC failure, the receiver performs erasure detection by computing a symbol error rate (SER) and energy of the received block, comparing the computed SER against an SER threshold, comparing the computed energy against an energy threshold, and declaring an erasure if the computed SER is less than the SER threshold and the computed energy exceeds the energy threshold. The SER and energy thresholds may be adjusted based on the average SER and the average energy for prior received blocks with CRC failures. For power control, an SIR target is increased by an UP step whenever an erased block is detected for the transport channel. | 1. A method of performing erasure detection in a wireless communication system, comprising: ascertaining whether a received block passes an error detection code; and if the received block does not pass the error detection code, determining whether the received block is an erased block or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) block based on at least one metric determined for the received block, wherein the received block is deemed to be an erased block if the at least one metric indicates that a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by a receiver and is deemed to be a DTX block if the at least one metric indicates that no data block was transmitted by the transmitter. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the received block is an erased block or a DTX block comprises determining the at least one metric for the received block, comparing each of the at least one metric against a threshold used for the metric, and declaring the received block to be an erased block or a DTX block based on comparison result for the at least one metric. 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: adjusting the threshold used for each metric based on statistics obtained for prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the error detection code is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least one metric is for a symbol error rate (SER) for the received block. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining whether the received block is an erased block or a DTX block comprises determining the SER for the received block, comparing the SER for the received block against an SER threshold, and declaring the received block to be an erased block if the SER for the received block is less than the SER threshold. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining an average SER for prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code, and updating the SER threshold based on the average SER. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least one metric is for energy of the received block. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining whether the received block is an erased block or a DTX block comprises determining the energy of the received block, comparing the energy of the received block against an energy threshold, and declaring the received block to be an erased block if the energy of the received block is greater than the energy threshold. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining an average energy for prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code, and updating the energy threshold based on the average energy. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least one metric is for a modified Yamamoto metric indicative of confidence in decoding result for the received block. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least one metric is for a zero state bit indicative of whether or not a Viterbi decoder encounters a known state for the received block. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least one metric is for a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR) target maintained for a physical channel via which the received block is obtained. 14. A method of performing erasure detection in a wireless communication system, comprising: ascertaining whether a received block passes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC); and if the received block does not pass the CRC, determining energy of the received block, determining a symbol error rate (SER) for the received block, comparing the energy of the received block against an energy threshold, comparing the SER for the received block against an SER threshold, and declaring the received block to be an erased block if the SER for the received block is less than the SER threshold and the energy of the received block is greater than the energy threshold, the erased block indicating a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by a receiver. 15. The method of claim 15, further comprising: if the received block does not pass the CRC, determining an average energy for prior received blocks that did not pass the CRC, determining an average SER for the prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code, updating the energy threshold based on the average energy, and updating the SER threshold based on the average SER. 16. An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: a data processor operative to ascertain whether a received block passes an error detection code; and an erasure detector operative to, if the received block does not pass the error detection code, determine whether the received block is an erased block or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) block based on at least one metric determined for the received block, wherein the received block is deemed to be an erased block if the at least one metric indicates that a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by the data processor and is deemed to be a DTX block if the at least one metric indicates that no data block was transmitted by the transmitter. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the erasure detector is operative to obtain the at least one metric for the received block, compare each of the at least one metric against a threshold used for the metric, and declare the received block to be an erased block or a DTX block based on comparison result for the at least one metric. 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the erasure detector is further operative to adjust the threshold used for each metric based on statistics obtained for prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code. 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the erasure detector is operative to obtain energy of the received block and a symbol error rate (SER) for the received block, compare the energy of the received block against an energy threshold, compare the SER for the received block against an SER threshold, and declare the received block to be an erased block if the SER for the received block is less than the SER threshold and the energy of the received block is greater than the energy threshold. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the erasure detector is further operative to determine an average energy for prior received blocks that did not pass the CRC, determine an average SER for the prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code, update the energy threshold based on the average energy, and update the SER threshold based on the average SER. 21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the received block is for a transport channel used to carry signaling data for Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA). 22. An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for ascertaining whether a received block passes an error detection code; and means for, if the received block does not pass the error detection code, determining whether the received block is an erased block or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) block based on at least one metric determined for the received block, wherein the received block is deemed to be an erased block if the at least one metric indicates that a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by a receiver and is deemed to be a DTX block if the at least one metric indicates that no data block was transmitted by the transmitter. 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for determining whether the received block is an erased block or a DTX block comprises means for determining the at least one metric for the received block, means for comparing each of the at least one metric against a threshold used for the metric, and means for declaring the received block to be an erased block or a DTX block based on comparison result for the at least one metric. 24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: means for adjusting the threshold used for each metric based on statistics obtained for prior received blocks that did not pass the error detection code. 25. A method of performing power control for a data transmission in a wireless communication system, comprising: determining whether a received block is a good block, an erased block, or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) block based on an error detection code and at least one metric, wherein the received block is deemed to be a good block if the error detection code indicates that a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded correctly by a receiver, an erased block if the at least one metric indicates that a data block was transmitted by the transmitter but decoded in error by the receiver, and a DTX block if the at least one metric indicates that no data block was transmitted by the transmitter; and increasing a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR) target if the received block is deemed to be an erased block, wherein transmit power used for the data transmission is determined by the SIR target. 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising: decreasing the SIR target if the received block is deemed to be a good block; and maintaining the SIR target at same level if the received block is deemed to be a DTX block. 27. The method of claim 25, wherein the error detection code is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and wherein the determining comprises: declaring the received block as a good block if the received block passes the CRC, and if the received block does not pass the CRC, determining at least one metric for the received block, comparing each of the at least one metric against a threshold used for the metric, and declaring the received block to be an erased block or a DTX block based on comparison result for the at least one metric. 28. A method of performing power control for a data transmission sent via first and second transport channels in a wireless communication system, comprising: processing received blocks for the first and second transport channels, wherein data blocks are sent intermittently on the first transport channel; determining status of each of the received blocks for the first and second transport channels; and for each time interval with at least one received block for the first or second transport channel, increasing a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR) target by a first up step size if a received block is obtained for the first transport channel and determined to be an erased block, the erased block indicating a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by a receiver, and wherein transmit power used for the data transmission is determined by the SIR target, increasing the SIR target by a second up step size if an erased block is obtained for the second transport channel and not for the first transport channel, and decreasing the SIR target by a down step size if a good block is obtained for the first or second transport channel and an erased block is not obtained for the first or second transport channel, the good block indicating a data block was transmitted by the transmitter and decoded correctly by the receiver. 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the first up step size is larger than the second up step size. 30. The method of claim 28, further comprising: for each time interval with at least one received block for the first or second transport channel, limiting the SIR target to less than or equal to a predetermined maximum value. 31. An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: a data processor operative to process received blocks for first and second transport channels, wherein data blocks are sent intermittently on the first transport channel, and wherein the first and second transport channels are power controlled together; an erasure detector operative to determine status of each of the received blocks for the first and second transport channels; and a controller operative to, for each time interval with at least one received block for the first or second transport channel, increase a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR) target by a first up step size if a received block is obtained for the first transport channel and determined to be an erased block, the erased block indicating a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by the data processor, and wherein transmit power used for the first and second transport channels is determined by the SIR target, increase the SIR target by a second up step size if an erased block is obtained for the second transport channel and not for the first transport channel, and decrease the SIR target by a down step size if a good block is obtained for the first or second transport channel and an erased block is not obtained for the first or second transport channel, the good block indicating a data block was transmitted by the transmitter and decoded correctly by the data processor. 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the first and second transport channels are for a voice call in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) system. 33. An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for processing received blocks for first and second transport channels, wherein data blocks are sent intermittently on the first transport channel, and wherein the first and second transport channels are power controlled together; means for determining status of each of the received blocks for the first and second transport channels; and means for, for each time interval with at least one received block for the first or second transport channel, increasing a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR) target by a first up step size if a received block is obtained for the first transport channel and determined to be an erased block, the erased block indicating a data block was transmitted by a transmitter and decoded in error by a receiver, and wherein transmit power used for the first and second transport channels is determined by the SIR target, increasing the SIR target by a second up step size if an erased block is obtained for the second transport channel and not for the first transport channel, and decreasing the SIR target by a down step size if a good block is obtained for the first or second transport channel and an erased block is not obtained for the first or second transport channel, the good block indicating a data block was transmitted by the transmitter and decoded correctly by the receiver. | BACKGROUND I. Field The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for performing erasure detection and power control in a wireless communication system. II. Background In a wireless communication system, a wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone) communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the wireless device, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the device to the base station. In a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a base station can transmit data to multiple wireless devices simultaneously. The total transmit power available at the base station thus determines the downlink capacity of the base station. A portion of the total available transmit power is allocated to each active wireless device such that the aggregate transmit power used for all active devices is less than or equal to the total available transmit power. To maximize downlink capacity, a power control mechanism is typically used for each wireless device. The power control mechanism is normally implemented with two power control loops, which are often called an “inner” loop and an “outer” loop. The inner loop adjusts the transmit power used for the wireless device such that the received signal quality (which may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR)) for a downlink transmission, as measured at the device, is maintained at an SIR target. The outer loop adjusts the SIR target to achieve the desired level of performance, which may be quantified by a block error rate (BLER) target or some other performance criterion. The outer loop typically adjusts the SIR target based on the status of received data blocks. In a common implementation, the outer loop decreases the SIR target by a small DOWN step if a “good” data block is received and increases the SIR target by a large UP step if a “bad” data block is received. The DOWN and UP steps are selected based on the BLER target and possibly other considerations. This outer loop implementation assumes that the status of each received data block can be reliably determined. This can normally be achieved by applying an error detection code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code, on each data block prior to transmission. Each data block would then include a CRC value that can be checked by the wireless device to determine whether the block was decoded correctly (good) or in error (bad or erased). A CDMA system may support data transmission using multiple transport channels and with multiple formats. One transport channel may carry data blocks continually and may use formats that require a CRC value to be included in each data block sent on that transport channel. Another transport channel may be operated in a non-continuous manner so that data blocks are not transmitted some or most of the time on the transport channel. This non-continuous transmission is often called discontinuous transmission (DTX). No data blocks are transmitted on the transport channel during periods of no transmission, and the non-transmitted blocks are often called DTX blocks. Power control for a data transmission using an intermittently active transport channel is challenging. This is because it may be difficult to accurately ascertain the true status of each received block on such a transport channel, i.e., whether the received block is a good block, a DTX block, or a bad block. There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to reliably determine the status of each received block and to perform power control for a data transmission sent using an intermittently active transport channel. SUMMARY Techniques for performing erasure detection and power control for an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format are described herein. Because the transport channel is intermittently active, a data block may or may not be sent on the transport channel in each transmission time interval (TTI). Because the format for the transport channel is unknown, a receiver does not know whether a received block is for a transmitted block or a non-transmitted block. For such a transport channel, the receiver can process and determine whether each received block is a good block, an erased block, or a DTX block. The received block is deemed to be a good block if it passes a CRC. For each received block that fails the CRC, the receiver can perform erasure detection to determine whether the block is an erased block or a DTX block. In a specific embodiment for performing erasure detection, the receiver determines a symbol error rate (SER) and the energy of a received block with CRC failure, compares the SER for the received block against an SER threshold, compares the energy of the received block against an energy threshold, and declares the received block to be an erased block if the SER for the received block is less than the SER threshold and the energy of the received block is greater than the energy threshold. The receiver may dynamically adjust the SER threshold based on an average SER for prior received blocks with CRC failures and may similarly adjust the energy threshold based on an average energy for the prior received blocks with CRC failures. Other and/or different metrics may also be used for erasure detection. Power control of an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format may be performed, for example, in conjunction with a second transport channel that is either continuously active or has a known format. The SIR target for both transport channels may be adjusted up or down in the normal manner based on blocks received on the second transport channel. However, if an erased block is detected for the intermittently active transport channel, then the SIR target may be increased, for example, by a larger than normal UP step. Various aspects and embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features and nature of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein: FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system; FIG. 2 shows the transport channels used for a voice call in W-CDMA; FIG. 3 shows the format for a downlink DPCH in W-CDMA; FIG. 4 shows distributions of erased blocks and DTX blocks; FIG. 5 shows a process for performing erasure detection; FIG. 6 shows a power control mechanism; FIG. 7 shows a process for performing power control; and FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a base station and a wireless device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication system 100. Each base station 110 in system 100 provides communication coverage for a respective geographic area. A base station is a fixed station and may also be referred to as a Node B, a base transceiver subsystem (BTS), an access point, or some other terminology. Wireless devices 120 are typically dispersed throughout system 100. A wireless device may be fixed or mobile and may also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a terminal, or some other terminology. A wireless device may communicate with one or multiple base stations on the downlink and/or one or multiple base stations on the uplink at any given moment. A system controller 130 couples to base stations 110 and may further couple to other systems and networks, e.g., a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a network entity that supports packet data, and so on. System controller 130 provides coordination and control for the base stations coupled to it and further controls the routing of data for the wireless devices served by these base stations. System controller 130 may also be called a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), or some other terminology. System 100 may be a CDMA system that may implement one or more CDMA standards such as Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), IS-2000, IS-856, IS-95, and so on. System 100 may also be a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system that may implement one or more TDMA standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). These standards are well known in the art. System 100 may also be a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system. The erasure detection and power control techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems that employ closed-loop power control. These techniques may also be used for the downlink as well as the uplink. For clarity, these techniques are specifically described below for downlink power control of a voice call in a system that implements W-CDMA. In W-CDMA, a base station transmits data and signaling to a wireless device using one or more logical channels at a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. The logical channels commonly used for data transmission include a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) and a dedicated control channel (DCCH). The logical channels are mapped to transport channels at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The transport channels may carry data for one or more services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, and so on), and each transport channel may be coded separately. The transport channels are further mapped to physical channels at a physical layer. The channel structure for W-CDMA is described in a document 3GPP TS 25.211, which is publicly available. A transport channel in W-CDMA may be viewed as a data/message bearer. Each transport channel is associated with a transport format set that includes one or more transport formats that may be used for that transport channel. The transport format set for each transport channel may be selected/configured during call setup. Each transport format specifies various processing parameters such as (1) a transmission time interval (TTI) over which the transport format applies, (2) the size of each block of data (or transport block), (3) the number of transport blocks for each TTI, (4) the length of each code block, (5) the coding scheme to use for the TTI, and so on. Only one TTI is used for each transport channel, and this TTI may span one, two, four, or eight frames. A frame is a time duration of 10 msec in W-CDMA. A BLER target may also be specified for each transport channel, which allows different transport channels to achieve different quality of service (QoS). Each transport channel may require a different SIR target, which is dependent on the BLER target and the transport format(s) used for that transport channel. Different sets of transport channels may be used for different types of calls (e.g., voice, packet data, and so on) and for different calls of the same type. A voice call in W-CDMA is processed using an Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR) speech coding scheme, which encodes speech data into three classes of data bits—Classes A, B, and C. Class A includes the most important data bits, Class B includes the next most important data bits, and Class C includes the least important data bits. Because of the difference in importance, the data bits for each class are transmitted on a different transport channel. FIG. 2 shows the transport channels used for an example voice call in W-CDMA, as described in 3GPP TS 34.108, Section 6.10.2.4. Transport channels 1 through 4 are four instances of a dedicated transport channel (DCH). Transport channels 1 through 3 carry speech data for the voice call, which is processed as three subflows for a DTCH at the RLC layer. Transport channel 4 carries control data for the voice call, which is processed as a DCCH at the RLC layer. Transport channel 1 carries Class A data bits, which are coded with a rate ⅓ convolutional code and a CRC code. Transport channel 2 carries Class B data bits, which are coded with a rate ⅓ convolutional code but no CRC code. Transport channel 3 carries Class C data bits, which are coded with a rate ½ convolutional code but no CRC code. Transport channel 4 carries control data for the DCCH, which is coded using a rate ⅓ convolutional code and a CRC code. Transport channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 are also called TrCh A, B, C, and D, respectively. As indicated in 3GPP TS 34.108, three transport formats may be used for transport channel 1, and two transport formats may be used for each of transport channels 2 through 4. The three transport formats for transport channel 1 are commonly labeled as 1x81, 1x39 and 1x0, where transport format 1x81 is associated with voice activity and transport formats 1x39 and 1x0 are associated with no voice activity. All three transport formats for transport channel 1 use a CRC. Thus, for each TTI, a transport block with a CRC value and for one of the three transport formats is sent on transport channel 1 regardless of whether or not there is voice activity in the TTI. One of the transport formats for each of transport channels 2 through 4 is for a DTX block. Thus, a transport block may or may not be transmitted in any given TTI for each of transport channels 2 through 4. As specified in 34.108, for AMR (voice calls), TrCh B and C are either both present or both not-present in each TTI. Transport channels 1, 2, and 3 have TTIs of two frames (20 msec), and transport channel 4 has a TTI of four frames (40 msec). In W-CDMA, a downlink dedicated physical channel (downlink DPCH) is typically assigned to each wireless device for the duration of a call. The downlink DPCH is characterized by the possibility of fast data rate change (e.g., every 10 msec frame), fast power control, and inherent addressing to a specific wireless device. FIG. 3 shows the format for the downlink DPCH in W-CDMA. The downlink DPCH is composed of a downlink dedicated physical data channel (DPDCH) and a downlink dedicated physical control channel (DPCCH), which are time division multiplexed. The DPDCH carries transport channel data (which is data for the transport blocks being sent on the transport channels carried by the downlink DPCH), and the DPCCH carries control data (or signaling information) for the physical layer. Data is transmitted on the downlink DPCH in radio frames. Each radio frame is sent over a 10 msec frame, which is divided into 15 slots. Each slot is partitioned into data fields 320a and 320b (Data1 and Data2), a transmit power control (TPC) field 322, a transport format combination indicator (TFCI) field 324, and a pilot field 326. Data fields 320a and 320b carry the transport channel data. TPC field 322 carries a TPC command for uplink power control. This TPC command directs the wireless device to adjust its uplink transmit power either up or down to achieve the desired uplink performance. TFCI field 324 carries transport format information for the downlink DPCH. Pilot field 326 carries a dedicated pilot for the wireless device. The duration of each field is determined by the slot format used for the downlink DPCH. The transport channel data for all active transport channels is multiplexed onto the DPDCH. If the TTI for a given transport channel is longer than one frame, then each transport block for that transport channel is segmented onto multiple subblocks, with each subblock being sent in one frame. For each frame, the subblocks to be sent in that frame for all active transport channels are serially multiplexed into a coded composite transport channel (CCTrCH). The CCTRCH is further processed and transmitted on the DPDCH in one frame. The TFCI field carries information for the transport formats used for the transport channels carried by the downlink DPCH in the current frame. The transport format information for each transport channel remains constant over the TTI used for the transport channel. The transport format information is used by the wireless device to process (e.g., decode) the transport blocks sent on the transport channels. The base station may elect to omit (not send) the transport format information. If this is the case, then the wireless device performs blind transport format detection (BTFD) to recover the transmitted transport blocks. For BTFD, the wireless device processes the received block for each transport channel in accordance with each of the possible transport formats for that transport channel and provides a decoded block for the transport format deemed most likely to have been used for that transport channel. The wireless device uses the CRC value (if any) included in the transport block to aid with the BTFD. BTFD is used for a voice call in W-CDMA and may also be used for other types of call. 1. Erasure Detection For a voice call, control data for the DCCH is sent on a DCH (TrCh D in FIG. 2) using one of two transport formats: 1x148 and 0x148. The 1x148 format is for a transmission of a transport block that includes a CRC value. The 0x148 format is for a transmission of a DTX block that does not include a CRC value. The wireless device performs BTFD for each transport channel for which the transport format information is not known. Since the transport formats for the downlink transport channels for a voice call are not known to the wireless device, it performs BTFD on the transport channel for the DCCH (TrCh D) at all times to ensure that all transport blocks sent on this transport channel can be recovered. The wireless device thus attempts to decode each received block on TrCh D. Since each transport block sent on TrCh D includes a CRC value, the wireless device also performs a CRC check on each decoded block and provides one of two possible outcomes for the block: CRC success—indicates that the decoded block passes the CRC check, and CRC failure—indicates that the decoded block fails the CRC check. A CRC success occurs if a transport block was sent using the 1x148 format and was successful decoded by the wireless device. A CRC failure may result from either (1) a transport block being sent with the 1x148 format but decoded in error by the wireless device or (2) a DTX block being sent with the 0x148 format (which does not include a CRC value). Since the wireless device does not know whether the received block was sent using the 1×148 format or the 0x148 format, there is ambiguity as to whether the CRC failure was due to case (1) or (2) above. When a CRC failure is encountered for a received block, it may be necessary to reliably determine whether the received block is for (1) a transport block that was transmitted but decoded in error (i.e., an erased block) or (2) a non-transmitted block (i.e., a DTX block). One application where this information is useful is for power control, as described below. Table 1 lists the possible status for a received block when the transport format is not known. TABLE 1 Block Status Description Good The received block passes the CRC check. DTX The received block fails the CRC check and is deemed to be for a non-transmitted block. Erasure The received block fails the CRC check and is deemed to be for a transport block transmitted but decoded in error. The wireless device can perform erasure detection to determine whether a received block with CRC failure is an erasure or a DTX. The erasure detection may be performed based on one or more metrics such as SER, block energy, and so on. The SER is the ratio of the number of symbol errors in a received block over the total number of symbols in the block. At the base station, the data bits in a transport block are encoded to obtain symbols, which are further processed and transmitted. At the wireless device, the received symbols for the received block are decoded to obtain decoded bits, which may be re-encoded in the same manner as performed by the base station to obtain re-encoded symbols. The received symbols may be sliced to obtain hard-decision symbols, each being either a ‘0’ or a ‘1’. The hard-decision symbols may be compared against the re-encoded symbols to determine the symbol errors and the SER for the received block. If all transport blocks contain the same number of symbols, then the symbol errors may be used directly instead of having to be normalized by the total number of symbols in the block. In this case, the number of symbol errors and the SER may be used interchangeably. For example, TrCh D carries 148 data bits plus other overhead bits for each transport block, which are encoded with a rate ⅓ convolutional code to obtain 516 symbols, which are further punctured or repeated based on a particular rate matching attribute to obtain a specified number of coded symbols for that transport block. The energy of a received block may be computed in various manners. In one embodiment, the block energy is computed by (1) determining the energy of each received symbol in the block as the sum of the squares of the inphase and quadrature components for the received symbol and (2) accumulating the energies of all received symbols in the block. In another embodiment, the block energy is computed by (1) determining the energy of each received symbol in the block, (2) accumulating the energies of all “good” received symbols having the same polarity as the corresponding re-encoded symbols, (3) accumulating the energies of all “bad” received symbols having opposite polarity as the corresponding re-encoded symbols (which are symbol errors), and (4) subtracting the bad received symbol energy from the good received symbol energy to obtain the block energy. In yet another embodiment, the block energy is computed by (1) multiplying each received symbol in the block with the corresponding re-encoded symbol to obtain a “correlated” energy for the received symbol and (2) accumulating the correlated energies for all received symbols in the block to obtain the block energy. The block energy may also be computed in other manners. In general, the block energy is an estimate of the actual received energy for the block. The block energy may also be called an energy metric or by some other terminology. FIG. 4 shows distributions of erased blocks and DTX blocks, plotted by the number of symbol errors versus block energy, for a specific operating scenario. The horizontal axis represents block energy, and the vertical axis represents the number of symbol errors (which is equivalent to SER since all blocks contain the same number of symbols). The number of symbol errors and block energy are determined for a large collection of erased blocks (sent using the 1x148 format) and DTX blocks (sent using the 0x148 format) on the TrCh D for a typical voice call. Each erased block and each DTX block is plotted in FIG. 4 at a coordinate determined by its number of symbol errors and block energy. As shown in FIG. 4, the distribution of erased blocks, when plotted using the number of symbol errors and block energy, forms a cluster 410. Similarly, the distribution of DTX blocks forms another cluster 420. The energy of a DTX block tends to be lower than the energy of an erased block. This is intuitive since transmit power was used to send a transport block for the erased block whereas no transmit power was used for the DTX block. The number of symbol errors for a DTX block tends to be higher than the number of symbol errors for an erased block. This is also intuitive since transmit power was used for the erased block, and more symbols are likely to be received correctly. FIG. 4 shows cluster 410 for the erased blocks overlapping a little with cluster 420 for the DTX blocks. An SER threshold (which is represented by a line 422) may be used to decide whether a given received block is an erased block or a DTX block based on the SER for the block. Similarly, an energy threshold (which is represented by a line 424) may be used to decide whether a given received block is an erased block or a DTX block based on the energy of the block. A combination of metrics may also be used to determine whether a given received block is an erased block or a DTX block. FIG. 4 shows a distribution of erased blocks and DTX blocks for a specific operating scenario. Different operating scenarios may be associated with different distributions of erased blocks and DTX blocks. In general, any number of metrics may be used for erasure detection and computed for each received block. Each computed metric may be compared against a threshold used for the metric. Each threshold may be either (1) a fixed threshold that does not change or (2) a dynamic/adaptive threshold that can change, e.g., based on the operating scenario. The thresholds may also be set to achieve the desired goals for erasure detection, as described below. A received block is declared as an erased block or a DTX block based on the results of the comparison for that block. In an embodiment, the erasure detection is based on the SER and the block energy. An implementation of this embodiment using adaptive thresholds for SER and block energy may be expressed in pseudo-code, as follows: if (Transport Format = Unknown) { if (CRC failure) { if ((NumSymErr < SymErrThh) AND (BlockEnergy > EnergyThh)) Declare (Erasure); else Declare (DTX); Update (SymErrThh); Update (EnergyThh); } where NumSymErr is the number of symbol errors for a received block that is known to have a CRC failure; BlockEnergy is the energy of the received block with CRC failure; SymErrThh is the threshold used for the number of symbol errors; and EnergyThh is the threshold used for the block energy. For the implementation described above, the received block is declared as an erasure if both of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) the number of symbol errors for the block is less than SymErrThh and (2) the energy of the received block is greater than EnergyThh. In FIG. 4, these two conditions correspond to the received block being declared an erasure if it maps to a point within a dashed box 430. The received block is declared as a DTX block if any one of the two conditions is not satisfied, which corresponds to the received block being mapped to a point outside of box 430. The thresholds for SER and block energy may be defined, for example, as follows: SymErrThh=AvgSymErr−SymErrGap; and Eq (1) EnergyThh=AvgEnergy+EnergyGap; Eq (2) where AvgSymErr is the average number of symbol errors for prior received blocks with CRC failures; AvgEnergy is the average energy for prior received blocks with CRC failures; SymErrGap is an offset or margin used for the number of symbol errors; and EnergyGap is an offset or margin used for the block energy. For the embodiment shown in equations (1) and (2), the threshold for each metric is defined based on statistics obtained for that metric and a margin selected for the metric. For this embodiment, the statistics for each metric is the average value obtained for the metric for prior received blocks with CRC failures. Since the statistics for each metric may change with operating conditions, defining the threshold based on the statistics allows the threshold to adapt to changing operating conditions. The SymErrGap and EnergyGap margins are selected to obtain the desired erasure detection performance and are dependent on various factors. For TrCh D for a voice call, good erasure detection performance can be obtained with SymErrGap set to 40 and EnergyGap set to 1 dB. Other values may be used for transport channels with different block sizes and formats. The margins may also be static or dynamically adjusted. For example, the margin for each metric may be set based on a variance computed for the metric for prior received blocks with CRC failures. In FIG. 4, the AvgSymErr may be computed for all of the erased and DTX blocks and represented by a dashed line 432. The SymErrThh is represented by line 422 and is offset lower from line 432 by the SymErrGap. Similarly, the AvgEnergy may be computed for all of the erased and DTX blocks and represented by a dashed line 434. The EnergyThh is represented by line 424 and is offset higher or to the right of line 434 by the EnergyGap. The average number of symbol errors, AvgSymErr, may be obtained by filtering the number of symbol errors for prior received blocks with CRC failures using an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, or some other type of filter. Similarly, the average block energy, AvgEnergy, may be obtained by filtering the energies of prior received blocks with CRC failures. In an embodiment, the AvgSymErr and AvgEnergy are obtained with a single tap IIR filter, which may be expressed as: Y[n]=α*x[n]+(1−α)*Y[n−1]; Eq (3) where n is an index for received blocks; α is a coefficient for the IIR filter; X[n] is the IIR filter input, which is either NumSymErr or BlockEnergy; and Y[n] is the IIR filter output, which is either AvgSymErr or AvgEnergy. The coefficient may be set to α=0.25, for example, or to some other value. A larger value for the coefficient gives more weight to the NumSymErr and BlockEnergy for the current received block in the computation of AvgSymErr and AvgEnergy. Each Update function in the above pseudo-code computes a new value for AvgSymErr or AvgEnergy, e.g., using the IIR filter shown in equation (3). Each Update function then computes a new value for SymErrThh or EnergyThh, e.g., as shown in equation (1) or (2). The description for FIG. 4 and the pseudo-code described above use a horizontal line 422 and a vertical line 424 to determine whether a received block that did not pass CRC is either an erased block or a DTX block. Improved erasure detection performance may be achieved by using a line 450 having a slope that is not 0° or 90°. In this case, erasure detection may be performed by determining whether or not a given received block falls above or below this line. Table 2 lists two possible types of error that can occur for erasure detection. TABLE 2 Error Type Description False DTX → Erasure. A received block is declared as an erasure Alarm when in actuality it is a DTX. Missed Erasure → DTX. A received block is declared as a DTX Detection when in actuality it is an erasure. For power control, a false alarm causes an increase in the SIR target because a DTX block is erroneously declared as an erased block. The higher SIR target causes an increase in transmit power, which results in more power being used for the downlink transmission and reduces network capacity. A missed detection may cause the transmit power to be maintained at the same level when it should be increased instead, since an erased block is declared as a DTX block. The lower than needed transmit power increases the likelihood of receiving additional blocks in error, which can degrade performance. A false alarm may be considered to be more detrimental than a missed detection. This is because false alarms can cause the downlink transmit power to be set to an abnormally large value for a long time, and a sufficiently high false alarm rate can cause instability, as described below. A missed detection may be considered to be less detrimental than a false alarm, since it only affects a single user even though the effect may be severe. Missed detections cause the BLER on the DCCH to be higher for a short duration, but a high missed detection rate can cause important signaling information to be missed and may eventually lead to a dropped call. The erasure detection may be designed with the goals of maintaining the probability of false alarm (PFA) at or below a low target value (e.g., less than 0.5%) while minimizing the probability of missed detection (PMD). In the absence of erasure detection on the DCCH, both DTX blocks and erased blocks may be simply treated as DTX blocks, and power control is then effectively performed with 0% false alarm rate and 100% missed detection rate. For the implementation shown by the pseudo-code described above, a tradeoff may be made between the probability of missed detection and the probability of false alarm by selecting suitable values for the two margins SymErrGap and EnergyGap. Smaller values for SymErrGap and EnergyGap increase the likelihood of the conditions using the SymErrGap and EnergyGap to be “true”, which then increases the likelihood of a received block being declared as an erasure. The converse is true for larger values for SymErrGap and EnergyGap. As shown in FIG. 4, cluster 410 for the erased blocks overlaps partially with cluster 420 for the DTX blocks. When there is an overlap, there will be detection error regardless of which values are used for the thresholds. A tradeoff can be made between the probability of false alarm and the probability of missed detection by adjusting the two thresholds. The probability of false alarm (DTX→Erasure) can be reduced by moving line 422 downward by increasing SymErrGap and/or moving line 424 to the right by increasing EnergyGap, albeit at a cost of a higher probability of missed detection (Erasure→DTX). FIG. 5 shows a process 500 to perform erasure detection for a received block for a transport channel with unknown format. Initially, the received block is decoded to obtain a decoded block, and a CRC check is performed on the decoded block (block 512). A determination is then made whether or not the CRC passes (block 514). If the CRC passes, then CRC success is declared for the received block (block 516), and the process then terminates. Otherwise, the SER and block energy for the received block are determined and used for erasure detection (block 518). A determination is then made whether the SER for the received block is greater than or equal to the SER threshold (block 520). If the answer is ‘yes’, then the received block is declared as a DTX block (block 524). Otherwise, a determination is made whether the block energy is less than or equal to the energy threshold (block 522). If the answer is ‘yes’ for block 522, then the received block is declared as a DTX block (block 524). Otherwise, if the answer is ‘no’ for block 522, then the received block is declared as an erased block (block 526). After blocks 524 and 526, the average SER and average energy for the current and prior received blocks that did not pass the CRC are computed (block 528). The SER threshold and the energy threshold are then updated based on the average SER and the average energy, respectively, as described above (block 530). The process then terminates. For the embodiment described above and shown in FIG. 5, the SER and block energy are used to determine whether a received block is an erased block or a DTX block. In general, any number of metrics and any type of metrics may be used for erasure determination. Examples of some other metrics include normalized energy, zero state bit, modified Yamamoto metric, ratio between rate matching on different transport channels, SIR target, received SIR, PO3, and so on. The zero state bit indicates whether the Viterbi decoder encounters a known state for a received block. Each transport block is typically appended with K−1 tail bits (which are typically all zeros) prior to encoding with a convolutional encoder of constraint length K. The zero state bit is set if all zeros are obtained by the Viterbi decoder for the K−1 tail bits. If the CRC fails but the zero state bit is set, then the received block is more likely to be an erasure than a DTX. The modified Yamamoto metric is based on path metrics for the convolutional decoding. The Viterbi decoder maintains the path metric for the best path at each of 2K−1 states in a trellis for the decoding. The path with the best path metric for all states is typically selected as the most likely sequence of data bits. The modified Yamamoto metric is indicative of the confidence in the decoded result, and is based on the difference between the selected (best) path through the trellis and the next closest path through the trellis. To derive the Yamamoto metric, the difference between the best and second best path metrics is compared against a threshold value to generate a binary value, which indicates whether or not the selected path meets a certain confidence criteria. The rate matching attributes effectively determine the percentage of a CCTRCH assigned to the various transport channels that are multiplexed onto the CCTrCH. If rate matching is high for TrCh A and a large percentage of the CCTRCH is used for TrCh A, then the block energy and SER for the DCCH suffer. The ratio between rate matching for the different transport channels may be used to normalize the effect of varying rate matching attributes. The normalized energy is obtained by dividing the block energy by the number of symbols in the block and is indicative of the average symbol energy. The normalization may also be with respect to the block energies of other transport channels. The PO3 is the offset between the DPCCH and the DPDCH. A higher PO3 may improve the SIR estimates and thus possibly reduce the variance of the cluster of DTX blocks and the cluster of erased blocks. The flow diagram shown in FIG. 5 may be modified to incorporate the particular metrics selected for use. The threshold used for each metric may also be fixed (not changed) or adaptive (e.g., changed based on statistics obtained from the received blocks). As an example, erasure detection may be performed based on various metrics, as follows: BlockEnergy - EnergyThh SymErrGap + NumSymErr - SymErrThh EnergyGap ≥ ( 1 - ZSBStateTrue ) × ZSB_weight + ( 1 - YamamotoStateTrue ) × Y_weight + SIR target × SIR bias . Eq ( 4 ) The expression on the left hand side of equation (4), if set equal to zero, defines a line passing through the (x, y) coordinate at (EnergyThh, SymErrThh) and having a slope of EnergyGap/SymErrGap (e.g., line 450 in FIG. 4). The expressions on the right hand side of equation (4) indicate the amount of shift toward the right applied to this line based on (1) whether the zero state bit (ZSB) is true or false, (2) whether the modified Yamamoto metric (Y) is true or false, and (3) the value of the SIR target set by the outer loop. If the zero state bit is true and the modified Yamamoto metric is true, then there is greater confidence that a received block is a transport block that is received in error (i.e., an erased block). The weights for the zero state bit and the modified Yamamoto metric are empirically derived best estimates (e.g., ZSB_weight=0.25 and Y_weight=0.1). The SIR bias may be set to zero (SIR_bias=0) to omit the effect of the SIR target from the equation (4). Equation (4) may be evaluated for each received block. A received block is deemed an erased block if the condition for equation (4) is true and deemed a DTX block otherwise. The erasure detection technique described above may be used for various applications. Erasure detection for power control on the downlink is described below. 2. Power Control FIG. 6 shows a power control mechanism 600 that may be used to control the transmit power for a downlink transmission sent on a physical channel (e.g., the downlink DPCH) from a base station to a wireless device. Power control mechanism 600 includes an inner loop 610 and an outer loop 620. Inner loop 610 maintains the received SIR for the downlink transmission, as measured at the wireless device, as close as possible to the SIR target for the physical channel. For inner loop 610, an SIR estimator 632 estimates the received SIR for the downlink transmission (e.g., based on the dedicated pilot in Pilot field 326 shown in FIG. 3) and provides the received SIR to a transmit power control (TPC) generator 634. TPC generator 634 also receives the SIR target from an SIR target adjustment unit 646, compares the received SIR against the SIR target, and generates a TPC command based on the comparison result. The TPC command is either an UP command to direct an increase in transmit power for the downlink transmission or a DOWN command to direct a decrease in transmit power. One TPC command is generated for each slot in W-CDMA and is sent on the uplink (cloud 650) to the base station. The base station processes the uplink transmission from the wireless device and obtains a received TPC command for each slot. The received TPC command is a noisy version of the TPC command sent by the wireless device. A TPC processor 652 detects each received TPC command and provides a TPC decision, which indicates whether an UP command or a DOWN command was detected. A transmitter unit 654 then adjusts the transmit power for the downlink transmission accordingly based on the TPC decision. For W-CDMA, the TPC commands may be sent as often as 1500 times per second, thereby providing a relatively fast response time for inner loop 610. Due to path loss and fading on the downlink (cloud 630), which typically vary over time and especially for a mobile wireless device, the received SIR at the wireless device continually fluctuates. Inner loop 610 attempts to maintain the received SIR at or near the SIR target in the presence of changes in the downlink. Outer loop 620 continually adjusts the SIR target such that the BLER target(s) are achieved for the downlink transmission on the physical channel. The physical channel carries one or more transport channels, and each transport channel may be associated with a respective BLER target. For each transport channel, a receive (RX) data processor 642 processes and decodes each block received on the transport channel, checks each decoded block, and provides a CRC status that indicates either CRC success or CRC failure for the received block. For each received block with CRC failure and an unknown format, an erasure detector 644 determines whether the block is an erased block or a DTX block. This determination may be made based on metrics such as, for example, the received block energy and the received block SER (provided by RX data processor 642). The received block energy may be provided by RX data processor 642 (as shown in FIG. 6) or SIR estimator 632, depending on the method used to compute the block energy. Erasure detector 644 may implement process 500 shown in FIG. 5 for erasure detection. For each received block, erasure detector 644 provides a block status that indicates whether the block is good (CRC success), erased, or DTX, as shown in Table 1. In general, a physical channel to be power controlled may carry any number of transport channels and these transport channels may have various characteristics. The transport channels may be categorized into three types, as shown in Table 3. TABLE 3 Channel Type Description Block Status Type 1 A transport channel with a CRC and Good or erased is either (1) continuously active or (2) intermittently active but having known format. Type 2 A transport channel with a CRC and Good, erased, is intermittently active with or DTX unknown format. Type 3 A transport channel without a CRC. — A transport channel that uses transport formats with a CRC may be used for power control, whereas a transport channel that uses transport formats without a CRC is typically not used for power control. For example, TrChs A and D for a voice call have a CRC and may be used for power control, whereas TrChs B and C do not have a CRC and are not used for power control. A transport channel with CRC may be active all the time or intermittently active. A transport channel is continuously active if at least one transport block is sent on the transport channel in each TTI (e.g., regardless of whether or not there is voice activity). A transport channel that is intermittently active may have (1) a known format, with the transport format information being sent on the DPCCH, or (2) an unknown format, in which case BTFD and erasure detection may be performed for the transport channel. A type 1 transport channel (e.g., TrCh A) is either transmitted continuously or has a known format, so that each received block for this transport channel may be declared as either a good block or an erased block. A type 2 transport channel (TrCh D) is transmitted intermittently and the wireless device does not know the format, so each received block for this transport channel may be a good block, an erased block, or a DTX block. Each type 1 and type 2 transport channel may be associated with a respective SIR target that is dependent on (1) the BLER target specified for that transport channel, (2) the transport format used for the transport channel for the current TTI, (3) the wireless channel condition, and (4) possibly other factors. For a given BLER target, different SIR targets may be needed for different channel conditions such as fast fading, slow fading, additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, and so on. RX data processor 642 processes the downlink transmission, decodes the received blocks for each transport channel, checks each decoded block, and provides the CRC status (CRC success or failure) for each decoded block. For each type 2 transport channel, erasure detector 644 receives the CRC status and the metrics for each received block and provides a block status (good, erased, or DTX) for the received block. Adjustment unit 646 receives the block status and the BLER targets for the type 1 and type 2 transport channels carried by the physical channel and determines the SIR target for the physical channel. Adjustment unit 646 adjusts the SIR target based on the block status and the BLER targets such that the desired performance is obtained for the transport channels. The SIR target adjustment is typically performed for each TTI in which at least one received block is obtained for at least one transport channel (e.g., for each 20 msec TTI for a voice call). Adjustment unit 646 may derive the SIR target using various schemes. In a first scheme, one SIR target is maintained for each type 1 and each type 2 transport channel, and the SIR target for each transport channel is adjusted based on the received blocks for that transport channel. For each type 1 transport channel, its SIR target is increased by the UP step if a received block is an erased block and decreased by the DOWN step if the received block is a good block. For each type 2 transport channel, its SIR target may be increased by the UP step for an erased block, decreased by the DOWN step for a good block, and maintained at the same level for a DTX block. The SIR target for the physical channel is set to the highest SIR target for all of the type 1 and type 2 transport channels. In a second scheme, one SIR target is maintained for each type 1 transport channel, as described for the first scheme. However, SIR targets are not maintained for type 2 transport channels. If an erasure is detected on any transport channel, then this implies that the downlink transmit power is too low to properly demodulate the transport channel. The highest SIR target among the SIR targets maintained for the type 1 transport channels is then increased. The SIR targets are not affected by good blocks and DTX blocks detected on the type 2 transport channels. In the third scheme, one SIR target is maintained for all type 1 and type 2 transport channels, and this SIR target is adjusted based on received blocks for these transport channels. The SIR target is increased by the UP step if an erased block is received on any type 1 or type 2 transport channel for the current TTI, maintained if only DTX blocks are detected for the current TTI, and decreased by the DOWN step if at least one good block and no erased blocks are detected for the current TTI. For this scheme, the SIR target is adjusted primarily by the received blocks for continuously active type 1 transport channels (e.g., TrCh A) and further updated based on received blocks for intermittently active type 2 transport channels (e.g., TrCh D). For a voice call, the SIR target is increased by the UP step if an erased block is received on either TrCh A or TrCh D and decreased by the DOWN step if at least one good block and no erased blocks are received on TrChs A and D. The SIR target is thus adjusted primarily by the continuously active TrCh A, and updated by the intermittently active TrCh D as necessary to achieve the desired performance for TrCh D. The third scheme may provide better performance than the first scheme since the SIR target for the physical channel can be adjusted downward by type 1 transport channels and does not depend on good blocks to be received on the intermittently active type 2 transport channel. Other schemes may also be used to obtain the SIR target for the physical channel, and this is within the scope of the invention. In general, if CRC success is declared for a received block, then the received SIR at the wireless device is likely to be higher than necessary, and adjustment unit 646 can reduce the SIR target by a small DOWN step. Conversely, if a received block is declared to be an erasure, then the received SIR at the wireless device is likely to be lower than necessary, and adjustment unit 646 can increase the SIR target by a large UP step. The DOWN and UP steps are dependent on the BLER target and the desired rate of convergence for the outer loop. In an embodiment, for each erased block detected for a type 2 transport channel, the SIR target is increased by an UPbtfd step size that is larger than the normal UP step size. For example, the UPbtfd step size may be set to 1.0 dB while the normal UP step size may be set to 0.5 dB. Because transmission on a type 2 transport channel (e.g., TrCh D for the DCCH) may be infrequent but important, it is desirable to ramp up the SIR target quickly by the larger UPbtfd step size in order to reliably decode any retransmission or new transmission on this transport channel. In an embodiment, the SIR target is maintained at or below a maximum SIR target, SIRmax, if the SIR target is adjusted by a type 2 transport channel. The SIRmax is set sufficiently high (e.g., at 5 dB) so that reliable reception of transport blocks sent on all transport channels (including TrCh D) can be achieved for most channel conditions. This upper limit ensures that the SIR target is not raised too high by false alarms on the type 2 transport channel due to the larger UPbtfd step size. This upper limit may be removed if the probability of false alarm (PFA) is sufficiently low and system stability can be assured. The false alarm probability is sufficiently low if the following condition is satisfied: P FA << DOWN UP btfd · TTI 2 TTI 1 , Eq ( 5 ) where TTI2 is the TTI for a type 2 transport channel, which is 40 msec for TrCh D; and TTI1 is the TTI for a type 1 transport channel, which is 20 msec for TrCh A. If DOWN=0.05 dB and UPbtfd=1.0 dB, then the false alarm probability should be much less than 1%, or PFA<<0.01, to ensure stability. The constraint in equation (4) arises from the maximum rate at which the SIR target can come down when no transport blocks are received in error. If the SIR target is increased by the larger UPbtfd step size due to DTX blocks erroneously detected as erased blocks for a type 2 transport channel (e.g., TrCh D), and thereafter decreased by the small DOWN steps due to good blocks received on a type 1 transport channel (e.g., TrCh A), then the SIR target will be adjusted to, and become stuck at, the maximum possible value if PFA>0.01. This scenario can be avoided by ensuring that PFA<<0.01. FIG. 7 shows a process 700 for performing power control for TrCh A and TrCh D for a voice call in W-CDMA using the second SIR target adjustment scheme described above. The TTI for TrCh A is 20 msec, and the TTI for TrCh D is 40 msec. Thus, one block is received on TrCh A in each 20 msec whereas one block is received on TrCh D in each 40 msec. For each time interval in which at least one block is received on these two transport channels (or each 20 msec), the received block for each transport channel (if any) is processed (e.g., decoded, checked, and erasure detected) to determine the status of the block (block 712). The processing for TrCh D for block 712 may be performed as shown in FIG. 5. A determination is then made whether an erased block is obtained for TrCh D (block 714). If the answer is ‘yes’, then the SIR target is increased by the larger UPbtfd step size (block 716). The SIR target may then be limited to SIRmax (block 718). If the answer is ‘no’ for block 714, then a determination is made whether an erased block is obtained for TrCh A (block 724). If the answer is ‘yes’, then the SIR target is increased by the normal UP step size (block 726), and the SIR target may be limited to S1 (block 718). If the answer is ‘no’ for block 724, which indicates that a good block was obtained for TrCh A and/or TrCh D and an erased block was not obtained for TrCh A, then the SIR target is decreased by the DOWN step size (block 728). From blocks 718 and 728, the process returns to block 712 to perform power control for the next time interval. 3. System FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a base station 10× and a wireless device 120x. On the downlink, a transmit (TX) data processor 810 receives data of various types, processes (e.g., formats, encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the received data, and provides modulated data. TX data processor 810 processes the data for each TTI of each transport channel based on the transport format selected for that TTI and transport channel. A modulator (MOD) 812 further processes (e.g., channelizes, spectrally spreads or scrambles, and so on) the modulated data and provides data chips. A transmitter unit (TMTR) 814 conditions (e.g., converts to analog, amplifies, filters, and frequency upconverts) the data chips to generate a downlink signal. The downlink signal is routed through a duplexer (D) 816 and transmitted via an antenna 818 to the wireless devices. At wireless device 120x, the downlink signal is received by an antenna 852, routed through a duplexer 854, and provided to a receiver unit (RCVR) 856. Receiver unit 856 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and frequency downconverts) the received signal and further digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain data samples. A demodulator (DEMOD) 858 processes (e.g., spectrally despreads, channelizes, and data demodulates) the data samples to obtain received symbols (or symbol estimates). Demodulator 858 may implement a rake receiver that can process multiple signal instances in the received signal. A decoder 860 then deinterleaves and decodes the received symbols for each received block to obtain a decoded block, checks each decoded block to determine the CRC status of the block, and provides the CRC status to an erasure detector 874. An encoder/comparator 862 re-encodes the decoded bits for each received block with CRC failure to obtain re-encoded symbols for the block, and compares the re-encoded symbols against hard decisions of the received symbols to determine symbol errors (SE) and the SER for the block. The SER is provided to an erasure detector 874, and indications of symbol errors may be provided to an SIR estimator 872 and used to determine the block energy. SIR estimator 872 estimates the received SIR for each physical channel used for data transmission and may also determine the energy of each received block with CRC failure for a type 2 transport channel. The block energy may be computed in a manner that takes into account symbol errors in the received block, as described above, and is provided to erasure detector 874. Erasure detector 874 performs erasure detection for each received block from a type 2 transport channel that fails CRC and determines whether the received block is an erased block or a DTX based on the SER, the block energy, and so on, as described above. Erasure detector 874 may implement the process shown in FIG. 5. Erasure detector 874 provides the block status (good, erased, or DTX) for each received block to a controller 880. Controller 880 performs power control, adjusts the SIR target based on the status of each received block, and generates downlink TPC commands used to adjust the transmit power of the downlink physical channel (e.g., the downlink DPCH). On the uplink, a TX data processor 890 receives and processes (e.g., formats, encodes, interleaves, and modulates) various types of data. A modulator 892 further processes (e.g., channelizes and spectrally spreads) the data from TX data processor 890 and provides data chips. The downlink TPC commands may be multiplexed with control data and transmitted on the uplink DPCCH. The data chips are conditioned by a transmitter unit 894 to generate an uplink signal, which is then routed through duplexer 854 and transmitted via antenna 852 to one or more base stations. At base station 110x, the uplink signal is received by antenna 818, routed through duplexer 816, and provided to a receiver unit 838. Receiver unit 838 conditions the received signal, digitizes the conditioned signal, and provides a sample stream to each channel processor 840. Each channel processor 840 includes a demodulator 842 and an RX data processor 844 that receives and processes the sample stream for one wireless device to recover the transmitted data and downlink TPC commands. A power control processor 820 receives the downlink TPC commands and generates a downlink transmit power adjustment control that adjusts the transmit power of the downlink physical channel for wireless device 120x. Controllers 830 and 880 direct the operation of various units within the base station and the wireless device, respectively. Controller 830 and 880 may also perform various functions for erasure detection and power control for the uplink and downlink, respectively. Each controller may also implement the SIR estimator and erasure detector for its link. Memory units 832 and 882 store data and program codes for controllers 830 and 880, respectively. The erasure detection and power control techniques described herein can improve the performance of a type 2 transport channel. The outer loop traditionally operates only on type 1 transport channels (e.g., continuously active transport channels with CRC). Since a type 2 transport channel (e.g., TrCh D for the DCCH) does not satisfy these criteria, the type 2 transport channel is typically not considered for power control and its performance is then dependent on the SIR target set by the type 1 transport channel(s) that are being power controlled. In some instances, the SIR target set by the type 1 transport channel(s) is too low for reliable transmission on the type 2 transport channel. This may cause the wireless device to miss important signaling messages and/or data and may further cause other deleterious effects. The problem is exacerbated, for example, if the wireless device attempts to add a data call during a long period of no activity for a voice call. For AMR, no activity requires a lower SIR than voice activity, and the SIR target is driven to a low value during this long period of no activity. The low SIR target causes a high BLER for the signaling sent on TrCh D to set up the data call. The higher BLER results in a high failure rate for the call setup. With the techniques described herein, the received blocks for the type 2 transport channel can be reliably detected and used for power control so that good performance can be achieved for both types 1 and 2 transport channels. For clarity, the erasure detection and power control techniques have been specifically described for a voice call on the downlink in W-CDMA. Thus, W-CDMA terminology such as transport channels, physical channel, SIR target, and BLER target are used for the above description. In general, these techniques may be used for the downlink as well as the uplink. Furthermore, these techniques may be used for any wireless communication system that implements power control and for any transmission in which the receiver does not known the format beforehand. Other systems may use different terminology for channels (e.g., traffic channels), SIR target (e.g., target SNR), BLER target (e.g., frame error rate (FER)), and so on. The erasure detection and power control techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units used to perform erasure detection and power control may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For a software implementation, the erasure detection and power control techniques may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit (e.g., memory unit 832 or 882 in FIG. 8) and executed by a processor (e.g., controller 830 or 880). The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art. Headings are included herein for reference and to aid in locating certain sections. These headings are not intended to limit the scope of the concepts described therein under, and these concepts may have applicability in other sections throughout the entire specification. The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>I. Field The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for performing erasure detection and power control in a wireless communication system. II. Background In a wireless communication system, a wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone) communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the wireless device, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the device to the base station. In a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a base station can transmit data to multiple wireless devices simultaneously. The total transmit power available at the base station thus determines the downlink capacity of the base station. A portion of the total available transmit power is allocated to each active wireless device such that the aggregate transmit power used for all active devices is less than or equal to the total available transmit power. To maximize downlink capacity, a power control mechanism is typically used for each wireless device. The power control mechanism is normally implemented with two power control loops, which are often called an “inner” loop and an “outer” loop. The inner loop adjusts the transmit power used for the wireless device such that the received signal quality (which may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR)) for a downlink transmission, as measured at the device, is maintained at an SIR target. The outer loop adjusts the SIR target to achieve the desired level of performance, which may be quantified by a block error rate (BLER) target or some other performance criterion. The outer loop typically adjusts the SIR target based on the status of received data blocks. In a common implementation, the outer loop decreases the SIR target by a small DOWN step if a “good” data block is received and increases the SIR target by a large UP step if a “bad” data block is received. The DOWN and UP steps are selected based on the BLER target and possibly other considerations. This outer loop implementation assumes that the status of each received data block can be reliably determined. This can normally be achieved by applying an error detection code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code, on each data block prior to transmission. Each data block would then include a CRC value that can be checked by the wireless device to determine whether the block was decoded correctly (good) or in error (bad or erased). A CDMA system may support data transmission using multiple transport channels and with multiple formats. One transport channel may carry data blocks continually and may use formats that require a CRC value to be included in each data block sent on that transport channel. Another transport channel may be operated in a non-continuous manner so that data blocks are not transmitted some or most of the time on the transport channel. This non-continuous transmission is often called discontinuous transmission (DTX). No data blocks are transmitted on the transport channel during periods of no transmission, and the non-transmitted blocks are often called DTX blocks. Power control for a data transmission using an intermittently active transport channel is challenging. This is because it may be difficult to accurately ascertain the true status of each received block on such a transport channel, i.e., whether the received block is a good block, a DTX block, or a bad block. There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to reliably determine the status of each received block and to perform power control for a data transmission sent using an intermittently active transport channel. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Techniques for performing erasure detection and power control for an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format are described herein. Because the transport channel is intermittently active, a data block may or may not be sent on the transport channel in each transmission time interval (TTI). Because the format for the transport channel is unknown, a receiver does not know whether a received block is for a transmitted block or a non-transmitted block. For such a transport channel, the receiver can process and determine whether each received block is a good block, an erased block, or a DTX block. The received block is deemed to be a good block if it passes a CRC. For each received block that fails the CRC, the receiver can perform erasure detection to determine whether the block is an erased block or a DTX block. In a specific embodiment for performing erasure detection, the receiver determines a symbol error rate (SER) and the energy of a received block with CRC failure, compares the SER for the received block against an SER threshold, compares the energy of the received block against an energy threshold, and declares the received block to be an erased block if the SER for the received block is less than the SER threshold and the energy of the received block is greater than the energy threshold. The receiver may dynamically adjust the SER threshold based on an average SER for prior received blocks with CRC failures and may similarly adjust the energy threshold based on an average energy for the prior received blocks with CRC failures. Other and/or different metrics may also be used for erasure detection. Power control of an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format may be performed, for example, in conjunction with a second transport channel that is either continuously active or has a known format. The SIR target for both transport channels may be adjusted up or down in the normal manner based on blocks received on the second transport channel. However, if an erased block is detected for the intermittently active transport channel, then the SIR target may be increased, for example, by a larger than normal UP step. Various aspects and embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below. | 20040609 | 20100601 | 20051215 | 99379.0 | 0 | CHAUDRY, MUJTABA M | ERASURE DETECTION AND POWER CONTROL FOR A TRANSPORT CHANNEL WITH UNKNOWN FORMAT IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,292 | ACCEPTED | Liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same | A thin and compact liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel with first and second substrates, each having a display area and a non-display area, which are bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material. A thermally conductive layer is formed on any one of the first and second substrates to prevent the liquid crystal material from becoming too cool, thereby preventing temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. Such a liquid crystal display device may be simply fabricated. | 1. A liquid crystal display device, comprising: a liquid crystal display panel having first and second substrates bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, wherein at least one of the first and second substrates includes a display area and a non-display area; and a thermally conductive layer on any one of the first and second substrates, wherein the thermally conductive layer prevents a temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, further comprising a thermal signal conductor on any one of the first and second substrates and connected to the thermally conductive layer. 3. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, wherein the thermal signal conductor is within the non-display area. 4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, further comprising: a printed circuit board; a thermal signal generator on the printed circuit board, wherein the thermal signal generator supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor; and a tape carrier package connected between the printed circuit board and the thermal signal conductor. 5. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein two or more thermal signal conductors are connected to one tape carrier package. 6. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, further including: a first insulating film on the thermally conductive layer, a first contact hole within the first insulating film exposing the thermally conductive layer; a gate pattern on the first insulating film, the gate pattern including a gate electrode and a gate line; a second insulating film on the gate pattern; a source/drain pattern on the second insulating film, the source/drain pattern including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode; a protective film on the source/drain pattern; a second contact hole within the protective film exposing the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode via the second contact hole. 7. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the thermal signal conductor includes: a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. 8. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 7, wherein the first thermal signal electrode includes the same material as the gate pattern. 9. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the thermal signal conductor includes: a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. 10. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 9, wherein the first thermal signal electrode includes the same material as the source/drain pattern. 11. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein portions of the thermally conductive layer are absent from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. 12. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the thermally conductive layer includes a transparent conductive material. 13. A fabricating method of a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel with first and second substrates, each of the first and second substrates having a display area and a non-display area, the first and second substrates being bonded together and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, the method comprising: forming a thermally conductive layer on any one of the first and second substrates to prevent a temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. 14. The fabricating method according to claim 13, further comprising: forming a thermal signal conductor on any one of the first and second substrates; and connecting the thermal signal conductor to the thermally conductive layer. 15. The fabricating method according to claim 14, further comprising forming the thermal signal conductor within the non-display area. 16. The fabricating method according to claim 14, further comprising: forming a printed circuit board; mounting a thermal signal generator on the printed circuit board, wherein the thermal signal generator supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor; and connecting the printed circuit board with the thermal signal conductor via a tape carrier package. 17. The fabricating method according to claim 16, further comprising connecting two or more thermal signal conductors to one tape carrier package. 18. The fabricating method according to claim 14, further comprising: forming a first insulating film on the thermally conductive layer; forming a first contact hole within the first insulating film exposing the thermally conductive layer; forming a gate pattern on the first insulating film, the gate pattern including a gate electrode and a gate line; forming a second insulating film on the gate pattern; forming a source/drain pattern on the second insulating film, the source/drain pattern including a data line, a source electrode and a drain electrode; forming a protective film on the source/drain pattern; forming a second contact hole within the protective film exposing the drain electrode; and forming a pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode via the second contact hole. 19. The fabricating method according to claim 18, wherein forming the thermal signal conductor includes: connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. 20. The fabricating method according to claim 19, further including forming the first thermal signal electrode from the same material as the gate pattern. 21. The fabricating method according to claim 18, wherein forming the thermal signal conductor includes: connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. 22. The fabricating method according to claim 21, further including forming the first thermal signal electrode from the same material as the source/drain pattern. 23. The fabricating method according to claim 18, wherein portions of the thermally conductive layer are absent from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. 24. The fabricating method according to claim 13, further including forming the thermally conductive layer from a transparent conductive material. | This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. P2003-76496, filed on Oct. 30, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a simplified method of fabricating thin, light-weight LCD devices. 2. Discussion of the Related Art A typical liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes a liquid crystal module (LCM), a driving circuit that drives the LCM, and a case that covers an exterior of the LCM to prevent the LCM from being damaged by external impact. The LCM includes an LCD panel, a backlight unit, and a plurality of optical sheets that vertically redirect light emitted from the backlight unit to the LCD panel. The LCD panel generally includes a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix pattern between two substrates. The LCD panel, backlight unit, and optical sheets are integrally combined with each other to prevent light loss. LCMs such as those described above can be used within display devices of notebook personal computers, mobile vehicles, airplanes, and other portable devices. FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional diagram of a related art LCM. Referring to FIG. 1, a related art LCM includes an LCD panel 2 having a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix pattern; upper and lower polarizers 42 and 40, respectively, arranged at front and rear surfaces of the LCD panel 2, respectively, wherein the lower polarizer 40 is arranged on a heat conductor 66. The LCD panel 2 includes a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate 2a and a color filter array substrate 2b are bonded together and separated from each other by liquid crystal material (not shown). The TFT array substrate 2a includes a lower substrate supporting a plurality of TFTs and signal lines while the color filter array substrate 2b includes an upper substrate supporting a black matrix layer and a plurality of color filters. The lower polarizer 40 is attached to a rear surface of the TFT array substrate 2a to polarize light emitted from the backlight unit into the LCD panel 2. The upper polarizer 42 is attached to a front surface of the color filter array substrate 2b to polarize light emitted from the backlight unit and transmitted by the LCD panel 2. The lower polarizer 40 is further bonded to the heat conductor 66 via an adhesive 35. Referring back to FIG. 1, the aforementioned backlight unit includes a lamp 20 to emit light, a lamp housing 10 covering the lamp 20, a light guide panel 24 to convert light emitted from the lamp 20 into planar light, a reflective plate 26 arranged at a rear surface of the light guide panel 24, and a plurality of diffusion sheets 30 sequentially arranged on the light guide panel 24. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the heat conductor 66 includes a supporting substrate 65, a thermally conductive layer 63 formed on the supporting substrate 65, and a thermally conductive line 61 formed at peripheral areas of the thermally conductive layer 63. The supporting substrate 65 is formed of the same material as the upper/lower substrate of the LCD panel 2 (i.e., glass). The thermally conductive layer 63 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The thermally conductive line 61 is formed of silver (Ag) material and transmits a voltage generated by an external voltage source (not shown). The thermally conductive layer 63 converts the voltage transmitted by the thermally conductive line 61 into heat and conducts the heat to the LCD panel 2, wherein the conducted heat prevents a temperature of liquid crystal material within the LCD panel 2 from becoming too low. Specifically, when the LCD panel 2 is exposed to temperatures in the range of about −40 to 0° C., bubbles form within the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 2. Consequently, the bubbles alter and restrict the anisotropic dielectric characteristics of the liquid crystal material and prevent the LCD panel 2 from displaying pictures properly. Therefore, the voltage transmitted by the thermally conductive line 61 induces a resistive heating phenomenon in the thermally conductive layer 63, allowing the heat conductor 66 to act as a heater and prevent the formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 2. Use of the aforementioned related art LCM is, however, disadvantageous because the supporting substrate 65 is typically provided as a thick glass substrate. Therefore, both the weight and thickness of the entire related art LCM can be undesirably large. Further, while the heat conductor 66 of the related art LCM is attached directly to the lower polarizer 40 of the LCD panel 2, the heat conductor 66 and the LCD panel 2 must be formed in separate processes and are connected to separate voltage sources. Consequently, methods of fabricating the related art LCM, and an operation of the related art LCM, can become undesirably complex. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. An advantage of the present invention provides a simplified method of manufacturing thin, light-weight LCD devices Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. These and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a liquid crystal display device may, for example, include a liquid crystal display panel having first and second substrates bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, wherein at least one of the first and second substrates includes a display area and a non-display area; and a thermally conductive layer formed on any one of the first and second substrates, wherein the thermally conductive layer prevents the temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. In one aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device may further include a thermal signal conductor formed on any one of the first and second substrates and connected to the thermally conductive layer. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed within the non-display area. In still another aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device may further include a printed circuit board (PCB)and a thermal signal generator mounted on the PCB, wherein the thermal signal generator supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor; and a tape carrier package (TCP) connecting the PCB to the thermal signal conductor. In yet another aspect of the present invention, two or more thermal signal conductors may be connected to the TCP. In still another aspect of the present invention, a first insulating film formed on the thermally conductive layer; a first contact hole may be formed in the first insulating film to expose the thermally conductive layer; a gate pattern, including a gate electrode and a gate line, may be formed on the first insulating film; a second insulating film may be formed on the gate pattern; a source/drain pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, may be formed on the second insulating film; a protective film may be formed on the source/drain pattern; a second contact hole may be formed in the protective film to expose the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode may be connected to the drain electrode through the second contact hole. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, include a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the gate pattern. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, include a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the source/drain pattern. In another aspect of the present invention, portions of the thermally conductive layer may be absent from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may be formed of a transparent conductive material. According to principles of the present invention, a method of fabricating a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel with first and second substrates, each having a display area and a non-display area, bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, may, for example, include a step of forming a thermally conductive layer on any one of the first and second substrates to prevent the temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. In one aspect of the present invention, the method may further include a forming a thermal signal conductor on any one of the first and second substrates and connecting the thermal signal conductor to the thermally conductive layer. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may be formed in the non-display area. In still another aspect of the present invention, the method may further include forming a printed circuit board (PCB); mounting a thermal signal generator wherein the thermal signal generator that supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor onto the PCB; and connecting the PCB to the thermal signal conductor using a tape carrier package (TCP). In yet another aspect of the present invention, two or more thermal signal conductors may be connected to the TCP. In still another aspect of the present invention, a first insulating film may be formed on the thermally conductive layer; a first contact hole may be formed within the first insulating film to expose the thermally conductive layer; a gate pattern, including a gate electrode and a gate line, may be formed on the first insulating film; a second insulating film may be formed on the gate pattern; a source/drain pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, may be formed on the second insulating film; a protective film may be formed on the source/drain pattern; a second contact hole may be formed within the protective film to expose the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode may be connected to the drain electrode through the second contact hole. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed by connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In one aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the gate pattern. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed by connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the source/drain pattern. In yet another aspect of the present invention, portions of the thermally conductive layer may be removed from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. In still another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may be formed of a transparent conductive material. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of a related art liquid crystal module of a liquid crystal display device; FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a related art heat conductor shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of a liquid crystal module according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 4, taken along the lines I-I′ and II-II′; FIG. 6 illustrates a plan view of a thermal signal conductor formed within a data pad area; FIG. 7 illustrates a plan view of two or more thermal signal conductors connected to one tape carrier package; FIGS. 8A to 8F illustrate sectional views of a method of fabricating the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 9 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate of a liquid crystal display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate of a liquid crystal display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 illustrates a sectional view of the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 10, taken along the lines II-II′ and III-III′; and FIGS. 12A to 12F illustrate sectional views of a method of fabricating the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of a liquid crystal module (LCM) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the LCM may, for example, include a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 102 having a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix pattern. Upper and lower polarizers 142 and 140, respectively, may be arranged at front and rear surfaces of the LCD panel 102, respectively. The LCD panel 102 may, for example, include a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate 102a and a color filter array substrate 102b that are bonded together and separated from each other by liquid crystal material (not shown). As described in greater detail below, the TFT array substrate 102a may, for example, include a lower substrate supporting a plurality of TFTs, a plurality of signal lines, and a thermally conductive layer. The color filter array substrate 102b may, for example, include an upper substrate supporting a black matrix layer and a plurality of color filters. The lower polarizer 140 may be attached to a rear surface of the TFT array substrate 102a to polarize the light emitted from a backlight unit into the LCD panel 102. The upper polarizer 142 may be attached to a front surface of the color filter array substrate 102b to polarize light emitted from the backlight unit and transmitted by the LCD panel 102. The aforementioned backlight unit may, for example, include a lamp 120 to emit light, a lamp housing 110 covering the lamp 120, a light guide panel 124 to convert light emitted from the lamp 120 into planar light, a reflective plate 126 arranged at a rear surface of the light guide panel 124, and a plurality of diffusion sheets 130 sequentially arranged over the light guide panel 124. FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 4, taken along the lines I-I′ and II-II′. Referring to FIGS. 4-6, the aforementioned TFT array substrate 102a may include a lower substrate 242 having a display area P1 and a non-display area (i.e., gate pad area P2 and data pad area P3). Within the display area P1, a thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed on the lower substrate 242; a first insulating film 243 may be formed on the lower substrate 242 and the thermally conductive layer 163; gate lines 202 and data lines 204 may be formed over the first insulating film 243, be spaced apart from each other by a second insulating film 244, and may cross each other to define a plurality of cell areas; TFTs 206 may be formed at the crossings of the gate and data lines 202 and 204, respectively; and pixel electrodes 218 may be formed within the cell areas. Although not shown, storage capacitors may be formed at regions where the pixel electrodes 218 overlap preceding ones of the gate lines 202. Each TFT 206 may, for example, include a gate electrode 208 connected to a corresponding gate line 202, a source electrode 210 connected to a corresponding data line 204, a drain electrode 212 connected to a corresponding pixel electrode 218, and a semiconductor layer 247 overlapping the gate electrode 208. The semiconductor layer 247 may, for example, include an active layer 214 and an ohmic contact layer 248 formed over the active layer 214. The active layer 214 may form a channel between the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212 while the ohmic contact layer 248 may facilitate ohmic contact between the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212 and the TFT 206. As shown in FIG. 5, the data line 204, the source electrode 210, and the drain electrode 212 overlap the active layer 214. Each pixel electrode 218 may be connected to a corresponding drain electrode 212 through a first contact hole 216 formed within the protective film 250. Accordingly, each TFT 206 may transfer pixel voltage signals transmitted by the data line 204 to the pixel electrode 218 in response to gate signals transmitted by the gate line 202. As the pixel voltage signals are transmitted to the pixel electrode 218, the pixel electrode 218 generates a potential difference with a common electrode formed on the upper substrate (not shown). The potential difference causes liquid crystal material located between the TFT array substrate 102a and the color filter substrate 102b to rotate. The rotation causes an orientation of anisotropic dielectric characteristics to become modulated and enables light emitted from the backlight unit to be selectively transmitted through the pixel electrode 218 to the color filter substrate 102b. Within the gate pad area P2, gate pad parts 226 may be connected to the gate lines 202. Within the data pad area P3, data pad parts 234 within a data pad area may be connected to the data lines 204. Further, a thermal signal conductor 270 may be electrically connected to the thermally conductive layer 163. Each gate pad part 226 may connect a corresponding gate line 202 to a gate driver (not shown). In one aspect of the present invention, each gate pad part 226 may include a lower gate pad electrode 228 extending from the gate line 202 and an upper gate pad electrode 232 connected to the lower gate pad electrode 228 via a second contact hole 230 formed in the second insulating film 244 and the protective film 250. Each data pad part 234 may connected to a corresponding data line 204 to a data driver (not shown). In one aspect of the present invention, the data pad part 234 may include a lower data pad electrode 236 extending from the data line 204 and an upper data pad electrode 240 connected to the data pad lower part electrode 236 via a third contact hole 238 formed in the protective film 250. According to one aspect of the present embodiment, the thermal signal conductor 270 may be arranged within the gate pad area P2 and, for example, include a lower thermal signal electrode 328 connected to the thermally conductive layer 163 via a fourth contact hole 303 formed within the first insulating film 243 and an upper thermal signal electrode 332 connected to the lower thermal signal electrode 328 via a fifth contact hole 330 formed in the second insulating film 244 and the protective film 250. In one aspect of the present invention, the fourth contact hole may be formed within the display area P1. According to principles of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 270 may be connected to a tape carrier package (TCP) 255 via conductive film 310. In one aspect of the present invention, the conductive film 310 may, for example, include electrically conductive particles (e.g., balls). Accordingly, the thermal signal conductor 270 may transmit a voltage (i.e., a thermal signal) supplied from a power source (i.e., a thermal signal generator) mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown) to the thermally conductive layer 163 via the TCP 255. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 270 may, for example, transmit a voltage having a positive polarity (+) or a negative polarity (−). The voltage transmitted by the thermal signal conductor 270 may then be converted into heat by the thermally conductive layer 163 and supplied to the LCD panel 102 to prevent the aforementioned temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 102. As mentioned above, when the LCD panel 102 is exposed to an environment within a predetermined temperature range (e.g., around −40˜0° C.) bubbles form within the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 102. The bubbles, in turn, deleteriously alter and restrict the anisotropic dielectric characteristics of the liquid crystal material and prevent the LCD panel 102 from displaying pictures properly. Therefore, the voltage transmitted by the thermal signal conductor 270 induces a resistive heating phenomenon in the thermally conductive layer 163 such that the thermally conductive layer 163 acts as a heater to prevent the formation of bubbles with the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 102. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may, for example, be formed of a transparent electrically conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may, for example, be about 300˜2000 Å thick to possess an internal resistance of about 30˜100Ω. As described above with respect to FIG. 4, the thermal signal conductor 270 is arranged within the gate pad area P2. However, the thermal signal conductor 270 of the present invention may be arranged within the data pad area P3, as shown in FIG. 6. As described above, with respect to FIGS. 4 and 6, only one thermal signal conductor 270 is illustrated as being connected to the thermally conductive layer 163. However, and as exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 7, a plurality of thermal signal conductors 270 may be connected to the thermally conductive layer 163. In one aspect of the present invention, individual ones of the plurality of thermal signal conductors 270 may or may not be connected to the same TCP 255. FIGS. 8A to 8F illustrate sectional views of a method of fabricating the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 8A, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed on the lower substrate 242. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed of an electrically conductive material. In still another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed of an electrically conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), or the like. Referring to FIG. 8B, the first insulating film 243 may be formed on the lower substrate 242 and the thermally conductive layer 163. Further, the fourth contact hole 303 may be formed in the first insulating film 243 to expose a portion of the thermally conductive layer 163. In one aspect of the present invention, the first insulating film 243 may include an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the fourth contact hole 303 may be formed by photolithography and etching processes using a mask. Referring to FIG. 8C, a gate metal layer may be formed over the lower substrate 242 and on the first gate insulating film. In one aspect of the present invention, the gate metal layer may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. Subsequently, the gate metal layer may be patterned via photolithography and etching processes using a mask to form gate patterns including the gate line 202, the gate electrode 208, and the lower thermal signal electrode 328. In one aspect of the present invention, the gate metal layer may include chrome Cr, molybdenum Mo, aluminum Al, or the like, or alloys or layered combinations (e.g., two layers) thereof. Referring to FIG. 8D, the second insulating film 244, a semiconductor layer, a doped semiconductive layer, and a source/drain metal layer may be sequentially formed over the lower substrate 242 and on the first insulating film 243, the gate lines 202, the gate electrode 208, and the lower thermal signal electrode 328. In one aspect of the present invention, the second insulating film 244 may include an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor layer may be used to form the active layer 214 and may comprise an amorphous silicon layer. In still another aspect of the present invention, the doped semiconductive layer may be used to form the ohmic contact layer 248 and may comprise an n+ amorphous silicon layer. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the source/drain metal layer may include molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), or the like, or any alloy or layered combination thereof. In still a further aspect of the present invention, the second insulating film 244, the semiconductor layer, the doped semiconductive layer, and the source/drain metal layer may be sequentially formed using a deposition method such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), sputtering, or the like. After sequential formation of the second insulating film 244, the semiconductor layer, the doped semiconductive layer, and the source/drain metal layer, source and drain electrodes 210 and 212, respectively, may be formed by patterning the source/drain metal layer via a photolithography process and a photoresist mask. In one aspect of the present invention, the mask used in forming the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212, respectively, may comprise a diffractive exposure mask having a diffractive exposure area arranged in correspondence with the channel of the TFT. Thus, a portion of the mask arranged over the channel of the TFT may be lower in height than a portion of the mask arranged over the source/drain area of the TFT. After formation of the mask, the source/drain metal layer may be patterned by a wet etching process using the photoresist pattern as a mask. Upon completion of the patterning, the data line 204, the source electrode 210, and the drain electrode 212, are simultaneously formed. After patterning the source/drain metal layer to form the data line 204, the source electrode 210, and the drain electrode 212, the semiconductor layer and the doped semiconductive layer may be simultaneously patterned to form the active layer 214 and the ohmic contact layer 248, respectively. In one aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor layer and the doped semiconductive layer may be patterned via a dry etching process using the same photoresist pattern as was used to form the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212. After patterning the semiconductor layer and the doped semiconductive layer to form the active layer 214 and the ohmic contact layer 248, the portion of the photoresist pattern arranged over the channel of the TFT (i.e., the portion of the photoresist having the relatively lower height) may be removed in an ashing process. Subsequently, portions of the source/drain metal layer and the ohmic contact layer 248 arranged over the channel of the TFT may be etched in a dry etching process to expose the portion of the active layer 214 corresponding to the channel of the TFT and to separate the source electrode 210 from the drain electrode 212. After exposing the active layer 214 and separating the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212, respectively, any remaining photoresist pattern may be removed in a stripping process. Referring to FIG. 8E, the protective film 250 may be formed over the entire surface of the lower substrate 242 and on the second insulating film 244, the source electrode 210 and the drain electrode 212. In one aspect of the present invention, the protective film 250 may be formed by a deposition method such as PECVD. In another aspect of the present invention, the protective film 250 may be formed of the same inorganic insulating material as the first and second insulating film 243 and 244, or from an organic insulating material such as an acrylic organic compound having a low dielectric constant (e.g., BCB, PFCB, etc.), or the like. The first contact hole 216 may be formed in the protective film 250, and the fifth contact hole 330 may be formed within the protective film 250 and second insulative film 244 by photolithography and etching processes using a mask. Accordingly, the first contact hole 216 may expose a portion of the drain electrode 212 and the fifth contact hole 330 may expose a portion of the lower thermal signal electrode 328. Referring to FIG. 8F, a transparent, electrically conductive material may be formed on the protective film 250 and within the first and fifth contact holes 216 and 330. In one aspect of the present invention, the transparent, electrically conductive material may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the transparent, electrically conductive material may, for example, include indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (TO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or the like. Subsequently, the formed transparent, electrically conductive material may be patterned via the photolithography and etching processes using a mask to form the pixel electrode 218 and the upper thermal signal electrode 332. According to principles of the present invention, the pixel electrode 218 may be electrically connected to the drain electrode 212 via the first contact hole 216 while the upper thermal signal electrode 332 may be electrically connected to the lower thermal signal electrode 328 via the fifth contact hole 330. As described above with respect to FIGS. 3-8F, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed directly on the lower substrate 242 of the TFT array substrate 102a. Accordingly, the separate supporting substrates and thermal conducting structures, such as those described in the related art, and their accompanying fabrication processes, are not required. Accordingly, the resultant LCM may be thinner and lighter and fabricated more simply. FIG. 9 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate of a liquid crystal display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. With the exception of the thermally conductive layer 163, the TFT array substrate 102a of the second embodiment of the present invention is substantially identical to the TFT array substrate 102a of the first embodiment previously illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 4 and 5. Accordingly, for the sake of brevity, a detailed description of each shared attribute will be omitted. As described above with respect to the first embodiment, the thermally conductive layer 163 beneficially prevents liquid crystal material from becoming too cool, thereby preventing the deleterious temperature-dependent formation of bubbles. However, upon driving the LCM containing the TFT array substrate 102a of the first embodiment, signals transmitted by the gate and data lines 202 and 204 may be undesirably delayed due to parasitic capacitors constituted by the thermally conductive layer 163, the first insulating film 243, and the gate and data lines 202 and 204. Accordingly, the second embodiment of the present invention may reduce the signal delay experienced in the first embodiment by forming a TFT array substrate 102a such that portions of the thermally conductive layer 163 are absent from regions of the display area P1 occupied by portions of the gate line 202 and the data line 204. According to principles of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 270 may, for example, include a lower thermal signal electrode 328 connected to a thermally conductive layer 163 via a fourth contact hole 303 formed within the first insulating film 243 and an upper thermal signal electrode 332 connected to the lower thermal signal electrode 328 via a fifth contact hole 330 formed in the second insulating film 244 and the protective film 250. According to principles of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 270 may be connected to a tape carrier package (TCP) 255 via a conductive film 310. In one aspect of the present invention, the conductive film 310 may, for example, include electrically conductive particles (e.g., balls). Accordingly, the thermal signal conductor 270 may transmit a voltage (i.e., a thermal signal) supplied from a power source (i.e., a thermal signal generator) mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown) to the thermally conductive layer 163 via the TCP 255. The voltage transmitted by the thermal signal conductor 270 may then be converted into heat by the thermally conductive layer 163 and supplied to the LCD panel 102 to prevent temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 102. Except for the formation of the thermally conductive layer 163, the method of fabricating the TFT array substrate 102a of the second embodiment is substantially the same as the method of fabricating the TFT array substrate 102a of the first embodiment except that the thermally conductive layer 163. For example, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed on the lower substrate 242 in substantially the same the manner as previously described with reference to FIG. 8A. In the second embodiment, however, portions of the formed thermally conductive layer 163 may be selectively removed by known processes in regions of the display area P1 that will be occupied by portions of subsequently formed gate and data lines 202 and 204. Accordingly, the resultant LCM may be thinner and lighter and fabricated more simply. Additionally, signal delay within the resultant LCM may be reduced. FIG. 10 illustrates a plan view of a thin film transistor array substrate of a liquid crystal display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 illustrates a sectional view of the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 10, taken along the lines II-II′ and III-III′. With the exception of the difference between the lower thermal signal electrode 428 of the thermal signal conductor 370 and the lower thermal signal electrode 328 of the thermal signal conductor 270, the TFT array substrate 102a of the third embodiment is substantially identical to the TFT array substrate 102a of the first embodiment previously illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 4-6. Accordingly, for the sake of brevity, a detailed description of each shared attribute will be omitted. Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the lower thermal signal electrode 428 of the thermal signal conductor 370 may be formed of the same material as the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212. In one aspect of the present invention, the lower thermal signal electrode 428 of the thermal signal conductor 370 may be formed from the same layer as the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212. In another aspect of the present invention, the lower thermal signal electrode 428 of the thermal signal conductor 370 may be formed of the same material(s) as the semiconductor pattern 247. In still another aspect of the present invention, the lower thermal signal electrode 428 of the thermal signal conductor 370 may be formed from the same layer(s) as the semiconductor pattern 247. According to principles of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 370 may, for example, include a lower thermal signal electrode 428 connected to a thermally conductive layer 163 via a sixth contact hole 403 formed within the first and second insulating films 243 and 244 and an upper thermal signal electrode 432 connected to the lower thermal signal electrode 428 via a seventh contact hole 430 formed within the protective film 250. According to principles of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor 370 may be connected to a tape carrier package (TCP) 255 via a conductive film 310. In one aspect of the present invention, the conductive film 310 may, for example, include electrically conductive particles (e.g., balls). Accordingly, the thermal signal conductor 370 may transmit a voltage (i.e., a thermal signal) supplied from a power source (i.e., a thermal signal generator) mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown) to the thermally conductive layer 163 via the TCP 255. The voltage transmitted by the thermal signal conductor 370 may then be converted into heat by the thermally conductive layer 163 and supplied to the LCD panel 102 to prevent temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 102. FIGS. 12A to 12F illustrate sectional views of a method of fabricating the thin film transistor array substrate shown in FIG. 11. Referring to FIG. 12A, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed on the lower substrate 242. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed of an electrically conductive material. In still another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed of an electrically conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), or the like. Referring to FIG. 12B, the first insulating film 243 may be formed on the lower substrate 242 and the thermally conductive layer 163. In one aspect of the present invention, the first insulating film 243 may include an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), or the like. A gate metal layer may be formed over the lower substrate 242 and on the first gate insulating film. In one aspect of the present invention, the gate metal layer may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. Subsequently, the gate metal layer may be patterned via photolithography and etching processes using a mask to form gate patterns including the gate lines 202 and the gate electrode 208. In one aspect of the present invention, the gate metal layer may include chrome Cr, molybdenum Mo, aluminum Al, or the like, or alloys or layered combinations (e.g., two layers) thereof. Referring to FIG. 12C, the second insulating film 244 may be formed over the lower substrate 242 and on the first insulating film 243, the gate lines 202, and the gate electrode 208. In one aspect of the present invention, the second insulating film 244 may include an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), or the like. Further, the sixth contact hole 403 may be formed in the first and second insulating films 243 and 244, respectively, to expose a portion of the thermally conductive layer 163. In one aspect of the present invention, the sixth contact hole 403 may be formed by photolithography and etching processes using a mask. Referring to FIG. 12D, a semiconductor layer, a doped semiconductive layer, and a source/drain metal layer may be sequentially formed over the lower substrate 242, on the second insulating film 244, and within the sixth contact hole 403. In one aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor layer may be used to form the active layer 214 and may comprise an amorphous silicon layer. In another aspect of the present invention, the doped semiconductive layer may be used to form the ohmic contact layer 248 and may comprise an n+ amorphous silicon layer. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the source/drain metal layer may include molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), or the like, or any alloy or layered combination thereof. After sequential formation of the semiconductor layer, the doped semiconductive layer, and the source/drain metal layer, source/drain electrodes 210 and 212, respectively, may be formed by patterning the source/drain metal layer via a photolithography process and a photoresist mask. In one aspect of the present invention, the mask used in forming the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212, respectively, may comprise a diffractive exposure mask having a diffractive exposure area arranged in correspondence with the channel of the TFT. Thus, a portion of the mask arranged over the channel of the TFT may be lower in height than a portion of the mask arranged over the source/drain area of the TFT. After formation of the mask, the source/drain metal layer may be patterned by a wet etching process using the photoresist pattern as a mask. Upon completion of the patterning, the data line 204, the source electrode 210, and the drain electrode 212, and the lower thermal signal electrode 428, are simultaneously formed. After patterning the source/drain metal layer to form the data line 204, the source electrode 210, the drain electrode 212, and the lower thermal signal electrode 428, the semiconductor layer and the doped semiconductive layer may be simultaneously patterned to form the active layer 214 and the ohmic contact layer 248, respectively. In one aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor layer and the doped semiconductive layer may be patterned via a dry etching process using the same photoresist pattern as was used to form the source and drain electrodes 210 and 212 and the lower thermal signal electrode 428. After patterning the semiconductor layer and doped semiconductive layer to form the active layer 214 and the ohmic contact layer 248, the portion of the photoresist pattern arranged over the channel of the TFT (i.e., the portion of the photoresist having the relatively lower height) may be removed in an ashing process. Subsequently, portions of the source/drain metal layer and the ohmic contact layer 248 arranged over the channel of the TFT may be etched in a dry etching process to expose the portion of the active layer 214 corresponding to the channel of the TFT and to separate the source electrode 210 from the drain electrode 212. After exposing the active layer 214 and separating the source and drain electrodes, the residual photoresist pattern may be removed in a stripping process. Referring to FIG. 12E, the protective film 250 may be formed over the entire surface of the lower substrate 242 and on the second insulating film 244, the source/drain electrodes, and the lower thermal signal electrode 428. In one aspect of the present invention, the protective film 250 may be formed by a deposition method such as PECVD. In another aspect of the present invention, the protective film 250 may be formed of the same inorganic insulating material as the first and second insulating film 243 and 244, or from an organic insulating material such as an acrylic organic compound having a low dielectric constant (e.g., BCB, PFCB, etc.), or the like. The first and seventh contact holes 216 and 430 may be formed in the protective film 250 by photolithography and etching processes using a mask. Accordingly, the first contact hole 216 may expose a portion of the drain electrode 212 and the seventh contact hole 430 may expose a portion of the lower thermal signal electrode 428. Referring to FIG. 12F, a transparent, electrically conductive material may be formed on the protective film 250 and within the first and seventh contact holes 216 and 430. In one aspect of the present invention, the transparent, electrically conductive material may be formed through a deposition method such as sputtering, or the like. In another aspect of the present invention, the transparent, electrically conductive material may, for example, include indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (TO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or the like. Subsequently, the formed transparent, electrically conductive material may be patterned via the photo lithography and etching processes using a mask to form the pixel electrode 218 and the upper thermal signal electrode 432. According to principles of the present invention, the pixel electrode 218 may be electrically connected to the drain electrode 212 via the first contact hole 216 while the upper thermal signal electrode 432 may be electrically connected to the lower thermal signal electrode 428 via the seventh contact hole 430. As described above with respect to FIGS. 10-12F, the thermally conductive layer 163 may be formed directly on the lower substrate 242 of the TFT array substrate 102a. Accordingly, the separate supporting substrates and thermal conducting structures, such as those described in the related art, and their accompanying fabrication processes, are not required. Accordingly, the resultant LCM may be thinner and lighter and fabricated more simply. According to principles of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may be formed directly on the lower substrate of the thin film transistor array substrate. Accordingly, separate supporting substrates and thermally conductive structures, such as those described in the related art, and the processes required to fabricate them, are not required. Accordingly, the resultant LCM may be thinner and lighter and fabricated more simply. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variation can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a simplified method of fabricating thin, light-weight LCD devices. 2. Discussion of the Related Art A typical liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes a liquid crystal module (LCM), a driving circuit that drives the LCM, and a case that covers an exterior of the LCM to prevent the LCM from being damaged by external impact. The LCM includes an LCD panel, a backlight unit, and a plurality of optical sheets that vertically redirect light emitted from the backlight unit to the LCD panel. The LCD panel generally includes a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix pattern between two substrates. The LCD panel, backlight unit, and optical sheets are integrally combined with each other to prevent light loss. LCMs such as those described above can be used within display devices of notebook personal computers, mobile vehicles, airplanes, and other portable devices. FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional diagram of a related art LCM. Referring to FIG. 1 , a related art LCM includes an LCD panel 2 having a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix pattern; upper and lower polarizers 42 and 40 , respectively, arranged at front and rear surfaces of the LCD panel 2 , respectively, wherein the lower polarizer 40 is arranged on a heat conductor 66 . The LCD panel 2 includes a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate 2 a and a color filter array substrate 2 b are bonded together and separated from each other by liquid crystal material (not shown). The TFT array substrate 2 a includes a lower substrate supporting a plurality of TFTs and signal lines while the color filter array substrate 2 b includes an upper substrate supporting a black matrix layer and a plurality of color filters. The lower polarizer 40 is attached to a rear surface of the TFT array substrate 2 a to polarize light emitted from the backlight unit into the LCD panel 2 . The upper polarizer 42 is attached to a front surface of the color filter array substrate 2 b to polarize light emitted from the backlight unit and transmitted by the LCD panel 2 . The lower polarizer 40 is further bonded to the heat conductor 66 via an adhesive 35 . Referring back to FIG. 1 , the aforementioned backlight unit includes a lamp 20 to emit light, a lamp housing 10 covering the lamp 20 , a light guide panel 24 to convert light emitted from the lamp 20 into planar light, a reflective plate 26 arranged at a rear surface of the light guide panel 24 , and a plurality of diffusion sheets 30 sequentially arranged on the light guide panel 24 . Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the heat conductor 66 includes a supporting substrate 65 , a thermally conductive layer 63 formed on the supporting substrate 65 , and a thermally conductive line 61 formed at peripheral areas of the thermally conductive layer 63 . The supporting substrate 65 is formed of the same material as the upper/lower substrate of the LCD panel 2 (i.e., glass). The thermally conductive layer 63 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The thermally conductive line 61 is formed of silver (Ag) material and transmits a voltage generated by an external voltage source (not shown). The thermally conductive layer 63 converts the voltage transmitted by the thermally conductive line 61 into heat and conducts the heat to the LCD panel 2 , wherein the conducted heat prevents a temperature of liquid crystal material within the LCD panel 2 from becoming too low. Specifically, when the LCD panel 2 is exposed to temperatures in the range of about −40 to 0° C., bubbles form within the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 2 . Consequently, the bubbles alter and restrict the anisotropic dielectric characteristics of the liquid crystal material and prevent the LCD panel 2 from displaying pictures properly. Therefore, the voltage transmitted by the thermally conductive line 61 induces a resistive heating phenomenon in the thermally conductive layer 63 , allowing the heat conductor 66 to act as a heater and prevent the formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel 2 . Use of the aforementioned related art LCM is, however, disadvantageous because the supporting substrate 65 is typically provided as a thick glass substrate. Therefore, both the weight and thickness of the entire related art LCM can be undesirably large. Further, while the heat conductor 66 of the related art LCM is attached directly to the lower polarizer 40 of the LCD panel 2 , the heat conductor 66 and the LCD panel 2 must be formed in separate processes and are connected to separate voltage sources. Consequently, methods of fabricating the related art LCM, and an operation of the related art LCM, can become undesirably complex. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. An advantage of the present invention provides a simplified method of manufacturing thin, light-weight LCD devices Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. These and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a liquid crystal display device may, for example, include a liquid crystal display panel having first and second substrates bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, wherein at least one of the first and second substrates includes a display area and a non-display area; and a thermally conductive layer formed on any one of the first and second substrates, wherein the thermally conductive layer prevents the temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. In one aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device may further include a thermal signal conductor formed on any one of the first and second substrates and connected to the thermally conductive layer. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed within the non-display area. In still another aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device may further include a printed circuit board (PCB)and a thermal signal generator mounted on the PCB, wherein the thermal signal generator supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor; and a tape carrier package (TCP) connecting the PCB to the thermal signal conductor. In yet another aspect of the present invention, two or more thermal signal conductors may be connected to the TCP. In still another aspect of the present invention, a first insulating film formed on the thermally conductive layer; a first contact hole may be formed in the first insulating film to expose the thermally conductive layer; a gate pattern, including a gate electrode and a gate line, may be formed on the first insulating film; a second insulating film may be formed on the gate pattern; a source/drain pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, may be formed on the second insulating film; a protective film may be formed on the source/drain pattern; a second contact hole may be formed in the protective film to expose the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode may be connected to the drain electrode through the second contact hole. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, include a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the gate pattern. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, include a first thermal signal electrode connected to the thermally conductive layer, wherein the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and a second thermal signal electrode connected to the first thermal signal electrode, wherein the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the source/drain pattern. In another aspect of the present invention, portions of the thermally conductive layer may be absent from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. In one aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may be formed of a transparent conductive material. According to principles of the present invention, a method of fabricating a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel with first and second substrates, each having a display area and a non-display area, bonded to each other and separated from each other by liquid crystal material, may, for example, include a step of forming a thermally conductive layer on any one of the first and second substrates to prevent the temperature-dependent formation of bubbles within the liquid crystal material. In one aspect of the present invention, the method may further include a forming a thermal signal conductor on any one of the first and second substrates and connecting the thermal signal conductor to the thermally conductive layer. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may be formed in the non-display area. In still another aspect of the present invention, the method may further include forming a printed circuit board (PCB); mounting a thermal signal generator wherein the thermal signal generator that supplies a thermal signal to the thermal signal conductor onto the PCB; and connecting the PCB to the thermal signal conductor using a tape carrier package (TCP). In yet another aspect of the present invention, two or more thermal signal conductors may be connected to the TCP. In still another aspect of the present invention, a first insulating film may be formed on the thermally conductive layer; a first contact hole may be formed within the first insulating film to expose the thermally conductive layer; a gate pattern, including a gate electrode and a gate line, may be formed on the first insulating film; a second insulating film may be formed on the gate pattern; a source/drain pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, and a drain electrode, may be formed on the second insulating film; a protective film may be formed on the source/drain pattern; a second contact hole may be formed within the protective film to expose the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode may be connected to the drain electrode through the second contact hole. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed by connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first insulating film is between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the second insulating film and the protective film are between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In one aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the gate pattern. In another aspect of the present invention, the thermal signal conductor may, for example, be formed by connecting a first thermal signal electrode to the thermally conductive layer such that the first and second insulating films are between the first thermal signal electrode and the thermally conductive layer; and connecting a second thermal signal electrode to the first thermal signal electrode such that the protective film is between the second and first thermal signal electrodes. In still another aspect of the present invention, the first thermal signal electrode may be formed of the same material as the source/drain pattern. In yet another aspect of the present invention, portions of the thermally conductive layer may be removed from regions of the display area occupied by portions of the gate and data lines. In still another aspect of the present invention, the thermally conductive layer may be formed of a transparent conductive material. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. | 20040625 | 20090407 | 20050505 | 67497.0 | 0 | CHEN, WEN YING PATTY | LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE COMPRISING A THERMALLY CONDUCTIVE LAYER AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,489 | ACCEPTED | Electron beam RF amplifier and emitter | RF field is sensed to produce an incoming voltage that drives a microarray of electron guns in a sweep pattern towards a detector array. The electron guns emit a beam current that may amplify the incoming voltage signal, and the detector material may be selected to amplify the beam current at the detector, for example, by avalanche and/or cascade in a Schottky material, to provide a low current, high gain amplification. The microarrays may be arranged in various combinations to produce successive amplifications, frequency multipliers, transmit-receive amplifiers, crossbar switches, mixers, beamformers, and selective polarization devices, among other such devices. | 1. A device to amplify a deflection signal comprising one or more voltage signals. the device comprising an emission wall and a detector wall separated from one another to define an evacuated drift cavity that presents an electron transmission pathway between the emission wall and the detector wall, the emission wall and the detector wall being parallel to one another; the drift cavity extending between an emission surface at the terminus of the emission wall proximate to the drift cavity and a detector wall surface at the terminus of the detector wall proximate to the drift cavity; an array of electron guns disposed behind the emission wall, each electron gun in the array of electron guns configured to emit electrons as the current of an electron beam into the drift cavity, through the emission wall and along the transmission pathway toward the detector wall, forming a beam spot thereon, each electron gun in the array of electron guns emitting a beamlet and having a corresponding beamlet deflector that is operable for receipt of the deflection signal, and the aggregate of emitted beamlets comprises the emission of an electron beam positioned relative to the transmission pathway, and the aggregate of beamlet deflectors comprises the electron beam deflector such that in a quiescent state of the deflection signal the electron beam is transmitted on the transmission pathway in a non-deflected mode, and in a non-quiescent state of the deflection signal the deflector deflects the electron beam in a swept mode of sweeping action that moves the beam spot along a sweep pathway at the detector wall; a detector forming one or more areas on the detector wall for selective collection of the beam spot current according to positioning of the beam spot, the detector including a construction that is capable of responding to the selective collection by generating an output current. 2. The device of claim 1 which is representative of the deflection signal but amplified with respect to the deflection signal by virtue of interaction between the detector, the beam spot and the detector construction. 3. The device of claim 1, further comprising an output load to receive the output current. 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the beam deflector of each electron gun comprises a first deflector electrode and a second deflector electrode in substantially parallel orientation with respect to one another across a selected portion of the transmission pathway and disposed in the emission wall such that the electron beam passes between the first deflector electrode and the second deflector electrode before entering the drift cavity, the first deflector electrode and the second deflector electrode being configured for selective electric field application driven by a first voltage signal of the deflection signal applied as a potential difference between the first deflector electrode and the deflector second electrode. 5. The device of claim 4 wherein the deflector of each electron gun is of matched construction, so that for a given deflection signal, each deflector deflects a corresponding electron beam by substantially the same amount. 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector construction includes a material that amplifies the beam current to generate the output current under condition of the selective impingement. 7. The device of claim 1 wherein the array of electron guns is arranged such that the deflector of each electron gun is arranged in planar form and located proximate behind the emission wall surface. 8. The device of claim 1 further comprising an electrostatic lens system operable for simultaneous action on a plurality of electron beams emitted by the array of electron guns. 9. The device of claim 1 wherein the array of electron guns is of predetermined pattern by design to achieve beam spot formation and the predetermined pattern comprises a grid pattern of electron gun locations and an outline pattern for the shape of the perimeter of the array. 10. The device of claim 9 wherein the predetermined pattern comprises a substantially rectangular grid pattern. 11. The device of claim 9 wherein the predetermined pattern comprises a substantially hexagonal grid pattern. 12. The device of claim 9 wherein the outline pattern is substantially circular 13. The device of claim 9 wherein the outline pattern is substantially rectangular. 14. The device of claim 9 wherein the outline pattern is a line. 15. The device of claim 8 wherein the electrostatic lens system comprises: a first lens electrode located proximate to the emission wall surface; and a second lens electrode located proximate to the emission wall surface; wherein the second lens electrode defines an opening and the first lens electrode is centrally disposed with respect to the opening and the second lens electrode. 16. The device of claim 15 wherein the first electrode comprises a circular disk and the opening comprises a circular hole. 17. The device of claim 16 wherein the first lens electrode is coupled to means for applying a first potential to the first lens electrode, and the second lens electrode is coupled to means for applying a second potential to the second lens electrode. 18. The device of claim 17 wherein the first potential is more positive than the second potential. 19. The device of claim 15, wherein the drift cavity includes a sidewall extending from the emission wall surface to the detector wall surface, and the electrostatic lens system additionally comprises a fourth lens electrode residing at a position selected from the group consisting of at least part of the sidewall, one portion of the detector wall, and combinations thereof, and a third lens electrode forming part of the detector wall. 20. The device of claim 19 configured for time delay shifting, comprising means for adjusting a potential of the third lens electrode in response to a time delay control command word. 21. The device of claim 20 further comprising means for adjusting a potential of the fourth lens electrode in response to a time delay control command word. 22. The device of claim 21 wherein the means for adjusting the potential of the fourth planar electrode comprises a read-only memory associated with the fourth lens electrode to provide means for storing a plurality of fourth electrode voltage words, each of the fourth electrode voltage words corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay control command words; means for providing a selected fourth electrode voltage word in response to receiving a time delay control command word, means for selecting a time delay control command word for communication between the storing means and the providing means, and a digital-to-analog converter coupled with the read-only memory to provide a fourth electrode potential to the fourth lens electrode in response to receiving an electrode voltage word from the read-only memory. 23. The device of claim 20 wherein the means for adjusting comprises: a read-only memory associated with the third lens electrode to provide means for storing a plurality of third electrode voltage words, each of the third electrode voltage words corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay control command words; means for providing a selected third electrode voltage word in response to receiving a time delay control command word, means for selecting a time delay control command word for communication between the storing means and the providing means, and a digital-to-analog converter coupled with the read-only memory to provide a third electrode potential to the third lens electrode in response to receiving an electrode voltage word from the read-only memory. 24. The device of claim 19 wherein the third lens electrode comprises a circular disk. 25. The device of claim 19 additionally comprising one or more digital-to-analog converters configured for control of electrode voltages applied to the electrostatic lens system. 26. The device of claim 19 wherein the third lens electrode comprises a planar electrode that forms part of the detector wall and defines an open section that is not covered by the third lens electrode, the fourth lens electrode being centrally disposed with respect to the open section, and the third lens electrode being electrically isolated from the fourth lens electrode. 27. The device of claim 26 wherein the third electrode is a disk and the open section comprises a circular hole. 28. The device of claim 26 wherein the detector is centered with respect to the fourth lens electrode. 29. The device of claim 26, additionally comprising: a plurality of cylindrical ring electrodes forming part of the sidewall, each disposed to circumscribe the electron beam when emitted by the array of electron guns; each ring electrode being electrically isolated from the remainder of the ring electrodes and being coupled to a corresponding ring potential, a first ring electrode being one of the plurality of the ring electrodes that is nearest the emission wall, the first ring electrode coupled to means for providing a first ring potential, and a last ring electrode being the ring electrode that is nearest the detector wall, the last ring electrode being coupled to means for providing a last ring potential. 30. The device of claim 29 wherein the ring electrodes have substantially identical diameters with respect to one another. 31. The device of claim 29 including means for providing increased ring electrode potential in relative order proceeding from the first ring electrode to the last ring electrode, such that the last ring electrode has the highest ring potential of the ring electrodes when the means for providing increased ring electrode potential is activated and equal potentials among adjacent ring electrodes are not precluded by the relative order. 32. The device of claim 31 further comprising segmented ring biasing circuitry that includes a first ring potential source, a tapped resistor with a first end, a second end, and a plurality of tapped resistor terminals, the tapped resistor coupled at the first end to the first ring potential source and at the second end to the third lens electrode, and each of the plurality of ring electrodes coupled to one of the tapped resistor terminals. 33. The device of claim 31 further comprising segmented ring biasing circuitry that includes: a read-only memory with means for storing a plurality of ring-electrode voltage words, each ring-electrode voltage word corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay control command words, means for providing the corresponding ring-electrode voltage word in response to receiving a time delay control command word, means for selecting a time delay control command word for communication between the storing and providing means; and one or more digital-to-analog converters, each coupled to the read-only memory, wherein each digital-to-analog converter provides the ring potential to a corresponding ring electrode in response to receiving one of the ring voltage words from the read-only memory. 34. The device of claim 26 including a drift can electrode wherein the first lens electrode is centered with respect to the opening defined by the second electrode, and the third lens electrode is centered in the open area.] 35. The device of claim 34 wherein the third lens electrode is coupled to a third potential, the drift can electrode is coupled to a fifth potential, and the third potential is more positive than the fifth potential. 36. The device of claim 35 wherein a first digital-to-analog converter controls the first potential, and the second and fifth potentials are fixed. 37. The device of claim 36 including a third digital-to-analog converter to control the third potential. 38. The device of claim 34 wherein the third lens electrode is coupled to a third potential, the fourth lens electrode is coupled to a fourth potential, the drift can electrode is coupled to a fifth potential, and the third potential is more positive than the fifth potential. 39. The device of claim 38 wherein the fourth and fifth potentials are the same. 40. The device of claim 38 wherein the fourth potential is controlled by a fourth digital-to-analog converter. 41. The device of claim 34 configured for true time delay shifting, comprising means for adjusting the respective potentials of the third lens electrode, the fourth lens electrode, and the drift can electrode in response to a time delay control command word. 42. The device of claim 41 wherein the means for adjusting the potentials comprises an electrode voltage word including a binary segment with data allocated to each of the third lens electrode, the fourth lens electrode, and the drift can electrode; a read-only memory with means for storing a plurality of electrode voltage words, each electrode voltage word corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay control command words, means for providing the corresponding electrode voltage word in response to receiving a time delay control command word, means for selecting a time delay control command word for communication between the storing and providing means; a first digital-to-analog converter coupled to the read-only memory, wherein the first digital-to-analog converter provides a third-electrode potential to the third electrode in response to receiving an electrode voltage word from the read-only memory; a second digital-to-analog converter coupled to the read-only memory, wherein the second digital-to-analog converter provides a fourth-electrode potential to the fourth electrode in response to receiving an electrode voltage word from the read-only memory; a third digital-to-analog converter coupled to the read-only memory, wherein the third digital-to-analog converter provides a fifth-electrode potential to the drift can electrode in response to receiving an electrode voltage word from the read-only memory. 43. The device of claim 25 additionally comprising: a digital controller for generating a digital focusing word; the digital focusing word comprising groups of binary bits, each group providing control information to one of the digital-to-analog converters. 44. The device of claim 43 wherein the digital controller comprises a read-only memory, operably responsive to a digital focusing command to provide a predetermined digital focusing word as input to the one of the digital-to-analog converters. 45. The device of claim 8 constructed for astigmatic beam focusing comprising a square planar electrode in the emission plane to circumscribe the array of electron guns, the square planar electrode having left and right sides opposed to one another, and top and bottom sides opposed in a second direction that is orthogonal to the sweep direction and the transmission axis; first and second astigmatic electrodes positioned in the emission plane and arranged on opposing sides, in the sweep direction, of the square planar electrode; third and fourth astigmatic electrodes positioned in the emission plane and arranged on opposing sides, in the second direction, of the square planar electrode; coupling between the first and second astigmatic electrodes and a first astigmatic voltage source; and coupling between the third and fourth astigmatic electrodes and a second astigmatic voltage source. 46. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector consists detection segment and the deflector is configured to sweep the beam spot across an edge of the segment. 47. The device of claim 1 wherein: the detector comprises one or more segments; and a perimeter of any of the one or more segments is shaped by complementary design with respect to the beam spot to improve linearity of the output current in response to the deflection signal. 48. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises two detector segments separated by a slot. 49. The device of claim 48 wherein the segments are substantially triangular and arranged in inverted opposition so as to form a generally rectilinear shape transected by a diagonal slot, 50. The device of claim 49 where the rectilinear shape is defined by one pair of orthogonally connected edges and another pair of orthogonally connected edges, the deflector being arranged and controlled such that each of the orthogonally connected edges in each of the one pair and the other pair are either parallel to the sweep pathway or orthogonal to the sweep pathway. 51. The device of claim 49 configured such that the beam spot comprises a line spot where it impinges upon the detector wall, a height of the line spot in a direction orthogonal to the sweep pathway is approximately equal to a corresponding height of the detector, and a width of the line spot along the sweep pathway is substantially less than a width of the detector in the sweep direction. 52. The device of claim 49 wherein the generally rectilinear shape is rectangular. 53. The device of claim 48 wherein the slot is arranged in combination with the generally rectilinear shape and the beam spot such that the device produces, in response to the deflection signal, an output current that is substantially linear. 54. The device of claim 48 wherein the segments are substantially rectangular and sequentially available along the sweep pathway. 55. The device of claim 54 wherein the beam spot is substantially rectangular 56. The device of claim 1, further comprising a beam centering signal generator comprising differential coupling means generating an offset error signal provided to means for feedback loop correction processing generating an integrated offset signal. 57. The device of claim 56 further comprising means for centering the electron beam in response to the integrated offset signal. 58. The device of claim 56 further comprising summing circuitry for combining input voltage signals with the integrated offset signal, to generate the deflection signal. 59. The device of claim 56 further comprising a secondary beam deflector in each electron gun, the secondary beam deflector being coupled to receive the integrated offset signal. 60. The device of claim 56 further comprising a digital-to-analog converter coupled to provide the integrated offset signal in response to a calibrated digital beam offset word. 61. The device of claim 60 further comprising a digital processor configured to provide the calibrated digital beam offset word in response to a beam targeting command. 62. The device of claim 61 wherein the feedback loop correction processing comprises a digital processor. 63. The device of claim 62 wherein the digital processor comprises a read-only memory configured to: store a plurality of calibrated digital beam offset words, each calibrated digital beam offset word corresponding to one of a plurality of beam targeting commands; and provide the corresponding calibrated digital beam offset word in response to each beam targeting command received by the read-only memory. 64. The device of claim 56 wherein the feedback loop correction processing comprises an integrator. 65. The device of claim 64 wherein the integrator comprises: a differential transconductance amplifier that is differentially coupled to the detector and configured to generate a transconductance current; and a filter capacitor, coupled to receive the transconductance current and generate the integrated offset signal. 66. The device of claim 64 wherein the differential transconductance amplifier comprises transistors in a differential amplifier configuration. 67. The device of claim 64 wherein the integrator comprises: an operational amplifier comprising a minus input, a plus input and an output; a first resistor coupled between a first detector terminal and the minus input; a second resistor coupled between a second detector terminal and the plus input; a first integrating capacitor coupled between the minus input and the output; a second integrating capacitor coupled between the plus input and a ground; means for coupling the output port to the beam offset control terminal; and a differential coupling between the detector and the first and second detector ports, wherein the output provides the integrated offset signal. 68. The device of claim 56 wherein the differential coupling means comprises offset sense segments arranged adjacent to each detector segment to measure a beam offset and generate an offset error signal provided to the feedback loop correction processing. 69. The device of claim 65 wherein the integrator comprises a differential transconductance amplifier comprising first and second transistors, each transistor comprising gate, source and drain terminals; coupling between the gate terminals of the first and second transistors and a bias source; differential input terminals A and B to receive the offset error signal; coupling between the source of transistor 1 and terminal A and the source of transistor 2 and terminal B; a current mirror configured to receive an input current of a given polarity and transmit an output current of opposite polarity to an amplifier output terminal that provides the integrated offset signal; coupling between the drain terminal of transistor 1 to the input terminal of the current mirror; coupling between the drain terminal of transistor 2 to the output terminal. 70. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a semiconductor. 71. The device of claim 70 wherein the detector further comprises a beam contact; an output contact; and a semiconductor disposed between the beam contact and the output contact. 72. The device of claim 70 wherein the semiconductor is constructed as a diode. 73. The device of claim 70 wherein the semiconductor diode comprises a material selected from the group consisting of Ge, Si, GaAs, InP, GaN, SiC, diamond, doped variations thereof, and combinations thereof. 74. The device of claim 70 wherein the detector comprises a Schottky diode wherein at least one of the beam contact and the output contact forms a Schottky contact with the semiconductor. 75. The device of claim 74 where the beam contact is metallic. 76. The device of claim 74 wherein one of the beam contact and the output contact is coupled to an output load. 77. The device of claim 74 wherein the beam contact permits penetration of beam electrons through the beam contact and into the semiconductor. 78. The device of claim 74 wherein the Schottky diode is reverse biased. 79. The device of claim 74 wherein the Schottky diode comprises silicon. 80. The device of claim 74 wherein the Schottky diode comprises germanium. 81. The device of claim 74 wherein the beam contact has a gridded conductor structure comprising thick grid elements that have low ohmic resistance and contact regions in between the thick grid elements that permit most beam electrons to penetrate into the semiconductor. 82. The device of claim 81 wherein the thick grid elements comprise parallel fins. 83. The device of claim 81 wherein the thick gridded elements form a repeating geometric pattern. 84. The device of claim 77 wherein the semiconductor diode comprises means for generating a cascade current by impingement of the electron beam passing through the beam contact and for collecting and transmitting the cascade current to the output contact. 85. The device of claim 84 wherein the means for generating is a single semiconductor material. 86. The device of claim 84 wherein the semiconductor material is capable of providing amplification of the cascade current via avalanche multiplication. 87. The device of claim 84 wherein the means for generating includes a top layer and a bottom layer. 88. The device of claim 87 wherein the top layer includes germanium. 89. The device of claim 87 wherein the bottom layer includes a material selected from the group consisting of doped silicon and gallium arsenide. 90. The device of claim 87 wherein the bottom layer is capable of amplifying the cascade current via avalanche multiplication. 91. The device of claim 84 wherein the means for generating comprises a low pair-production energy III-V material. 92. The device of claim 91 wherein the III-V material comprises one of indium arsenide or indium antimonide. 93. The device of claim 87 wherein the top layer comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of indium arsenide, indium antimonide, combinations of indium arsenide with other materials, and combinations of indium antimonide with other materials. 94. The device of claim 87 wherein the top layer comprises a low pair production energy III-V material and the bottom layer comprises silicon. 95. The device of claim 87 wherein the top layer is fusion bonded to the bottom layer. 96. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector is a photoconductive resistor. 97. The device of claim 96 wherein the photoconductive resistor comprises a beam contact; an output contact; and a semiconductor disposed in electrical contact between the beam contact and the output contact. 98. The device of claim 96 wherein the output contact is coupled to an output load. 99. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a microdynode. 100. The device of claim 1 wherein each electron gun comprises a gun axis aligned towards the electron transmission pathway for emission of the electron beam in a positive direction of the gun axis towards the detector wall; a field emission cathode; a gate electrode to regulate the flow of current from the cathode; means for controlling a gate potential of the gate electrode to control the release of a stream of electrons from the cathode; a plurality of focusing electrodes. 101. The device of claim 100 wherein each focusing electrode contains a hole that is circular and centered on the gun axis, the first focusing electrode being the focusing electrode that is nearest the gate electrode, the last focusing electrode being the focusing electrode that is furthest from the gate electrode; and means for adapting gun focusing potentials of the focusing electrodes to focus the stream of electrons into an electron beamlet transmitted along the gun axis through the hole of a selected focusing electrode. 102. The device of claim 101 wherein the focusing electrodes are adapted to provide beam focusing, and comprise a first and a second electron lens and the first lens is positioned closest to the cathode, the second lens is positioned further from the cathode than the first lens. 103. The device of claim 102 wherein: the first lens is an accelerating lens acting with convex action; 104. The device of claim 102 wherein the second lens acts with concave action. 105. The device of claim 102 wherein the second lens is an accelerating lens. 106. The device of claim 102 wherein the focusing electrodes additionally comprise a third electron lens. 107. The device of claim 106 wherein the third electron lens is positioned between the first and the second lens, at a focal point of the first lens, and has a hole adapted to allow a focused electron beam to pass through, but to stop electrons that are not focused by the first lens; the second lens acts with convex action; the third lens acts with concave action; the third lens is positioned further from the cathode than the second lens. 108. The device of claim 100 wherein the field emission cathode comprises a Spindt cathode. 109. The device of claim 100 wherein the focusing electrodes further comprise a first and a second electron lens, the first lens being positioned between the cathode and the second lens; the first lens and the second lens being accelerating lenses; the first lens acting with convex action; the second lens acting with concave action. 110. The device of claim 100 wherein the electron gun additionally comprises a signal deflector located in the positive direction of the gun axis from the last focusing electrode, centered about the gun axis to receive the beamlet and transmit a deflected representation thereby, a conductive coupling between the signal deflector and a first voltage signal comprising at least one voltage signal of the deflection signal, whereby the first voltage signal is configured to deflect the electron beamlet along the sweep pathway; and an exit aperture plate that is substantially parallel and proximate to the emission plane, located in the positive direction of the gun axis from the signal deflector, and containing an aperture positioned to allow the electron beamlet to pass through. 111. The device of claim 110 wherein the signal deflector comprises a pair of planar deflection electrodes and each electrode is co-axial with the gun axis, to permit the electron beam to pass between the deflection electrodes; 112. The device of claim 110 wherein the exit aperture plate is in the emission plane. 113. The device of claim 110, wherein each electron gun further includes a blanking deflector for pulsed operation. 114. The device of claim 1 13 additionally comprising: a blanking aperture electrode positioned between the blanking deflector and the signal deflector, the blanking aperture electrode comprising an aperture, wherein the blanking deflector is positioned between the last focusing electrode and the signal deflector, and is centered about the gun axis, and comprises a blanking voltage signal comprising, alternately, a blanking state and a non-blanking state, the blanking voltage signal being coupled to the blanking deflector; such that the electron beam is deflected by the blanking deflector and blocked by the blanking aperture electrode when the blanking voltage signal is in the blanking state, and the electron beam passes through the aperture when the blanking voltage signal is in the non-blanking state. 115. The device of claim 100 wherein each electron gun additionally comprises current control means comprising: an amplifier, comprising first and second input ports, and an output port coupled to the gate electrode and responsive to a potential difference between the first and second input ports; a ballast resistor coupled between the field emission cathode and a cathode bias potential, to provide a sensed current potential; the sensed current potential coupled to the first input port; and a reference potential, coupled to the second input port. 116. The device of claim 115 additionally comprising a filter, such that the gate electrode is responsive to an average of the potential difference between the first and second input ports over time. 117. The device of claim 100 wherein each electron gun additionally comprises one or more digital-to-analog converters, each digital-to-analog converter controlling the potential of a corresponding focusing electrode, each digital-to-analog converter being responsive to a corresponding digital focusing word; and a digital processor to generate the focusing words. 118. The device of claim 117 wherein the digital processor comprises a read-only memory to store a plurality of focusing words corresponding to a plurality of beam energy values; a digital beam energy command word coupled to an address port of the read-only memory, causing the read-only memory to transmit a single focusing word corresponding to the beam energy commanded thereby. 119. The device of claim 118 wherein each electron gun additionally comprises an analog to digital converter to control the potential of the gate electrode and generate a digital focusing command word thereby. 120. The device of claim 100, further comprising means for adjusting the beam energy of each electron gun in response to a time delay command word. 121. The device of claim 120 including a plurality of digital-to-analog converters, wherein each digital-to-analog converter is coupled to provide a gun focusing potential to a corresponding gun focusing electrode; and each digital-to-analog converter is coupled to receive a binary segment of a digital focusing word from a digital processor, wherein the digital processor is configured to receive the time delay command word. 122. The device of claim 121 wherein the digital processor includes a read-only memory. 123. The device of claim 122 wherein the read-only memory stores a a plurality of electron gun focusing words, each electron gun focusing word corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay command words, means for providing the corresponding electron gun focusing word in response to receiving a time delay command word, and means for selecting a time delay command word for communication between the storing and providing means. 124. The device of claim 121 further comprising electron gun current control means including a current reference input terminal; a current reference signal coupled to the current reference input terminal; and an analog-to-digital converter configured to generate a digital gate voltage word corresponding to the gate electrode potential and coupled to transmit the digital gate voltage word to the digital processor. 125. The device of claim 124 including a read-only memory. 126. The device of claim 125 wherein the read-only memory stores a plurality of electron gun focusing words; each electron gun focusing word corresponding to specific pairs of one of the digital gate voltage words and one of the time delay command words, and means are included for providing the corresponding electron gun focusing word in response to receiving a digital gate voltage word and a time delay command word. 127. The device of claim 126 further comprising a current reference read-only memory with means for storing a plurality of current reference words, each current reference word corresponding to one of a plurality of time delay command words, means for providing the corresponding current reference word in response to receiving a time delay command word, and a current reference digital-to-analog converter, coupled to the current reference read-only memory, wherein the current reference digital-to-analog converter provides a current reference signal to the current reference input terminal. 128. The device of claim 126 further comprising a current reference read-only memory with means for storing a plurality of current reference words, each current reference word corresponding to specific pairs of one of the time delay command words and one of a plurality of gain command words, means for providing the corresponding current reference word in response to receiving one of the specific pairs, and a current reference digital-to-analog converter, coupled to the current reference read-only memory, wherein the current reference digital-to-analog converter provides a current reference signal to the current reference input terminal. 129. The device of claim 1 adapted to provide frequency multiplication wherein the detector comprises more than two segments arranged in a first group and a second group where individual segments of the first group and the second group are intercollated in alternating order sequentially between segments of the first group and the second group; the first group being coupled to a positive detector output, and the second group being coupled to a negative detector output; and means for applying the deflection signal as an alternating signal with an amplitude that is operable to sweep the beam spot across of the segments. 130. The device of claim 129 wherein the detector comprises at least four segments and the detector is adapted to achieve at least frequency doubling. 131. The device of claim 129 wherein the segments are: arranged in a row along the sweep pathway, the row having a center and two ends and the segments are wider in the direction of the sweep pathway towards the center and narrower in the direction of the sweep pathway direction towards each end. 132. The device of claim 131 wherein the segments are separated by substantially diagonal slots. 133. The device of claim 131 wherein the deflection signal is of programmable amplitude to vary the amplitude of the sweep action and the number of segments the beam spot intersects during the sweeping action. 134. The device of claim 129 wherein the beam spot comprises a line spot. 135. The device of claim 129 wherein the beam spot is of circular shape. 136. The device of claim 129 wherein the beam spot is rectangular. 137. The device of claim 129 wherein the segments are rectangular. 138. The device of claim 129 wherein the detector is circular; the segments comprise substantially equiangular slices; each electron gun additionally comprises a second beam deflector coupled to a second deflection signal, the second beam deflector operable to deflect the electron beam in a direction that is orthogonal to the sweep pathway. and means for applying the second deflection signal as an alternating signal with an amplitude operable to sweep the beam spot across all of the detector segments. 139. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a single triangular segment and the beam spot is rectangular. 140. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a rectangular segment and the beam spot is of triangle shape. 141. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises a segment with an edge intersecting the sweep pathway such that the edge has a predetermined shape introduced by design to act in concert with the sweeping action of the beam spot to achieve non-linearity in the collected detector current with respect to the deflection voltage. 142. The device of claim 141 further including means for applying the deflection signal to so that the beam spot repeatedly crosses the edge at a periodic frequency. 143. The device of claim 141 wherein the beam spot comprises a rectangle, the sweep pathway is linear and the edge is shaped to observe a square law curvature such that the distance along the sweep pathway is described by a variable ‘x’ and distance orthogonal to the sweep pathway is described by a variable ‘y’, the shape of the edge is substantially described by a mathematical relation of the form y=xN wherein N is a number greater than or equal to 1. 144. The device of claim 143 wherein N is a value selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. 145. The device of claim 1 wherein the electron gun array comprises an arrangement of electron guns that has a generally rectangular border outline. 146. The device of claim 1 wherein the electron gun array comprises an arrangement of electron guns that has a generally triangular border outline. 147. The device of claim 1 wherein the electron gun array comprises an arrangement of electron guns that has a generally circular border outline. 148. The device of claim 1 wherein the electron gun array comprises a generally linear pattern arrangement of electron guns. 149. The device of claim 129 wherein the detector is segmented by a horizontal slot and a vertical slot, the slots being orthogonal and intersecting such that there are four segments in each of four quadrants of the detector plane, and the beamlet deflector of each electron gun in the array of electron guns is comprised of X and Y deflectors configured to generate orthogonal beamlet deflections thereby; the deflection signal is comprised of a horizontal voltage signal and a vertical voltage signal, wherein the two signals generate orthogonal X and Y sweeping actions with the X sweeping action being collinear with the horizontal slot and the Y sweeping action collinear with the vertical slot. 150. The device of claim 149 wherein the beam spot is substantially rectangular. 151. The device of claim 150 wherein the beam spot is substantially square. 152. The device of claim 1 wherein the detector comprises one or more segments, and the beam deflector comprises one or more input deflectors, and the voltage signal comprises one or more input signals, and each input deflector is coupled to a corresponding input signal, whereby in a quiescent state of all input deflection input signals the electron beam is transmitted along the transmission pathway to position the beam spot at a quiescent spot position on the detector wall, while in a non-quiescent state, each input deflection signal deflects the electron beam and the beam spot is moved to a non-quiescent spot position on the detector wall corresponding to the combination of input signal states, and the position of each detector segment on the detector wall corresponds to one of the quiescent or non-quiescent spot positions. 153. The device of claim 152 further comprising a load circuit coupled to each detector segment. 154. The device of claim 153 wherein the load circuit comprises a resistor. 155. The device of claim 153 wherein the load circuit comprises a resonant tunneling diode. 156. The device of claim 152 wherein the sweep pathway is comprised of a horizontal pathway and a vertical pathway, and the horizontal pathway and vertical pathway are generally orthogonal, and a first subset of the input deflectors provide deflection along the horizontal pathway in a non-quiescent state of the corresponding inputs signals of the first subset, and a second subset of the additional deflectors provide deflection along the vertical pathway in the non-quiescent state of the corresponding input signals of the second subset. 157. The device of claim 152 further comprising an electrical clamp coupled to each detector segment. 158. The device of claim 157 wherein the electrical clamp comprises a Schottky diode. 159. The device of claim 152 comprising two or more input deflectors respectively providing geometries that differ from one another to produce correspondingly greater or lesser deflection gain. 160. The device of claim 1 further comprising a radiating element coupled to the detector, wherein the element achieves electromagnetic radiation in response to the beam spot interaction with the detector. 161. The device of claim 160 wherein the radiating element is an antenna. 162. The device of claim 161 wherein the antenna comprises a dipole. 163. The device of claim 160 wherein the detector comprises first and second segments; the radiating element comprises first and second feedpoints; the first detector segment couples with the first feedpoint and the second detector segment couples with the second feedpoint; a first load couples with the first feedpoint and a second load couples with the second feedpoint. 164. The device of claim 160 wherein the detector comprises first and second segments; the radiating element comprises first and second feedpoints and first and second endpoints; the first detector segment couples with the first feedpoint and the second detector segment couples with the second feedpoint; a first load couples with the first endpoint and a second load couples with the second endpoint. 165. The device of claim 161 wherein the antenna comprises a patch. 166. The device of claim 165 further comprising: a plurality of feedpoints located at different positions on the patch; a plurality of detectors, the number of detectors being equal to the number of feedpoints, each detector being coupled to a corresponding feedpoint; and means for addressably directing the beam to a specific detector in response to a targeting command. 167. The device of claim 165 additionally comprising: a plurality of feedpoints located at different positions on the patch; a plurality of detectors, the number of detectors being equal to the number of feedpoints, each detector being coupled to a corresponding feedpoint; wherein the array of electron guns is comprised of electron gun subarrays, the deflector is comprised of independent subdeflectors corresponding to each electron gun subarray; and the deflection voltage is comprised of a plurality of subarray excitation signals coupled one per subdeflector. 168. The device of claim 161 wherein the antenna comprises one of a group consisting of a monopole, a log spiral, a folded log spiral, a horn, and a vivaldi-type. 169. The device of claim 160 wherein the radiating element comprises a crossed-polarization radiator comprising two single polarization radiating elements X and Y arranged orthogonal to one another, with feedpoints 1 and 2 for radiating with X polarization and feedpoints 3 and 4 for radiating with Y polarization; the detector comprises segments A, B, C and D arranged in quadrants and labeled in clockwise order; and segments A and B reside along a X sweep direction, segments D and C reside along the X sweep direction, segments A and D reside along a Y sweep direction orthogonal to the first sweep direction, and segments B and C reside along the Y sweep direction, and segment A couples with feedpoints 1 and 3, segment B couples with feedpoints 1 and 4, segment C couples with feedpoints 4 and 2 and segment D couples with feedpoints 2 and 3; and the deflector comprises one or more beam subdeflectors operable to deflect the electron beam in the X sweep direction, and one or more second subdeflectors operable to deflect the electron beam in the Y sweep direction. 170. The device of claim 169 wherein the radiating element X comprises a first antenna and the feedpoints of the first antenna are coupled to feedpoints 1 and 2 and radiating element Y comprises a second antenna and the feedpoints of the second antenna are coupled to feedpoints 3 and 4 and the first antenna is constructed to generate X polarization and the second antenna is constructed to generate Y polarization. 171. The device of claim 170 wherein the first and second antennas are dipoles. 172. The device of claim 169 operable to generate X polarization wherein segments A and D are separated from B and C by a first slot, and segments A and B are separated from C and D by a second slot. 173. The device of claim 172 operable to generate X polarization wherein the beam spot is deflected along the X sweep direction. 174. The device of claim 172 operable to generate Y polarization wherein the beam spot is deflected along the Y sweep direction. 175. The device of claim 172 operable to generate dual polarization wherein the beam spot is deflected along the X and Y sweep directions. 176. The device of claim 160 wherein the radiating element is a waveguide. 177. The device of claim 176 wherein the waveguide comprises a top wall, a bottom wall, and two side walls, the top and bottom walls being separated from each other by a first distance in a direction orthogonal to the sweep direction and orthogonal to a transmission axis aligned with the transmission pathway, and the two side walls being separated from each other by a second distance in the sweep direction, and the detector comprises a first detector segment coupled with the top wall, and a second detector segment coupled with the bottom wall. 178. The device of claim 177 wherein the waveguide is rectangular. 179. The, device of claim 177 wherein the waveguide is cylindrical and the top, bottom and side walls comprise quadrants of the cylinder wall. 180. The device of claim 176, wherein the electron gun array is comprised of an X subarray and a Y subarray; the deflector is comprised of an X subdeflector and a Y subdeflector, and the X subarray is responsive to the X subdeflector and the Y subarray is responsive to the Y subdeflector; the deflection signal is comprised of an X signal coupled to the X subdeflector and a Y signal coupled to the Y subdeflector; the electron beam is comprised of an X beam emitted by the X subarray and a Y beam emitted by the Y subarray, and the beam spot is comprised of an X spot and a Y spot, and the X beam is transmitted along the transmission pathway, the Y beam is transmitted along the transmission pathway, and wherein the deflection of the X beam and sweep of the X beam spot is responsive to the X signal and the deflection of the Y beam and sweep of the Y beam spot is responsive to the Y signal. 181. The device of claim 176 wherein the waveguide comprises a cylindrical wall, having a cylindrical axis parallel to the transmission axis, and a diameter DC; two rod electrodes extending from the detector plane into an input end of the waveguide, parallel to each other and to the cylindrical axis, and separated by a distance D that is less than DC, each rod electrode having a rod diameter DR that is much less than D; and the detector comprises two segments, each segment coupled to one of the rod electrodes. 182. The device of claim 176 wherein an output port of the waveguide is coupled to a feed of an antenna horn. 183. The device of claim 161 wherein the output contact of the detector at least partially comprises an antenna. 184. The device of claim 1 wherein: the electron gun array comprises one or more subarrays of electron guns; the electron beam comprises a plurality of sub-beams corresponding to each subarray; the deflection signal comprises a plurality of input signals, each input signal comprising a quiescent state and a non-quiescent state; the deflector comprises one or more subdeflectors corresponding to each subarray; each subdeflector is coupled to each corresponding input signal; and when all of the input signals are in the quiescent state, the electron beam is transmitted parallel to the transmission axis, and when any of the input signals are in the non-quiescent state, the corresponding electron sub-beam is deflected. 185. The device of claim 184 wherein each input signal comprises a primary signal and an offset signal. 186. The device of claim 185 wherein the detector comprises an array of subdetectors. 187. The device of claim 186 wherein each subdetector comprises two segments. 188. The device of claim 187 wherein the subdetector segments are positionally disposed along the sweep pathway. 189. The device of claim 184 wherein each subdeflector comprises X and Y subdeflectors and each offset signal comprises an X offset signal coupled to the X subdeflector and a Y offset signal coupled to the Y subdeflector. 190. The device of claim 186 wherein the array of subdetectors is organized in a two-dimensional grid with a specified pattern. 191. The device of claim 190 wherein the pattern is one of a group including a rectangular grid and a hexagonal grid. 192. The device of claim 190 wherein the electron gun subarrays are organized in a two-dimensional grid pattern matching the grid pattern of the subdetectors. 193. The device of claim 186 additionally comprising beam offset control means to selectably direct each subbeam to one of the subdetectors in response to a beam targeting word, and the targeting word is binarily segmented to control each subdeflector with a corresponding binary segment. 194. The device of claim 193 wherein the beam offset control means further comprises a plurality of beam targeting digital-to-analog converters coupled to provide offset signals to each subdeflector, and further coupled to receive a corresponding binary segment of the targeting word. 195. The device of claim 194 wherein the targeting word is generated by processing means. 196. The device of claim 195 wherein the array of subdetectors generates a corresponding array of differential offset error signals coupled to the processing means. 197. The device of claim 196 operable to adjust the offset signals in response to the differential offset error signals to thereby refine the centering of each subbeam on a targeted detector. 198. The device of claim 196 configured to select one of the differential offset error signals, filter it by filter means, generating a refined offset correction error signal thereby, and selectably deliver the refined offset correction error to the subdeflector selected by the targeting command. 199. The device of claim 197 wherein the correction error is a digital word, and further comprising a plurality of correction error digital-to-analog converters coupled to each corresponding subdeflector, storage means coupled to each correction error digital-to-analog converter, and means to selectably couple the correction error to the selected correction error digital-to-analog converter corresponding to the selected subdeflector. 200. The device of claim 197 wherein the correction error is a digital word, and the processing means sums the refined offset correction error with the binary segment of the targeting word corresponding to the selected subdeflector, generating a composite subdeflector offset word, storage means coupled to the receive the subdeflector offset word and to provide the stored representation thereof to the selected one of the targeting digital-to-analog converters. 201. The device of claim 184 further comprising antenna means coupled to any of the one or more beam deflectors. 202. An array of-the devices of claim 1. 203. An analog beamform matrix device comprising an array of electron guns; an array of detectors; a drift cavity; the microcolumn array comprises N sub-arrays, each sub-array comprising M microcolumns and the deflection apparatus of every microcolumn in a sub-array is driven by an input signal VN; each element in the array of K detectors receives a beam from at least one electron gun in each sub-array of electron guns and outputs a received antenna beam; time-delay addressing means to generate a time delay from each sub-array. 204. A crossbar matrix device comprising a plurality of N electron guns, each augmented with a vertical deflector; a plurality of N horizontal deflection signals; a plurality of M detectors; a plurality of N horizontal beam offset signals and N vertical beam offset signals; a drift cavity; means for combining the N voltage signals and the N horizontal beam offset signals; and crossbar addressing means. 205. The device of claim 204 where in the crossbar addressing means comprises a plurality of digital-to-analog converters generating the N horizontal beam offset signals and N vertical beam offset signals in response to a digital crossbar configuration word; a digital processor to generate the digital crossbar configuration word. 206. The device of claim 205 wherein the digital processor comprises a read-only memory. 207. The device of claim 204 comprising free-space photonic I/O comprising a photonic input array to transmit a plurality of input light signals; an input lens system configured to direct the plurality of input signals; a photodetector array comprising a plurality of photodetectors, each photodetector being configured to receive one of the plurality of input light signals and generate a voltage signal in response thereto; a laser diode array comprising a plurality of laser diodes, each laser diode being configured to receive an output signal from a detector and generate an output light signal in response thereto; an output lens system configured to direct the output light signals; and a photonic output array to receive the plurality of output signals. 208. The device of claim 207 wherein: the photonic input array comprises an input fiber bundle comprising a plurality of input optical fibers, with a one-to-one correspondence between the input optical fibers and the photodetectors; each longitudinal input light signal is transmitted from one of the input optical fibers to a corresponding photodetector; the photonic output array comprises an output fiber bundle comprising a plurality of output optical fibers, with a one-to-one correspondence between the diode lasers and the output optical fibers; and each longitudinal output light signal is transmitted from one of the laser diodes to a corresponding output optical fiber. 209. The device of claim 208 wherein each deflection signal is binarily encoded. 210. The device of claim 204 wherein the device is implemented as part of an active backplane. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/482,106 filed 23 Jun. 2003 and hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is that of high-frequency electronic amplifiers intended for electromagnetic radio frequency reception and generation, both tuned and broadband. Applications also include digital signal processing and general purpose computing. BACKGROUND The twentieth century opened with the discovery of radio wave transmission by Marconi. World War II heralded the emergence of radar. The 1960's witnessed the launching of satellites. The 1990's saw the proliferation of commercial wireless data communications. These four events signaled epochal moments in history, opening up entirely new ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum for revolutionary applications such as radio, television, long-range surveillance, satellite communications and computer networking. The key components that made these advances possible were the development of electronic components capable of detecting, amplifying and re-transmitting high-frequency electrical signals: the point contact diode, the vacuum tube triode, the semiconductor transistor, the traveling wave tube, the integrated circuit. Each had—or is having—its moment and was superceded by a newer technology as demand for higher performance increased. Today, RF communications, radar and other applications are pushing well into the high gigahertz region, as much as 200 GHz or more. Even home wireless networking and simple cordless telephones are operating at over 5 GHz, a domain once reserved to only the military a few short decades ago. The key components that made these advances possible are high-frequency devices: transistors with current-gain-bandwidth product fT>200 GHz, LNAs with high linearity (IIP3), emerging power transistors made of SiC and GaN, and the venerable traveling wave tube (TWT). Many applications such as digital radio and military surveillance today are limited by the power or bandwidth achievable in a conventional semiconductor, or by the size, weight, cost, power and distortion products of the TWT. Space electronics is also limited by the radiation hardness and reliability of semiconductors. Military applications also require greater bandwidth, with tuning ranges exceeding 10:1 at frequencies up to 100 GHz. Semiconductor Amplifiers Despite the ubiquity of modem semiconductors, they suffer several limitations for the highest frequency RF applications. First, transistor breakdown voltage must be reduced significantly to achieve the necessary bandwidth, often to a volt or two or less. This severely limits the power they can generate, especially when low distortion is required. More fundamentally, semiconductors have an upper bandwidth dictated by the physics of the semiconductors: the maximum carrier velocity, especially, the saturated electron velocity. Current art places a limitation of perhaps 400 GHz fT on III-V compound devices such in InP, GaAs, InAs, and a theoretical limit of approximately 1 THz is dictated by the velocity of current-conducting carriers (electrons) in any semiconductor crystal. Practical applications such as an RF low-noise amplifier (LNA) usually can only operate at no more than 1/10 of theft. Furthermore, to operate at speeds of 100 GHz or more (as in an RF LNA) requires considerable power. At this time, there are almost no semiconductor power amplifiers capable of operating much above 10 GHz, leaving the entire field of high-power antennas to the field of vacuum electronic devices, such as the TWT, which are orders of magnitude more expensive and bulky. Semiconductor amplifiers are also extremely sensitive to radiation induced degradation and failure in space environments. TWTs and other Traditional Vacuum Electronic Devices TWT's offer direct RF amplification with power gains exceeding 40dB, frequency of amplification over 100 GHz, and bandwidth of more than 2 octaves in specialized devices. The drawback is they are large, very expensive, power consumptive, noisy and introduce significant signal distortion. Size can vary from 10 cubic inches in very high frequency devices (˜100 GHz). Cost can be $10,000 in a typical device to as much as $100 k in a space-rated device. Minimum power consumption can be hundreds of watts even in a low power device. Noise figures are typically 40 dB, compared to as little as 1 dB in a semiconductor LNA. Distortion products for wideband operation can be similarly oppressive, restricting their use to power amplification. TWTs can in principle operate at frequencies approaching or exceeding 1 THz, but become extremely inefficient at these frequencies (as little as a few percent), and very hard to build because of the micron-sized dimensions. Machining tolerances of a few nanometers become necessary, and waveguide losses become dominant, since a long waveguide (such as a helix, serpentine, or many coupled cavities) has unavoidable ohmic sidewall losses. Many applications today are severely constrained by the lack of high-frequency performance in available amplifiers. For example, an emerging application is wireless networking in dense urban environments. The demand for communication bandwidth on network channels is already exceeding 1 Gbps, yet the limits of present-day carrier frequencies is only about 5-10 GHz. As is known in the art, the carrier frequency must normally be much higher than the data rate—100 times higher or more. For example, 2.4 Ghz carriers typically provide 10 Mbps data rates or less in the well-known “Bluetooth” system (sometimes called “802.11b”). 1 Gbps data rates imply a carrier of at least 100 GHz or more. The problem is exacerbated in dense urban environments, especially around large office buildings. Current technology increases the spectrum capacity by limiting the range of a limited number of sub-channels (which may be spectrally broad in spread spectrum or Ultra Wideband (UWB) systems). No more than a few hundred low-bandwidth (10 Mbps) channels can typically be made available within a short geographic radius of a few hundred meters. In an urban environment with thousands of network connections within a single building and other buildings in close proximity, it can be seen that there is a hard limit, indeed, on the number of network connections and the aggregate data transfer rate that is possible per cubic mile. Hard-wired networks traditionally overcome this density limitation, but they are difficult to install and very expensive to retrofit an existing structure. Wireless systems have recently proliferated (based on the 802.11b standard, among others) using higher carrier frequencies, but for higher bandwidths and link densities, few or no solutions exist today. As mentioned, semiconductor amplifiers cannot operate much above 100 GHz with any gain at all, and are very power inefficient. TWT amplifiers also cannot operate efficiently much above 100 GHz (though they are much better), but are prohibitively expensive for most applications. What is needed is a solution that offers the size and economies of scale of semiconductors, and the gain and frequency performance of TWTs, with power efficiency and linearity greater than both. Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a real demand for a low cost, efficient millimeter wave to sub-millimeter wave RF technology. Related Art As will become apparent, the present invention relates to microminiature electron beam devices applied to RF amplification and signaling, particularly those that operate in the millimeter to sub-millimeter wave region (50 GHz to 2 THz). Similar inventions have claimed advances that might operate in this region. For example, Manohara et al (ref. 11) have published work on sub-millimeter “nano-klystrons” based on many of the elements described herein for the present invention: semiconductor fabrication, MEMS and electron gun construction. An impressive development, it nonetheless suffers many deficiencies, including narrowband tuning, and relatively slow response to signal modulation, because of the resonant cavities inherent in the method. The nano-klystron also lacks integral phase and polarization control, which are highly desirable features of any RF power device intended for transmission purposes, yet expensive and bulky to provide as separate elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,053 issued to Tang, et al shows a deflection amplifier (or “deflectron”) that purports to offer wideband amplification, but suffers low gain, relative to the invention here, because the detrimental effects of space charge repulsion limit the maximum beam current. Furthermore, such beam current as Tang et al. can generate creates significant heating losses. Tang et al. also does not offer integral solutions to antenna coupling, phase and polarization control. U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,803 issued to Yoder predates Tang et al., and teaches an electron beam driven P-N junction in a push-pull detector arrangement. Yoder does not suggest his method provides extra gain through the beam interaction with the semiconductor diodes, though it may be inferred. However, such extra gain as may be provided will be modest, and the apparatus does not lend itself well to microfabrication. Further, Yoder does not adequately elaborate on how his method will provide linear gain, and it may be inferred from the description that high linearity will not be achievable. For example, Yoder does not describe means for achieving a substantially uniform electron beam. Yoder does not indicate how the detection apparatus can be constructed so as to achieve a linear output from a uniform beam, and in fact, it achieves just the opposite. Thus, Yoder's arrangement is seriously deficient in regard to actual construction of a deflectron having linear response. Chang, Muray, Lee, MacDonald (see references) have described “microcolumn arrays” of miniature electron guns and elements thereof for the purpose of improved electron beam lithography in semiconductor fabrication, yet they have not explored the potential of employing microcolumn arrays in amplifiers, RF generators or computing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,616 issued to Weiner describes one way to provide gain from an electron beam, by means of an electron bombarded semiconductor. This is commonly called an “EBS” amplifier. The method is based on a p+-i-n+ diode with an intrinsic “i” layer. Kitamura et al (1993, ref 12) explicitly describes an EBS amplifier based on a silicon Schottky diode, but do not employ deflection means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,903 issued to Weider describes a heterojunction EBS amplifier based on InGaAs and InP compounds to improve the speed and bandwidth, but these suffer from lack of compatibility with low-cost silicon microfabrication. All three disclosures provide means to improve the gain of an electron beam deflectron amplifier over that of Yoder or Tang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,053 issued to Fox et al. describes a variation on the EBS amplifier that provides gain via an electron-beam activated diamond conductor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,380 issued to Lin describes a related e-beam excited diamond switch for millimeter wave generation that depends on modulating the current of an electron beam. The principle disadvantage in either is that high beam energies are required with a diamond detector material. This causes extra heating losses, reduced efficiency, and severely limits the deflection gain. Another disadvantage is that Fox does not employ a precision e-beam forming device, such as a microcolumn. Another disadvantage is the difficulty of fabricating high-quality diamond films. Again, beam deflection is not incorporated in the gain mechanism. A principle disadvantage of following Tang et al., Yoder, or Weiner is that they rely on high current electron beams, which are difficult to focus in low-energy beam systems because of the space charge effect. Lack of focus reduces amplifier gain, decreases bandwidth and increases amplifier distortion. Fox overcomes this with a high energy beam. High current and high energy beams are antithetical to microfabricated electron beam systems. High current and high energy beams dissipate excess anode heating power. High voltage beam circuitry is susceptible to destructive arcing and requires high voltage power supplies, which are difficult to build, bulky and power consumptive, and not amenable to microfabrication. U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,466 issued to Norris et al describes an EBS amplifier that operates with a sheet beam to disperse the space charge and permit higher beam current, but sheet beams still suffer substantial space charge effects, thereby limiting the beam current and amplifier gain. Norris' amplifier suffers from the complexity of a distributed architecture to achieve high frequency broadband and high power operation, making it unsuitable for low-cost microfabrication. Low current beams are desirable, yet they reduce amplifier gain. It may be appreciated that there is a need for higher current, but low energy electron beam systems for microfabricated high speed amplifiers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,069 issued to Seiler, U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,909 issued to Reid, and Froberg (ref. 8) have constructed photoconductive antennas which employ semiconductor antenna excitation to generate THz radiation, yet they suffer from uncontrolled wideband transmission, no phase or polarization control, and require complex laser activation with slow pulse repetition rates. As will be seen, the present invention advances the art over all these examples of prior art, simultaneously providing, in different embodiments, controlled wideband modulation, high gain, RF transmission, phase and polarization control. It will be appreciated in the following description and appended claims that the present invention combines many of the advantages of prior art while overcoming the deficiencies in a novel arrangement, to thereby achieve RF amplifier embodiments possessing higher gain, faster operation, less distortion and lower power consumption. These benefits accrue in almost any RF receiver or transmitter application including wireless networking and antenna beamforming, frequency multiplication, high-speed digital logic and computing. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The disclosure to follow provides method and apparatus for wideband RF amplification that solves the shortcomings of both semiconductor and conventional vacuum electronic amplifiers. It can simultaneously provide high frequency of operation (exceeding 1 THz), wide bandwidth (up to 10:1 frequency range or more), high power gain (60 dB or more), linear operation and low noise in a size comparable to an integrated circuit (several cubic millimeters) with similar cost and lower power consumption. What is disclosed is a hybrid of semiconductor and vacuum electronics. It can be constructed using standard semiconductor fabrication techniques. There are many embodiments of the same basic principle: A first embodiment, amplifies a voltage signal and generates a highly linear current output by exciting a detector with a deflection modulated electron beam. The method includes a two-dimensional array of electron guns to generate beamlets, a distributed beam deflection apparatus in each electron gun array to provide high deflection gain to re-direct the electron beam in response to a voltage signal, and an electrostatic lens system to create a shaped electron beam spot where the beam strikes a current amplifying detector. The detector in one form comprises dual segments to differentially collect the beam in proportion to the deflection. Each segment converts a collected proportion of the beam to an electrical current, amplifies it, and couples it to an output network. In the most linear configurations, the dual detector segments are triangular and oriented in opposition to respond to a narrow rectangular beam spot; for the highest linearity, the space separating the segments distorts the shape of the segments from pure triangularity. In the fastest configuration, the segments are rectangular and the beam spot is rectangular to give a configuration that has the smallest detector. One construction is by semiconductor manufacturing processes including wafer bonding. In another embodiment the detector is a Schottky diode made of a germanium-silicon heterostructure. In another, the detector is Schottky diode made from a low-ionization material such as InAs or InSb. In either case, the detector provides beam-generated cascade gain and avalanche multiplication by a sandwich of semiconductor between a beam contact and an output contact. In another embodiment, the beam shaping is achieved with a shaped array of electron guns that are imaged on the detector by the electrostatic lens system. In another embodiment, the lens system is a doublet of a retarding and accelerating lens constructed from planar electrodes in the drift cavity. One configuration comprises a circular disc electrode enclosing the electron gun array to generate the retarding lens, and a circular electrode enclosing the detector to generate the accelerating lens. The drift cavity is enclosed by a cylindrical drift can with the electron gun array centered in one end, and the detector centered in the other. Planar donut electrodes may enclose the first and second disc electrodes in their respective planes. A variation achieves beam shaping with an astigmatic electron lens system comprising multiple shaping electrodes disposed around the exit plane of the electron gun array, and the electrodes are subject to different applied voltage potentials. All embodiments employ electron gun construction comprising field emission cathodes, cathode gating, a plurality of focusing and aperture electrodes, and deflection plates. In one variation, the plurality of focusing and aperture electrodes is increased in number to reduce the diameter of the gun column (relative to the beam axis). In another a beam blanking deflector is incorporated for pulsed operation. Another embodiment incorporates current control in every electron gun, comprising a ballast resistor to sense the cathode current and an amplifier to compare the ballast voltage against a reference, thereby generating an error signal that is applied to the cathode gate electrode. In another embodiment, offset centering apparatus keeps the beam centered on the detector with a control loop comprising an integrator generating an offset correction signal in response to the beam offset as measured at the detector. A variation employs independent detector segments to measure the offset. Another embodiment provides true time delay shifting by means of apparatus to adjust the energy of the electron beam and thereby the drift time through the drift cavity. One variation adjusts the potential of the detector plane, and in a configuration that improves the focusing, augments the cylindrical drift can electrode with a consecutive series of ring electrodes to approximate the fields potentials generated by a much larger drift cavity. In another variation the acceleration energy of the electron gun achieves the time delay control by augmenting the construction with a plurality of DACs coupled to deliver precise electrode focusing voltages for every time delay command. A further variation augments this arrangement with an analog-to-digital converter to couple a digitized measurement of the control gate with the time delay command, to generate electron gun focusing electrode potentials that are corrected for varying gate voltages in response to a current control loop. Yet another embodiment achieves frequency multiplication. One configuration uses a multiplicity of detector segments in a linear array that provides programmable multiplication. Another configuration achieves lower inharmonicity by using a circular detector in a two-dimensional arrangement of segments similar to the slices of a pie, and uses horizontal and vertical electron gun deflection. Another embodiment of frequency multiplication employs a single shaped detector segments and a shaped beam spot. The sweep of the shaped beam spot across the edge of the segment generates strong harmonics. The variations include triangular beam spots on rectangular detectors, rectangular beam spots on triangular detectors, rectangular beam spots on quadratically shaped detectors, and so forth, to generate second, third, fourth and so on harmonics. Another embodiment, is a mixing device comprising a square detector made of four equal square segments arranged symmetrically around axes X and Y, a square beam spot disposed to sweep in X and Y directions in response to a first signal applied to an X deflection apparatus and a second signal applied to a Y deflection apparatus. Another embodiment is a combinational logic device comprising a plurality of N deflectors X1, X2, . . . XN, a corresponding plurality of deflection signals V1, V2, . . . VN, and detectors D1, D2, . . . DM, each individually positioned to correspond to a logic state of the deflection vector V1 . . . VN. Some of the deflectors XN are oriented for horizontal beam deflection and some of the deflectors are oriented for vertical beam deflection to improve the degeneracy of states and the compaction of the system. A further extension of the concept employs deflectors of different geometries to achieve gray coding for a further reduction in the state degeneracy. Another embodiment, is a method of exciting electromagnetic radiation by incorporating an antenna, such as a dipole, patch or horn. Some variations provide a selectable polarization dipole or patch by means of X and Y deflection, multiple detector segments and/or multiple addressable feedpoints. Another radiating embodiment, excites a waveguide. The waveguide may be rectangular or circular. The excitation can be single or dual polarization to excite desired waveguide modes. The dual polarization device consists of four segments, with two opposing segments connected across a diameter of the waveguide, and the other two opposing segments connected across an orthogonal diameter of the waveguide. This may be augmented with a selectably shaped beam spot for selectable polarization, with a rectangular spot shape spanning two opposing detectors and a motion that sweeps between the two detectors. Any of the waveguide embodiments may be coupled to the feed of an antenna horn. Another embodiment merges the detector and antenna in a single structure to make a novel radiator that can simultaneously generate harmonics and controlled phase and polarization. In a variation, multiple, independently steerable beams are employed to enhance the diversity of the output radiation. Another embodiment, is constructed as an array of amplifiers according to any of the other embodiments, thereby achieving transmit antenna arrays, receive antenna arrays, T-R arrays and signal combining networks. Another embodiment, is a crossbar matrix comprising a plurality of N independent electron guns, a plurality of M detectors and crossbar addressing means. Each electron gun includes independent X and Y deflectors, and receives N digital input signals and N X and Y offset control signals for addressably configuring the matrix. The crossbar addressing means comprises a plurality of DACs under the control of a processor or ROM. An extension of the crossbar matrix further includes free-space photonic I/O comprising a photonic input array, an input lens system, a photodetector array, a laser diode array, an output lens system, and an output photonic coupling array. The lens system images the photonic input array on the photodiode array. The photodiode array electrically couples individual photodiodes to individual electron guns to transmit the signals to addressed detector outputs. The laser diode array electrically couples individual laser diodes to individual detectors. The photonic I/O can be provided by fiber optic bundles Another embodiment, is a multiprocessing compute engine comprised of a crossbar matrix coupled to a plurality of processor elements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of an electron-beam amplifier; FIG. 2 shows an amplifier transfer curve of the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows an exemplary output network of the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows a schematic midsection of one current multiplying Schottky electron beam detector of the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 1; FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show a schematic midsection of one embodiment of an electron beam detector with a low resistance electrode; FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show a schematic midsection of another embodiment of an electron beam detector with a low resistance electrode; FIG. 7A through FIG. 7G show several geometric embodiments of detector segments and electron beam spots; FIG. 8 shows variation in beam current density in two electron beam spots; FIG. 9 illustrates relationships among the fundamental output power, second harmonic output power, and third harmonic output power for an exemplary amplifier; FIG. 10 shows a distorted amplifier transfer curve and a corrected amplifier transfer curve; FIG. 11 shows three embodiments of detectors shaped to adjust amplifier transfer function characteristics; FIG. 12 shows two embodiments of a beam offset control loop; FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B show two circuit embodiments of integrators for beam centering; FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B show a beam offset control loop and a circuit embodiment of an integrator for implementing beam offset control using offset sense segments; FIG. 15A through FIG. 15D show several offset sense segment configurations; FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B show typical dimensions of a microfabricated electron-beam amplifier; FIG. 17 illustrates a space charge spreading effect in a high current electron beam; FIG. 18 shows one embodiment of a two-dimensional microcolumn array, and an associated electron beam and detector; FIG. 19 shows a set of independent, matched deflectors corresponding to individual electron beams; FIG. 20A shows a three-dimensional midsection view and FIG. 20B shows an end view of a microcolumn of an electron-beam amplifier; FIG. 21A shows a three-dimensional cutaway view and FIG. 21B shows an end view of a microcolumn configured for X-Y deflection; FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another electron gun microcolumn; FIG. 23 shows an optical lens imaging an object into an image; FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B shows a front and a side view of one electron optics focusing electrode; FIG. 25 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of one accelerating electron lens; FIG. 26 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of one decelerating electron lens; FIG. 27 shows schematic cross-sectional views of a two-lens light optics system and a two-lens electron optics system in an electron gun; FIG. 28A and FIG. 28B show schematic cross-sectional views of a three-lens light optics system with an aperture stop, and a three-lens electron optics system with an aperture stop in an electron gun; FIG. 29 shows an exploded or assembly midsectional cross-sectional view of one electron-beam amplifier assembled by bonding multiple wafers; FIG. 30 shows an exploded view of the wafers of FIG. 29 in alignment for bonding; FIG. 31 shows an electron lens constructed from three large electrodes and a corresponding lens constructed from ten small electrodes; FIG. 32 shows one arrangement for controlling beam current and focusing electrode potentials; FIG. 33 shows how a deflection angle relates to a drift cavity length and a beam displacement across the drift cavity; FIG. 34 shows a schematic cross-section of an electron-beam amplifier including array beam focusing; FIG. 35 shows a midsectional plan view of a drift cavity within the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 34; FIG. 36 shows a schematic cross section of a virtual lens focusing a composite electron beam in a drift cavity; FIG. 37A through FIG. 37H show representative electron gun array shapes and corresponding electron beam spots; FIG. 38A through FIG. 38C show several views of an electron gun array shape and corresponding electron beams being imaged on detectors; FIG. 39 shows an example of astigmatic focusing electron optics; FIG. 40 shows an electron-beam amplifier that implements true time delay control; FIG. 41 is a schamatic diagram illustrating true time delay control implemented using a ROM and two DACs; FIG. 42A is a schamatic diagram illustrating acceleration induced beam focusing, as is FIG. 42B; FIG. 43 is a midsectional view of electrodes within an electron-beam amplifier configured for time delay adjustment; FIG. 44 is a schematic diagram that shows electrodes around a drift cavity, together with a bias circuit for the electrodes; FIG. 45 is a schamatic diagram of the electrodes and drift cavity of FIG. 44, with a different bias circuit for the electrodes; FIG. 46 is a schematic midsectional view of an electron gun and circuitry for beam energy and current control; FIG. 47 shows a circuit for gain-stabilized time delay control; FIG. 48 shows an electron gun configured for beam blanking; FIG. 49 shows a detector arrangement configured for frequency doubling; FIG. 50 shows an arrangement of detector segments configured for frequency multiplication of 1, 2, 3 or 4 with high tone purity; FIG. 51 shows an arrangement of detector segments configured for frequency multiplication of 1, 2, 3 or 4 with high tone purity, positionally aligned with respect to an associated response curve; FIG. 52A and FIG. 52B show two circular detectors configured for frequency multiplication; FIG. 53A and FIG. 53B shows two beam spot and detector configurations for frequency multiplication; FIG. 54A and FIG. 54B shows two configurations that produce third harmonics of an input frequency; FIG. 55 is a schematic diagram of a multiplier/mixer; FIG. 56 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with three linearly arranged detector segments; FIG. 57 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with four detector segments arranged as a two-dimensional array; FIG. 58 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with nine detector segments arranged in a two-dimensional array, and a corresponding map of input states mapped to the detector segments; FIG. 59 shows schematically a logic device that may be formed by two electron beams and their associated detector segments acting collectively as a signal source for a deflector of a third electron beam; FIG. 60 shows a two-input gray-coded logic gate with four detector segments in a linear array, and a corresponding map of input states mapped to the detector segments; FIG. 61 illustrates a use of clamping diodes to control selective current flow; FIG. 62 illustrates an antenna coupled amplifier; FIG. 63 is a midsection of an EBTX; FIG. 64 shows use of ganged EBTX's for use in corporate feed; FIG. 65 shows various examples of amples of complex patch emitters; FIG. 66A, FIG. 66B, and FIG. 66C illustratre various aspects of a simple dipole antenna feed; FIG. 67 shows a modified dipole antenna feed; FIG. 68A, FIG. 68B, FIG. 68C and FIG. 68D show various aspects of a selectable polarization with dual dipole; FIG. 69 shows a wideband single polarized planar antenna, in strip or slot form; FIG. 70A, FIG. 70B and FIG. 70C show various aspects of wideband dual polarized planar antenna, in strip or slot form. FIG. 71 shows e-beam excitation of a detector for a log-spiral antenna; FIG. 72 illustrates RF emanations form a typical simple patch antenna; FIG. 73A, FIG. 73B, FIG. 73C and FIG. 73D show various aspects of a dual polarized patch antenna with selectable feedpoint; FIG. 74 illustrates a patch targeting control; FIG. 75 illustrates a dual beam patch drive; FIG. 76 shows an integrated detector/antenna; FIG. 77A and FIG. 77B show beam repositioning on a variable feedpoint dipole emitter; FIG. 78A, FIG. 78B and FIG. 78C show different beam interactions with a variable feedpoint patch emitter; FIG. 79A and FIG. 79B show various patterns for variable feedpoint patch emitter w/lissajous feed; FIG. 80A, FIG. 80B, and 80C provide various examples of other complex patch emitters and drive patterns; FIG. 81 shows direct horn excitation; FIG. 82 shows a waveguide terminated in an antenna horn; FIG. 83 shows a waveguide terminated in antenna horn; FIG. 84 illustrates guidewall current flow in waveguide for TE10 mode; FIG. 85 shows a TE10 mode guidewall current drive in a waveguide; FIG. 86 shows a circular waveguide in TM11 mode; FIG. 87A and FIG. 87B show various aspects for use in a dual polarization drive for circular waveguide; FIG. 88A and FIG. 88B show various aspects of a circular waveguide in TM11 mode; FIG. 89 shows an array of electron gun driven RF emitters; FIG. 90 shows a 2×2 array of microcolumn arrays; FIG. 91 shows a dense arrays of microcolumn arrays; FIG. 92 shows dense emitter arrays; FIG. 93A, FIG. 93B, and FIG. 93C show true time delay beamforming; FIG. 94 illustrates a transmit beamforming array; FIG. 95 shows trued time delay beamforming; FIG. 96 shows a receive beamformer; FIG. 97 shows various receive beamformer elements; FIG. 98 illustrates an electron beam power combiner; FIG. 99 shows an integrated transmit-receive (T-R) element; FIG. 100 shows a T-R array; FIG. 101 shows schematically a set of processors and some of the possible connections that may be formed thereamong; FIG. 102 shows possible connections of a crossbar element having 4 inputs and 4 outputs; FIG. 103 shows schematically an application of an active backplane crossbar receiving beamformed RF signals; FIG. 104 shows schematically an active backplane crossbar in an application with an RF beamformer; FIG. 105 shows schematically an electron beam amplifier configured as a crossbar switch matrix; FIG. 106 shows a microcolumn array, an electron-beam array and a detector array operating in a crossbar configuration; FIG. 107A through FIG. 107E show three detector configurations which may be used to generate beam offset information; FIG. 108 shows four deflectors steering four electron beams to four detector configurations; FIG. 109 shows schematically how inputs and outputs of an EBX may coupled through optical fibers; FIG. 110 shows schematically a first lens imaging an array of optical input signals onto a corresponding photodetector array of an EBX, and a second lens imaging an array of optical output signals from a laser diode array to an array of optical fibers; FIG. 111 shows a lens reducing exemplary light rays from an object to an image; FIG. 112 shows the mechanical size of a typical EBX comprising 10,000 or more channels; FIG. 113 shows schematically components of a wafer-bonded T-R beamforming array constructed using the elements described herein; FIG. 114 shows an example of a large wafer-based antenna array which may be constructed from a plurality of wafer stacks; FIG. 115 shows an unterminated waveguide coupling with reflection; FIG. 116 shows a waveguide coupling with pass-through signal transport; FIG. 117 shows a step tapered cavity Einzel lens; FIG. 118 shows an RF cavity detector; FIG. 119 shows a schematic circuit for sequential feedback positioning control of beam position based upon detector output; FIG. 120 shows a detector circuit using HBT load isolation; FIG. 121 shows a detector circuit with bipolar injection gain; and FIG. 122A and FIG. 122B provide additional detail with respect to and HBT used in the circuit of FIG. 121. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Overview FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of an electron-beam amplifier 10(1), including an array 100(1) of electron guns, an electrostatic deflection apparatus 130(1) driven by a voltage signal 140(1), a drift cavity 145(1) characterized by a length zdrift, two detector segments 150(1), 150(2) separated by a slot 160(1), and an output network 190(1). An X-Y plane in which detector segments 150(1), 150(2) are located is a detector plane 50; an X-Y plane at a nearest side of deflection apparatus 130(1) to the detector plane is an emission plane 20 (only small portions of emission plane 20 and detector plane 50 are shown, for clarity of illustration). Emission plane 20 and detector plane 50 are separated by a drift cavity length zdrift, as shown. A Z direction from detector plane 50 to emission plane 20 is a transmission axis 200; in this embodiment an X direction is a sweep direction 210. Detector segments 150(1), 150(2) may be semiconductor diodes or other beam-current amplifying detectors, as described below. Each of detector segments 150(1), 150(2) has a width XD in sweep direction 210. Amplifier 10(1) operates by (1) emitting a composite electron beam (“e-beam”) 110(1) (consisting of electron beams 120 emitted from individual electron guns that are not shown in this figure), (2) deflecting composite beam 110(1) by applying voltage signal 140(1) to deflector apparatus 130(1), (3) generating output currents I1 180(1) and I2 180(2) through the action of composite beam 110(1) impinging upon detector segments 150(1), 150(2) at beam spot 170(1), and (4) transmitting output currents 180(1), 180(2) into output network 190(1). By deflecting composite beam 110(1) with voltage signal 140(1), a physical change in position of beam spot 170(1) impinging upon segments 150(1), 150(2) generates changes in output currents 180(1), 180(2) that can be coupled to an output load such as a resistor, a transmission line, a waveguide, or an antenna. The principle of operation may be understood as follows. Composite beam 110(1) sweeps back and forth in sweep direction 210 from detector segment 150(1) to detector segment 150(2) in response to voltage signal 140(1). Electron beams 120, and thus composite beam 110(1), carry an electrical current equal to the well-known electronic charge q times a number of electrons emitted per unit time. Voltage signal 140(1), applied across a gap within beam deflection apparatus 130(1) establishes an electric field E that subjects electrons in e-beams 120 to a transverse force F as they travel through the deflector. The force is described by the well-known law F=qE. At a maximum positive beam deflection, detector segment 150(1) may collect all of the impinging beam current; at a maximum negative deflection, detector segment 150(2) may collect all of the impinging beam current. Between these extremes of positive and negative deflection, each of detector segments 150(1) and 150(2) collects a proportionate amount of the beam current. For example, when composite beam 110 is centered, each of detector segments 150(1) and 150(2) may collect 50% of the beam current. If beam 110(1) is positioned to 70% of maximum deflection in the positive sweep direction (i.e., the X direction of FIG. 1), detector segment 150(1) may collect 30% of the beam current and detector segment 150(2) may collect 70% of the beam current. An absence of a voltage signal 140(1) applied to beam deflection apparatus 130(1), resulting in no deflection of e-beams 110(1) by deflection apparatus 130(1), is a quiescent state. Other factors being equal (as explained below), a deflection of composite beam 110(1) may be proportional to voltage signal 140(1), and a beam current collected by either of detector segments 150(1), 150(2) may be linear in response to the change in position of beam 110(1). As shown in FIG. 1, beam 110(1) may approximate a sheet, made of a linear array of e-beams 120, and generating a line-shaped beam spot 170(1) (the terms “sheet” and “line spot” are not to be taken in the mathematical sense of having zero thickness or width respectively). When beam 110(1) is deflected across a rectangular detector segmented by a diagonal slot (e.g., detector segments 150(1), 150(2) and slot 160(1)) the collection of beam current by each of the detector segments 150(1), 150(2) may be proportional to a beam deflection and a resulting beam spot displacement on the detector. FIG. 2 shows an amplifier transfer curve 182 for the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 1. As explained above, each of output currents I1 and I2 (180(1) and 180(2) in FIG. 1) can vary according to the input voltage drive amplitude VINPUT; at a given VINPUT, a differential current ΔIOUTPUT=I2−I1. ΔIOUTPUT varies from a maximum negative amount to a maximum positive amount as input voltage VINPUT varies, as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary output network 190(1) for the electron-beam amplifier of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, a voltage source 192 is provided, and each of output currents 180(1) and 180(2) connect with voltage source 192 through loads 194(1) and 194(2) respectively. A differential current 182 forms in output network 190(1) such that output currents 180(1) and 180(2) convert to a voltage (FIG. 3). With sufficient deflector gain (as explained below), a large enough drift cavity length Zdrift, and a small enough detector width XD, the arrangement of FIG. 1 may have voltage gain. Current Multiplying Detector FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross section of one current multiplying Schottky e-beam detector 150 of electron-beam amplifier 10(1). Beam detector 150 consists of a thin beam contact 220 having a thickness tbc, a cascade gain layer 230 having a thickness t1, an avalanche multiplication layer 250 having a thickness t2, and an output contact 270. Beam contact 220 and output contact 270 may be a diode anode and cathode, but which of the beam contact and output contact is anode or cathode will depend on the specific beam contact material and semiconductor being contacted. A gain of electron-beam amplifier 10(1) may substantially increase when detector segments 150(1), 150(2) amplify collected beam currents so that output currents 180(1), 180(2) are much greater than the beam currents alone. For example, a gain of 1000 or more is possible with a Schottky diode detector. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, thin beam contact 220 mates to cascade gain layer 230 having a high cascade ionization gain. Beam contact thickness tbc is thin enough to permit e-beam 120 to penetrate to cascade gain layer 230. In cascade gain layer 230, substantially all electrons in beam 120 excite hole-electron pairs in a cascade process that generates hole-electron pairs as beam energy dissipates within the diode (only exemplary electrons 240 are shown, for clarity of illustration). For example, germanium has a cascade ionization gain that generates one hole-electron pair per 2.8 electron-volts (eV) of beam energy. With, for example, a 280 eV beam exciting a germanium diode, the net cascade gain may be 100. In certain semiconductor devices such as, for example, a Schottky diode, cascaded electrons can further multiply through the well-known avalanche multiplication effect. A key parameter for avalanche multiplication is thickness t2 of avalanche multiplication layer 250. With an appropriate reverse bias voltage between cathode and anode contacts, a thickness t2 of 250 to 1000 angstroms can create a sufficiently strong electric field within the diode to accelerate conduction electrons, generating even more hole-electron pairs (only exemplary electrons 260 are shown, for clarity of illustration). An avalanche gain of 10 or more is practical, and with a cascade gain of I 00, an overall detector gain of 1000 is possible. Alternative Detector Types Many types of current multiplying detectors are possible, including Schottky diodes, junction diodes, photoconductors, and even micro-channel plates (MCPs, or micro-dynodes). Junction diodes operate similar to a Schottky diode, and may support higher voltage operation, but may have lower bandwidth. Photoconductors typically operate by generation of hole-electron pairs by photons to modulate the conductance of a resistor; a photoconductor can be designed to respond to electrons instead, generating conduction electrons by cascade excitation. A photoconductor may lack avalanche multiplication to supplement the cascade gain, and thus have lower gain than a diode; photoconductors also typically have a less linear response when coupled to a load. MCPs generate gain by a photomultiplier effect, but require high bias voltages (thousands of volts), complex construction, and have long response times. It can be appreciated that a Schottky diode detector is preferred where high gain and fast response is desired. Schottky Detector The exemplary Schottky detector 150 of FIG. 4 has germanium and silicon epitaxial layers. A cascade gain layer 230 is n-type Ge and an avalanche layer 250 is n-type Si, where the cascade gain layer 230 and the avalanche layer 250 make up generally a semiconductor layer 255. A beam contact 220 is an anode made of gold (Au) forming a Schottky contact, and an output contact 270 is a cathode. However, in other Schottky diode embodiments, other contact metals and semiconductor materials (such as, for example, InAs) may be used; in such embodiments a beam contact may be a cathode and an output contact may be an anode. A beam contact may connect with a bias voltage and the Schottky diode may be reverse biased to establish a field gradient between the beam contact and an output contact. The field gradient (1) accelerates carriers to generate avalanche multiplication of current, and (2) sweeps carriers rapidly out of the diode. The output contact is coupled to a load, for example a terminating resistor or a transmission line. When a beam contact is an anode, the bias voltage may be negative with respect to a load. In detector 150 of FIG. 4, the electrons in e-beam 120 first impinge upon beam contact 220, which permits penetration of energetic electrons into cascade gain layer 230 with little absorption by the contact metal. Thus, detector 150 has a high beam current collection efficiency. If thickness tbc of beam contact 220 is on the order of 10 angstroms, most electrons of e-beam 120 will enter cascade gain layer 230. Cascading starts when one high-energy beam electron (not shown) collides with an electron in a crystal lattice structure of cascade gain layer 230, leaving two electrons (and holes) with half the energy of the original. These two electrons in turn generate 4 electrons (and holes) of ¼ energy, and so on, until the energy of the pairs is comparable to typical thermal energies of electron and holes in Ge. The termination of the cascade process depends on a property called cascade ionization energy, which is the amount of energy in eV required for cascade-generation of a hole-electron pair. Germanium is a desirable cascade layer material because it has a high cascade gain relative to other materials, such as silicon or diamond. In germanium, one cascade electron (and a corresponding hole) are generated for each 2.8 eV energy for each beam electron. The cascade energy of silicon is 3.5 eV; the cascade energy of diamond is 5.5 eV. A cascade process generally occurs within approximately 50 angstroms of semiconductor depth for a beam energy of several hundred electron volts; for higher energy beams, the cascade may spread deeper. Because conduction electrons in germanium have lower saturation velocities than conduction electrons in silicon, thickness t1 of cascade gain layer 230 is optimally thick enough to allow completion of the cascade process, but not thicker, so that a transit time of conduction electrons to avalanche layer 250 is minimized. Avalanche layer 250 of detector 150 optimally achieves two goals: (1) it supports a high saturated electron velocity, for fast detector response, and (2) it produces efficient, low-noise avalanche multiplication. Avalanche multiplication occurs when conduction electrons accelerate in a high-field region of avalanche layer 250. Accelerated electrons may impinge upon electrons in a crystal lattice of avalanche layer 250, generating more hole-electron pairs. Electrons thus generated accelerate again, and the process repeats, generating an avalanche current. The electrons are collected by output contact 270; holes thus generated travel through cascade gain layer 230 and are collected by beam contact 220. Avalanche multiplication can easily provide current amplification of 5, 10, 20 or more. Practical limits to avalanche multiplication are set by leakage current across a Schottky junction, and electrical noise generated by the avalanche multiplication. Silicon is a desirable avalanche layer material because leakage currents in Si are lower than in many other materials. Ge—Si epitaxy is desirable because a large body of experience in reliably and inexpensively fabricating this material system exists. Thus, a Ge—Si Schottky diode may provide high cascade gain, high avalanche gain, high speed response, and low leakage. With a 280 eV beam, a cascade gain may approach 100, avalanche gain may be 10, and a total detector gain may be 1000. III-V Detectors Fast, high gain detectors may also be constructed with epitaxial systems other than Ge—Si, and such detectors may offer suitable performance for some embodiments of electron-beam amplifier 10. For example, all of Ge, Si and diamond are indirect bandgap semiconductors; in each, the cascade ionization energy is approximately ⅓ of the bandgap. Materials with direct, small bandgaps may have lower ionization energies. For example, Indium Arsenide (InAs) has a direct bandgap of 0.35 eV. Indium Antimonide (InSb) has a direct bandgap of 0.17 eV. These bandgaps compare with 0.66 eV for Ge and 1.12 eV for silicon. Either of these materials from groups III and V of the periodic table (the “III-V” group), or a ternary compound (such as for example InAs1-xSbx) may have a cascade ionization energy of 1 eV or less, and provide a cascade gain of three times or more the cascade gain of Ge. III-V materials have a zincblende crystal structure; epitaxial growth of this structure on a diamond lattice of silicon may be problematic or impossible. In order to overcome this difficulty, InAs or InSb layers could instead be mated with another III-V avalanche layer, such as Indium Phosphide (InP). For example, one drawback of a Ge—Si detector 150 is that its breakdown voltage is limited by a Si layer thickness (e.g., thickness t2 of FIG. 4). A diode with low breakdown voltage may limit output power since the diode cannot sustain a large reverse voltage; a Ge—Si detector that is a few hundred angstroms thick will be limited to an operating voltage of 2-3 volts. However, with an InP layer, an operating voltage of 6V or more may be possible while enabling the same detector response. This is partly because of high electron mobility in InP (about 4 times higher than in silicon) and partly because InP supports high saturated carrier velocity (almost 2.5 times higher than in Si), permitting a thicker avalanche region to be used while maintaining a given transit time. InP also has an inherently higher dielectric strength, so a thicker layer is required to achieve the same avalanche gain. Therefore, a useful embodiment of detector 150 may have an InAs/InP Schottky diode, or utilize other combinations of III-V materials that achieve high cascade and avalanche gain. Detector Beam Contact For electrons to penetrate a beam contact of a detector (e.g., beam contact 220 of detector 150) and enter an underlying semiconductor (i.e., Ge cascade gain layer 230, or another material), the contact metal must usually be thin. At beam energies of 100 eV to 300 eV, beam contact layer 220 may be around 10 angstroms, or thinner. However, a thin contact layer may have a high sheet resistance, for example about 10 ohms per square of metal. Contact layer 220 may conduct all of the detector current, which may be 100 mA or more, and an ohmic voltage drop across contact layer 220 may substantially de-bias a low-voltage detector 150. Such de-biasing may have consequences such as loss of detector gain, slower response, and signal distortion. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show a schematic cross section of one e-beam detector 150(3) with a low resistance electrode 290. Detector 150(3) has gridded beam conductors 280(only exemplary conductors 280 are labeled, for clarity of illustration) that are much thicker than beam contact 220, and connect with low resistance electrode 290 at each end. By fabricating gridded beam conductors 280 on top of beam contact 220, most electrons of beam 110 will still pass between conductors 280, and impinge upon and pass through beam contact 220. Conductors 280 ensure low electrical resistance between external connections (not shown) and all portions of beam contact 220, thus mitigating ohmic drops and power losses. FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show a schematic cross section of another e-beam detector 150(5) with a low resistance electrode 295. In detector 150(5), a rectangular grid of beam conductors 285 overlies beam contact 220, connecting beam contact 220 to low resistance electrode 295 from all sides. A width of each of beam conductors 280 and 285 may be much less than a space between adjacent beam conductors. For example, if a space between beam conductors is 1 um, the beam conductors' width may be less than 0.1 um. Thus, in each of detectors 150(3), 150(4), 150(5) and 150(6), the proportion of area that beam 110 cannot penetrate the thick beam conductors may be less than 10%. Amplifier Gain An overall electron-beam amplifier gain depends on deflection and detection gain and an output coupling impedance. Beam deflector, drift cavity and detector geometries can generally be chosen to (1) provide a given level of gain and frequency response, and (2) achieve 100% differential beam collection at a maximum deflector input voltage. That is, in the example of FIG. 1, a maximum positive deflector input voltage will direct 100% of the beam current into detector segment 150(1) and zero beam current into segment 150(2); a maximum negative deflector input voltage will direct zero beam current into segment 150(1) and 100% beam current into segment 150(2). A differential transconductance gain gm of electron-beam amplifier 10 is a ratio of a maximum output current swing 2IBEAM to a maximum input voltage VMAX, multiplied by a detector gain KDET, or g m = 2 I BEAM V MAX K DET ( 1.1 ) The factor of 2 reflects the fact that the signaling is differential. For example, when a beam current is 100 μA, a maximum peak deflector voltage drive is 1V and a detector gain is 1000, the differential transconductance gain is 100 mA/volt. When output network 190 has a differential impedance Z0=100 ohms, the amplifier voltage gain Gv=gm Z0 equals 10. A power gain Gp is given by a ratio of an AC input power, Vin2/2RIN, to an AC output power, V OUT 2 / 2 R OUT = ( G V V IN ) 2 / 2 R OUT : ( 1.2 ) G P = R IN R OUT ( V OUT V IN ) 2 = R IN R OUT G V 2 ( 1.3 ) where RIN is an input impedance and ROUT is an output impedance. With equal input and output impedances (e.g., 50 ohms), power gain GP may be 20 db or more. For larger input impedances, the power gain will be larger. For instance, for an input impedance of 1 kohm, a differential output impedance of 100 ohm and a voltage gain of 10, GP is 1000, or 60 db. High frequency systems typically do not utilize high input source impedances, but specialized systems may. Other Detector Shapes and Beam Spots FIG. 7A through FIG. 7B show various geometric embodiments of detector segments 150 and beam spots 170 that are drawn approximately to scale with one another for purposes of comparison. Diagonally segmented detectors 150(1), 150(2) and sheet beam spot 170(1) of FIG. 7A (and FIG. 1) illustrate a first embodiment that is characterized by very linear amplifier response, simple spot creation, and conceptual simplicity for purposes of illustration. The embodiment of FIG. 7A is also characterized by a large detector, slow response, and low gain. The low gain stems from a large beam deflection angle required for full scale detector output, and a low beam current of a sheet beam. The gain can be increased by decreasing detector segment width, as shown in detector segments 150(7) and 150(8) of FIG. 7 B, but with some sacrifice in linearity, and the detector is still large. High Speed Detector FIG. 7C shows detector segments 150(9) and 150(10) separated by a vertical slot 160(2). The detector embodiment of FIG. 7C has a rectangular beam spot 170(2), and has a smaller size, a faster response and a higher beam current than the embodiments of FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B. Unlike a detector made of triangular segments and excited by a line spot, the detector embodiment of FIG. 7C has a much smaller detector, only about twice as large as beam spot 170(2). Detector segments 150(9) and 150(10) have lower parasitic junction capacitance and contact resistance than detector segments 150(1), 150(2), 150(7) and 150(8), and thus may support operation at higher frequencies. Beam spot 170(2) permits high beam current by dispersing beam charge over an area, rather than a line. Detector segments 150(9) and 150(10) are small, with a height of segments 150(9) and 150(10) matching the height of beam spot 170(2), resulting in lower parasitic capacitance and wider bandwidth into an output impedance. Vertical slot 160(2) enables linear differential beam collection, with some sacrifice of linearity because of the small dimensions. In a preferred embodiment, a height of a beam spot is slightly greater than a height of corresponding detector segments, placing current density variation substantially outside the detector segments. FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B show exemplary variation in beam current density in a rectangular e-beam 170(6) and a circular beam 170(7). Contour lines A, B, C and D of each of beams 170(6) and 170(7) represent regions of greatest to least current density, respectively; in particular, each contour line A encloses a region of maximum current density. Graphs below electron beams 170(6) and 170(7) show the beam current density as a function of position across each e-beam at a midpoint that is indicated by dashed lines M-M′ on each e-beam. Beam spots 170 (i.e., including beam spot 170(1), 170(2) and so on) shown in the accompanying drawings other than FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B correspond to maximum current density contour line A of FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, and do not show variations in beam current density which may occur around edges of each beam spot. When a beam spot 170 is larger than a corresponding detector segment 150, most of a beam current density variation may fall outside detector segment 150, where it has no effect. Thus, the region of the most uniform spot current density (i.e., an interior of a beam spot 170) sweeps across a vertical slot 160, enabling high linearity of differential beam collection. Any portion of an beam spot 170 that falls outside a detector segment 150 is collected by a passive metallic anode and returned to ground. The linearity of the detector of FIG. 7C depends strongly on a uniform beam current density. FIG. 7D shows a version that is more linear in the presence of beam current density variation. Beam spot 170(3) is made somewhat larger than detector segments 150(9) and 150(10) so that beam current density variations fall outside the detector segments. This configuration incurs some loss of beam current and amplifier gain due to the portion of beam current that falls outside detector segments 150(9) and 150(10). FIG. 7E shows a version that has both high speed and higher power. Detector segments 150(11) and 150(12) are stretched in height, and beam spot 170(4) is increased in area, so that more beam current can be delivered without incurring focusing distortions from space charge spreading, as explained below. Unipolar Detector In certain embodiments, a unipolar detector for driving only one output load may be preferred. Two versions are shown in FIG. 7F and FIG. 7G. Unipolar detectors 150(13) and 150(14) have only one of the two segments of the previously described differential detectors (e.g., FIG. 7A through FIG. 7E). The area surrounding detector segments 150(13) and 150(14) are ground or power planes (not shown), and a slot (not shown) exists between this ground plane and the detector segment. The unipolar detector configuration may drive a single output load, such as the unbalanced port of a balun. Many detector configurations are possible for optimizing electron-beam amplifier operation and performance. Certain configurations will be described in the embodiments that follow, but others will be evident to those skilled in the art, as depending on the basic elements of a shaped e-beam spot and a high-gain detector consisting of one or more segments that are shaped. Linearity Requirements One attribute of many amplifiers is linearity of amplification. The linearity of RF amplifiers is characterized by a quantity known as a third order input intercept point (“IIP3”) that characterizes an input referred power of distortion products (i.e., an output distortion power divided by amplifier gain) in relation to an input signal power. IIP3 measures the most significant distortion product, a third harmonic, referred to an input of an amplifier. Fully differential operation of certain systems may eliminate the second and other even harmonics, or at least reduce them well below the third harmonic; thus the third harmonic is a useful measure of total non-linearity, including 5th, 7th, and higher orders, as well as intermodulation products. IIP3 describes the concept that a ratio of third harmonic output power to signal output power may increase in direct proportion to a first harmonic input signal power (this ratio is the same when referred to the input). That is, small input signals may generate small distortion products, since the non-linearities present in an amplifier are less significant for the small input signals, while large input signals may generate proportionately larger distortion products. The output of an amplifier operating with large signals may “clip” peaks in an output waveform (i.e., the peaks of amplified signals may not achieve appropriate values, because such values would exceed the maximum voltages available). Generally, for a 3 dB increase in small-signal output power, third harmonic output power increases by 9 dB. Even if the third harmonic output power is much smaller than a linear output power under small-signal conditions, if the input increases sufficiently, the third harmonic output power may equal and even exceed it. The point where input signal power and the third harmonic output power are equal is called the third order intercept point. IIP3 is usually an extrapolated figure of merit since linear output power cannot usually reach this level of power because of gain compression (i.e., where amplifier gain starts to diminish at high signal levels). FIG. 9 illustrates relationships among the fundamental output power, second harmonic output power, and third harmonic output power for an exemplary amplifier. Horizontal axis 300 is an input power axis and vertical axis 310 is an output power axis; both are logarithmically scaled. Curve 320 shows input referred output power at a fundamental (i.e., the input) harmonic (i.e., at an input frequency when the input is a single frequency tone); curve 330 shows input referred output power at the second harmonic; curve 340 shows input referred output power at the third harmonic. An intercept of curve 320 and curve 340 is IIP3. IIP3 is a valid figure of merit for many amplifiers in a restricted range of actual operation. Higher IIP3 implies better amplifier performance in rejecting distortion, even if an amplifier cannot operate at an input signal level indicated by an IIP3 specification. A well-made low noise amplifier (“LNAs”) may achieve an IIP3 of +5 dbm. That is, 3 mW input signal power will generate 3 mW of distortion (referred back to the input). Certain amplifiers may achieve an IIP3 of +20 dbm or +40 dbm, but these performance figures may not be achieved at frequencies that exceed a few hundred MHz. Generally, the higher an operating frequency and the wider an operating bandwidth, the more difficult it is to achieve a high IIP3. Electron-beam amplifier 10 may achieve an IIP3 as high or higher than typical solid-state amplifier, such as +40 dbm or better, at frequencies of many GHz, and potentially up to K band (40 GHz) or higher. This may be shown by considering an input-referred effect of third harmonic distortion as described by a transfer function of the form y=x+a3x3: Vin=V1+a3V13=V1(1+a32Z0P1) (1.4) where Vin is an input voltage, V1 is an input deflection voltage corresponding to a maximum beam deflection (e.g., a peak sinusoidal input cos(ωt)), a3 is a third harmonic distortion coefficient, Z0 is an input impedance, and P1 is an extrapolated input power. At a very high IIP3 of +50 dbm, P1 is 100 W from a 50 ohm source Z0. At an IIP3 intercept point, third harmonic power is the same as input power, so solving the above equation, the third harmonic distortion coefficient is a 3 = 1 2 Z 0 · IIP3 ( watts ) = 1 × 10 - 4 , ( 1.5 ) or 0.01%. This harmonic distortion coefficient is of the same order of magnitude as the manufacturing tolerances that may be achieved in a microfabricated embodiment of the electron-beam amplifier (for example, the reproducibility that may be achieved in the beam spot and the detector and slot geometries). For example, a detector of 10 um width may be made with segment tolerances of about 1 nm, about 10,000 times smaller than the width. Given the wide bandwidth of the electron-beam amplifier, it is possible to achieve high IIP3, and by the wideband nature of the amplifier, can achieve such high IIP3 at extremely high frequencies. Distortion Compensation Solid-state amplifiers have little flexibility in eliminating distortion. For example, low distortion requires high bias levels and amplifier bandwidth much wider than a signal bandwidth; reducing output signal level as a fraction of total bias level, in turn reducing the range and effect of non-linearities. The high bias levels lead to excessive power consumption in exchange for minor linearity improvement. Non-linearity of electron-beam amplifier 10 is primarily related to non-ideal deflector apparatus 130, a shape and a current density of beam spot 170 and a shape of detector segment(s) 150. The most difficult linearity parameters to control are deflector apparatus 130 and beam current density. Though deflector apparatus 130 inherently has a linear response, fringing fields are unavoidable and difficult to compensate in a compact electron-beam amplifier 10. Beam current density is also difficult to control because of space-charge spreading effects and variations in currents among individual e-beams 120. High linearity in electron-beam amplifier 10 can be achieved by optimizing the geometry of apparatus 130 and regulating beam currents of individual e-beams 120 with control loops to assure a uniform, controlled beam spot current density. Residual beam spot and deflection distortion can be compensated by appropriately shaping a geometry of beam spot(s) 170, and slot(s) 160 separating detector segment(s) 150. As discussed above, beam spot 170 is an outline of a cross-sectional current density of e-beam 110 where it impinges upon detector(s) 150. This current density may be non-uniform, and a “spot shape” is simply a contour of some value of current density. For many configurations of electron-beam amplifier 10, it may be convenient to assume that this current density is essentially uniform within the spot, and zero outside. It can be appreciated that simply referring to the “beam spot” may facilitate understanding of the basic principles of electron-beam amplifier 10. Non-uniform beam spots 170 may occur for many reasons, including imperfect electron gun focusing, thermal agitation of electrons, space charge spreading, imperfect focusing of multiple e-beams 120 into a single beam spot 170, and quantum effects. In electron-beam amplifier 10, the beam spot 170 and detector segments 150 may be shaped to effectively eliminate many distortion effects, substantially extending the linearity and utility of the amplifier. Slot Deformation Linearity Correction FIG. 1 shows a simple arrangement of electron-beam amplifier 10(1) for conceptual purposes, with a pair of complementary triangular detector segments 150(1) and 150(2) and a narrow sheet beam 10 that generates a line spot 170. It can be seen that when beam 110 is centered with zero deflection, both of segments 150(1) and 150(2) collect equal amounts of beam current. As beam 110 is displaced left or right, output currents I1 and I2 (180(1) and 180(2) in FIG. 1) change in proportion to the deflection. Ideally, this arrangement generates no distortion at all; for example, as long as line spot 170 is straight and has a uniform current density from top to bottom. FIG. 10 shows a distorted amplifier transfer curve and a corrected amplifier transfer curve. When a shape of beam spot 170 is distorted but is otherwise uniform in current density, a transfer curve of the amplifier may become distorted; curve 360 is an example of a distorted transfer curve. FIG. 11 shows three embodiments of detectors shaped to adjust amplifier transfer function characteristics. Detector segments 150(15) and 150(16), separated by slot 160(3), may compensate for a distorted beam spot 170(6) and a corresponding transfer function distortion illustrated in curve 360 of FIG. 10. Slot 160(3) has a geometry that makes a differential increase in collected current constant as a function of spot displacement X; that is, slot 160(3) keeps d(ΔIOUTPUT)/dX constant until the maximum value of ΔIOUTPUT is reached. Curve 370 in FIG. 10 shows an amplifier transfer curve that may be generated by the use of detector segments 150(1-5) and 150(16). The principle of slot deformation can extend to other shapes of beam spots 170 and detector geometries 150. For example, in some configurations it may be convenient to utilize a circular spot shape rather than a line spot; others might employ a triangular shape. Other embodiments may unavoidably have beam spots 170 with non-uniform current density. Detector Shaping Linearity Correction Because slot 160(2) between high speed detector segments 150(9) and 150(10) of FIG. 7C is always covered by beam spot 170(2), it cannot be deformed to correct for a non-linearities caused by beam spot current density variation or an imperfect rectangular spot shape. Instead, distortion may be corrected by shaping the geometry of the detector without altering the spot. This is illustrated in detector segments 150(17), 150(18), 150(19), and 150(20) of FIG. 11. A shape of beam spot 170(7), of course, may also be altered, but precise distortion correction is generally more easily achieved by shaping detector segments 150. When a beam spot 170 is larger than corresponding detector segments 150, a proportion of beam current collected by the detector segments and collected by a surrounding ground plane changes as the spot is swept. Thus, with appropriate shaping, a linearity of differential collection can be improved. Beam Centering Proper operation of electron-beam amplifier 10 requires centering of e-beam 110 on detector segments 150, since a displacement of the beam with respect to a center position generates an amplifier output signal. Because of manufacturing tolerances in mechanical construction of the amplifier (including for example tolerances in geometries within beam deflection apparatus 130(1), and in axial alignment of deflection apparatus 130(1) to detector segments 150) the beam may be displaced from the center position when the voltage signal 140 is zero. For this reason, a feedback amplifier may be incorporated to center e-beam 110 through use of an offset control loop. FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B show two embodiments of a beam offset control loop. FIG. 12A shows a beam offset control loop 375 with an integrator 380 coupled to receive a differential detector output 382 (1) and 382 (2), and coupling (as explained below) from an integrator output 384 to a deflection apparatus 130(2). Deflection apparatus 130(2) can be a distributed structure, but FIG. 12B shows a single deflection apparatus for purposes of illustration. In beam offset control loop 375, a differential voltage ΔV develops when currents from detector segments 150 are applied to a load. Integrator 380 filters and amplifies ΔV over time to generate a correction signal VOS, which is a measure of a misalignment of beam 120 with respect to a center position 390 between detector segments 150. VOS is applied to deflection apparatus 130(2) as described below. Correction signal VOS acts to restore an average beam position so that it stays centered between detector segments 150. A static gain of electron-beam amplifier 10 may be high enough that a residual offset is negligible. In beam offset control loop 375, the coupling from integrator output 384 to deflection apparatus 130(2) includes a summing circuit 400. Correction signal VOS is summed with an RF voltage input VIN being amplified, and the sum of these signals is applied to a single deflection apparatus 130(2). In a beam offset control loop 376 shown in FIG. 12B, VIN is applied to one deflection apparatus 130(3) and the correction signal is applied to a separate deflection apparatus 130(4). FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B show two circuit embodiments of integrators for beam centering. FIG. 13A shows an integrator embodiment 410 made from transistors in a standard cascaded differential pair with a current mirror load. Detector output voltages V1 and V2 are generated by currents, from detector segments 150(21) and 150(22) that are shown schematically here as diodes, driving output loads 420(1) and 420(2). A voltage difference V1−V2 corresponds with an instantaneous beam offset. Transistors 430(1) and 430(2) respond to V1−V2 by generating currents Ia and Ib, while rejecting common-mode voltage of V1 and V2. The current mirror copies and reflects Ia to generate Ic, which in turn generates filter current IF=I1−Ib feeding capacitor CF. When a composite beam (not shown) is offset towards detector segment 150(21), V1<V2 and IF causes VOS to increase, forcing the beam away from detector segment 150(21). Conversely, if the beam is offset towards detector segment 150(22), V1>V2 and IF causes VOS to decrease, forcing the beam away from detector segment 150(22). A filtering action of CF makes the circuit of FIG. 13A responsive to the average beam position, and non-responsive to the input signal. High impedance of current sources Ic and Ib into the high DC impedance of the capacitive deflector load generates a high gain response at low frequencies. Thus, an average position of the beam is centered. FIG. 113B shows another integrator embodiment 450 employing an operational amplifier (“opamp”) 460. Again, detector output voltages V1 and V2 are generated by currents from detector segments (not shown) driving output loads 470(1) and 470(2) with values of R1 and R2 respectively. The circuit of FIG. 13B also includes capacitors 480 and 490, with values of C1 and C2 respectively. By utilizing a nodal analysis, the output VOS is seen to respond to the average of V1 and V2 according to V OS = - 1 sR 1 C 1 ( V 1 - V 2 ) + V 2 1 + sR 2 C 2 ( 1.6 ) for frequencies f>>½πR2C2, where s is a Laplace frequency variable equal to j2πf. At high frequencies, the second term is near zero, and the device acts as an integrator with a time constant τ1=R1C1. At low frequency, the first term still dominates because V 1 - V 2 sR 1 C 1 V 2 . ( 1.7 ) Thus, integrator 450 has feedback loop characteristics similar to those of integrator 410; both are suitable for beam centering in certain embodiments of electron-beam amplifier 10. In certain other embodiments of electron-beam amplifier 10, it may be advantageous to have dedicated detector segments, called “offset sense segments,” for measuring beam offset. FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B show a control loop configuration, an integrator circuit, and several offset sense segment configurations for implementing beam offset control. FIG. 14A shows a beam offset control loop 377 with construction similar to beam offset control loop 376 of FIG. 12B. A portion of a beam 120 strikes offset sense segments 150(23) and 150(24), generating currents I1 and I2 that are fed into inputs 510(1) and 510(2) of an integrator 500. An output 520 of integrator 500 connects with beam deflection apparatus 130(5) to apply a correction to beam 120. FIG. 14B shows an integrator 530 which is simpler than integrator 410(i.e., the amplifier need not decouple an input RF signal). FIG. 15A through FIG. 15.D show several offset sense segment configurations. FIG. 1SA shows arrangement 551 which includes detector segments 150(25) and 150(26) with offset sense segments 540(1) and 540(2), a simple arrangement that provides a signal for controlling beam offset in one direction for one pair of detector segments. FIG. 15B shows arrangement 552 which includes detector segments 150(27), 150(28), 150(29) and 150(30) with offset sense segments 540(3) and 540(4); this arrangement supports two pair of detector segments but still provides a signal for controlling beam offset in only one direction. FIG. 1SC shows arrangement 553 which includes detector segments 150(31) and 150(32) with offset sense segments 540(5), 540(6), 540(7) and 540(8). Arrangement 553 may provide more balanced offset signals if there is current density gradation around the edge of beam spot, and a suitable pair of integrators (not shown) may derive offset control signals in a sweep direction (horizontal in this view) and an orthogonal direction (vertical in this view). FIG. 1 SD shows arrangement 554 which includes detector segments 150(31) and 150(32) with offset sense segments 540(5), 540(6), 540(7) and 540(8). Arrangement 554 may also be used to derive control signals in a two directions, and a pair of integrators corresponding to arrangement 554 may be simpler than the pair of integrators corresponding to arrangement 553, there being a dedicated set of offset sense segments in each axis. However, arrangement 554 requires a larger beam spot to overlap around detector segments 150(33) and 150(34), resulting in lower amplifier gain due to lost beam current; offset sense segments are also more susceptible to current density variations in arrangement 554 than in arrangement 553. Microminiaturized Fabrication Electron-beam amplifier 10 may be made with microminiaturized construction using wafer-based semiconductor fabrication technology. Microminiaturized deflectors may be as little as 1 μm long and may produce a frequency response greater than 1 THz. Single electron guns may have a cross-section of a few microns, and entire arrays of hundreds of guns may generate a precise beam with a diameter of 100 μm or less. Electron-beam detectors may be as small as a few microns, with femto-farad parasitic capacitance and THz bandwidth. An entire amplifier may have dimensions of only a few millimeters and thousands of amplifiers may be batch produced simultaneously with low cost, high yield and reliability characteristic of conventional integrated circuits. FIG. 16A shows a dimension of one microfabricated electron-beam amplifier 10(2). Outer dimensions of the amplifier AX, AY, and AZ may be, for example, 5 mm. FIG. 16B shows another dimension of electron-beam amplifier 10(2). A height hega of electron gun array 100(2) may be in the range of 50 μm to 200 μm. A diameter zdrift of drift cavity 560 may be, for example, 3 mm, and a drift cavity length Zdrift may be 2 mm. Manufacturing of a microminiaturized electron-beam amplifier may include fabrication, alignment, and bonding of individual elements such as field emission cathodes, beam focusing electrodes, deflector plates and other components into electron gun assemblies called “microcolumns” or “electron gun microcolumns” herein. Techniques such as photolithography, etching, deposition, implantation, plating, multi-level metallization, wafer bonding, and possibly other methods may be used to assemble components such as microcolumns, drift cavities, detectors, output coupling networks and bias circuitry into a monolithic device. Entire wafers may be constructed as arrays of amplifiers, for individual use or to work in concert. Silicon wafers are useful substrates for forming certain components because of silicon's low cost and because diverse fabrication techniques are available. For example, field emission cathodes on silicon wafers, including the molybdenum tips called Spindt cathodes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,241, have been especially successful. Wet etching may be employed for large drift cavities, and dry etching methods such as deep reactive ion etching can cut very small, precise, high-aspect ratio features such as the beam contact grid of the detector. Critical holes in electron guns can be fabricated with even more precise focused ion-beam and laser drilling. Multi-level planarized metallization processes using chemical and mechanical polishing (“CMP”) may form many of the electrodes, especially those in the microcolumn electron guns. Aluminum, gold, copper, nickel, tungsten and other metals are widely applied with both sputtering, vacuum deposition and plating techniques. Semiconductor devices (for example, bias circuits, output networks and other circuitry for use with electron-beam amplifier 10) may be formed concurrently with other electron-beam amplifier components on a silicon substrate, using similar, compatible techniques. High aspect ratio etching technologies and waferbonding are characteristic of what is called “micromachining” or micro-electrical mechanical systems (“MEMS”) technology. Because of the complex three-dimensional geometries, different elements of the device may be constructed on separate substrates, and these substrates can be assembled into a single unit. Many methods of bonding wafers exist today, such as, for example, eutectic or fusion bonding. Techniques for wafer bonding have also been developed to create vacuum-encapsulated cavities, which are useful for electron beam devices, e.g., as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,680 issued to Davis and U.S. Pat. No. 6,479,320B1 issued to Gooch. Furthermore, SiO2 gettering materials are compatible with silicon semiconductor processing and have been demonstrated to sustain ultra-high vacuum and enhance cathode lifetime in electron guns, e.g., as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,214 issued to Takenaka et al.. Space Charge Spreading A primary reason for limited beam current in any e-beam amplifier is an inherent, electric-field induced repulsion between beam electrons, which forces apart electrons in a focused beam, and is called “space charge spreading”. In high current beams, the forces are substantial, and as electrons travel through a drift cavity, these forces can spoil an initial focus that may exist just after a beam exits from an electron gun. FIG. 17 illustrates a space charge spreading effect in a high current electron beam. Electron-beam 110′ traveling in a direction shown by arrow Z spreads as it travels. Coulomb's Law describes a force between two electrons: F ∝1/R2, (1.8) where R is a distance between adjacent electrons. Since, for any two electrons at random positions within a beam, R is proportional to the radius r of the beam, so an average repulsive force between electrons decreases (to first order) quadratically with the total radius of a beam, for the same total beam current. Thus, a beam of 10 um diameter will have 100 times less repulsive force than a beam of 1 um diameter. Electron Gun Arrays An embodiment of an electron-beam amplifier minimizes space charge spreading by using a two-dimensional (“2-D”) array of electron guns. Like a linear (i.e., one-dimensional) array, a 2-D array of electron guns generates individual electron beams that are emitted as parallel beams from an emission plane (e.g., emission plane 20). FIG. 18 shows one embodiment of a two-dimensional microcolumn array, and an associated electron beam and detector. Microcolumn array 570 emits e-beam 110(2) towards detectors 150(1) and 150(2). As described below, electron optics consisting of a first electrode 580(1) and a third electrode 590(1) focus composite e-beam 110(2) consisting of individual e-beams 120 to a beam spot 170(8). Each e-beam 120 has a current that is low enough that space charge spreading within the e-beams is negligible over the length zdrift of a drift cavity, (e.g., drift cavity 145). The electron gun array spaces the e-beams sufficiently far apart so that the space charge repulsion between adjacent beamlets is also negligible over the length of the drift cavity. The aggregate sum of the individual e-beams is termed here the composite electron beam. The low Coulomb force interactions within individual e-beams reduces beam spreading in proportion to a cross-sectional area of the beam, permitting higher total beam current for a given amount of spreading force. For example, a linear array of electron guns emitting N e-beams of current I will have approximately the same spreading force as a circular two-dimensional electron gun array emitting N2 e-beams of current I. The circular array will have N times higher current for the same spreading force. From this example, it may be appreciated that a 2-D arrays of electron guns provides a significant reduction in space charge spreading forces in a microminiaturized electron-beam amplifier 10. In combination with beam current amplification from an active detector 150, and optical focusing techniques described below, electron-beam amplifier 10 achieves higher gain and power, and requires no (large, heavy and costly) magnets. Thus, microminiaturized amplifier construction is possible, with attendant advantages including, for example, high bandwidth and low cost. Distributed Deflector Array To achieve high-gain deflection performance with a two-dimensional array of beams, it is not possible to simply pass all electron beams through a single large pair of deflection plates. A beam originating at an emission plane (e.g., emission plane 20) with a diameter corresponding to a 2-D electron gun array would require a deflector with a plate spacing that is too large to generate sufficient beam deflection at reasonable voltage drives. This reduces amplifier gain unacceptably, unless the plate lengths were made correspondingly longer; however, longer plates reduce bandwidth performance proportionately. For example, if an electron gun array has a diameter of 100 μm at an emission plane, a deflector with 100 μm plate spacing would have 100 times less deflection force than a deflector with a plate spacing of only 1 μm. To get the same beam deflection as the deflector with 1 μm plate spacing, the deflector with 100 μm plate spacing would have to be 100 times longer. Disadvantages of large deflectors include low bandwidth, and a physical size that is incompatible with microminiaturized construction. In the above example, bandwidth of the 100 μm long deflector is 100 times lower than bandwidth of a 1 μm deflector for a single e-beam. Large deflectors may also have uneven electric field gradients between deflector plates. For a large diameter beam, this causes uneven deflection for different parts of the beam; in an array of individual e-beams, it causes different deflections for different e-beams. In either case, beam misfocusing results, causing amplifier gain distortion. One advantage of the instrumentalities described herein is the incorporation of independent, matched deflectors at the output of each individual electron gun in an array of electron guns. Each electron gun and a corresponding deflector is part of a single microcolumn. FIG. 19 shows a set of independent matched deflectors 130 corresponding to individual electron beams 120. Each deflector 130 has two plates (e.g., plates 600(1), 600(2)) spaced only slightly further apart than a diameter of each electron beam 120, thereby providing a strong deflection force with a short deflector, for high bandwidth. The electric field gradients of a small deflector may be more uniform across the region where a single beamlet passes through. In a microfabricated device, plate spacing and length may be less than 1 μm. Microfabricated plate tolerances may be controlled to under 1 nm, so that deflectors of all microcolumns are matched to 0.1% or better, so that all e-beams are deflected the same amount for the same drive signal. A set of deflectors (“ganged deflectors”) driven in this manner constitutes a distributed deflector structure that provides uniform deflection to an array of e-beams, with high gain and fast, wideband response. FIG. 20A shows a three-dimensional cutaway view and FIG. 20B shows an end view of a microcolumn or electron gun 610(1) of an electron-beam amplifier 10. Visible in FIG. 20A are a Spindt cathode 620(1), focusing electrodes 630, an aperture plate 640(1), X deflector plates 600(3), 600(4) and a shield plate 650(1) with a hole 655 (1). In FIG. 20B, deflector plates 600(3), 600(4) are partially hidden by shield plate 650(1); shield plate 650(1), deflector plates 600(3), 600(4) and aperture plate 640(1) completely hide focusing electrodes 630. Microcolumn 610(1) emits electron beam 120(not shown in the end view). It can be appreciated in these pictures that the mechanical complexity of the device makes microfabrication of microcolumn 610(1) essential, as construction by conventional machining at the required size would be difficult or impossible. Microcolumn with X-Y Deflectors. X-Y deflection is required for certain embodiments of electron-beam amplifier 10. This is enabled by adding a second beam deflector to each electron gun. It will be appreciated that the use of “X” and “Y” is for reference only; actual beam sweep directions in an electron-beam amplifier 10 are a matter of design choice, but X and Y are meant to convey two orthogonal directions in which an electron beam may be swept. FIG. 21A shows a three-dimensional cutaway view and FIG. 21B shows an end view of a microcolumn or electron gun 610(2) configured for X-Y deflection. A pair of X deflection plates 600(3) and 600(4) and a pair of Y deflection plates 600(5) and 600(6) are positioned in close proximity to shield plate 650(2). Deflection plates 600(3) and 600(4) are orthogonal to plates 600(5) and 600(6), as shown; each pair of plates is separated from the other pair by an aperture plate 651 (1). A width (but not plate spacing) of plates 600(5) and 600(6) may be increased relative to a height of deflection plates 600(3) and 600(4) to accommodate the deflection generated by plates 600(3) and 600(4). Cathode 620(1), focusing electrodes 630, and aperture plate 640(1) are the same as in microcolumn 610(1) of FIG. 20A. Microcolumn 610(2) emits beam 120 through opening 655 (2) in shield plate 650(2). In the end view of microcolumn 610(2), deflector plates 600(5), 600(6) are partially hidden by shield plate 650(2), deflector plates 600(3), 600(4) are partially hidden by shield plate 650(2) and deflector plates 600(5), 600(6), and deflector plates 600(3), 600(4) and aperture plate 640(1) completely hide focusing electrodes 630. Again, the deflector geometries, shield plates and apertures are created through microfabrication. As discussed below, X-Y deflection makes possible other embodiments of electron-beam amplifier 10 such as, for example, combinational logic, certain frequency multipliers, and certain radiating amplifiers that require polarization of an RF output. Deflector Loading Loading of an array of ganged deflectors is low. For example, if each deflector consists of two 1 um×1 um deflector plates with a spacing of 1 um between plates, a capacitance per deflector is only 8.85 aF (10−18 F). 100 deflectors in an array of 100 electron guns will have a total capacitance of only 0.9 fF (10−15 F). A 3 dB bandwidth (=½πZ0CLOAD) of a 50 ohm source driving the deflector array capacitance is 3.6 THz. The loading of an array of deflectors thus has little effect on the device performance, and enables a wide bandwidth that is compatible with that of the other system elements. Electron Gun FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a microcolumn or electron gun 610(3). Microcolumn 610(3) includes a cathode 620(2), a control gate 625, focusing electrodes 630, an aperture plate 640(2), a drift region 645, voltage signal 140(2), deflection plates 600(7), 600(8) and a shield plate 650(3). Cathode 620(2) may be a field emitter (“FE”) and may be a molybdenum tip (e.g., a Spindt cathode) because of its high gain, emission efficiency, low power, maturity and compatibility with microfabrication technology; however, other field emitter types may be employed, including Schottky, diamond, etched silicon tip, and carbon nanotube. Advantages of a field emission cathode include no requirement of a heating element, instantaneous start-up, low-voltage (10V-50V) operation, and low energy electron emittance (with an energy spread <0.3V), leading to low chromatic dispersion in the electron beam focusing, as discussed below. The basic operation of the electron gun is as follows. A strong voltage between control gate 625 and cathode 620(2) (typically in the range of +10 to +50V) creates a strong electric field around cathode 620(2) that causes a release of electrons into free space. A current transported by the electrons may be described by the Fowler-Nordheim theory of electron flux over an energy barrier. Electrons may be released in the direction of the gate, with an angular distribution and an energy approximately equal to the potential difference between control gate 625 and cathode 620(2). By appropriate design, most of the electrons pass through the center of the gate electrode, and from there, they are focused within the electron microcolumn, as explained below. Many electron gun microcolumn designs may be conceived as variations on the teachings herein to collimate electrons from a field emission tip into a narrow parallel beam. Electron Gun Current An electron gun 610 may be designed with a low enough beam current so that individual beam electrons are separated, on average, by a distance greater than the beam diameter. As a result, the electrons are far enough apart that mutual repulsion is minimized, so that space charge effects do not materially affect focusing. Electron gun beams may have a diameter <1 μm and a maximum current of approximately 1 μA. This low current is consistent with negligible beam spreading because of a low density of electrons at beam energies typically used (around 100 eV to 300 eV). Generally, a lineal density λ that is a number n of electrons per unit beam length x, is given by λ = ⅆ n ⅆ x = I BEAM qv BEAM ( 1.9 ) where IBEAM is a beam current, q is the electron charge, and vBEAM is a velocity of the electrons, given by vBEAM=√{square root over (2qVBEAM/me)}. (1.9.1) Here, VBEAM is a beam energy in volts, and me is the mass of an electron (9.11×10−31 kg). At 200V, VBEAM is 8.4×106 m/s, and at IBEAM=1 μA, the lineal electron density λ is 0.75 electrons per micron. A 1 μA beam current spaces the electrons apart by approximately the beam diameter, so that the electrons experience no significant lateral Coulomb force interactions or beam spreading. Electron Optics Focusing of electron beams 120 by electron optics can be understood by analogy to geometrical light optics. The advantage of the optical analogy is that it clearly predicts how focusing works for electron beams 120 from any direction, and provides insight into design of focusing fields. If electron beams 120 exiting an emission plane (e.g., emission plane 20) are collimated into parallel beams they may be considered, by analogy, like light rays emitted from an object at an infinite distance from a lens. The lens is analogous to the electron optics. In geometrical optics, parallel rays can be focused to a point on an image plane on another other side of a lens, one focal length away. FIG. 23 shows an optical lens 660 imaging an object 710 into an image 720. Light rays 670 travel from object 710 in an object plane 680 through lens 660 and form image 720 in an image plane 690. The basic Gaussian relation of geometrical optics is 1 f = 1 o + 1 i , ( 1.10 ) where f=focal length, o=distance from object plane to lens, and i=distance from lens to image plane. (As in light optics, the lens “position” in this case is described in terms of “principal planes” 700(1) and 700(2), which are generally different for the object and image sides of a thick lens, but for purposes of this analogy the principal planes can be assumed coincident in position, which is the “thin lens” approximation from light optics.) In electron optics, a “lens” consists of electrodes of appropriate sizes, shapes, and voltage potentials. FIG. 24A and FIG. 24B show a front and a side view of one electron optics focusing electrode 630. Focusing electrode 630 may be, for example, a conductive plate with a circular hole to allow electrons to pass through. Hole 730 may be centered about an axis 740 which is a transmission axis of electrons through an electron gun. The positional relationship of focusing electrodes 630 to each other, the sizes of holes 730 in each electrode 630, and the voltage potential differences among electrodes 630 create electric fields that may focus moving electrons. The concepts of focal length, object plane and image plane from geometrical light optics apply substantially to electron optics. FIG. 25 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of one accelerating electron lens 750(1). Electrodes 630(1), 630(2) and 630(3) in this idealized case extend much further away from a transmission axis 740 than shown in the drawing. Electrons accelerate in the direction indicated by arrow x. The essence of lens 750(1) is that an electric field gradient (indicated by the spacing of equipotential lines 760) between electrodes 630(1) and 630(2) is greater than the electric field gradient between electrodes 630(2) and 630(3), measured far from transmission axis 740. This can be achieved by selecting appropriate electrode potentials and plate spacing, since an electric field gradient E is given by the formula E=dV/dx from electromagnetic theory. In electron lens 750, electrodes 630(1), 630(2) and 630(3) have potentials V1, V2, and V3 respectively; thus the field gradient between electrodes 630(1) and 630(2) is E12=(V2−V1)/x12 and the gradient between electrodes 2 and 3 is E32=(V3−V2)/x23. For example, if a potential difference (V2−V1) is the same as a potential difference (V3−V2), then a plate spacing x12>x23 will create a stronger gradient between electrodes 2 and 3, and the electrodes will generate a convex lens action by means of an accelerating field. An electrostatic force on an electron will be perpendicular to equipotential lines 760 at each point; accordingly, force vectors exemplified by arrows 770 act to focus electron beams 120 as shown. FIG. 26 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of one decelerating electron lens 750(2). Electrodes 630(4), 630(5) and 630(6) in this idealized case extend much further away from transmission axis 740. An electric field gradient (indicated by the spacing of equipotential lines 760) between electrodes 630(4)and 630(5) is less than the electric field gradient between electrodes 630(5) and 630(6), measured far from transmission axis 740. In this case, if potential difference (V5−V4) is the same as potential difference (V6−V5), plate spacing x45<x56 gives a stronger gradient between electrodes 630(4)and 630(5). Force vectors exemplified by arrows 770 act to focus electron beams 120 as shown (note that arrows 770 point in the negative x direction in lens 750(2) because potentials are decreasing in the positive x direction). It can be understood from electron lenses 750(1) (FIG. 25) and 750(2) (FIG. 26) that an electron lens with “convex action” (in analogy to light optics) may be made from either accelerating or retarding fields; similarly, either accelerating or retarding fields may be used to create an electron lens with “concave action”. A concave lens essentially works with a “negative” focal length, and causes parallel rays to diverge, or converging rays to converge less. Electron Gun Focusing FIG. 27A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a two-lens light optics system and FIG. 27B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a two-lens electron optics system in an electron gun. Each of focusing electrodes 630 is connected to a potential voltage shown above the electrode. The regions marked 750(3) and 750(4) correspond to electron lenses acting on an electron beam 120 which function like corresponding glass lenses 660(2) and 660(3) acting on light rays 670. Lens 750(3) acts like convex lens 660(2), focusing a radial distribution of electron beams 120 from cathode 620 on the other side of the lens. Lens 750(4) acts like concave lens 660(3), converting converging electron beams 120 to a parallel bundle of beams having a very small angular distribution (for example, a fraction of a degree). When a concave lens power of lens 750(4) is matched to a convex lens power of lens 750(3), the converging beams can be made parallel. An aperture plate 640(2) masks stray electrons caused by focusing aberrations to ensure perfect parallelism of electron movement within beam 120, and to ensure that the diameter of beam 120 at an exit aperture 790 is under 1 μm. In electron optics of an electron gun microcolumn, the “lens” may be constructed as a stack of electrodes perforated by circular holes (e.g., focusing electrodes 630). In the microcolumn, electrodes 630 may be metal layers (such as Al) separated by insulating layers (such as SiO2). Potential voltages applied to the electrodes create electric fields in the microcolumn that act on the emitted electrons to produce focusing action. In this way, electrons can be either accelerated or retarded in velocity. Optical Aberrations A limitation of optics, whether for light rays or electron beams, is focusing aberration. Two common aberrations that are relevant to electron-beam amplifiers are spherical and chromatic aberrations. Spherical aberrations are characteristic of off-axis rays that meet the lens at a large angle. These rays are focused closer to the lens than rays that travel at angles close to the lens axis (called “paraxial” rays in optics). Correction of spherical aberrations can be accomplished in light optics through certain deviations of a lens shape from a spherical surface (“aspheric” lenses). In electron optics, analogous corrections can be made by shaping the electric fields via electrode sizes, shapes, spacings and potentials, although no “spherical” surface per se is being corrected. Chromatic aberration is caused in light optics by different wavelengths being bent by different amounts within lenses. Chromatic aberration produces, in a given lens system, longer focal lengths for short wavelengths, and shorter focal lengths for long wavelengths. Correcting chromatic aberration in light optics can be done through certain combinations of lenses made from materials having different indices of refraction (for example, crown glass and flint glass), a combination referred to as an “achromat.” With the right combination of lens materials and curvatures, a lens system can balance chromatic variations in focal length for different lenses and can achieve approximately the same focal length for over a range of wavelengths. In an electron optical system, chromatic effects arise from electrons of different energies. In an electron-beam amplifier, this may occur primarily at the point of emission from the field cathode. The general principle of correction through an achromat combination is analogous to an achromat in light optics; an electron achromat uses lenses of different field gradient densities to achieve the effect of different indices of refraction. However, it is difficult to combine separate lenses of different field densities because of the electrode structures required. An alternative to use of an achromat is to filter electrons of different energies with an aperture stop. This solution operates somewhat like a pinhole camera. FIG. 28A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a three-lens light optics system with an aperture stop, and FIG. 28B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a three-lens electron optics system with an aperture stop in an electron gun. In FIG. 28B, each of focusing electrodes 630 is connected to a potential voltage shown above the electrode. The regions marked 750(5), 750(6) and 750(7) correspond to electron lenses acting on an electron beam 120, which function like corresponding glass lenses 660(4), 660(5) and 660(6) acting on light rays 670 in FIG. 28A. Lens 750(5) acts like convex lens 660(4), focusing a radial distribution of electron beams 120 from cathode 620 on the other side of the lens. However, lens 750(5) and lens 660(4) are optimized for electrons of a certain energy, and light of a certain wavelength, respectively. High energy electrons 121 and high energy (low wavelength) light ray 671 have longer focal lengths than electron beam 120 and light ray 670 respectively; low energy electrons 122 and low energy (long wavelength) light ray 672 have shorter focal lengths. Electron aperture stop 640(3) and optical aperture stop 665 block these high and low energy electrons and light rays respectively. Lens 750(6) and 660(5) refocus the remaining electrons and light rays respectively. Lens 750(7) and concave lens 660(6), convert the converging electron beams 120 and light rays 670, respectively, to parallel bundles. A disadvantage of filtering electron beams with apertures, as opposed to use of an electron achromat, is that some portion of beam current is blocked, reducing efficiency of an electron gun. An advantage is that a beam emerging from an aperture may be well focused and collimated. Spherical and chromatic aberrations may be corrected to produce an electron beam diameter of a few nanometers in a microcolumn that is several millimeters in length, at beam energies of 1 keV and currents up to 50 nA. Generally, higher energies, lower currents, longer columns and short drift distances achieve better focusing. An electron-beam amplifier may require beam focusing on the order of a micron to ensure proper focusing across a drift cavity. Another way of looking at the beam focus requirement is that all e-beams emitted from a microcolumn array should act as if emitted from a single point source at infinite distance. Electron Gun Fabrication The components of an exemplary electron gun microcolumn include an FE tip cathode, a control gate (called a “wehnelt” in some literature), electrodes forming a first lens element, a first aperture plate, electrodes forming a second lens element, a second aperture plate, deflection plates, and a shield plate. The cathode may be a single field emitter tip; alternatively, a heated Schottky or other thermionic emitter may be used. The microfabricated construction of an electron gun in an electron-beam amplifier may follow a sequence of fabricating components on individual silicon wafers, followed by alignment and wafer bonding of the wafers into a stack. FIG. 29 shows an exploded, cross-sectional view of one electron-beam amplifier 10(3) assembled by bonding multiple wafers 800, 810, 820, 840 and 850. Cathodes 620 and control gates 625 are constructed on first silicon or glass wafer 800. Electrodes 630, forming a first lens, and a first aperture plate 640 may be formed on a first side 811 of second wafer 810; one or more lens electrodes 630 and aperture plates 640 may be formed on a second side 812 of wafer 810. More lens electrodes and aperture plates may be formed on a first side 821 of third wafer 820; deflectors 600 and shield plates 650 may be formed on a second side 822 of wafer 821. Wafers 800, 810, and 820 may then be aligned to each other and bonded together; holes 830 may be drilled through these wafers to provide paths for electron passage. Several drift cavity wafers (shown in FIG. 30 as a single wafer 840) and a detector wafer 850 (including detectors 150 and detector connections 155) may be aligned to wafers 800, 810 and 820 and all of the wafers may be bonded together, forming electron-beam amplifier 10(3). FIG. 30 shows an exploded view of wafers 800, 810, 820, 840 and 850 of FIG. 29 in alignment for bonding. In a bonding operation, one wafer may be selected as a reference wafer; the other wafers may be aligned to the reference wafer in a rotational direction θ and translational directions X and Y, before bringing the wafers together in the Z direction and bonding them. The wafers and assembly illustrated in FIG. 29 and FIG. 30 are by way of example only; it may be appreciated that many variations are possible. For example, more or fewer wafers may be used depending on the complexity of the electrode structures and the length of the gun column, and components may be fabricated on either side of any of the wafers. Additional structures such as optical elements and integrated circuits may be fabricated in wafers and bonded into the wafer stack. Wafer bonding technology may provide for electrical conduction, selective interconnection, or insulation between adjacent wafers. Holes of different diameters may be drilled through individual wafers or groups of wafers bonded together (i.e., to produce focusing electrodes with large holes in certain wafers, and aperture stops with small holes in others) before a final bonding step completes a wafer stack. Multiple Focusing Electrodes In electron-beam amplifier 10, multiple microcolumns are advantageously constructed concurrently in a compact array. Making a gun array as small as possible helps create high beam current density with good spot formation. For example, a single microcolumn may have a diameter of 5 μm or less to allow several hundred or more microcolumns to be fabricated in an array having a diameter of approximately 100 μm. It is possible to use large electron lens electrodes achieve aberration-free focusing, as in light optics, in which large lenses improve image quality. In electron optics, as discussed above, perforated electrodes may act as lens elements (see FIG. 25). Circular perforations make spherically symmetrical lenses (called “stigmatic”), and large perforations help electron optics achieve low spherical focusing aberrations that characterize a paraxial (ideal) lens system. Put another way, high performance may result when an electron lens is much larger than a beam diameter. For example, a 1 μm beam may be advantageously focused by a 20 cm lens perforation. These numbers are very approximate, since any properly designed system requires precise specification of plate spacings, number of plates, perforation sizes, plate potentials and mechanical tolerances (since larger perforations are less sensitive to size irregularities). It can be appreciated that large lenses are not compatible with a small diameter microcolumn and a dense gun array. In an improved embodiment of an electron-beam amplifier, small microcolumns having a plurality of small electrodes approximate the focusing of a single large electrode. FIG. 31 shows an electron lens 750(8) constructed from three large electrodes 630(7), 630(8) and 630(9), and a corresponding lens 750(9) constructed from ten small electrodes 630(10) through 630(19). Electrodes 630(7) and 630(10) are at a reference potential within lenses 750(8) and 750(9) respectively. Each equipotential line 760 is identified by a numeral and indicates positions of a potential, and each successive equipotential line 760 indicates a uniform change in potential from the corresponding reference potential (for example, successive lines may indicate 10V, 20V, 30V, and so on). A “bulge” in equipotential lines 760 arises from the stronger field gradient between certain adjacent electrodes as opposed to the field gradient between other adjacent electrodes. Where the potential lines coincide with electrode surfaces, they have the same potential as the corresponding electrode. This is the principle of an improvement to electron-beam amplifier 10. The potential gradients near the centerline of the lens, within the radius of the perforation, can be preserved without a wide diameter lens by using a series of thin, small diameter electrodes. For example, each equipotential line 760 in lens 750(9) has the same spacing and shape as a corresponding equipotential line 760 in the small region between dashed lines 860, 860′ within lens 750(8). Thus, lens 750(9) may provide similar focusing action, within a smaller physical size, as lens 750(8). In the case of an infinite number of differential electrodes, the lens 750(9) performs exactly as lens 750(8). In practice, only a few extra electrodes are required to substantially approximate a large three electrode lens with a small, multi-electrode lens. Beam Current Control Formation of a useful beam spot 170 requires substantially uniform beam current from all electron guns that supply individual beams for the composite beam. Field emission cathode tips (“FE tips”) may have nonuniform current-voltage characteristics (“I-V characteristics”); applying a single potential to a gate electrode 625 of each gun in an electron gun array 100 may result in a beam spot 170 with large current density variations. For this reason, beam current from each electron gun may be individually regulated by a control loop so that each electron gun produces substantially equal current. The gate electrode potential has a significant effect on the electron optical focusing of the microcolumn, and changes in gate potential may significantly defocus the electron gun beam unless compensated by changes in potentials of other electrodes. For this reason, an improved electron-beam amplifier 10 may include circuitry which adjusts certain electron gun focusing electrodes at the same time as the potential of a gate electrode is changed, to maintain constant focusing characteristics. Focusing potentials are generally difficult to determine except by computer analysis. One method of adjusting electron gun focusing potentials in the presence of a current-regulated gate potential consists of an analog-to-digital converter (“ADC”), a digital-to-analog converter (“DAC”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”) that is programmable with digital values. The ADC may be coupled to the gate electrode, to develop a digital word representative of the gate potential. This word is transmitted to the ROM as an address. The ROM functions as a look-up table, and stores DAC codes representative of optimized electrode potentials for any given gate potential measured by the ADC. The DAC responds to the output of the ROM by generating a focusing potential, which may be applied to an electrode. Thus, one or more electrode potentials may be arranged to correlate directly to the gate potential. In alternative embodiments, it may be appreciated that the ROM can be replaced with other means of generating digital values, such as a processor element. FIG. 32 shows one arrangement for controlling beam current and focusing electrode potentials. Beam current control operates by regulating a potential difference between a gate electrode 625 (2) and a corresponding cathode 620(3). A current control loop 865(1) includes a current sensing ballast resistor 870 having a value RBALLAST, and an opamp 880. A positive terminal 882 of opamp 880 is connected with a reference potential 890. A beam current 900 with a value IBEAM flowing through cathode 620(3) develops a ballast potential across ballast resistor 870; this potential may be applied to a second resistor 910 having a value R1, which connects with a negative input 884 of opamp 880, as shown. The voltage difference between the ballast potential and reference potential 890 is an error voltage representative of the difference between a desired current and the actual beam current 900. This error voltage difference is filtered by a capacitor 920 having a value C1 to eliminate noise fluctuations, amplified by opamp 880, and applied to gate electrode 625(2). Changes in potential of gate electrode 625(2) driven by opamp 880 thus make the ballast potential equal to reference potential 890, assuming gain of opamp 880 is high enough to reduce the error voltage difference to a small level. In this manner, reference potential 890 commands a desired current IBEAM. Focusing electrode controller 930 controls potentials of focusing electrodes 630(20), 630(21), 630(22) and 630(23) as follows. An ADC 940 connects with gate electrode 625 (2) and generates a digital gate word 950 which is transmitted to a ROM 960. ROM 960 accepts digital gate word 950 as input and generates electron gun focusing words 970(1), 970(2), 970(3) and 970(4) as output; the electron gun focusing words are transmitted to corresponding DACs 980(1), 980(2), 980(3) and 980(4) which generate gun focusing potentials corresponding to each electron gun focusing word, and transmit the gun focusing potentials to focusing electrodes 630(20), 630(21), 630(22) and 630(23). In a focusing electrode controller (e.g., controller 930) each electrode driven by a ROM (e.g., ROM 960) increases a storage capacity required in the ROM by a number of input levels values resolved by a corresponding ADC (e.g., ADC 940), times the number of DACs, times the number bits of resolution required as input by the corresponding DACs. For example, in the case shown in FIG., if ADC 940 measures gate potential to 6 bit accuracy, the number of input levels resolved is 64; if each of DACs 980(1-4) requires a 7 bit word (e.g., electron gun focusing words 970(1-4)) as input, then the required ROM storage capacity is 64×4×7 bits (1792 bits). The technique used in focusing electrode controller 930 may be extended to control all electrodes of an electron gun that are affected by a gate potential. Each electrode (e.g., electrodes 630) requires one DAC, and the required ROM storage capacity grows proportionately. There is no restriction on the number of bits in the electron gun focusing word supplied to a given DAC. Different DACs may resolve gun focusing potentials to different accuracy levels and may require correspondingly more or fewer bits per electron gun focusing word. For example, electrodes closest to the cathode may require high DAC accuracy and thus more ROM bits. Electrodes further from the cathode (in the microcolumn) may require less DAC accuracy and fewer ROM code bits. Generally, a first aperture plate of the electron gun (e.g., aperture plate 640(1) of FIG. 20A) will block defocusing effects of changes in control gate potential from propagating farther down a microcolumn, and focusing adjustments may be needed for only the first one or two lenses of the microcolumn Typical Mechanical Parameters Electron beam amplifier 10 may be designed or optimized for a parameter space of operation that may include gain, frequency response, bandwidth, power output, efficiency, noise, and drift time. Variables which may be manipulated as matters of design choice include electron gun energy, beam current, number of guns, number of deflection plates per electron gun (horizontal, vertical, cross-axis, blanking, offset centering), drift cavity acceleration, cavity length, detector size, shape and configuration, cascade and avalanche gain, diode material, voltage rating, bias, and output coupling method. Certain combinations of these parameters will result in amplifiers that may have vastly different mechanical dimensions and electrical specifications. For example, the mechanical dimensions shown in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B for a microminiaturized electron-beam amplifier 10(2) include overall packaging dimensions AX and AY of 5 mm. At this size, height hega of electron gun array 100 may be in the range of 50 μm to 200 μm, and a drift cavity length zdrift may be 2 mm. These numbers are merely representative and can vary significantly by application. For example, with a lower power output requirement a lower beam current may be used. With a higher tolerable noise figure, a smaller electron gun array may be used. With lower gain or linearity requirements, drift cavity length zdrift may be shorter and this, in turn, may reduce the length of microcolumns. Smaller gun arrays in turn create smaller beams, so the drift cavity diameter (e.g., ddrift in FIG. 16B) can also be smaller. Thus, a small change in one or two parameters (e.g., power gain and noise figure), may allow a much smaller electron-beam amplifier to meet all requirements. Wideband Feedback Certain systems require an amplifier with almost perfectly linear response such as, for example, a low noise amplifier (“LNA”) which may be used at the front-end of an RF receiver. High gain may not be required of an LNA, but distortion free response may be required to help detect small signals when a large interfering signal is present. For example, an interfering signal may have 1V peak-to-peak (“p-p”) amplitude, and a signal of interest may be 0.1 mV p-p (for example, when a jamming signal is present, or when a high-power transmitter is close to a receiver attempting to detect a distant signal). In such applications, dynamic wideband feedback is often applied to a transistor amplifier to provide controlled gain with very low distortion. The transistor amplifier must be very wideband to operate with the feedback, since as is well known, this may be essential to achieving stable operation with the feedback. The wideband characteristic translates to a short delay through the amplifier; specifically, it is known that for feedback to be applied, the delay through the amplifier should normally be less than ½ cycle of a highest signal frequency for which the amplifier gain exceeds unity, or the feedback will be unstable and the amplifier will oscillate uncontrollably. A delay time of an electron-beam amplifier may depend in part on a drift cavity length zdrift. For example, a 200 eV beam has a beam velocity of 8.4×106 m/s. With a 1 mm cavity, drift time is 119 ps. This is a short interval, but not short enough to use the amplifier with wideband feedback at frequencies for which it has useable gain. Since an electron-beam amplifier may offer significant gain at frequencies of 100 GHz or more (as described below), some embodiments may require a drift time of 5 ps or less. Based on this criterion, if stable feedback is to be applied at 100 GHz, a maximum drift cavity length zdrift is 40 um for a 200 eV beam. A short drift cavity length zdrift has significant impact on parameters of an electron-beam amplifier. Short zdrift may mean that a smaller array of fewer electron guns may be used, since there is less distance over which to focus beams on a detector; but conversely, since less beam spreading occurs over the short zdrift, the guns may operate at a correspondingly higher current. For example, with zdrift of 40 μm, a gun array may have a diameter of 20 μm and may include only 16 guns. Individual beam currents may be on the order of 10 μA, since there will be less beam spreading over a short drift time, while a greater drift cavity length zdrift might only be compatible with beam currents on the order of 1 μA. Total beam current could therefore be 160 μA; not much different than in a long cavity, but higher beam energy may be used to reduce drift time and increase output current with higher cascade gain. For example, an 800 eV beam may provide a drift time of 2.4 ps. This is one-half the time of a 200 eV beam. Thus, feedback can be applied over 200 GHz bandwidth. With a 20 μm drift length, feedback bandwidth may be over 400 GHz. Thus, it can be appreciated that many matters of design choice may be used to optimize an electron-beam amplifier 10 for a particular application, and that feedback may be applied to some electron-beam amplifier configurations to enable very low-distortion performance at high frequencies. Typical Electrical Parameters In typical configurations of an electron-beam amplifier 10, with or without feedback, beam energy may be 200-300 eV, individual electron beam currents may be on the order of 1 μA, detector gain may be 1000, and maximum deflector voltage drive may be 100 mV to 1V. Like mechanical parameters, electrical parameters may range widely according to an intended application. Some parameters are related to mechanical dimensions, while others are more constrained by physics. For example, in most applications, one design objective is to generate an electron beam of maximum current without large spreading forces. At 300 eV energy, this translates to a maximum electron beam current of about 1 μA, based on electron density in the beam (though a shorter or longer drift cavity may increase or decrease the maximum electron beam current somewhat). Another physical limitation is maximum beam energy. High beam energies at higher beam currents can cause excessive heating of a detector. High voltages (thousands of volts) which may be used to generate high beam energies can also cause arcing in a microminiature device, even at low beam currents. High energy also is not compatible with most integrated bias circuitry, which may withstand only a few hundred volts. Thus, a maximum beam energy in a range of 300 eV to 1000 eV is currently preferred. Minimum beam energy is another limitation. If a beam energy is too low, cascade gain of a detector may be inadequate. As discussed above, low cascade gain cannot always be compensated by larger avalanche gain, since avalanche gain is limited by detector junction leakage and radiation sensitivity. Another physical limitation is a minimum beam current which can produce a desired noise figure. Even with an ideal detector, electron beam shot noise (the effect of discrete electrons, rather than a smooth stream of current, striking a detector) is still amplified. Many factors may drive deflector voltage drive range, including individual electron beam diameter, minimum plate spacing that can be manufactured reliably, drift cavity length zdrift, detector size, amplifier gain and input signal range. Since one application of an electron-beam amplifier 10 is as an antenna coupled LNA, its input signal may vary from microvolts to more than 1V. A maximum tolerable deflector voltage is set by the arc-limit of the plates, and may be around 10V per micron of space; if electron-beam amplifier 10 is fed from a solid-state amplifier, a lower limit of about 1V may be set by a voltage breakdown of high-frequency (GHz bandwidth) solid-state transistors. These are not the only factors that constrain the electrical parameters, but illustrate some of the principles underlying the electrical parameter limitations. Deflection Gain Microminiaturization of e-beam dimensions and deflector plate spacing to micron or even submicron dimensions provides two benefits: high deflection gain and fast response. Thus, if plate spacing (e.g., spacing of deflector plates 600) is small, small signal voltages may generate strong electric fields for beam deflection, in turn creating large transverse beam displacement over very short transit times (of a beam through the deflector plates), permitting deflectors with short plate length LP. In practice, deflectors can be shorter than 1 μm, with transit times of much less than 1 ps. A general relation for deflection force F is F=qE, where q is the electron charge and E is the electric field between two deflector plates, approximately E=Vsig/WP, (1.11) where Vsig is an instantaneous signal voltage applied across the plates separated by a spacing WP. FIG. 33 shows how a deflection angle θ relates to a drift cavity length zdrift and a beam displacement ΔX across the drift cavity. A voltage applied across deflector plates 600(9) and 600(10) deflects beam 120 by deflection angle θ, resulting in a displacement ΔX as the beam passes through a drift cavity with length zdrift. Deflector plates only approximate parallel plates, both in physical construction and in transfer function, but the parallel plate approximation may be used for most calculations. The essence of the approximation is that a one-dimensional, uniform electric field exists between two plates; from this, a basic relation may be derived for the deflection angle θ in response to an input signal ΔV. For a parallel plate deflector of plate spacing WP and plate length LP, a ratio of lateral transverse beam velocity vx (imparted by the deflection process) to a longitudinal beam velocity vz is v x v z = Δ V 2 V BEAM = tan Θ = W P L P Δ X z drift ( 1.12 ) where beam energy is VBEAM (in volts). ΔX is lateral displacement of a beam after propagating across a drift region of length zdrift between the deflector and the detector plane. Within an electron-beam amplifier, a ratio GBEAM of lateral beam displacement to a corresponding change in a deflection signal is G BEAM = Δ X Δ V SIG = z drift L P W P 1 2 V BEAM ( 1.13 ) For example, with appropriate choice of WP and LP, a spot of a 100 eV beam may be deflected 71 μm per volt of signal at the detector when drift length zdrift is 1 mm. Longer drift lengths, longer deflectors and smaller plate spacings increase GBEAM; higher beam energies reduce GBEAM. A collection gain Gcoll is a differential current collected by the detector with respect to a change ΔX in beam spot position. Gcoll may depend on width and geometry of a detector. As discussed above, an electron-beam amplifier may be constructed so that its detectors collect substantially all available beam current when a beam is fully deflected across a detector width XD: Gcoll=IBEAM/XD. (1.14) With kC and kA representing detector cascade and avalanche gain factors respectively, and kD=kC kA representing total detector gain, the above formula for Gcoll may be multiplied by kD to give the total amplifier transconductance gain gm, the change in differential output current between the detector segments, with respect to a change of input signal: g m = Δ I out Δ V in = G BEAM G coll k C k A = z drift L P W P 1 2 V BEAM I BEAM X D k D ( 1.15 ) Parameters WP, LP, zdrift and VBEAM can be selected so that: g m = I BEAM Δ V in ( max ) k D ( 1.16 ) For example, if IBEAM=100 μA, ΔVin=1V p-p (i.e., ±0.5V) and kD=1000, the transconductance gain is 100 mS (A/V). However, longer drift regions, smaller detectors and other parametric variations may allow an electron-beam amplifier to provide substantially higher gain from the amplifier, and ganging electron-beam amplifiers can provide even higher gain. Moreover, amplification may be very linear, so an electron-beam amplifier 10 may provide more usable gain than known amplifiers. Deflector Frequency Response Microfabrication also offers an advantage in terms of high frequency performance. When deflector plates (e.g., deflector plates 600) are shrunk to micron-scale dimensions, frequency response between input and output increases dramatically. Physically, the finite bandwidth of a deflector (e.g., deflector 130(1) consisting of matched deflector plates 600) can be understood as the time it takes a single electron to pass through the deflectors, since dynamic changes in deflector drive voltage will filter and average the deflection. For example, first define a transit time τ as the time it takes an electron to traverse the region between deflector plates. If a drive voltage is positive for half of τ and equally negative for the other half of τ, it can be appreciated that the net deflection will be zero. Thus, transit time τ should be designed as much less than a period of a maximum signal frequency. In a parallel plate deflector, a relation of 3 dB bandwidth to τ, or to beam velocity v and plate length LP, may be derived as f 3 DB = .442 τ = 0.442 v Z L P ( 1.17 ) When beam velocity is expressed in terms of the total electron gun accelerating potential VBEAM, the response is f 3 DB = 262 · 10 3 L P V BEAM ( 1.18 ) where f3DB is the frequency at which the deflection gain is reduced to 0.707 (3 db) of the low frequency response. Table 1 shows electron-beam amplifier physical and electrical parameters for selected values of VBEAM, Vin and LP. All entries in Table I assume WP is 1 μm and zdrift is 1000 μm. As shown in Table 1, frequency response of the deflector may exceed 1 THz. XDET The calculated values of f3DB, tan Θ, and TABLE 1 VBEAM Vin LP f3DB XD (volts) (mv) (μm) (GHz) tanΘ (μm) 10 v 30 mv 25.8 32 .0387 154.8 10 v 300 mv 8.2 101 .123 492 50 v 30 mv 57.7 32 .0173 31 50 v 300 mv 18.25 101 .055 98.4 200 v 30 mv 115 32 .0087 7.7 200 v 300 mv 36.5 101 .0274 24.6 1000 v 30 mv 10 828 .0274 0.6 1000 v 300 mv 3 2760 .0274 1.8 Dimensions and construction of detectors permit similar bandwidth, for example, where these bandwidths are where the gain is only down by 3 db compared to a low frequency response. Unity gain frequency response, or gain-bandwidth product, is another common measure of amplifier performance. With a voltage gain of 10, the gain-bandwidth product of an electron-beam amplifier may be 10 THz. Though an electron-beam amplifier has the potential for THz performance, gain-bandwidth product can be used as a figure of merit to assess usable gain at any frequency, or to determine the ultimate performance potential, or to make comparisons to other technologies. By way of comparison, a single-stage HEMT amplifiers may have gain-bandwidth products of about 400 GHz. High Power Output. Power output may be increased substantially by ganging amplifiers. A 100 gun array may have only 0.9 fF loading capacitance, so small that many amplifiers can be ganged and driven in parallel with little loss of bandwidth. For example, one electron-beam amplifier driven by a 50 ohm source may have an input bandwidth of 3.6 THz. Ten electron-beam amplifiers driven in parallel by a common 50 ohm source impedance may have an input bandwidth of 360 GHz, still high enough to pass most input frequencies, and the parallel gang provides 10 times the power output of a single amplifier. Similarly, a gang of 100 electron-beam amplifiers may have 100 times the power output, at 36 GHz. With a hierarchical or “corporate” power input distribution system (see FIG. 64) amplifiers may “fan out” to drive progressively more and more amplifiers. By this means, a microfabricated electron-beam amplifier array may include as many as millions of amplifiers on a single silicon wafer, and the entire amplifier array may be driven from a single source. The total coherent power output of the amplifier array may exceed 10 kW, while preserving the wide bandwidth of individual amplifier elements. It can be appreciated that the ability to gang many amplifiers is one characteristic of electron-beam amplifiers for applications that require very high, wideband power output. Efficiency Another benefit is power-added efficiency (“PAE”). This is the RF power that is added to the output of an amplifier (i.e., POUT−PIN) as a percentage of total amplifier power PIN, including thermal losses: PAE = 100 % × P OUT - P IN P TOT ( 1.19 ) Conventional semiconductor amplifiers can provide high power gain, but often have low efficiency, or somewhat higher efficiency over a narrow band of operation at relatively low frequencies (up to around 10 GHz). TWTs can provide much higher power output over an octave or more of bandwidth, with PAE approaching 50% in the best devices, but with a significant power overhead required to heat thermionic cathodes and generate a high-voltage collector bias (10 kV or more). For this reason, TWTs rarely operate with less than 100 watts of power, which is undesirable in many applications. In contrast, an electron-beam amplifier 10 may provide high power gain (60 dB or more) in a miniature device dissipating as little as milliwatts of total power, or as much as many watts, at a PAE exceeding 50%. A total amplifier power is approximately PTOT=PBEAM+Psupp, where PBEAM is the beam power and Psupp is the total detector power into the output power supply, Vsupp. The total beam power is PBEAM=IBEAMVBEAM., where VBEAM is the beam energy in electron-volts (i.e., the acceleration potential) and IBEAM is the beam current. The supply power due to detector current is Psupp=I0Vsupp when a constant power supply absorbs a constant total current I0=kDETIBEAM from two detector segments (i.e., nearly 100% of the beam is over one detector segment or the other). If each detector segment terminates in a load resistor of value R, the optimum amplifier efficiency occurs for the largest output voltage swing within Vsupp. That is, if the signal is sinusoidal, the current output waveform from a single detector is i ( t ) = I 0 2 ( 1 + cos ϖ t ) ( 1.20 ) and the maximum voltage across the load resistor is Vsupp=I0R. Detector current causes an output voltage to swing between 0 to Vsupp across the load R (ignoring certain factors such as a minimum detector bias for generating detector gain kDET, but this is a reasonable approximation). Given these assumptions, supply power is Psupp=I0Vsupp=I02R (1.21) If all of the RF power from one detector segment is dissipated in the load, the RF power output is P 1 = 1 T ∫ 0 T i 2 R ⅆ t , ( 1.22 ) averaged over one period T of the RF. Normalizing over an angle θ from 0 to 2π, P 1 = 1 2 π ∫ 0 2 π ( I 0 2 ( 1 + cos ( θ ) ) 2 R ⅆ θ = I 0 2 R 4 1 2 π ∫ 0 2 π ( 1 + cos ( θ ) ) 2 ⅆ θ = I 0 2 R 4 1 2 π ∫ 0 2 π ( 1 + 2 cos ( θ ) + cos 2 ( θ ) ) ⅆ θ = I 0 2 R 4 1 2 π ∫ 0 2 π { 1 + 2 cos ( θ ) + 0.5 ( 1 + cos ( 2 θ ) ) } ⅆ θ = I 0 2 R 4 1 2 π { θ + 2 sin ( θ ) + 0.5 ( θ + 1 2 sin ( 2 θ ) ) } 0 2 π = I 0 2 R 4 1 2 π { 2 π + π } ( 1.23 ) and finally the RF output power from one detector segment is P 1 = 3 8 I 0 2 R , ( 1.24 ) The total RF output load power PLOAD from both detector segments is twice P1, or P LOAD = 2 P 1 = 3 4 I 0 2 R ( 1.25 ) While certain RF amplifiers do not have a simple resistive load from which to calculate a transmitted POUT, a good first approximation is to use POUT=PLOAD. Assuming an e-beam of 50 μA accelerated to a 200V potential, beam power PBEAM is 10 mW. If a detector has a gain of 2000, Io=100 mA. If an output load is 20 ohms, PLOAD=200 mW and POUT=150 mW. Using these assumptions, PTOT=110 mW. If the input is from a 50 ohm source with an amplitude of VIN=0.1V (peak), then PIN=VIN2/(2×50)=0.1 mW. From these numbers, PAE = 100 % · 150 mW - 0.1 mW 210 mW = 71.4 % This PAE compares favorably with solid-state or TWT amplifiers, but at higher frequencies and wider bandwidth. Even higher PAE can be achieved in a specialized device that excites a resonant load with a non-sinusoidal pulsed current drive. If a detector is overdriven to operate as a photoconductive switch in such a case, the efficiency can approach 90% or more. Thus, it can be appreciated that electron-beam amplifier 10 may provide performance comparable to, or exceeding, that of known devices. If amplifier power gain GP is high, the input power PIN is small with respect to the output power POUT. An electron-beam amplifier 10 may can achieve values of GP>106, so PAE = 100 % × P OUT - P IN P TOT = 100 % × P OUT P TOT ( 1 - 1 G P ) ≈ 100 % × P OUT P TOT = 100 % × 3 4 I 0 2 R I 0 2 R + P BEAM = 100 % × 0.75 1 + P BEAM I 0 2 R PAE = 75 % 1 + P BEAM R V supp 2 ( 1.26 ) This brings out the useful result that increasing output power supply voltage increases the efficiency (for example, by using a high breakdown strength detector material with high detector current), and decreasing the load resistance or the beam energy increases the efficiency, but the maximum efficiency can never be greater than 75%. To understand the relation between detector gain, detector breakdown VBV and beam energy, let Vsupp=VBV=IoR=kDETIBEAMR. (1.27) As discussed above, detector gain is the product of the cascade and avalanche gain, kDET=kCkA, and the cascade gain kC is given approximately by kC=VBEAM/VCI, where VCI is the cascade ionization energy of the detector material. Solving for IBEAM, I BEAM = V BV k DET R = V BV V CI k A V BEAM R . ( 1.28 ) Substituting into PBEAM=IBEAMVBEAM, the power added efficiency is PAE = 75 % 1 + V BEAM R V BV 2 V BV V CI k A V BEAM R = 75 % 1 + V C I V BV k A . ( 1.29 ) Notably, the beam energy and load resistance does not affect PAE. PAE is highest with a detector material that has the highest ratio of VBV/VCI, and a detector structure with a high avalanche gain. Table 2 gives material parameters VCI, EBV, and VBV for certain materials. TABLE 2 VCI, EBV, and VBV for various materials and heterostructures Cascade Ionization Breakdown Breakdown Energy, Field, EBV voltage, VBV (V) @ Material VCI (V) (×107 V/m) tDET = 1000 Å VBV/VCI InAs 1.8 <1 <1 <0.55 (est) Ge 2.8 1 1 0.36 Si 3.6 3 3 0.83 GaAs 4.3 4 4 0.93 InP 4.2 5 5 1.2 3CSiC 7.2 10 10 1.4 4HSiC 9.5 40 40 4.2 GaN 8.9 50 50 5.6 heterostructures Ge—Si 2.8 3 3 1.07 Ge—GaAs 2.8 4 4 1.43 InAs—GaAs 1.8 4 4 2.22 InAs—InP 1.8 5 5 2.78 Thermal Heating. High PAE corresponds to high thermal efficiency, which may be another benefit of electron-beam amplifier 10. With high detector gain and low beam current, little joule heating of the detector by a high energy beam occurs, so little power is wasted. For example, a 280 eV beam of 100 μA dissipates only 28 mW of power in detector heating, while generating 100 mA of diode current. Actual temperature rise of a detector is insignificant, on the order of a few degrees for typical semiconductor coefficients of thermal conductivity (eg, 100 degrees C. per watt). Power Transformation Electron-beam amplifier 10 is also an efficient power transformer, insofar as it converts a high-impedance, low-power input signal (a deflection voltage) to a low-impedance, high-power output signal (a detector current into a load network). This is another benefit of a high gain detector. A power-transforming advantage provided by electron-beam amplifier 10 is evident in radiating embodiments, as explained below. Noise Figure Noise in electron-beam amplifier 10 is predominantly shot noise. In an electron beam (e.g., composite electron beam 110), shot noise current iNB for a bandwidth Δf is spectrally white and is described by iNB=√{square root over (2qIBEAMΔf)} (RMS,Amps/√{square root over (Hz)}) (1.30) This is true because field emission obeys Poisson statistics, which are characteristic of current across a barrier potential. The detector introduces noise primarily through the avalanche gain. The cascade gain is essentially noise free, but the beam noise is amplified by the total detector gain. It can be shown that with sufficient cascade gain, the noise introduced by an avalanche process is negligible. Shot noise is characteristic of a quantized current flow. The quantization in normal semiconductors arises from discrete charge quantities of electrons moving across a potential barrier, such as a P-N or Schottky junction. Shot noise in an e-beam is similar, since the charge quantities are still electrons. The effect of cascade gain on detector noise can be inferred from this. Each beam electron that penetrates the detector generates a cascade of kC electrons in only a few femtoseconds. The time frame of the cascade is so short that the effect is equivalent to a single particle of charge kCq (where kC is as defined above) striking a detector which has no cascade gain. Thus, the cascade-amplified beam current has a noise power iND that is still described by shot noise power: i ND 2 = 2 ( k C q ) I BEAM Δ f = 2 ( k C q ) ⅆ Q BEAM ⅆ t Δ f = 2 ( k C q ) ( k C q ) ⅆ n BEAM ⅆ t Δ f ( 1.31 ) where IBEAM is first rewritten as dQBEAM/dt and then as qdnBEAM/dt, with n being a number of electrons. In effect this can be rearranged as iND2=2q(kC2IBEAM)Δf. (1.32) This is exactly the noise of an ideal amplifier, showing that the cascade process introduces no excess noise. If a Noise figure NF is defined as NF=10 log(1+NADDED/NIN), (1.33) where NIN is an ideal minimum input noise and NADDED is the noise added by an amplifier, referred to the input, the cascade process is seen to have a noise figure near 0 dB. This can be understood by considering the noise added to a single beam electron—there is none, since the assumption is that each is exactly multiplied by the cascade factor kC. The total noise power, however, increases as the square of the gain because gain refers to current amplification, not power; hence the factor kC2. This is characteristic of any kind of amplifier. By contrast, avalanche multiplication introduces noise through two mechanisms: multiplication of diode leakage current, and excess noise factor, which describes the statistical fluctuations in the multiplication arising from the sequence of hole or electron impact ionization events. Neglecting leakage, avalanche noise is given by iNA2=2qFkA2ICΔf (1.34) where IC is the beam current after multiplication by the cascade, kA is the avalanche gain, and F is the avalanche excess noise factor. F is a device specific parameter that is typically greater than 2, varying from 3 in silicon to 9 for germanium. The total noise at the output of the detector is iND2=2qkA2kCIBEAM(kC+F)Δf. (1.35) If kC>>F, this simplifies to iND2=2qkD2IBEAMΔf (1.36) where kD=kAkC, the total detector gain. Thus, a requirement for low noise detector operation is a cascade gain much higher than the excess avalanche noise. In one embodiment of the detector, the cascade occurs in a thin germanium layer and the avalanche takes place in a silicon layer. For example, a 280 eV beam will have a cascade gain of approximately 100 in germanium. A silicon avalanche diode can be optimized for F=3. Thus, it can be seen that the effect of avalanche excess noise is small, and for certain embodiments, the detector essentially operates as a noiseless amplifier (noise figure=0 dB). This is a key benefit of electron-beam amplifier 10. Radiation Tolerance Another benefit of electron-beam amplifier 10 is high radiation tolerance. An e-beam itself is inherently immune to radiation levels, and an energy flux of e-beams in electron-beam amplifier 10 is much greater than an energy flux of natural radiation (even in a low earth orbit of 700 km, where radiation is high). The primary effect of radiation on electron-beam amplifier 10 is leakage across diode junctions because of hole-electron pairs generated when high energy particles pass through semiconductors. High-energy electrons and protons are both significant, but the effect is similar. Under most natural conditions an effect of radiation may be a small increase in detector noise. Beam Focusing in a Microminiaturized Amplifier As discussed above, space charge induced beam spreading is mitigated by several means, including high detector gain to reduce beam current requirements, and by using electron gun arrays 100 to increase beam diameter. In a microminiaturized high-speed electron-beam amplifier 10 beam spreading may be significant, because small detector(s) 150 are necessary to achieve the high speed, and a beam spot 170 may be small, to match the detector. For operation above 100 GHz, a detector size of less then 10 μm is preferred. If a 100 μm diameter electron gun array is used, this means a 10:1 reduction in a diameter of a resulting composite beam 110 may be achieved by focusing action in a drift cavity 145. It can be appreciated that a means of overcoming space charge spreading forces to compress a composite beam diameter from approximately 100 um at an emission plane 20 (in a microminiaturized device) to a spot diameter that may be at least 10 times smaller at a detector plane 50 improves performance of an e-beam amplifier 10. Improved Embodiment for Small Beam Spot An improved electron beam amplifier 10 includes electron beam focusing in a drift cavity 145, providing higher beam current, higher power output, lower thermal heating, lower noise and higher efficiency. FIG. 34 shows a schematic cross-section of an electron-beam amplifier 10(4) including array beam focusing. An array of parallel electron beams 120 forming composite beam 110(3) exits an electron gun array 100(3) at emission plane 20, into drift cavity 145(4). In drift cavity 145(4) composite beam 110(3) is subjected to focusing fields of an electron lens 1000 generated by a potential difference between two electrodes 1020 and 1030, as shown. The dashed rectangle indicating electron lens 1000 is an abstraction of its general position, and does not mean the lens acts only within the region of the rectangle. Equipotential lines 1005 show the action of a decelerating field in electron lens 1000 in the same manner as equipotential lines 760 of FIG. 26. These focusing fields impart an inwardly directed radial momentum to composite electron beam 110(3) so that the outer electrons arrive at a desired spot diameter when they reach detectors 150. The imparted momentum may also compensate for space charge repulsion effect as beam 110(3) compresses. Thus, electron lens 1000 focuses beam 110(3) via a constricting force that decreases the large diameter of beam 110(3) as it leaves emission plane 20 to a smaller diameter, rendering a small beam spot at detectors 150. Doublet Lens System A second electron lens 1010, using an accelerating potential at the detector plane, creates a doublet lens arrangement of electrodes 1020, 1030 and 1040 to provide improved beam compression, cascade gain, and aberration correction. As also shown in FIG. 34, electrodes 1030 and 1040 comprise electrodes of second lens 1010 (shown in an abstract sense by a dashed rectangle). A higher potential of electrode 1030 relative to electrode 1040 generates an accelerating field, and the relationship of electrodes 1030 and 1040 generates field gradients that create an inward radial force, compressing beam 110. Equipotential lines 1015 show the action of a accelerating field in electron lens 1000 in the same manner as equipotential lines 760 of FIG. 25. Additional energy imparted to beam 110 by the accelerating field contributes to detector cascade gain. In electron-beam amplifier 10(4), electrodes 1020 and 1040 are circular discs surrounding the electron gun array and the detectors respectively. Electrode 1030 is an annular can or “drift can” partially closed at both ends by endplates, as shown in FIG. 34. FIG. 35 shows a midsectional plan view of drift cavity 145(4) within electron-beam amplifier 10(4) along lines F35-F35′ of FIG. 34. Electrode 1020 is centered in a perforation of electrode 1030 in emission plane 20. A small gap separates electrode 1020 from electrode 1030, as shown. Electrode 1020 completely surrounds electron gun array 100(3) in emission plane 20. Similarly to FIG. 35, and as shown cross-sectionally in FIG. 34, electrode 1040 is centered in a perforation of electrode 1030 in detector plane 50, and electrode 1040 completely surrounds detectors 150 in detector plane 50. In electron-beam amplifier 10(4), electrode 1030 may be at ground potential. Electron lenses 1000 and 1010 achieve focusing action through positive potentials on electrodes 1020 and 1040; the potential of electrode 1040 being substantially greater than the potential of electrode 1020, to provide acceleration through the drift cavity. For example, electrode 1020 might be at 50V and electrode 1040 might be at 300V. The structure may be considered a doublet of two lenses. Both electron lenses 1000 and 1010 achieve lens action by the geometrical relationships of the sizes and the potential differences among electrodes 1020, 1030 and 1040, in a manner similar to that described above with respect to electron optics electron guns. The effect of using discs for electrodes 1020 and 1040, each in a common plane with electrode 1030, may be seen as making one of distances x13 or x23 in FIG. 25 equal to zero. According to the electromagnetic theory of superposition, the fields of electron lenses 1000 and 1010 may overlap, but the lenses may be treated as if they act independently. Both lenses 1000 and 1010 may be considered “immersion lenses,” since electron gun emission occurs inside lens 1000 and beam detection occurs inside lens 1010. Since electron beam emission consists of parallel rays at emission plane 20, an optical “object” for the emission is virtually located at infinity behind the emission plane. The “image” of this “object” is a focal length away from a principal plane on an image side of a two lens system. The term “principal plane” from geometrical optics describes a point from which a focal length is measured in an optical system that has a non-zero thickness; there are two principal planes, one on an object side, and one on an image side (which in e-beam amplifier 10(4) is a region of drift cavity 145(4) towards detector plane 50). An advantage of a doublet lens is that focusing and acceleration occur simultaneously. If only lens 1010 were used, the focusing action is not as strong because the short distance to detector 150 and the accelerating field reduce a transit time over which radial forces can act. If only lens 1 is used, the focusing action is strong because an inward momentum is imparted just past the emission plane, but a retarding field slows the beam, increasing transit time and reducing beam energy and detector cascade gain. A doublet lens provides the benefits of strong focusing and acceleration. Furthermore, a doublet lens provides extra degrees of freedom to correct for other well known optical phenomena such as spherical aberration, coma and field curvature. Certain embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier may use only one electron lens. For example, in embodiments using single electron guns that are independently deflected by multiple signals, an electron lens like lens 1000 may be undesirable. In embodiments using multiple beams, an electron lens like lens 1010 may be undesirable. Several electron-beam amplifiers in which these considerations apply will be discussed below. Parallel Beam Deflection and Focusing In FIG. 34, electron gun array 100(3) delivers an essentially parallel array of electron beams 120 to lens 1000 within drift cavity 145(4). A distributed deflection apparatus (not shown) may deflect each electron beam 120 in response to a signal, but beams 120 remain parallel at emission plane 20. From the foregoing theory, beams 120 appear to come from a virtual object point at an infinite distance behind emission plane 20, at an angle determined by a deflection apparatus. Parallel beams are preferred because they are easily generated from an array of electron guns. Furthermore, the parallelism makes it possible to focus the rays at any deflection angle, since they all appear to come from an object at infinity. FIG. 36 shows a schematic cross section of a virtual lens 1050 focusing a composite electron beam 110(4) in a drift cavity 145(5). Deflectors (not shown) within electron gun array 100(4) deflect each electron beam 120 through an angle Θ at emission plane 20. Virtual lens 1050 illustrates the focusing action of an electron lens, and focuses parallel electron beams 120 on an image plane which is detector plane 50, a focal length f away from the virtual lens. According to geometrical optics, an angle of deflection is preserved across the principal plane, so a displacement ΔX of a focal point from an optical axis 1060, at detector plane 50 is related to the deflection angle Θ as ΔX=f sin Θ. (1.37) For example, if Θ is 10 degrees and f is 1 mm, ΔX will be 174 μm. Spot Formation In a first method of spot formation, an electron gun array is arranged with an outline that is the same as an outline of an intended spot, and drift cavity optics image and demagnify electron beams from the array onto a detector. In a second method of spot formation, an array shape and astigmatic focusing optics are chosen to create a desired spot image. Many spot shapes are possible, ranging from simple points, line spots and rectangles to circles, triangles and more complex shapes. FIG. 37A through FIG. 37H shows representative electron gun array shapes 101(1-4) and corresponding electron beam spots 170(9-12). Space charge spreading forces are highest for beams corresponding to array shape 101(1); lower forces apply to array shapes 101(2) and 101(3), and the lowest space charge spreading forces apply to array shape 101(4). Placement of a detector at a focal point of a composite electron beam is undesirable in embodiments of an electron beam amplifier 10 wherein correct operation of the amplifier uses a shaped beam spot by design. To create a shaped spot, a detector may be placed ahead of, or behind, an image plane. FIG. 38A, FIG. 38B and FIG. 38C show several views of an electron gun array 100(5), a corresponding electron gun array shape 101(5) and corresponding electron beams 120 being imaged on detectors 150. In FIG. 38A, electron gun array 100(5) emits electron beams 120 at emission plane 20. In FIG. 38B, electron gun array shape 101(5) is a midsectional view of electron guns of electron gun array 100(5) along lines 38B-38B′ in FIG. 38A. Electron beams 120 are focused by electron lenses (not shown), aiming the beams so that they converge towards a point on an image plane 1070 in FIG. 38A. However, detector plane 50 and detector 150 are located in front of image plane 1070, causing detector 150 to intercept electron beams 120 before they fully converge. Detector 150 is shown in cross section in detector plane 50 of FIG. 38A, and again in FIG. 38C, in a midsectional view along lines 38C-38C′. Because electron beams 120 are initially parallel, an image of electron gun array 100(5) is preserved in a beam spot 170(13) that has a width WS on detector 150. In FIG. 38B, the electron gun array shape 101(5) has an aspect ratio that is the same as an aspect ratio of beam spot 170(13) in FIG. 38C. However, an array shape can be rectangular, circular, oval or other shapes as necessary to match a desired spot shape. A non-uniform spot density can also be generated by selective placement of electron guns within an array. Astigmatic Optics An electron beam amplifier 10 may generate a desired focused beam spot 170 with an electron gun array shape 101 that differs from the shape of the beam spot through use of astigmatic focusing optics. Astigmatic focusing optics are asymmetrical about an axis, and have different focal lengths in different axial planes. FIG. 39 shows an example of astigmatic focusing electron optics. A square electron gun array 100(6) (in midsectional view) emits electron beams through openings in a square first electrode 1080. Electrode 1080 is surrounded by four trapezoidal electrodes 1090(1-4), of which, electrodes 1090(1) and 1090(3) are oriented along the X-axis, and electrodes 1090(2) and 1090(4) are oriented along the Y-axis. Electrode 1080 is connected with a first potential V1. Each opposing pair of trapezoidal electrodes 1090(e.g., 1090(1) and 1090(3), or 1090(2) and 1090(4)) have the same potential, but orthogonal pairs have potentials that differ by a potential ΔV about an average second potential V2. The effect of a potential difference V2−V1 is to focus electron beams as they move across a drift cavity; the effect of ΔV is to create a focusing difference along the two axes that gives rise to two different focal lengths. When ΔV is positive, beam spot 170(14) will be present on a detector plane (not shown); when ΔV is negative, beam spot 170(15) will be present. When ΔV is zero, that is, each of electrodes 1090(1-4) are all at the same potential, a square beam spot (not shown) will be present. Dynamic alteration of beam spot shape by electrical control of astigmatic electrodes is useful in other embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier, as explained below. EBRX From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that an electron-beam amplifier may include various combinations of the following elements: a two-dimensional electron gun array, low-current electron beams, composite electron beams, single or distributed beam deflectors, a drift cavity, drift cavity electron optics that provide focusing and/or beam acceleration, one or more high gain detectors, and one or more output networks; any of these elements may be made through microfabricated construction. Combinations of these elements may be termed here an “EBRX” for Electron Beam RF Amplifier (“X” being a common abbreviation for “amplifier”). As discussed below, certain of these elements are common to many embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier. Time Delay Control One embodiment of electron-beam amplifier 10 provides time delay control. Variable time delay is a feature of many RF systems such as, for example, phased array antennas and wideband electronic beam steering. In such systems, radio waves radiated by antenna(s) are timed to adjust a directionality and gain of receiving or transmitting antenna(s). True time delay shifting (“TTDS”) has an advantage over simple phase shifting (“PS”) in that control is broadband, rather than narrowband. Therefore TTDS is preferred, but traditionally both TTDS and PS have been expensive and complex to implement. Thus, a low cost time delay control of electron-beam amplifier 10 may provide a useful means of antenna beamforming. In one embodiment, an output signal (e.g., output currents 180) from electron-beam amplifier 10 is variably time delayed by adjusting electron beam energy, thus adjusting electron velocity and transit time of electrons across a drift cavity to a detector. Variable time delay control is an almost free feature of electron-beam amplifier 10, since little extra power is required and physical elements of the amplifier (i.e., electron guns, drift cavity, focusing electrodes, detectors and so on) are not altered. A microfabricated electron-beam amplifier 10 may implement time delay control over a usable range of hundreds of picoseconds, which may support electronically steered antennas for narrow steering angles at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. For larger antennas or longer wavelengths, which may require total time delay control on the order of nanoseconds, specialized electron-beam amplifiers 10 may be used. For the largest antennas, multiple electron-beam amplifiers 10 may be cascaded for a control range of tens of nanoseconds, or an electron-beam amplifier 10 may be used as a delay fine-tuning mechanism in a hybrid arrangement, with large delays provided by other means, such as switchable delay lines. Generally, the velocity of electrons in a beam is given by ve=√{square root over (2qh/me)}, (1.38) where q is the electronic charge (8.85×10'19 C), Vb is a beam accelerating potential, and me is mass of an electron (9.11×10−31 kg). Transit time of a beam through a drift cavity of length zdrift is simply tDELAY=zdrift/ve, and a change in delay is Δ t DELAY ≈ Δ V BEAM V BEAM t DELAY . ( 1.39 ) Thus, by adjusting a beam accelerating potential VBEAM, the transit time may be adjusted, and a signal at an output of a detector may be delayed. For example, if Zdrift=10 mm, VBEAM=50 v, and ΔVBEAM=±10 v, tDELAY(min)=2.67 ns tDELAY(max)=2.18 ns ΔtDELAY=490 ps. A ΔtDELAY of 490 ps may be expressed as a phase shift Δφ of a period T of certain RF frequencies: Δφ=49 T @ 100 GHz Δφ=4.9 T @ 10 GHz Δφ=0.49 T @ 1 GHz. Typical phase shifting applications delay a signal for a significant fraction of a period of an RF frequency. It can be seen that the time delay mechanism is suitable for the RF applications that operate above 1 GHz. Furthermore, electron-beam amplifier 10 introduces no dispersion (filtering) effects when a broadband signal is amplified, since electron-beam amplifier 10 is broadband, so all frequency components are delayed by the same amount. Thus, it can be appreciated that electron-beam amplifier 10 achieves true time delay control. Detector Plane Adjustments for Time Delay Control FIG. 40 shows an electron-beam amplifier 10(5) that implements true time delay control. A potential V2 of an electrode 1110 in detector plane 50 may be adjusted to change a transit time tDELAY of electron beam 120 moving across drift cavity length zdrift. Higher V2 on electrode 1110 (relative to an electrode 1100 in emission plane 20) accelerates electron beam 120 and decreases tDELAY according to the above formula; decreasing V2 increases TDELAY. One effect of changing a potential in detector plane 50 is to alter the focusing properties of electron focusing optics. For example, in electron-beam amplifier 10(4) of FIG. 35, if the potentials of electrodes 1020 and 1030 are held constant, the effect of changes to the potential of electrode 1040 is to change the focal length of the system. One method of correcting for such focal length changes is to simultaneously increase the potential of electrode 1030 as the potential of electrode 1040 increases. This can be understood by recalling that electron-beam amplifier 10(4) has a retarding lens 1000 and an accelerating lens 1010. The retarding effect of lens 1000 occurs because electrode 1020 is more positive than electrode 1030; the accelerating effect of lens 1010 occurs because electrode 1040 is more positive than electrode 1030. Thus, if the potential of electrode 1030 is constant, making the potential of electrode 1040 more positive increases the focusing power of lens 1010. By increasing the potential of electrode 1030 as some fraction of the change in potential of electrode 1040, the focusing power of both lenses 1000 and 1010 can be decreased, offsetting the increased power of lens 1010 in the absence of a potential change on electrode 1040. FIG. 41 shows true time delay control implemented using a ROM 1120 and two DACs 1140(1), 1140(2). An electron gun array 100 transmits electron beams 120 through perforations in an electrode 1160 that is maintained at a potential V1. ROM 1120 receives a time delay control command 1130 and transmits digital word values 1150(1), 1150(2) to each of DACs 1140(1), 1140(2). As a matter of design choice, ROM 1120 may be, for example, one device with enough output bits to drive the inputs of DACs 1140(1) and 1140(2) simultaneously, or ROM 1120 may be two devices, one connected with DAC 1140(1) and the other connected with DAC 1140(2). Digital word value 1150(1) causes DAC 1140(1) to set a potential V2 on an electrode 1180 to produce a desired time delay; digital word value 1150(1) causes DAC 1150(2) to set a potential V3 on a drift can electrode 1170. Potentials V2 and V3 are potentials which preserve the collective focusing characteristics of electron lenses 1190 and 1200; digital word values 1150(1) and 1150(2) are previously determined optimum focusing potentials, which may be derived through testing or simulation of electron lenses 1190 and 1200 for certain potentials V2. Because changes in electron acceleration accompany adjustments of time delay, changes in deflection gain may also occur, even when a lens system is adjusted to maintain focal length. Even when transverse momentum imparted to beam electrons by a signal deflector is constant (since as-emitted beam energy of electron beams 120 remains constant), when transit time is reduced by increasing acceleration, lateral displacement less time to accumulate. Accordingly, deflection of electron beams 120 is reduced by increased acceleration. FIG. 42A and FIG. 42B show the effect of acceleration on beam displacement. Initial deflection of electron beam 120(1) and 120(2) by deflectors 130(6) and 130(7) in response to an identical voltage signal 140(3) are an equivalent amount Θ from respective axes 1210(1) and 1210(2). However, accelerating field 1220 accelerates electron beam 120(2), reducing lateral displacement from axis 1210(2) within accelerating field 1220(relative to the lateral displacement of electron beam 120(1) from axis 1210(1)). A change in deflection gain caused by acceleration is independent of lensing action of a detector plane electrode (e.g., electrode 1180 of FIG. 41). The focal length of an accelerating lens alone is infinite. When electrodes 1170 and 1180 of FIG. 41 are constructed to generate lensing action with a finite focal length (through a doublet arrangement as discussed above), a change in deflection gain is more pronounced. Thus for time delay adjustments, it is useful to minimize lensing action of a detector plane electrode. FIG. 43 shows a schematic cross section of electrodes 1230, 1240 and 1250 within an electron-beam amplifier 10 configured for time delay adjustment. Electrode 1250 is wide in diameter, relative to a diameter of a drift cavity 145 (6); accordingly, equipotential lines 1260(formed through an interaction of potentials of electrodes 1240 and 1250) are nearly parallel with electrode 1250. In this configuration, changes in the potential of electrode 1250 have little effect on beam focusing. No substantial inward radial momentum is imparted to beam electrons; changes in the potential applied to electrode 1250 increase only a field gradient and thus acceleration of electrons (not shown). FIG. 44 shows a schematic cross section of electrodes 1270, 1280, 1290(1-4) and 1300 around a drift cavity 145(7), and a bias circuit for the electrodes. Electrode 1270 is in an emission plane 20 and electrode 1300 is in a detector plane 50. Drift cavity 145(7) is surrounded by a partial drift can electrode 1280 and ring electrodes 1290(1-4). Dashed lines across drift cavity 145(7) show electrical continuity of each ring electrode 1290(1-4) from a portion seen on one side of the drift cavity to a portion seen on the other side of the drift cavity. Ring electrodes 1290(1-4) have progressively greater potentials applied to them, in the manner previously described with respect to electron gun focusing electrodes (see FIG. 31), to shape electric fields (not shown) within drift cavity 146(7). Field lines (not shown) within drift cavity 145(7) may be shaped substantially the same as field lines in the center of drift cavity 145(6) of FIG. 43; further, the size of drift cavity 145(7) (and the overall dimensions of an electron-beam amplifier 10 incorporating drift cavity 145(7)) may be reduced. It is understood that the number of electrodes indicated in FIG. 44 is representative, and more or fewer electrodes may be employed. One means of biasing ring electrodes 1290(1-4) includes potentials derived from a set of resistors 1330(1-5) with respective values RA, RB, RC, RD and RE, connected in series. As shown in FIG. 44, a power supply 1310 connects a potential V3. with partial drift can electrode 1280 and with one end of resistor 1330(1). Connections between successive resistors 1330(1-5) also connect with successive ring electrodes 1290(1-4), and an end of resistor 1330(5) connects with electrode 1300 and with another power supply 1320 at an acceleration potential V2. Certain resistor values RA, RB, RC, RD and RE (which may be determined through simulation or experimentation) adjust the potentials on ring electrodes 1290(1-4) to produce approximately planar accelerating fields near electrode 1300 for different values of V2. Resistors 1330(1-5) may also be variable resistance devices (e.g., potentiometers) so that resistor values RA, RB, RC, RD, RE may be modified if necessary. By this means, a planar acceleration field can be established. FIG. 45 shows a schematic cross section of electrodes 1270, 1280, 1290(1-4) and 1300 around drift cavity 145(7), with a different bias circuit for the electrodes. With electrode 1270 set at a reference potential (not shown), each of electrodes 1280, 1290(1-4) and 1300 are driven by a corresponding DAC 1360(1-6) under control of a ROM 1340. In similar manner to the arrangement of FIG. 32, control words are provided to the ROM, which provides a digital control word to each DAC; each DAC then drives a corresponding potential for an electrode. In the arrangement of FIG. 45, each control word is a time delay control command word 1330 and each digital control word is a ring-electrode voltage word 1350(1-6). The digital control words may be determined by simulation or experimentation and stored in ROM 1340 to provide optimum electrode potentials for a desired range of time delays. Electron Gun Adjustments for Time Delay Control Adjusting potential of an electrode in detector plane 50 has advantages over adjusting an electron gun acceleration potential; adjusting potentials in an electron gun may affect deflection gain, and beam energy adjustments to a electron gun may be difficult due to complex electron gun electrode structure. Thus it is preferred, for most applications, to keep electron gun beam energy constant. Nonetheless, some applications of electron-beam amplifier 10 may benefit from a constant detector plane potential, such as for example applications which employ multiple independent e-beams, as discussed below. In these applications, time delay control may be achieved by adjusting electron gun acceleration potential. FIG. 46 is a schematic cross-sectional drawing of an electron gun 610(4) and circuitry for beam energy and current control. A cathode 620(4) emits electrons that are focused into electron beam 120(3). A current control loop 865(2) (e.g., as shown in FIG. 32) adjusts the beam current of beam 120(3) through adjustments to a potential of a gate electrode 625(3). The potential of gate electrode 625(3) connects with ADC 1380, which transmits a digital gate word as input to a ROM 1400. ROM 1400 also receives a time delay control command word 1370 as input, and transmits a digital focusing command word 1410(1-7), corresponding to the combination of the digital gate word and the time delay control command word received, to each of DACs 1420(1-7) respectively. Each of DACs 1420(1-7) drives a potential that corresponds to the digital focusing command word received to a focusing electrode 630(24-30). A shield plate 650(4) on an exit plane of electron gun 610(4) is held at the same potential as final focusing electrode 630(30), so that potential differences do not exist around two deflector plates 600(11) and 600(12). Shield plate 650(4) may be, for example, electrode 1160 in the doublet lens system of FIG. 41. As in the circuits discussed above that use a ROM and DACs to control potentials, the optimum potentials applied to focusing electrodes 630(24-30) can be determined by simulation or experimentation; the number of focusing electrodes may be varied; ROM 1400 may be replaced by a plurality of ROMs, or may be replaced by other means for generating digital focusing command words, such as a processor. Once electron beams 120 exit electron guns at an emission plane and enter a drift cavity, changes in beam energy affect beam focusing in this method, unless otherwise compensated. The reason is that the potentials of electrodes in a doublet lens system (e.g., electrodes 1160, 1170 and 1180 forming lenses 1190 and 1200 in FIG. 41) are optimized for a particular beam energy. The effect of beam energy on beam focusing can be compensated by an arrangement that adjusts a potential difference of the emission plane optics consisting of electrodes on each side of the drift cavity. For minor focusing adjustments, potential of a detector plane electrode may be adjusted. Again, a DAC responding to a ROM can set the potential of the detector plane electrode. For larger focusing adjustments caused by larger beam energy adjustments, potentials of a drift can electrode and a detector plane electrode may be adjusted. Gain Stabilized Time Delay Control Time delay changes effected by altering the beam energy, either by electron gun adjustments or detector plane acceleration adjustments, may be accompanied by changes in both deflection gain of the beam and cascade gain of the detector. Thus, the overall amplifier gain is changed. As described earlier, amplifier transconductance is given by g m = Δ I out Δ V in = G BEAM G call k C k A = z drift L P W P 1 2 V BEAM I BEAM X D k D . ( 1.40 ) This calculation assumes that one detector segment receives all available beam current at a maximum deflection signal voltage. Altering deflection gain is effectively the same as changing detector width XD. For example, increasing beam energy reduces transit time of beams through a cavity; XD decreases correspondingly. At the same time, increasing beam energy increases detector gain kD. The changes in XD and kD both increase gm when beam energy increases Likewise, decreasing beam energy decreases gm. For this reason, amplifier gain may be stabilized by adjusting e-beam current. From the preceding equation, it is clear that changes in XD and kD can be compensated by changing the beam current. As beam energy is increased, beam current is decreased, and vice versa. For each change in detector plane potential, the electron gun currents are adjusted to maintain constant average output current. FIG. 47 shows a circuit for gain-stabilized time delay control. A ROM 1430 stores codes 1440 corresponding to current reference values for every beam energy. In response to a time delay command 1370(2), a ROM code 1440 is transmitted to a DAC 1450, which generates a voltage reference for the electron gun current control loop consisting of the opamp 880, resistors 870 and 910, and capacitor 920 of FIG. 32. Opamp 880 drives the potential of gate electrode 625(2), regulating the flow of electrons emitted by cathode 620(3) that form electron beam 120(4). Gain Controlled Amplifier From the preceding, it can be appreciated that an electron-beam amplifier 10 may use a gain controlled amplifier. One method by which this can be accomplished is by implementing any of the methods of time delay control, but without current controlled gain stabilization. Another method is by a current controlled beam without beam energy adjustments. Finally, amplifier gain can be adjusted via beam energy adjustments working in concert with a current controlled beam, a difference being that current control works in the opposite sense of gain stabilization, so that it enhances the gain variation induced by the time delay control. Pulsed Operation Electron gun beam blanking is easily implemented in an electron beam amplifier 10. One application of electron gun beam blanking is an RF transmit amplifier that generates pulsed beams. This is beneficial for applications like radar and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) communications. With beam blanking, a continuous RF signal can be applied to deflection plates, and the amplifier output can be turned rapidly on and off with pulse widths as short as 10 picoseconds, without interrupting the RF signal. Pulsing can be achieved by various means, for example, through gate electrode control, and through the inclusion of an extra deflector in each electron gun, called here a “blanking deflector.” Cathode control may involve a high loading capacitance and a slow response time. In many applications, such as radar and UWB, sub-nanosecond switching is desirable and cathode controlled gating is too slow. A blanking deflector has high-speed characteristics like other deflectors described above (e.g., deflector 130(1)) including very low loading of a driving source. FIG. 48 shows an electron gun configured for beam blanking. An electron gun is shown schematically that includes a cathode 620(5), a gate electrode 625 (4), focusing electrodes 630, a shield plate 650(5), a blanking deflector driven by a blanking signal 1470, a shield plate 650(6), an aperture plate 1480, a signal deflector 130(8) driven by a voltage signal 140, an emission plane shield plate 650(7) and an e-beam 120. E-beam 120(5) is emitted by cathode 620(5) through gate electrode 625(4), focused by focusing electrodes 630, and propagates through shield plate 650(5). the blanking deflector, aperture plate, and signal deflectors. When blanking signal 1470 is in an “off” state, a zero bias is applied across blanking deflector 1460. When blanking signal 1470 is in an “on” state, a positive or negative bias is applied across blanking deflector 1460, causing beam 120(5) to be deflected away from a hole in aperture plate 1480, so that beam 120(5) is stopped by the aperture plate. This blocks (“blanks”) beam 120(5) from propagating through the signal deflectors, thus “turning off” the beam. With no beam current, there is no detector excitation and no amplifier output. As in other electron beam amplifiers 10, electron guns with blanking capability can be arrayed to create a composite e-beam from many individual beams, and all such blanking deflectors may be coupled together under control of a single blanking signal. Frequency Multiplication Some high frequency applications utilize both frequency multiplication and amplification; for example, high-frequency oscillators, high-frequency references for TWTs and other high-power amplifiers, and RF carriers for radar transmitters and communications systems. Frequency multiplication at RF frequencies is sometimes achieved by driving a non-linear element with a sinusoidal signal and filtering a resulting waveform with a tuned filter to extract a higher order harmonic. The principle can easily be grasped by considering simple second order non-linearity, y=x2. If the value x=cos ωt, the value y=(1+cos 2ωt)/2, so the frequency has been doubled. Higher order non-linearities can generate higher frequency multiples. However, extra filtering is required to extract the desired harmonic, and the process may be inefficient, since harmonics have energy that diminishes roughly in proportion to the order of the harmonic. For example, a 5th harmonic normally has much less energy than the 3rd harmonic. A frequency multiplying electron beam amplifier 10 may provides efficient harmonic generation, even for higher orders. The method employs a detector with a multiplicity of segments greater than two, and may use one or two deflectors arranged for deflection in two orthogonal directions (e.g., directions X and Y of FIG. 1). FIG. 49 shows a detector arrangement configured for frequency doubling. Electron beams 120 pass through ganged deflectors 130 configured to deflect the individual beams in a common direction in response to a common voltage signal 140(4); beams 120 are focused to form a beam spot 170(15). Detector segments 150(35), 150(36), 150(37) and 150(38) are arranged in a linear row and connected to an output load in an alternating arrangement, whereby segments 150(35) and 150(37) are connected to a positive (+) output 1490(1), and segments 150(36) and 150(38) are connected to a negative (−) output 1490(2). Detector segments 150(35-38) are separated by diagonal slots, as described above, with diagonal slots indicated in FIG. 49 by way of illustration only. Voltage signal 140(4) having frequency f1 and amplitude V0 is applied to deflectors 130 to scan beam spot 170(15) across detector segments 150(35-38). Each cycle of voltage signal 140(4) passes across all four detector segments 150(35-38) in each direction, and the coupling of four segments to two output nodes, as shown, generates two cycles of output current for each input cycle. Current 180(3) on output 1490(1) is illustrated for comparison with input voltage 140(4); current 180(4) on output 1490(2) is of identical frequency but 180 degrees out of phase with respect to current 180(3). Proper shaping of beam spot 170(15) and detectors 150(35-38), may be used to ensures an output of frequency 2f1 with tonal purity, low residual harmonics, and small DC component. By increasing a number of detector segments, higher order frequency multiplication may also be achieved. With a linear row arrangement, 6 segments achieves frequency tripling, 8 segments achieves quadrupling, and so forth; furthermore, frequency multiplication can be controlled by controlling the amplitude of an input voltage. FIG. 50 shows an arrangement of detector segments configured to provide frequency multiplication factors of 1, 2, 3 or 4 with high tone purity. For small beam deflection amplitudes, only detector segments 150(42) and 150(43) will be excited by a beam spot, and the output frequency will be the same as the input frequency driving the deflection. The multiplication factor for this case will be 1. If the signal amplitude is increased to scan the beam across segments 150(41), 150(42), 150(43) and 150(44), the frequency multiplication factor will be 2. If the deflection amplitude is increased to scan across segments 150(40), 150(41), 150(42), 150(43), 150(44) and 150(45), the frequency multiplication factor will be 3, and so forth. There are two limitations of the simple linear array. First, high orders of multiplication may require a wide layout of detector segments, and require a correspondingly large scan angle which may exceed the range of a deflector and voltage signal. Second, it may be difficult to achieve exactly periodic spacing of zero-crossings of a multiplied frequency output with a linear array of segments. The effect of aperiodic zero-crossings may depend on an application. In an RF mixer, spurious tones may be generated that can limit the sensitivity of a receiver. If an application is as a frequency reference for an analog-digital-converter (ADC), the aperiodic crossings may create sampling errors and limit conversion accuracy. FIG. 51 illustrates time statistics of a sinusoid, and an arrangement of detector segments arranged to compensate for the time statistics. Axis 1500 is a distance axis. Position 1501 indicates one end of a sinusoidal sweep (i.e., the path traced by a beam spot 170 being driven by deflectors 130 in response to a sinusoidal voltage signal 140). Position 1503 indicates the other end of the sweep, and position 1502 indicates the midpoint of the sweep. Thus, a single cycle of a sinusoidal input voltage may sweep a beam spot 170 from position 1501 at a time 0, past position 1502 at a time T/4, to position 1503 at time T/2, past position 1502 again at a time 3T/4, and back to position 1501 at time T that is the period of the sinusoid, as indicated by arrows 1520(1) and 1520(2). Axis 1510 is a time axis, and curve 1530 shows the relative time spent at a given position along time axis 1500 by a sinusoidal sweep. As shown, when all detector segments in a linear row are uniform in size, a beam spot may spend more time dwelling on outermost detector segments and less time on inner segments. One method of achieving periodic zero-crossings is to adjust detector segment geometry to balance dwell times of a beam over all segments to lower the undesired harmonic content in the output. Detector segments 150(47-54) are arranged to compensate for the effect of a sinusoidal sweep pattern that spends more time on outermost regions of a sweep and less time on inner regions of the sweep. A beam spot (not shown) may scan all of segments 150(47-54), but the beam spot will spend more time on wider segments 150(50) and 150(51) due to their width, will spend less time on narrower segments 150(49) and 150(51), and so on. Circular Frequency Multiplier Another method of achieving periodic zero-crossings employs a circular detector with “pie-slice” segmentation and two-dimensional scanning that sweeps a beam in a circular pattern (for example, forming traces known as “lissajous figures” in the field of electron beam oscilloscopes). FIG. 52A and FIG. 52B show two circular detector configurations 151(10) and 151(11) configured for frequency multiplication. Configuration 151(10) includes detector segments 150(56), 150(57), 150(58) and 150(59) as shown. A beam spot 170(17) travels in a circular path around detector segments 150(56-59). Beam spot 170(17) is created by electron guns (not shown) including deflectors driven by a pair of sinusoidal voltage signals Vx and Vy that have identical amplitude and frequency, but differ in phase by 90 degrees. As in electron-beam amplifiers 10 with linear arrays of detectors configured for frequency multiplication, segments 150(56-59) are coupled in alternating-fashion to output lines 183(1) and 183(2), as shown. An output waveform of output lines 183(1) and 183(2) will have twice the frequency of voltage signals Vx and Vy. The four segments in detector configuration 151(10) is again equal to twice the frequency multiplication factor. A circular detector used with a beam swept in a lissajous pattern has an inherent tolerance with respect to variations in input signal amplitude. As long as a lissajous pattern formed by beam spot 170(17) stays centered on and within segments 150(56-59), the amplitude of Vx and Vy may vary without affecting an amplitude or duty cycle of an output waveform on output lines 183(1) and 183(2). Centering of the lissajous pattern on the detector may be ensured by means of beam centering arrangements, as described above. Nonetheless, there may be an optimum amplitude of Vx and Vy for a given beam spot shape that will minimize harmonic distortion in the output waveform. The phase offset between voltage signals Vx and Vy may also be useful where phase offsets other than 90 degrees may lead to aperiodic zero crossings, which are equivalent to skews in duty cycle from the 50% duty cycle characterizing a sinusoidal output centered about a value of zero. Altering a phase offset between voltage signals Vx and Vy may be used to tune the duty cycle of an output waveform. Detector 151(11) includes six output segments 150(61) through 150(66), with alternating segments connected to positive and negative output terminals as shown by the + or − sign within each segment. Detector 150(60) generates an output waveform with a frequency that is triple an input frequency applied to X and Y deflectors used to steer beam spot 170(18). Other embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier 10 using X-Y deflection may optimize detector shape for low distortion or high frequency operation, such as, for example through use of an elliptical detector, or a segmented ring detector. Other Frequency Multipliers A multiply segmented detector is only one means of achieving frequency doubling. For example, in another electron-beam amplifier I 0, frequency multiplication is achieved with a single detector segment. By appropriately shaping a detector and/or a beam spot, harmonic components may be emphasized as the beam spot sweeps across an edge of the detector. Emphasis of harmonic components results from a non-linear change in beam current collection with respect to beam spot position. An electron-beam amplifier 10 that multiplies an input frequency through shaped, single beam spots and detectors may generate output frequency tones that are not as pure (i.e., free of harmonics) as in multiple segment embodiments, but smaller, faster detectors and simpler microcolumns (i.e.,. with only one deflector instead of two) may be used. FIG. 53A and FIG. 53B show two beam spot and detector configurations for frequency multiplication. Beam spot and detector configuration 151 (13) includes a rectangular beam spot 170(20) and a triangular detector segment 150(67). Beam spot 170(2) sweeps through a position ΔX corresponding to an angle θ (measured with respect to an undeflected beam from a microcolumn array, not shown). Beam current collected by detector segment 150(67) thus changes quadratically, as I=aθ2 (where a is a proportionality constant representing variables including beam current and detector size). From trigonometry, if θ changes in response to a deflector voltage V0 which varies sinusoidally with a frequency ω, then θ=V0 sin(ωt), and the collected current will have a frequency component 2ω according to sin 2 ϖ t = 1 2 ( 1 - cos 2 ϖ t ) ( 1.41 ) It is also possible to make a beam spot 170(21) triangular and a detector segment 150(68) rectangular, as shown in configuration 151(14). Again, collected current changes quadratically in relation to a sinusoidal beam sweep. The triangular shape of beam spot 170(21) may be generated by the methods discussed above, including use of a triangular shaped microcolumn array imaged onto a detector plane. Configuration 151(14) may offer a somewhat smaller, faster detector, and illustrates the principle that it is the relation of beam spot to detector shape that is useful in generating a desired output. Other shapes may be used to generate even higher frequency multiplication factors. FIG. 54A and FIG. 54B show, by way of example, two configurations that produce third harmonics of an input frequency. Configuration 151(15) has a rectangular spot and a detector 150(69) with a quadratic shape; configuration 151(16) has a triangular spot and a triangular detector 150(70), as shown. Fourth harmonics may be generated by quadratic spot shaping in relation to a triangular detector, fifth harmonics may be generated by a quadratic spot in relation to a quadratic detector shape, and so on. Mixer RF mixing is another application of an electron-beam amplifier 10 that may multiply a frequency and generate intermodulation products of two frequencies. FIG. 55 shows a detector and beam spot configuration 151(17) configured for use as an RF mixing device. A microcolumn array (not shown) with X-Y deflection apparatus driven by voltage signals Vx and Vy scans a square beam spot 170(23) across a two-dimensional array of four equal, square detector segments 150(71-74), as shown. RF signals Vx and Vy are coherently demodulated, as discussed below. Detector segments 150(71-74) are cross-connected to detector outputs 183(3) and 183(4), as shown. Vx has frequency f1 and is the voltage signal applied to an X deflector; VY has frequency f2 and is the voltage signal applied to a Y deflector. Beam spot 170(23) will move in the X and Y directions across detector segments 150(71-74) so as to cause a differential current ΔIout across detector outputs 183(3) and 183(4) to have a fundamental frequency component at a frequency difference f1−f2. Harmonics that may exist in ΔIout may be filtered according to means known in the art. In configuration 151(17), detector segments 150(71-74) each have a width and height of 2 W; square beam spot 170(23) is also of width and height 2 W, and has a uniform cross-sectional current density J. Beam spot 170(23) is deflected in an X direction in response to Vx and in a Y direction in response to Vy, instantaneous deflections in these directions are called Δx and Δy respectively, and Δx and Δy are linearly proportional to signals Vx and Vy. Currents generated from each of detector segments 150(71-74) are I1, I2, I3 and I4, respectively. These currents vary in response to beam spot deflections Δx and Δy, as shown below I1=J(W+Δx)(W+Δy) I2=J(W−Δx)(W−Δy) I3=J(W−Δx)(W+Δy) I4=J(W+Δx)(W−Δy) (1.42): When the beam spot is centered, each segment receives a current J W2. Currents I1 and I2 are coupled to drive terminal 183(3) to form current IB and segment currents I3 and I4 are coupled to drive terminal 184(4) to form current IA. Net output currents IB and IA to terminals 183(3) and 184(4), respectively, are IB=I1+I2=2J(W2+ΔxΔy) IA=I3+I4=2J(W2−ΔxΔy) (1.43): Differential output current ΔIout is given by ΔIout=IB−IA=4JΔxΔy (1.44) Thus, the action is that of a multiplier. As known in the art of RF receivers, a multiplier is a basic element of many mixers. This may be seen when Δx and Δy are proportional, respectively, to sinusoids of amplitudes X0 and Y0, and frequencies f1 and f2: Δx=X0 sin(2πf1t) Δy=Y0 sin(2πf2t) (1.44): As may be derived using the Law of Cosines, ( 1.45 ) : Δ I out = 4 J Δ x Δ y = 4 J · X 0 sin ( 2 π f 1 t ) Y 0 sin ( 2 π f 2 t ) = 2 JX 0 Y 0 { sin [ 2 π ( f 1 + f 2 ) t ] + sin [ 2 π ( f 1 - f 2 ) t ] } This shows the sum and difference frequencies characteristic of a mixer. In certain RF applications, the sum frequency is removed by filtering, leaving a difference frequency (f1−f2) representative of an intermediate (IF) or modulation frequency. It may be appreciated that e-beam spot deflections Δx and Δy are generated according to the basic principles of electron-beam amplifier 10. When scan deflections Δx and Δy are small with respect to the dimensions 2 W of the spot, a linear multiplication is effected. When the scan deflections are large such that Δx and Δy approach or exceed the spot half dimension W, then a “bang-bang” rectifying type mixer is achieved, operating similar to known circuits which employ active switches, such as MOS transistors, or diodes. Combinational Logic Combinational logic is an application for an electron-beam amplifier 10 that resembles the mixing and frequency multiplying embodiments discussed above, but which operates in a different parameter space and for a different purpose. A combinational logic embodiment may include a short drift cavity and multiple deflectors, and may have only one electron gun per logic element. Detectors in combinational logic embodiments may have two or more segments. Voltage signals for Deflectors may be logic signals of binary or multiple quantized voltage levels. Combinations of quantized voltage input states correspond to quantized beam deflections, each quantized beam deflection being representative of a logic state formed by the combination of input states. By positioning detector segments at locations corresponding to quantized beam positions, the detector outputs may be representative of respective logic states. By this means, logic operations, such as AND, OR, XOR, and even complete functions (such as, for example, a full adder) may be constructed. With the inherent advantages, including high-frequency operation and microfabrication, it can be appreciated that combinations of logic elements can be incorporated as complex arithmetic units, digital multipliers or memory elements that operate at picosecond speeds. The basic principle of a combinational logic embodiment is that if a signal representing a quantized logic value, for example a signal that may be −1V or +1V, is applied to an e-beam deflector, then the corresponding beam may be deflected to one of two states, corresponding to deflection angles, for example θ1 or θ2. If a second deflector that is likewise responsive to a signal representing a quantized logic value is incorporated, the number of possible states increases to four, such as beam angles θ1, θ2, θ3, θ4. With three deflectors, the number of possible states is 8, and so on. The principle may also be extended to multi-valued logic; for example, if 4-level logic signals are applied to two deflectors, the beam angle may have 16 states. FIG. 56 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with three linearly arranged detector segments 150(75), 150(76) and 150(77). Signalling in FIG. 56 is binary; two inputs A and B are applied to a deflector 130(9) and a deflector 130(10) respectively. In FIG. 56, four possible deflection states of an electron beam 120(6) exhibit a degeneracy when input A is the inverse of input B. This can be understood with a truth table where A and B take on binary voltage values of +1V and −1V that correspond to deflections +θ and −θ as logic 0 and logic 1 states: TABLE 3 Two-input logic gate State A B Θ 1 −1 −1 ˜2θ 2 −1 +1 0 3 +1 −1 0 4 +1 +1 .2θ Only one detector is activated for each state, but this shows that two of the binary states have the same deflection angle (0). This is reflected in FIG. 56 by the fact that there are only three detector segments. FIG. 56 shows the logic value of each detector segment, the value of the middle detector being an exclusive—or (⊕) of inputs A and B. A linear arrangement of deflectors and detectors may require a large deflection range when multiple inputs are used. For example, a binary deflection state corresponding to identical deflection angles applied to three successive deflectors may involve three times the deflection angle of a state in which only one deflector is active. Accommodating the deflection range necessary for all logic states may be difficult; this can be mitigated by use of a long drift region, but this increases the drift time of the beam, thus slowing the maximum switching speed and the latency of associated logic operations. FIG. 57 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with four detector segments 150(78), 150(79), 150(80) and 150(81) arranged in a two-dimensional array. In FIG. 57, a deflector 130(11) provides X deflection, and a deflector 130(12) provides Y deflection, for electron beam 120(7). The separation of A and B inputs into orthogonal directions removes the degeneracy of states 2 and 3 shown in Table 3. An electron gun microcolumn 610 may have multiple X and Y deflectors for logic involving more than two inputs. For example, for three logic inputs, a microcolumn may have two X deflectors and one Y deflector. For four logic inputs, a microcolumn may have two X deflectors and two Y deflectors. With X and Y deflection, the logic states are described by a two-dimensional set of beam states, detected with a two dimensional array of detector segments. The result is similar to creating a physical Carnaugh map, as known in the art of logic devices. For the case of four logic inputs described above, the corresponding 16 logic output states are detected with a matrix of three rows and three columns of detector segments. FIG. 58 shows a two-deflector combinatorial e-beam logic system with nine detector segments 150(82-90) arranged in a two-dimensional array, with a corresponding diagram of input states mapped to the detector segments. Signalling in FIG. 58 is binary; each of inputs A, B, C and D is applied to a corresponding deflector 130(13), 130(14), 130(15) or 130(16) for deflecting electron beam 120(8). Again, there are fewer segments than states, because degeneracies exist with 2 or more deflectors in either of the X and Y directions. However, it can be seen that the number of degenerate states created by deflectors in two directions is less than if all deflectors acted in the same direction. TABLE 4 Four-input logic states Detector State A B C D ΘX ΘY segment 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 2θ 2θ 150(88) 2 −1 −1 −1 1 2θ 150(85) 3 −1 −1 1 −1 ˜ 2θ 150(89) 4 −1 −1 1 1 ˜ ˜ 150(86) 5 −1 1 −1 −1 2θ ˜ 150(85) 6 −1 +1 −1 +1 −2θ 2θ 150(82) 7 −1 +1 +1 −1 ˜ ˜ 150(86) 8 −1 +1 +1 +1 ˜ 2θ 150(83) 9 +1 −1 −1 −1 ˜ 2θ 150(89) 10 +1 −1 −1 +1 ˜ ˜ 150(86) 11 +1 −1 +1 −1 2θ 2θ 150(90) 12 +1 −1 +1 +1 2θ ˜ 150(87) 13 +1 +1 −1 −1 ˜ ˜ 150(86) 14 +1 +1 −1 +1 ˜ 2θ 150(83) 15 +1 +1 +1 −1 +2θ ˜ 150(87) 16 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2θ 2θ 150(84) An examination of this table for particular detectors segments shows that degenerate states correspond to some form of exclusive-or combination; for example, detector segments 150(83), 150(86) and 150(89) correspond to A ⊕ C, while detector segments 150(85), 150(86) and 150(87) correspond to B ⊕ D. Despite the degeneracy observed, orthogonal deflection drive is a preferred construction; it still minimizes degeneracy as compared to a linear array configuration, and a deflection required in each of the X and Y directions is smaller than would be required in a linear detector array configuration. Smaller deflection allows a proportionately shorter drift region, shorter drift time and smaller deflection drive voltages. For example, with only two deflectors, one in X and the other in Y, drift distance and time may be reduced by one-half when compared to a pair of X deflectors; correspondingly, logic switching operations occur twice as fast. Alternatively, for a given drift distance, a deflection voltage may be smaller (for example, 0.5V versus 1V) so that power consumption may be reduced or switching speed may be increased. It may be appreciated that degenerate states are not the only way to combine logic states. In the case of FIG. 57, the logic functions AND (A·B), OR (A+B), NAND ({overscore (A·B)}), NOR, XOR (exclusive—or, ⊕) and XNOR (inversion of exclusive—or) can be created with nothing more than one or two wires to connect appropriate detectors to a load. With a single deflector and detector, inversion may also be achieved. With two deflectors, any of four possible boolean states may be represented. With three deflectors, more complex functions may be achieved. Furthermore, a logic input state may be inverted by simply reversing the coupling of signals to a deflector. By “wire-oring” (as it is termed) deflector inputs and/or detector outputs using electrical connections, other logic functions may be implemented, providing great flexibility in a simple structure, since any of these means may switch almost as fast as any other. This is unlike conventional logic gates made from transistors, where certain gate types are much slower than others. For example, a CMOS NOR gate is slower than a CMOS NAND gate; also, conventional static CMOS logic lacks an inherent complement output, which must be generated with a second inversion gate, adding to switching delays. An ECL or current mode gate suffers loss in performance because multiple transistors are required for complex functions, and due to having a limited power supply range. In contrast, logic embodiments of e-beam amplifier 10 may be fast in almost any logic combination, because the logic function is encoded as a beam position (or state), rather than as a combination of switches. FIG. 59 shows schematically a logic device with two electron beams 120(9) and 120(10) and their associated detector segments 150(91) and 150(92) acting collectively as a signal source for a deflector of a third electron beam 120(11). In the embodiment of FIG. 59, if electron beams 120(9) and 120(10) are respectively steered by deflectors according to logic inputs A and B, then electron beam 120(11) corresponding to a logic output C will be steered according to an AND function of A and B. Other combinations are possible. For example, deflectors may be physically designed to achieve more or less deflection for a given input voltage (“deflection gain”). One deflector might have a deflection gain of 10 degrees beam deflection per volt of deflection drive, while another deflector might have a deflection gain of 5 degrees per volt. As described above, longer or shorter deflector plates will alternately increase or decrease deflector gain; spacing deflector plates more closely or further apart will also increase or decrease deflector gain, respectively. By using deflectors with varying amounts of deflection gain, beam deflection states may be gray-coded to eliminate degeneracies and make detection more resistant to errors. These two goals follow directly from use of multiple deflection gains. Gray coding is a well-known method of digital word encoding whereby single bit errors in the word cause only one bit of error in a digital count represented by a word. Gray-coded operation is useful for specialized functions often found in communication systems, where robust signaling that is tolerant of small errors is necessary. In electron-beam amplifiers 10, gray-coded beam states make detection resistant to single bit errors in beam displacement. FIG. 60 shows a two-input gray-coded logic gate with four detector segments in a linear array, and a corresponding map of input states mapped to the detector segments. A deflector 130(17) produces a deflection angle of +θ or −θ in response to values of an input logic state B. Deflector 130(17) has twice the plate spacing as a deflector 130(18) that produces a deflection angle of +2θ or −2θ in response to values of an input logic state A. (Alternatively, and not shown, deflector 130(17) could have half the plate length of deflector 130(18) but with identical plate spacing, to produce the same difference in deflection gain). Detector segments 150(93-96) are arranged such that deflection angle changes of 2□ move electron beam 120(12) to each succeeding segment, as shown. The deflection angle coding is as shown in Table 3 and FIG. 60. TABLE 5 Gray-coded Deflections State A B θ Detector segment 1 −1 −1 ˜3θ 150(93) 2 −1 +1 ˜θ 150(94) 3 +1 −1 .θ 150(95) 4 +1 +1 .3θ 150(96) For example, if logic states A and B represent a binary number with A the most significant bit (“MSB”) and B the least significant bit (“LSB”), it can be seen that a maximum error in the output generated by a single logic state error (perhaps due to a noise glitch at an earlier stage of digital processing) may be 1 LSB. In contrast, the previous 2-input gate could exhibit a 1 MSB error. Gray-coding may be extended to more bits, as is known in the art. One aspect of a logic gate may be that logic levels are compatible between gate inputs and outputs. In certain embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier, a difference in potential between detectors and deflectors may be up to several hundred volts. If the logic switching is dynamic enough, this potential difference may be accommodated with capacitive coupling. Another means of logic level compatibility is to ensure that detector output levels are the same as deflector input levels. One method of keeping these potentials compatible is to use a zero bias drift cavity in which an exit plane of an electron gun is at the same potential as a beam contact and a detector plane (i.e., allowing electrons to drift from deflector to detector through a field-free region). Since a deflector is inherently a differential input device, a common mode level can be rejected to some degree, and detector output can be directly coupled to the deflector. For logic operation, a suitable detector bias is less than 1V. This is consistent with an extremely high-speed device. Logic devices may use faster, lower bias detectors than amplifiers, since power is not required or desired. Operation at less than 0.5V is possible when detectors are Schottky diodes with turn-on potentials of around 0.2 to 0.3V. A detector may be terminated in either a resistor or an active load, such as a resonant tunnel diode (RTD). When a resistor is used, beam current may pull down the output potential of the detector to the beam contact potential; this is a logic “0.” Without beam current, the resistor acts to pull up the output potential to the power supply voltage, representing a logic “1.” An RTD load behaves similarly, except that an RTD has a negative differential resistance, so the pull-up and pull-down are speeded up for faster operation. As mentioned previously, it is desirable to operate e-beam logic elements with a single electron gun per gate. Because a very short drift region is required for low gate delay (a few microns), a single gun can tolerate higher beam current without space charge spreading causing beam defocusing during the drift time. Nonetheless, a low beam current is still preferred to reduce detector heating. For this reason, detector gain should be as high as possible, but this conflicts somewhat with the requirement of high deflection gain. On one hand, high deflection gain is achieved with a low-energy electron gun; on the other hand, high detector gain is achieved with a drift cavity field that accelerates beam electrons to achieve high cascade gain. If the drift cavity is field free, all the cascade gain may come from the electron gun acceleration. One solution is to accept the lower cascade gain and compensate with higher avalanche gain in the detector. For example, photonic detectors with avalanche gains exceeding 1000 are relatively common. The downside is less radiation tolerance, which might be acceptable for many applications, and might be offset by a slightly higher beam current. For example, an electron-beam amplifier 10′ for an amplifying application might have a beam current of 1 μA, a cascade gain of 100, an avalanche gain of 10 and an overall detector gain of 1000; an electron-beam amplifier 10″ for a logic application might have a beam current of 2 μA, a cascade gain of 20, an avalanche gain of 25 and an overall detector gain of 500. The higher beam current of electron-beam amplifier 10″ provides the same detector output current, and almost entirely compensates for an increased radiation sensitivity due to the 2.5× higher avalanche gain. In electron-beam amplifiers 10′ and 10″ above, the detector current is 1 mA; this may be inadequate for the highest speed operation, so even higher beam current and avalanche gain may be required. For example, a 50 ohm load, 500 mV switching application may require at least 10 mA detector current; avalanche gain may be increased by a factor of 10, or beam current may be somewhat (which may be tolerated because of a very short drift cavity). Beam current might be increased to 4 μA and avalanche gain increased by a factor of 5, or the beam current increased by a factor of 3× and the avalanche gain increased by a factor of 3.3. An advantage of sharing the gain increase between beam and detector is, again, to reduce radiation sensitivity. As mentioned, a drift cavity of an e-beam amplifier 10 in a logic application may be very short, to minimize transit time of a beam. Beam delay directly affects a maximum cycle time that the logic can operate at. For example, if two deflectors are 1 μm long each, with a 1 μm drift cavity, the total drift distance is approximately 3 μm. For a 50V beam (with a velocity of 4×106 m/s), transit time from the input of a first deflector to a detector is 750 femtoseconds (10−15). This suggests an upper switching rate limit of around 1 THz. Gate loading delays can also be estimated, by way of example. With a 1 um drift cavity, detectors may be on the order of 0.25 μm×0.25 μm in size. Junction devices such as Schottky diodes typically have capacitances on the order of 1 fF/μm2. Thus, a detector capacitance may be approximately 0.125 fF. The loading of a single deflector with plate spacing of 1 μm, a plate length of 1 μm and a plate height of 1 μm is 0.009 fF. For a 50 ohm load, capacitance is very dependent on construction, but may be well under 1 fF, so a value of 0.5 fF will be conservatively assumed here. Thus, a total loading capacitance may be 0.125 fF+0.009 fF+0.5 fF, or approximately 0.75 fF. The fall time when a detector turns on is dominated by pull-down current times into the total loading capactance, given by dv/dt=I/C. With a 500 mV power supply and a 1 mA beam current, a fall time may be 375 fs. A rise time when the detector turns off is approximately the RC time constant of the load resistor and capacitance, or, 50 ohms×0.75 fF=37.5 fs. These figures are approximate and will depend strongly on the application, but they demonstrate rise/fall times on the same order as the gate delay, thus an e-beam amplifier 10 used in a logic application may have switching speeds on the order of 1 THz. As with other embodiments of an electron-beam amplifier 10, detectors provide gain with respect to collected beam current. This gain is essential if a single electron gun is to be used, which may be a preferred construction when many logic elements are combined in an integrated processor or other complex logic system. Since detector gain is not precise, diode means may be used to limit detector output voltage to controlled binary logic levels. Schottky diodes are preferred, since they are readily available from the detector construction, and they are among the fastest clamping devices known. FIG. 61 schematically shows an output network 190(2) using clamping diodes 1540(1) and 1540(2). Output network 190(2) is connected to two power supplies 1550(1) and 1550(2) and is configured to provide differential outputs 1560(1) and 1560(2) that are complementary logic states, as shown. Power supply 1550(1) is a reference potential that corresponds to an appropriate level for one of the complementary logic states; power supply 1550(2) is a potential that may be different from the reference potential by an amount that exceeds a desired difference between the complementary logic states. Each side of output network 190(2) includes a detector segment 150(97) or 150(98), a resistor 1570(1) or 1570(2), and a clamping diode 1540(1) or 1540(2), as shown. A beam 120 is configured by an electron gun and focusing optics (not shown) to strike detector segment 150(97) or 150(98). A detector 150 that is not struck by beam 120 isolates a corresponding output 1560 from power supply 1550(2), allowing the corresponding resistor 1570 to pass a current IR so that the corresponding output 1560 reaches the potential of power supply 1550(1). In this illustration, detector 150(97) is not struck by beam 120, current IR passes through resistor 1570(1), and output 1560(1) reaches the potential of power supply 1550(1), but it will be appreciated that the circuit symmetry is designed to produce an equal effect on detector 150(98), resistor 1570(2) and output 1570(2) if the beam strikes detector 150(97). A detector 150 that is struck by beam 120 emits an output current ID that drives the potential of a corresponding output 1560 until the corresponding output 1560 reaches a clamp potential of the corresponding clamping diode 1540. When current ID changes the potential of output 1560 to exceed the clamp potential Vclamp, clamping diode 1540 passes a current IC that prevents any further change to the potential of output 1560. Thus the potential of an output 1560, corresponding to a detector 150 struck by a beam 120, will achieve the potential of power supply 1550(1) offset by the clamp potential Vclamp. It should be noted that the potential of power supply 1550(2) may be positive or negative with respect to power supply 1550(1) as a matter of design choice, for implementing suitable logic levels and choices of detectors 150 and clamping diodes 1540. The diode symbols used in FIG. 61 are not meant to limit a circuit implementation to the diode polarities indicated, but simply to show that a diode is used. Radiating Amplifier Embodiments Power Combining Arrays Ganging amplifiers is one way to increase the power output of amplifier embodiments while maintaining a wide signal bandwidth. Ganging may exploit a high input impedance of the deflector apparatus, such that many amplifiers may be driven from a common low-impedance source, for example, a 50 ohm transmission line. The principle obstacle to ganging amplifiers is not input loading, but power-combining many outputs. In conventional technologies, such as solid state amplifiers, this type of combining may present a formidable problem. Simple electrical networks made of transmission lines or waveguides have significant ohmic losses that can drastically reduce the efficiency of the power summing, especially in large arrays. Efficient power combiners generally take two forms: waveguide combiners and free-space summing of electromagnetic waves. Waveguide power combiners suffer from ohmic losses, and are difficult to construct in a microfabricated form. The hierarchical structure of combiners, such as the Wilkinson type, also makes them suffer from wave reflections at the many summing nodes, resulting in high standing wave ratio and more lost efficiency. As described below, free-space summing of electromagnetic waves is a preferred method of power-combining since there are no ohmic losses or standing waves. With free-space summing, amplifiers are coupled to radiating antenna elements, and the radiated fields naturally combine by coherent superposition. It is only desirable that the amplifiers be driven from a common signal input or sources that have the same frequency and similar phase. In many applications, these free-space fields may be used directly, as in a radar or communications transmitter. The effect of the phasing may, for example, create a directional RF beam. In other applications where RF radiation is not desired, the coherent sum can be collected in another, larger antenna, such as a horn or parabolic dish. Thus, a radiating EBTX embodiment 4000 shown in FIG. 62 couples an antenna 4002 to a detector 4004, such as a clamping diode, to convert an incoming signal 4006 into a radiating field 4008. The incoming signal 4006 is pre-processed by an electron gun array as previously shown and described. In a preferred construction, the antenna 4002 is constructed with microfabrication and integrated with the detector 4004 to form a unitary assembly. In one variation, the detector 4004 and the antenna 4002 are separate components that are electrically coupled by intermediate wiring (not shown). In another variation the antenna 4002 is an integral part of the detector 4004. In a third variation, the detector 4004 is coupled to a waveguide (not shown), which is open-terminated to free-space as an aperture radiator. In a fourth variation the waveguide couples to a horn antenna which provides more directivity to the free-space radiation. FIG. 63 shows one form of EBTX construction 4009 including the elements of FIG. 62. Incoming signal 4006 is applied to deflectors 4010 of an electron gun array 4012. A plurality of electron guns 4014, 4016 emit corresponding beamlets 4018, 4020, which are shaped using beam shaping electrodes 4022. Beamlets 4018, 4020 may be blanked by selective application of blanking signal 4024 to blanking electrodes 4026. A metal drift can 4028 is provided with lensing electrodes, such as electrodes 4030, 4032 to form a doublet lensing field 4034, 4036 that focuses an array of beamlets 4038 onto spot 4040, which mat be swept across detector 4004 to emit the radiating field 4008. Deletion of antenna 4002 would convert the EBTX construction 4009 into an EBRX device. These radiating embodiments are termed here the EBTX (Electron Beam Transmit Amplifier) since they may amplify, as in a receiver mode, as well as transmit an electromagnetic field. Thus, free-space fields may be efficiently summed in large power generating arrays such as a phased array antenna. Since EBTX amplifiers can be microfabricated the loading of many elements can be distributed by a hierarchical input feed constructed from EBRX amplifiers (EBTX sans antenna). By this method thousands or even millions of power combining elements can be constructed as entire wafer-based assemblies. FIG. 64 illustrates one form of an arrayed EBTX power construction 4044. An RF signal input 4006 is amplified by a hierarchical array of EBRX amplifiers 4046, 4048, 4050, 4052, for example, where array 4046 doubles the RF signal input 4006 with amplification, array 4048 quadruples the RF signal 4006 with amplification, array 4050 repeats the RF signal 4006 eight times with amplification, and array 4052 repeats the RF signal 4006 sixteen times with amplification for submission of sixteen signals that have each been amplified four times to an array of antennas 4054, such as antenna 4002. Thus, large arrays can exploit previously described features, including time delay control, mixing, variable gain control and frequency multiplication to make fully integrated antenna beamformers capable of transmission, reception, and electronic beam steering. Antenna-Coupled Embodiments One radiating embodiment couples the detector of an EBRX to a separate antenna element via a short transmission line. In this case, the e-beam detector sees the network impedance of the transmission line, and the antenna accomplishes the impedance transform to free space. The antenna may be placed as closely as possible to the e-beam driven detector and uses integrated microfabrication technology to achieve a proximity of microns. Given the small dimensions of a microfabricated element, this may limit the antenna to a maximum size of some millimeters. Thus, radiating embodiments are most suitable for millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave applications, which corresponds to a frequency spectrum of approximately 40 GHz and to 1 THz (K-band and above). The nature of the microfabricated construction makes various types of strip and slot antennas compatible for coupling to the detector in forming an EBTX. These can be formed, for example, using multi-level metallization processes that are found in many microfabrication technologies. The most common types of strip and slot antennas are resonant structures such as the dipole and patch antenna, but there are also many broadband types, including the log-periodic, various forms of wideband spiral antenna, the wideband vivaldi flared type, and ultra-wideband structures. FIG. 65 shows, by way of example, an EBTX device 4058 configured to emit an electron beam 4062 towards a detector (not shown) that is coupled to one of a plurality of alternative antenna types 4064 to provide radiating field emissions depending upon the environment of use. The alternative antenna types may be used interchangeably in place of one another and include, for example, a wideband spiral antenna 4068, wideband vivaldi flared antenna 4070, and ultra-wideband antenna 4072. Dipole FIG. 66A shows a side midsectional view of a dipole antenna feed 4074. An EBRX 4076 sweeps beam 4078 across detectors D1, D2, which are respectively coupled to antennas 4080, 4082. In this case, the antennas 4080, 4082 are strip antennas forming a dipole antenna having an overall length of λ/2, and no balun is required, as shown in the front perspective of FIG. 66B. The antennas 4080, 4082 are formed by a layer of metallization, as shown, across substrate 4084 remote from detectors D1, D2. As shown in FIG. 66C, the feed includes load resistors R1, R2 for the detectors D1, D2, which are integrated on the detector substrate 4084, but are not shown in Error! Reference source not found. A. The load resistors R1, R2 provide detector bias and perform impedance matching Zo/2 to the antenna feed. The ohmic value of the resistors R1, R2, is each one-half the feed impedance of the antenna. The detectors D1, D2 are connected to a reference potential—VEE and alternating currents I1, I2 are allocated to the respective dipoles. For an ideal half-wave dipole the feed impedance is 73 ohms. FIG. 67 shows a modified dipole antenna feed 4084 where a positive detector bias is applied from the ends of the dipole 4086, 4088. In this case, the detector segments D1, D2 directly drive the feed impedance. In this case, the differential detector D1, D2 eliminates the need for a balun. This arrangement has some advantage for certain embodiments that use dipole arrays. The length L of the dipole is approximately one-half wavelength, e.g., λ/2, or a multiple of one-half wavelength. The power output of a single dipole can be estimated from P=V02/2Z0, where V0 is the peak sinusoidal voltage fed to the antenna, and Z0 is the theoretical feed impedance of the dipole. V0 is approximately ½ the detector reverse bias voltage since voltage excursions outside this range will de-bias the detector. For a 2V reverse bias, V0=1V. From these quantities, the power output of a dipole is approximately 7 mW. Selectable Dipole Polarization A dipole provides a single plane of polarized electromagnetic radiation. Many applications require selectable polarization. FIG. 68Error! Reference source not found. A shows one example of how an antenna 4090 can be constructed to provide selectable polarization from a pair of orthogonally arranged dipoles including a first dipole 4092, 4094 and a second dipole 4096, 4098. A quadrangular detector 4100 made of four square segments 4102, 4104, 4106, 4108 is coupled to the feed points of the two dipoles to implement a polarization schema, for example, with segments 4102, 4104 coupled to feedpoint 4108, segments 4106, 4108 coupled to feedpoint 4110, segments 4102, 4108 feedpoint 4112 and segments 4102, 4106 to feedpoint 4114. A programmable rectangular beam spot 4116 sweeps across the detector 4100 in either X fashion, as shown in FIG. 68B or Y fashion as shown in FIG. 68C. FIG. 68D shows an alternative beam spot geometry as a square beam spot 4118. The beam spot 4116 has a long dimension approximately equal to the detector diameter, and a short dimension less than one-half the detector diameter. The beam spot 4116 sweeps in the direction of the short dimension to modulate the current on that axis of the detector. When the spot sweeps in X, the spot modulates pairs of segments 4102, 4108 and 4104, 4106. The combination 4102, 4108 acts as one detector segment in this case, and 4104, 4106 acts as another. When the spot sweeps in Y, it modulates pairs of segments 4102, 4104 and 4106, 4108. The X-sweep excites the horizontal dipole 4092, 4094 and leaves the vertical dipole 4096, 4098 unaffected since the total current into the vertical dipole is constant. Similarly, the Y-sweep excites the vertical dipole 4096, 4098 and leaves the horizontal dipole segments 4102, 4104 and 4106, 4108. The X-sweep excites the horizontal dipole 4092 unaffected. As for other embodiments, the X and Y sweeps may be achieved by arrays of electron guns that each have X and Y deflectors In another arrangement, a square beam spot 4118 is employed for both polarizations, as shown in FIG. 68D. In this case the beam spot 4118 is approximately one-half the diameter of the detector and the maximum sweep in either X or Y keeps the spot within the boundaries of the detector. The disadvantage of this embodiment is that the detector may be twice as large (area) than the previous embodiment for the same spot area. The spot area is assumed the same so that space charge spreading effects are similar. The advantage of the embodiment is that the beam spot does not need to be re-programmed for one of two rectangular orientations, and polarization switching can be faster. Broadband Antenna FIG. 69 shows one embodiment for a representative broadband antenna, to illustrate how the above concepts can be applied to other antenna geometries. Instead of simple strips of a dipole, the antenna 4120 is a folded log spiral antenna. This geometry has one advantage of a relatively constant polarization versus frequency. A detector 4122 includes triangular segments 4124, 4126 that are directly coupled to a center feedpoint 4128 on lines 4130, 4132. The detector 4122, as shown, is exaggerated in size for clarity. Antenna segments 4134, 4136 as shown may be metal or, alternatively, slots in a metal ground plane. Error! Reference source not found. FIG. 70A shows a dual polarized version of a folded log spiral antenna 4138. Antenna 4138 is constructed to provide selectable polarization from a pair of orthogonally arranged dipoles including a first dipole 4140, 4142 and a second dipole 4144, 4146. A quadrangular detector 4148 made of four square segments 4149, 4150, 4152 and 4154 is coupled to feed points of the two dipoles to implement a polarization schema. For example, as shown in FIG. 70B, segments 4149, 4150 couple to feedpoint 4156, segments 4152, 4154 couple to feedpoint 4158, segments 4149, 4154 couple to feedpoint 4160 and segments 4150, 4152 couple to feedpoint 4162. A programmable rectangular beam spot 4116 sweeps across the detector 4148 in either X fashion, as shown in FIG. 70B, or Y fashion, as shown in FIG. 70C. Operation is the same as shown for antenna 4090 in FIG. 68A. FIG. 71 shows a perspective assembly view of the detector—antenna coupling for use with the antenna 4138, and indicates with a representative e-beam 4162 from electron gun 4164 how the detector 4148 is excited. The detector 4148 is provided with electrical contacts 4166 extending through a substrate 4168 upon which the antenna 4138 is formed. The contacts extend behind detector plane 4170. Patch Antenna A patch antenna 4172 is shown in FIG. 72. Many varieties of patch antennas exist where, for example, a strip dipole over a ground plane may be considered a patch. As shown in a side view, a square patch has a central ground termination 4176 connected to ground plane 4178 with a drive point feed 4180 that is offset to one side, though there are also many variations of slot-fed patches. The basic principle of radiation is the same as antennas discussed above, which is a resonance effect that is based on the propagation delay for the driving voltage to equilibrate across the antenna. When the delay approaches one-half period of the driving frequency, resonant fields can be established in preferred directions, thus giving rise to radiation as transmitted RF 4182. While a dipole is a symmetrical structure driven by a balanced bipolar signal source, the patch usually counts on some asymmetry in the single feedpoint 4180 to establish a bipolar field 4184, 4186 at opposite sides of the perimeter of the patch 4174. This creates a radiation field that is dominantly polarized in one plane, though cross-polarization levels may be high. Selectable Patch Polarization As with the dipole, a selectable polarization is possible with a patch antenna 4172, but in this case, by moving the feedpoint 4180. FIG. 73A illustrates patch antenna 4172′, which is identical to antenna 4172 shown in FIG. 72, except for the addition of feed 4180′ Detectors 4188 and 4190 are shown in additional detail in FIG. 73B, which is rotated 90° with respect to area B′ of FIG. 73A. Detector 4188 may, for example, have two separate segments 4192, 4194 in detector plane 4178 to drive feed 4180. Thus, FIG. 73C shows a feed 4180 in active configuration for one polarization of patch 4174, for example, as an X feed. FIG. 73D illustrates a feed 4180′ in active configuration for another polarization, for example, as a Y feed. In context of FIG. 73A, an e-beam is aimed at the X feed 4180. For another polarization, the beam is re-targeted at the detector coupled to the Y feed 4180′. The aiming may be accomplished as shown in FIG. 74 by a controllable bias Vaim applied to deflector 4196 of a microcolumn array 4198. The re-targeting is accomplished with a fixed voltage Vfix provided by a DAC 4200 under control of a digital targeting command 4202 to reposition e-beam 4204 while permitting normal beam sweeping by the microcolumn array 4198 according to VIN. If the targeting accuracy provided by the DAC 4200 is not accurate enough, it may be supplemented by a beam offset control loop 4205, as described previously, for example, as in control loops 375, 377. In another arrangement, two beams may be employed to achieve the selectable polarization, as shown in FIG. 75. Each of beams 4204, 4204′ may be selectably turned on or off, either through current control or by the blanked electron gun described earlier. An advantage of this second arrangement is that both beams may operate simultaneously to achieve selectable cross-polarization (for example, a 45 degree polarization) or circular polarization. Circular polarization is achieved by a 90 phase shift between beam excitations applied to the detectors 4188 and 4190 for the X and Y polarization feeds. One approach applies the phase shift to the RF of the driving sources of deflectors 4196 and 4196′. In another approach the phase shift is achieved by time delaying one of the beams relative to the other, according to methods previously described. Strip and Slot Antennas In any antenna embodiment, the antenna can be constructed as either a strip of metal or a slot in a ground plane. These two configurations are based on swapping the conducting and non-conducting materials of the antenna geometries. Thus, a “slot” dipole antenna may look like strip, except it is mostly ground plane with two narrow slots in the shape of the antenna. Feeding arrangements between strips and slots are somewhat different due to the need to have a conductive contact, but performance is similar, though in some applications the slot can provide slightly better bandwidth and cross-polarization performance. In the literature, the strip and slots are known as “duals” of each other because of the geometrical similarity. Thus, it can be appreciated that the invention is not constrained to use one type or the other. Integrated Detector/Antenna In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 76, EBTX 4206, a detector 4208 and an antenna 4210 are constructed as a single or unitary device rather than two separate components that are separated in distance by contacts or leads. The output contact of the detector may be a patch antenna, or a portion of a patch antenna. In the following discussion the output contact will be called the antenna contact to emphasize the dual functionality. The detector 4208 may have dimensions that are coextensive with those of the antenna 4210 or a portion of the antenna 4210, for example, approaching a half-wavelength λ/2 or more of the signal frequency. A power plane 4212 is available as needed for bias of embedded circuitry, for example, as shown in FIG. 66A and FIG. 67. An e-beam 4214 is swept along beam contact 4216 in phase with beam sweep 4218 to activate the antenna 4210 for emission of RF field. The objective is to provide dynamic, variable spatial excitation of the detector/antenna. By this means, more modes of operation are possible than with respect to previous antenna embodiments that construct a separate detector and antenna. The operational modes of EBTX 4206 include antenna radiation, polarization control, and harmonic generation. The basis for these modes is the fact that the beam spot can be deflected over a large area of the antenna. The beam deflection may span up to a half wavelength or more of the highest signal frequency and move the full length of the antenna, or the spot can simply be repositioned anywhere along the antenna and modulated with a small signal amplitude. Large amplitudes generate harmonics, while small amplitudes at particular positions can generate different polarizations and phases. By way of example, where the antenna 4210 is in the form of a strip-patch antenna, FIG. 77A shows that excitation may be by a small amplitude spot deflection at a variable feedpoint 4220 in phase with signal 4218. FIG. 77B shows relocation of the variable feedpoint to position 4222. More complex combinations of large and small amplitudes at feedpoints 4220, 4222 can be used to generate fundamentals and harmonics with different polarizations. The operation can be understood as follows. Where the e-beam 4214 strikes the beam contact 4216, relatively strong current flow between beam contact 4216 and the output contact (anode and cathode) because of the gain of the detector 4208 (see FIG. 76). This current ultimately flows from the power supply feed of the antenna contact, through semiconductor material of the detector 4208, to the beam contact (i.e., antenna 4210). In some respects, this sandwich behaves like a transmission line. The current generates a potential between the contacts 4216, 4210 that equilibrates across the detector 4208 as a traveling wave. When the wave reaches the edges of the antenna contact, it modulates the fringing fields there, causing them to radiate in the manner of a patch. The traveling wave is such that the edges of the patch look something like a transmission line terminated by the radiation impedance. Any mismatch in the impedance of the transmission line and free-space causes the traveling waves to be reflected. The waves therefore propagate back and forth through the patch detector 4208 establishing complex standing wave patterns. If the beam spot moves very little, the wave patterns are modulated at the frequency of the spot movement, and the patch will radiate at the same frequency. If the spot moves over a larger area, non-linear effects emerge because of interactions between waves generated at different positions of the patch, and the patch radiates harmonics as well. The patch is generally a unique two-dimensional shape that may be adapted for a particular environment of use, though FIG. 76 indicates a dipole-like shape. By way of example, FIG. 78Error! Reference source not found. A and FIG. 78Error! Reference source not found. B show a square patch/detector 4224 with variable beam-spot feedpoints 4226, 4226′ with small deflection amplitudes 4228, 4228′. The structures shown in FIG. 78A and FIG. 78B, accordingly, are used to emit RF fields that are associated with a unique phase and a linear polarization. The selection of feedpoints 4226, 4226′ swept according to signal 4228 cause differences between emitted RF fields of the two respective structures. FIG. 78Error! Reference source not found. C shows a dual beam excitation, where each beam-spot feedpoint 4332, 4334 may be positioned anywhere on the patch, for example with Y modulation 4336 or X modulation 4338 in phase with signal 4228. The structure shown in FIG. 78C is, for example, used to emit RF field having a unique phase and a circular polarization. FIG. 79A shows excitation of patch/detector 4224 that is swept with a beam spot track 4239 in both an X phase 4240 and a Y phase 4242 with a large signal lissajous spot deflection on track 4239. FIG. 79B shows patch/detector 4224 being swept with two beam spot tracks 4239, 4244 where the X phases 4240, 4246 and the Y phases 4242, 4248 may be the same or different. The excitations and number of spots in all of these cases are shown to indicate flexibility of the design. The patch/detector concept may assume any geometry, including novel geometries or shapes. For example, as shown in FIG. 80A, patch/detector 4250 may be a disk or ring or other shape, and may be activated by a substantially circular beam spot track 4252 or a substantially elliptical or oval beam spot track 4254 shown in FIG. 80B. A circular or elliptical lissajous beam motion on tracks 4252, 4254 can excite radiation with circular or elliptical polarizations. In other beam spot tracks (not shown), a linear spot motion can excite linear polarization, and the symmetry of the circular disk permits the e-beam scan pattern to be aligned to any axis to change the polarization. More complex shapes can have even more complex scan patterns, as indicated in FIG. 80C where a quadridentate patch/detector 4256 is activated by a clover-leaf beam-spot track 4258. Again, the excitation patterns and numbers of spots here shown by way of example. Generally speaking, efficient excitation of a diode detector/antenna structure requires an e-beam scan pattern that closely approximates the surface current density pattern of the antenna when radiating in a desired mode. This is one reason why the embodiment may use multiple e-beam spots with complex excitation, or may employ unusual antenna/detector shapes. Because of the complexity of the device operation, the types of antenna shapes and scan patterns can only generally be indicated here. In practice, the exact construction may benefit from computer simulation and experimentation to determine the exact number of independent beams, together with the amplitude, position and scan pattern of each beam sweep for an intended environment of use. This may in turn determine the other parameters of the amplifier, including the number of electron guns, deflector drive, drift cavity dimensions, and focusing requirements, among others. It can be appreciated, however, from the general principles exposited here that the embodiment can combine the functions of antenna, frequency multiplier, phase shifter and selectable polarizer in a single device and thus offers an unusual flexibility. Horn In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 81, EBTX 4260 includes a horn antenna 4262 to provide extra directivity in the radiation pattern. E-beam 4264 strikes detectors 4266 for excitation of antenna 4268. In one variation, the antenna 4268 may be a dipole or patch antenna that feeds the horn. As shown in FIG. 82, EBTX 4260 may have a horn 4262 that is fed by a short section of waveguide 4270. The e-beam 4264 strikes a detector 4266 that is formed in two horizontally elongated segments 4272, 4274 that are driven by beam sweep 4276 over detector plane 4278. A flared horn segment 4280 may be connected to ground plane 4282. One advantage to waveguide 4270 includes benefit to broadband signaling, since the flare of the horn 4280 provides a gradual transition to free-space, efficiently radiating broadband RF without the resonant characteristics of most planar antennas (excepting some types like log spirals and vivaldi antennas). Waveguide Coupling FIG. 83 is a midsection view of FIG. 82 and shows one method of driving a waveguide-fed horn 4262. The split detector 4266 is made of two segments 4272, 4274 that span the width of the waveguide. Detector segment 4272 is coupled to an upper plane 4284 of the waveguide 4284, and detector segment 4274 is coupled to a lower plane 4286. When the e-beam 4264 excites the detector 4266, the configuration of the two detector segments 4272, 4274 drives the upper and lower guide walls 4284, 4286 to excite a current that is similar to the current density generated by a TE10-mode wave 4288 propagating down the waveguide 4270. FIG. 84 shows, by way of example, a guidewall current flow 4290 in a rectangular form 4292 of guidewall 4270 at a moment in time commensurate with power flow 4294. FIG. 85 shows how current 4296 from the detector 4266 (FIG. 83) drives current 4296, 4298 into the short end 4300 of the waveguide 4292 to approximate the guidewall flow and excite a TE10 mode down the guide. TE10 is not the only mode that can be excited in a guide, but it the easiest mode to implement and describe, and so is shown by way of example. Besides the relative ease of guidewall excitation, a TE10 mode also has the lowest cutoff frequency of any rectangular waveguide mode, therefore offering the widest bandwidth. This bandwidth can span many octaves, making the waveguide fed horn much more useful than resonant dipoles or patch antennas for many applications. A circular waveguide 4302 can also be used in place of waveguide 4270 (shown in FIG. 83), as shown on FIG. 86. A guidewall current density pattern 4304 is shown in the circular waveguide 4302 operating in TM11 mode at one instant in time. Detector 4266 is formed in longitudinally aligned rectangular segments 4306, 4308 to excite traveling waves by the sweep action 4310 of e-beam 4312. Like the rectangular guide 4292 shown in FIG. 85, a split detector 4266 drives the top and bottom of the guide where the guidewall current density is greatest. Dual Polarization Circular Waveguide FIG. 87A shows a variation on the form of detector 4266 for use with the circular waveguide 4302 to provide simultaneous dual polarization. Here, two pairs of orthogonally oriented detectors drives one of two polarization axes. Segments 4314, 4316 drive the top and bottom of corresponding top and bottom antenna segments or areas (not shown). Segments 4318, 4320 drive the right and left segments or sides of the antenna. A shorting plane 4321 blocks RF from escaping the end of the waveguide 4302. Slots 4322 force the detector current to flow to the desired points of the guidewall, but are small enough at the frequency of operation (much less than a wavelength λ) that significant radiation cannot escape. Beam spots 4324, 4326, 4328, 4330 excite the four detector segments 4314, 4316, 4318, 4320 with two independent deflections. Spots 4324, 4328 are moved vertically in unison to excite segments 4314, 4316. Spots 4330, 4326 move horizontally in unison to excite segments 4318, 4320. Spots 4324, 4328 move independently of spots 4326, 4330 to excite the waveguide 4302, and in this manner simultaneous dual polarization is achieved. A central gap 4332 between segments prevents segments 4314 and 4316 from coupling to segments 4324 and 4326. A separation distance gap between beam spots 4324, 4328 matches the gap dimension between segments 4314, 4316, for example, so that as beam spots 4324, 4328 move up and down, the excitation of the segments 4314, 4316 changes in a uniform manner. The same considerations apply to the horizontal motion of spots 4326, 4330 exciting segments 4320, 4324. A diagonal polarization occurs when X and Y sweeps are driven in phase. A circular polarization occurs when X and Y sweeps are driven 90° out of phase at the same amplitude. An elliptical polarization occurs when X and Y sweeps are driven 90° out of phase at different amplitudes. FIG. 87B shows an end view of a microcolumn array 4334 that may be used to generate the beam spots 4324, 4326, 4328, 4330 shown in FIG. 87A. The shape of microcolumn array 4334 is based on the method of optical imaging described previously. An X deflection array 4336 possesses a single X deflector in each electron gun, for example, in electron gun 4338, to move the beam spots 4326, 4330 with horizontal motion, and is formed in a row-column format with two lobes 4340, 4342. A Y deflection array is formed in an identical way aligned on the Y axis addressing beam spots 4324, 4328 with vertical motion. The X deflectors are driven with a first RF signal, and the Y deflectors driven with a second RF signal. A low beam current with high detector gain permits beam collection losses without loss of overall efficiency. Capacitively Coupled Circular Waveguide FIG. 88A shows a midsectional view of electric field patterns 4346 in the circular waveguide 4302 for the TM11 mode. FIG. 88B shows a second method of coupling power into the waveguide 4302 based on parallel conductors 4348, 4350 capacitively coupling to the guidewall 4352. This is based on the fact observable from FIG. 88A that the electric field lines E are radial from two points within the guide, which is similar to the effect of a capacitive coupling from two conductive rods to the guidewall. By placing the conductors at these points of electric field concentration, the power coupling is therefore optimum. Like the rectangular guide 4292 shown in FIG. 85, a split detector 4266 drives the top and bottom of the guide where the guidewall current density is greatest. Aperture Antenna A waveguide may also be used directly as an aperture antenna, without a horn. Though the directivity of a simple aperture is lower than a horn, in large arrays of apertures, free-space power combining improves the directivity substantially. In this kind of application the lesser directivity of the aperture is actually a benefit, since it permits beamsteering over a wider angle. An aperture radiator also has one advantage of being much smaller than a horn, and therefore a high density of apertures can be used in large arrays for greater power output. Generally, horns are more appropriate for achieving high directivity from small arrays. Finally, the aperture retains the broad bandwidth of a horn, which far exceeds a dipole or patch. That a waveguide has a broad bandwidth can be understood from the relation for group wave velocity of a guide: v g = c 1 - ( λ / 2 a ) 2 = c 1 - ( f c f ) 2 ( 1.46 ) Generally, the shorter the wavelength (or higher the frequency f relative to cutoff f=c/2a), the more closely the group velocity approaches the free-space velocity of light, c. Thus, short wavelengths propagate at almost the same velocity and over short guide lengths there will be little dispersion. When the guide couples a detector on one side of a thin silicon wafer substrate (˜300 um thick) to an aperture on the other side of the same wafer, the dispersion will be negligible even at 1 THz. Waveguides offer significant power advantage per element over simple antennas such as a dipole or patch radiator. The reason is that dipoles and patches have a relatively high feed impedance relative to the area of the antennas, in the range of 50 to 100 ohms. This limits the maximum current drive for a given detector bias voltage. Higher electromagnetic power feed can be achieved in a waveguide because the driving impedance can be lower for the same area. If the transmission impedance for a TE10 mode of a rectangular waveguide is ZT, the electrical impedance is Z 0 = 1.23 · Z T b a . ( 1.47 ) for a guide of width a and height b. The TE10 mode propagates down the waveguide by reflecting back and forth off the two sidewalls separated by the width a. ZT is given by Z T = η 1 - ( f c f ) 2 = η 1 - ( λ / 2 a ) 2 = η sin θ , ( 1.48 ) where the free-space radiation impedance η=377 ohms, the cutoff frequency fc=c/2a , and the speed of light c=3×108 m/s. The angle of reflection normal to the guidewall is given by θ. For guides of width a>>λ/2, the wave propagates nearly with the speed of light and the transmission and electrical impedances are minimum. For example, a guide that is a=2λ wide and b=λ/10 high will have ZT=389 ohms and Z0=20 ohms. At 100 GHz a=6 mm and b=0.3 mm. At 1 THz, a=600 um and b=60 um. Thus, the lower electrical impedance of a wide guide permits more power to be transmitted from a low voltage source, such as an e-beam detector. This is one advantage of a waveguide over an antenna. Generally, the power down a guide as a function of the peak driving voltage is given by P = V 0 2 2 Z 0 . ( 1.49 ) V0 is approximately one-half the detector reverse bias voltage, since voltage excursions outside this range will de-bias the detector. For example, if the detector bias is 2V and Z0=20 ohms, the power output will be approximately 25 mW. This is over three times more power than the power from a half-wave dipole (Z0=73 ohms). Since the long dimension of the waveguide is approximately the same as a dipole antenna (a˜λ, b<<λ), but the short dimension can be considerably less, arrays of guide-coupled EBTXs can have many more elements per unit area as arrays of dipole-coupled EBTXs, which are normally restricted to a one-halfwave separation in both directions. For example, a small array of 4 dipoles will be approximately λ×λ in area. This same area can have 10 waveguides of dimension λ×λ/10, and each guide will generate 40% more power than a dipole. The total array power will be 3.5 times more than the array of dipoles on a λ/2 element spacing. Thus, even a relatively narrow guide can generate higher power in an array. Transmit Arrays As discussed previously, antenna coupled amplifiers provide means for coherent power combining via arrayed embodiments. FIG. 89 shows a plurality of EBTX's, for example, each including a microcolumn array 4354, 4356, 4358; beam, 4360, 4362, 4364 and antenna 4366, 4368, 4369, respectively in association. As shown in FIG. 89, the use of log spiral wideband antennas are merely by way of example. One way to provide an efficient power combiner is as a dense array 4370 of microcolumn subarrays 4372, 4374 with integral local focusing optics over each microcolumn subarrays 4372, 4374. This is shown in FIG. 90. Each microcolumn subarray 4372, 4374 emits electrons through lensing electrodes, for example, lensing electrodes 4376, 4378. The respective lenses for subarray 4372 is the fields generated by electrode 4378 in relation to electrodes 4376, 4380, 4382, 4384. FIG. 91 shows in cross-section how the independent lens fields are generated where electrodes 4378 and 4382 may have focusing fields 4386, 4388 that overlap to focus e-beams 4390, 4392. As shown, a planar acceleration field 4394 increases the energy of the beams 4390, 4392 for excitation of detectors 4396, 4398. Arrays of RF emitters can be packed more densely than λ/2, as shown schematically in FIG. 92 where like numbering of identical components is retained with respect to FIG. 89. Here, some crossed dipole-like segments overlap due to the close spacing of microcolumn arrays 4354, 4356, 4358. The benefit is more radiated power because of the higher concentration or density of antennas. Power is also increased because the tight packing increases the electromagnetic coupling between antenna elements and reduces the feed impedance to each. This is somewhat similar to the effect in a wide waveguide. This is often considered undesirable if power is fed from a standard 50 ohm source, but in e-beam excited antennas, the close proximity of detector and antenna feed permits an efficient drive into a low impedance. With microfabrication, very large arrays and high radiated power are possible. A single wafer-fabricated transmit array might have more than 1 million elements. This is achievable at submillimeter wavelengths if standard 200 mm diameter silicon wafers are employed in the construction. This many elements cannot be driven directly, but as shown in FIG. 64 a hierarchical “corporate” feeding arrangement can be employed to drive the entire array from a single RF source through successive stages of EBRX amplifiers, and thereby spread out the load. The fanout per EBRX is illustrative only in FIG. 64, and there may be as many as 100 or more fanouts, depending on frequency of operation and the construction parameters of the EBTX elements. Transmit Beamformer Transmit arrays can be extended to beamforming by employing time delay control of each amplifier element. The concept of a beamformer is an array of antenna elements that are independently controlled for time delay or phase to generate a beam or beams in designated directions. As mentioned before, phase control works for narrowband signals, and time control works for broadband signals. Time control is the more general concept, and the principle is shown in FIG. 93. In an antenna array 4400, if all emitter elements 4402, 4404 have the same time delay (Δt=0), RF radiation emitted by a very large array will combine as a plane wavefront in a single direction 4406 orthogonal to the array plane 4408, as shown in FIG. 93A. If each emitter element 4402, 4404 is delayed progressively by incremental delays Δt, 2Δt, 3Δt, etc., the plane wavefront will be turned by an angle θ given by: sin θ = c Δ t Δ x ( 1.50 ) where c is the speed of light and Δx is the element spacing, as shown in FIG. 93B and FIG. 93C. FIG. 94 shows an EBTX transmit array 4407, wherein each EBTX amplifier 4408, 4410, 4412 includes, by way of example, a microcolumn array 4414 with a plurality of electron guns 4416, associated deflector apparatus, e-beam focusing optics 4420, drift cavity 4422, e-beam detector 4424 and antenna 4426. Additionally, time delay control means are incorporated in each amplifier. All amplifiers are driven from a common RF source, VSIG. Independent time delay control signals Δt1, Δt2, Δt3, . . . are applied to each amplifier, as calculated by a beamforming algorithm in a separate processor (not shown) to generate e-beam delays TD1, TD2, TD3 in each amplifier. FIG. 95A shows schematically how the time delay commands may be transmitted to a transmit array 4428, where a transmit time delay control 4430 (TTDC) governs activation of EBTX's 4432, 4434 and, consequently, antennas 4436, 4438 by time control or phase adjusting signals t1, t2 . . . that adjust the phase of an incoming signal VIN. FIG. 95B shows a similar concept applied to an antenna driven EBRX amplifier array 4440 where antennas 4442, 4444 drive ERBX's 4446, 4448. A receive time delay control 4446 (TTDC) governs activation of EBRX's 4446, 4448 by time control or phase adjusting signals t1, t2 . . . that adjust the phase of an outgoing signal VOUT. By these means, RF delays are generated in the radiation from each antenna element and beamforming may be achieved. Frequency Multiplying Radiating Beamformer By constructing a detector according to the frequency multiplying embodiments described previously, the input frequency to the transmit beamformer can be a sub-multiple of the output frequency. One advantage is that very high frequency radiation can be generated from a low-frequency reference. Generally, a stable reference of pure tonal quality is more easily constructed if it is low-frequency, and is therefore preferred. In a large beamformer, there is the further advantage that a lower frequency signal can be distributed with lower losses through a corporate network of amplifiers and transmission lines. Receive Arrays EBRX amplifiers may be constructed in arrays to improve the performance of an RF receiver, in the same manner as EBTX amplifiers can be used to make transmit arrays. The same principles of beamforming apply, but in reverse. According to one embodiment, a large antenna is constructed from an array of smaller unit antennas such as dipoles, patches or horns. Each unit antenna is coupled to the input of an EBRX and the combination comprises an element of the array. As shown in FIG. 96, in an array 4450 driven by incoming RF 4452, an nth element 4454 generates an amplified output rn(t) in response to received RF energy. Beamforming delays Δt, are applied to each element 4456, 4458 in array 4450, such that the outputs rn(t) of all n elements are processed to detect RF energy in the desired direction of a beam 4458 or b(t) according to b(t)=Σrn(t−Δtn). (1.51) This function can be realized by many methods. One employs mechanical switching of transmission lines to generate the elemental delays At,, and electrical power combining to generate the summation. For example, one kind of power combiner 4460 is a corporate-fed Wilkinson combiner. One embodiment generates a beam signal b(t) by quantizing the signals rn(t) with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the output of each element. The delays of each element and the power combining of all elements are generated with digital signal processing. This method can re-process the rn(t) signals M times with different sets of delays to generate M beams. Furthermore, the digital signal processing can selectively filter the resultant beams. Another embodiment incorporates time delay control means in each EBRX to receive time delay control signals Δtn. Each output rn(t) is summed in an electrical power combiner to generate the beam signal b(t). The limitation of this approach is that only a single beam can be generated, but the benefit is the simplicity of the time delay construction and the beam generation. Another embodiment achieves multiple beam formation by incorporating multiple EBRX amplifiers in each antenna element. As shown in FIG. 97A, incoming RF 4462 drives antenna 4464 such that EBTX 4466 drives an EBRX array 4468. Each EBRX 4470, 4472 . . . down to an Mth EBRX 4474 is phase-adjusted by a time delay control signal Dtnm. FIG. 97B shows schematically how the time delay commands are applied to a receiver array, for example, as shown for EBRX 4470. RF 4476 emitted by EBTX 4466 strikes antenna 4478 to drive EBRX 4470, and responsive emissions from EBRX 4480 are phase adjusted by a phase adjusting signal FREF. Accordingly, EBRX array 4468 generates M signal power outputs rnm(t) that are summed by power combining means into M beams according to bm(t)=Σrnm(t−Δtnm). (1.52) In a further improvement on this embodiment, an extra EBRX (not shown) may incorporated in each element to isolate the antenna from the loading of the M beamforming EBRXs. In this manner, the signal power can be further amplified before power combining, thereby overcoming losses in the combiner and improving the signal level. Analog Beamforming Mixer A related improvement integrates mixing action into the receiver array. One variant of an EBRX includes a mixer element (e.g., including beam spot configuration 151(17) shown in FIG. 55) based on a quad-segmented detector. A mixer may be incorporated into each antenna element, either after the amplifier, or as part of the amplifier, for example, as shown in FIG. 97B. As part of the amplifier, a mixer 4780 simultaneously amplifies the antenna signal s(t), and demodulates it with a local oscillator reference frequency. The demodulated output has the sum and difference frequencies characteristic of mixing. Thus a single EBRX can simultaneously function as both a low-noise RF amplifier and a mixer. With filtering, the output is a lower intermediate frequency (an “IF”), and the signals from each antenna element can be more easily distributed and processed by subsequent circuitry. Electron Beam Power Combiner Another embodiment is an improved power combiner. The embodiment comprises k microcolumn arrays having independent deflectors, k beam offset means coupled to each deflector, a drift cavity, and a single detector. Each deflector of the kth microcolumn array receives a signal sk(t) that modulates the kth beam. Beam offset means keeps each average position of the beam centered on the detector according to embodiments described previously. The modulation then generates a detector signal. Since each beam excites the detector simultaneously, the detector output is the sum of all amplified signal components. Thus, power combining is achieved. In another embodiment, the k beam offset means are achieved with electron optics. As shown in FIG. 98, a circularly disposed array 4800 includes lensing optics that include an outer electrode 4802 separated by slot 4804 from a generally circular inner electrode 4806. A plurality of microcolumn arrays 4808, 4810 are arranged in a circular pattern within the inner electrode 4806. A detector 4812 is axially and centrally located with respect to the plurality of microcolumn arrays 4808, 4810. Electrical potentials applied to electrodes 4802, 4806 generate a symmetrical field (not shown) that focuses each of beams 4814, 4816 onto the center of the detector 4812. Simultaneously, the potentials of electrodes 4818, 4820 in relation to 4806 generates focusing fields around each microcolumn array 4808, 4810 to focus each individual beam 4814, 4816 into a combined beam spot on detector 4812. The arrangement thus creates immersion lenses within immersion lenses, similar to that previously described for the drift cavity doublet. In this manner, each beam is focused to a desired spot shape, and the array beams is focused onto a single detector. Thus, multiple signals can be combined as well as amplified in a single device. TR Arrays It can be appreciated from the microminiaturized nature of the construction that the foregoing benefits of a transmit beamformer can be combined with a receive beamformer in a single integrated bidirectional transmit-receive or “TR” unit. FIG. 99 shows one embodiment of a dual directional beamformer or TR element 4824 comprised of an EBTX amplifier 4826 and an EBRX amplifier 4828. An incoming signal 4830 drives deflectors 4832 of microcolumn array 4834 to emit e-beams 4835 towards detector 4836 for excitation of antenna 4838 and directional RF emanations 4840 in a dipole-excited horn 4842. Return RF 4844 arrives through horn 4846 to strike dipole antenna 4848 for transmission of signal through coupling 4850 to drive deflector 4852 of microarray 4854. In turn, e-beams 4856 strike detector 4858 for transmission of signal on output coupling 4860 and delivery of output signal 4862. FIG. 100 shows how the TR element 4824 may be arrayed before a two-dimensional antenna 4864 employing alternating T and R elements, 4866, 4868. Beamform Processor In systems that employ digital signal processing to form RF beams, a plurality of signals rnm(kT) (received or to be transmitted) at successive times k of a sampling interval T are delayed by storing them in random access memory and selectively re-accessing them for beamform summation. In some applications, the samples rnm(T) are multiplied by constants cnm so that each signal is not only delayed but scaled. Yet other applications may not use a simple progressive time-delay algorithm for beamforming, but may rely on specialized algorithms similar to the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), which employs matrix mathematics to determine optimum time delays and scaling coefficients to achieve multiple beams with the low sidelobes. Even more complex beamforming algorithms are supplemented by adaptive nulling algorithms to suppress signals in certain directions where there may be interference (as in a receiver) or where interference must not be generated (as in a transmitter). In any of these examples, the beamforming might also have to form cross-polarization levels, which doubles the processing required. These are not the only types of processing, but are illustrative of the complexity of the processing that might be involved. It can be appreciated that a beamform processor may have to accomplish many functions and require considerable computing power. In high performance systems, this is often achieved with multiple digital signal processors operating in parallel. These processors may have to access a common memory as well as the plurality of signals rnm(kT), and often have to transfer data between processors at very high rates. Conventionally, data transfer between processors is via a shared input/output (“I/O”) bus, sometimes termed a “backplane”. Data is transferred between processors under the control of an arbitration arrangement, but since data transfer can only take place between one pair of processors at a time, the data transfer is necessarily sequential, and each processor waits its turn to transmit data to, or receive data from, another processor. The result is that processing slows significantly. As a number of parallel processors increase, the overall processing often improves no better than the logarithm of the number of processors. This limits multiprocessor computers, because the cost of parallel processing goes up dramatically with only minor performance improvements. Many real-time applications (such as, for example, synthetic aperture radar image processing or fast-fourier signal transforms) are severely constrained by data transfer delays. Various methods have been employed to increase the performance of multi-processor systems. One method uses multiple buses between processors. Other methods use dedicated high-speed communication channels between each pair of processors. In general, the large number of data path combinations makes a full set of physical electrical paths prohibitively large, costly, power consumptive, slow and inefficient. Since for a number N of processors there are (N2−N)/2 processor pairs, even a subset of the datapaths becomes prohibitively expensive to implement using conventional printed circuit boards and cables, for large N (e.g., N>1024). Another difficulty is that each processor must drive N buses or channels, and the loading becomes prohibitive for high-speed operation. Some sophisticated systems use active circuitry to create a device that attempts to exchange signal paths such as digital data streams across a “crossbar switch matrix” or “crossbar.” For example, a crossbar may dynamically reconfigure a fixed number of communication paths between processors on a demand basis, eliminating the loading effect by creating point-to-point connections between certain pairs of processors at one time. For instance, a crossbar may create a communication path between a processor A and some of any of N other processors, and a communication path between a processor B and some of any of N-1 other processors, and a communication path between a processor C and some of any of N-2 other processors, and so on. FIG. 101 shows schematically a set of eight processors 3000(1-8) and some of the possible connections 3010(1-16) that may be formed thereamong. Among the eight processors shown in FIG. 101, 36 connections are possible, but only 16 connections exist. Further, each connection 3010 is seen to be unidirectional, as indicated by each arrow. This is only one application for a crossbar. The very nature of the device makes it of great utility for other applications as well. For instance, some types of crossbars can also be used as a switching element in reconfigurable computers and multiplexed data acquisition systems, among others. Crossbar switches have historically had only a relatively few number of inputs and outputs, such as, for example, the 16 inputs and 16 outputs shown in FIG. 101. FIG. 102 shows the possible connections 3050(1-16) of a crossbar element having 4 inputs 3020(1-4) and 4 outputs 3030(1-4). As discussed above, the number of interconnects increases quadratically in relation to the number of inputs and outputs. This is difficult enough with serial data channels, but many computer systems require I/O buses of 64 bits or more. For example, for a multiprocessor system with 1024 processor elements, a single crossbar would require a total of 64×(10242−1024)/2≈33×106 bidirectional interconnects. A traditional solution for dense interconnection has been to construct an array of many small crossbar switches. With appropriate cross-interconnection of small crossbar switches, the array can appear to be a much larger crossbar switch. One form of this is called an “active backplane”. A “passive backplane” consists simply of wiring among multiple processors, or processors and peripheral systems such as disk drives. In contrast, an active backplane incorporates active switching elements such as small crossbars to dynamically configure point-to-point connections among processors. Generally, some kind of crossbar switch elements are preferred and configured for duplex signalling. However, even an active backplane may not allow simultaneous transfer between all processor pairs. In this case, it is termed “blocking,” to reflect the fact that communication paths between certain processor pairs will “block” simultaneous communication between some other processor pairs. When an active backplane can achieve simultaneous transfers between all processor pairs, it is termed “non-blocking”. The disadvantage of a “blocking” active backplane is that the transfer of data between processor pairs must be performed sequentially (i.e., certain transfers must wait for other transfers to be completed). This slows the overall data transfer rate among all the processors and reduces the computing throughput. FIG. 103 shows schematically an application of an active backplane crossbar 3500 receiving beamformed RF signals 3510. In this case, an N-element RX antenna array 3520 receives RF signals 3510, converts them to analog signals rnm(t) 3530 and transmits them to an array of ADCs 3540. ADCs 3540 convert signals 3530 to digital signals drnm(t) 3550 that are transmitted to an active backplane 3560(1), where they are routed to a multiprocessor array 3570(1) as data 3600. Multiprocessor array 3570(1) includes a plurality of memory elements 3590(1), each of which correspond to one of a plurality of CPUs 3580(1). Multiprocessor array 3570(1) processes digital signals drnm(t) 3550 in CPUs 3580(1), moves data 3600 from point to point within array 3570(1) through backplane 3560(1), and ultimately may generate beam signals stored in memory elements 3590(1). Similar considerations apply for a typical transmit beamformer. FIG. 104 shows schematically an active backplane crossbar 3570(2) in an application with an RF beamformer. By way of comparison to FIG. 103, data processing events in FIG. 104 occur in approximately reverse order. Multiprocessor array 3570(2) processes data 3600 in CPUs 3580(2), moves data 3600 from point to point within array 3570(2) through an active backplane 3560(2), and generates a digital representation dtnm(t) 3620 of beam signals stored in memory elements 3590(2). As discussed above, representation dtnm(t) 3620 is calculated so as to produce desired RF signals from an N-element antenna TX array 3650. Representation dtnm(t) is transmitted to an array of DACs 3630, which converts them to analog representations tnm(t) 3640, which are applied to amplifiers in N-element antenna TX array 3650, and RF signals 3660 are generated therefrom. It may be appreciated that N-element antenna RX array 3520 of FIG. 103 may be constructed from various elements of an EBRX as previously discussed. Similarly, N-element antenna TX array 3650 of FIG. 104 may be constructed from various elements of an EBTX as previously discussed. If the EBTX elements support time delay control for beam steering, multiprocessor array 3570(2) may generate time delay commands 3670 and transmit them to N-element antenna TX array 3650. Some crossbar switches developed for active backplanes to date have used both electrical and optical means; many of these have limitations with respect to bandwidth, cost, power, complexity, and heat generation. E-Beam Crossbar Switch FIG. 105 shows schematically an electron beam amplifier 10(30) configured as a crossbar switch matrix. A control circuit 3055 of electron beam amplifier 10(30) is configured to receive matrix configuration commands 3060 that identify a correspondence of M input signals to N output signals that is to be implemented. Control circuit 3055 includes a memory 3070 (such as, for example, a ROM) which provides control words 3080 to a DAC array 3090. DAC array 3090, in turn, generates offset signals 3100 which are fed to a combining network 3120. Input signals 3110(i.e., the data to be communicated from the inputs to the outputs) is also fed to combining network 3120, which combines each input signals 3110 with a corresponding offset signal 3100 to generate deflector voltage signals 3130. A microcolumn array 3150 includes M electron guns 610, each of which emits an electron beam 120 which is controlled and focused by a bias 3140. Each of M independent deflectors 130 deflects a corresponding electron beam 120 with the corresponding deflector voltage signal 3130. The M electron beams 120 enter a drift cavity 145 as array of electron beams 3160; drift cavity 145 may include focusing and/or accelerating electron optics. Electron beam array 3160 forms an array of beam spots 3170 on a detector array 3180 of N detectors Dn, connected with an array 3190 of output networks Zn. Some or all of the elements discussed in electron-beam amplifier 10(30) may form what is called herein an “EBX” for Electron Beam crossbar. In some EBXs, the number M of microcolumns may equal the number of detectors N, while other EBXs may have M≠N. Programming (or re-programming) offset signal 3100 for any of electron beams 120 is achieved by delivering a matrix configuration command 3060 to control circuit 3055 that redirects a channel m coupling between a corresponding input signal sm and a detector DN. Each signal sm modulates one of the M deflectors, thereby causing the signal sm to excite one of the N detectors. This causes a current output to be generated from detector DN, thereby transmitting (and possibly amplifying) signal sm through a dynamic channel MN corresponding to targeting mth e-beam 120 onto detector DN. A data signal corresponding to signal sm may be a small proportion of each deflector voltage signal 3130, as the data signal need only deflect the corresponding beam 120 by an angle subtended by a single detector element DN. Each detector DN may be formed, for example of one or two segments for digital signalling, but other arrangements are possible. Saturation means (e.g., high speed Schottky diodes) may be provided in the output networks Zn to clamp the output voltage levels, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 61. It may be appreciated that an EBX may be configured either for analog or for digital signals sm. The mechanical dimensions of an EBX may be appreciated from an example. For a 5 μm wide detector, a 100×100 array of detectors has dimensions of 500 μm×500 μm. Similarly, a 5 μm diameter electron gun permits a 100×100 array of electron guns with the same dimension. (However, as mentioned above, the detector and gun arrays do not have to have the same size or dimensional number.) Assuming a maximum beamsteering tangent of 0.2 (corresponding to a deflection angle of 11.3 degrees), a minimum drift cavity length is approximately 2500 μm if an e-beam from one corner of electron gun array 3150 is to be steered to an opposite corner of detector array 3180. These dimensions are consistent with the fabrication techniques discussed above. The electrical parameters of an EBX may be appreciated from an example. It is assumed for this example that input signals sm have a peak-to-peak amplitude of 100 millivolts, and are to be reproduced at detector outputs Zn that are terminated in 50 ohm loads. A 2 mA peak-to-peak current is thus required from the detector. With a beam acceleration of 280 eV and a detector gain of 1000, a beam current of 2 μA is required to excite each detector. From the previous description of the effects of space charge spreading, it can be seen that this is within the range of acceptable parameters, and a 2 μA beam is low enough in current that a single electron gun may be employed for each of the M input channels. Crossbar Array Construction Many arrangements of microcolumn arrays and detector arrays are possible. In the simplest, the microcolumns and the detectors can be arranged in a line; however, in this configuration, large numbers of channels result in excessive beamsteering angles. In another arrangement, each of the microcolumn array and the detector array is arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. FIG. 106 shows a microcolumn array 3150(1), an electron-beam array 3160(1) and a detector array 3180(1) operating in a crossbar configuration. Each of arrays 3150(1) and 3180(1) is shown as a square matrix for simplicity of illustration. In this arrangement, the beam steering is two-dimensional and comprises X and Y deflectors in each microcolumn, as described previously. In another arrangement (not shown) circular microcolumn and detector arrays may be used, to achieve the highest number of channels for the smallest beamsteering angle. Generally, the diameter of the microcolumn and detector matrices should be as small as possible for a compact construction, but these matrices need not be the same size. For example, if each microcolumn has a diameter of 5 μm, an array of 100 microcolumns could be a circular matrix about 70 μm in diameter. A detector size might be as small as 2 μm in diameter, so a detector matrix could be a circle about 20 μm in diameter. For a given microcolumn array diameter, a smaller detector array size reduces a maximum beam steering angle, allowing for more channels and a shorter drift cavity. Maximum beamsteering angle is primarily limited by the maximum beamsteering deflection voltage that can be delivered by circuitry such as a DAC. A short cavity is consistent with a compact device, and simplifies wafer-based mechanical construction. By way of example, a maximum beamsteering voltage may be estimated. From previous discussion, the deflection tangent is tan Θ=√{square root over (ΔV/2VBEAM)}. For a beam energy VBEAM of 50V at an exit of an electron gun Oust before deflection) and a maximum tangent of 0.2, a the maximum beamsteering voltage ΔV=4V. This is consistent with circuitry that may be used to generate beamsteering voltages. By way of example, a modulation amplitude may also be estimated. For a 5 μm detector and a 2500 μm drift cavity, the maximum tangent of the digital deflection is approximately 5/2500=0.002 (0.11°). Again, from the previous formula, the deflection modulation voltage for a 50V beam (at the emission plane) is 400 μV. Crossbar Signalling Rate A signalling rate of each channel of an EBX can be estimated from these considerations. From prior discussion, it can be appreciated that a frequency response of deflectors in an EBX may exceed 1 THz. For example, a 1 μm long plate with a beam velocity of 4×106 m/s (beam energy of 50V) may support a bandwidth of 1.7 THz. If a corresponding detector has segments that are 2.5 μm×5 μm, detector junction capacitance may be on the order of 10 fF. If a load is 50 ohms and other circuit parasitics are of similar magnitude, (for example, 10 fF parasitic capacitance), then the bandwidth of the detector will be 160 GHz. Non-Return to Zero (“NRZ”) binary signalling may require a bandwidth that is 70% of the bit-rate, so a maximum bit-rate per channel may be over 200 Gbps. Beam-Steering As discussed above, e-beams from a microcolumn array may be individually steered to a detector matrix by beamsteering signals applied to deflectors in a microcolumn array. In the case of a one-dimensional microcolumn array and a one-dimensional detector array, a single voltage applied to a deflector of a single microcolumn may position a beam from the microcolumn on a single detector. For a two-dimensional microcolumn matrix and/or a two-dimensional detector matrix, two voltages applied to an X deflector and a Y deflector in each microcolumn direct an e-beam from that microcolumn to a single detector. One of the X-Y deflectors may also be used for signal modulation, or a separate signal deflector may be provided. With two-dimensional beam steering in an EBX with M input channels, there are 2M analog beam steering signals. Each pair of analog signals corresponding to an X-Y deflector pair is set to voltage levels corresponding to a physical offset (fixed by the mechanical design) between a particular microcolumn and a particular detector. Thus, for N detectors, each microcolumn will have associated with it N pairs of voltage levels. For example, if there are 100 detectors in a square detector matrix, each of an X and Y deflection voltage level may be chosen from 10 possible levels. A round or rectangular detector matrix may require more possible levels than a square matrix; additional range may be provided for channels near the ends of a microcolumn or detector array, since the corresponding e-beams may be deflected by greater angles than e-beams from microcolumns substantially within the matrix. In one variant of an EBX, each beam steering voltage is generated by a DAC array 3090 controlled by an addressable memory 3070 and a matrix configuration command 3060 of X-Y matrix positioning signals (see FIG. 105). Memory 3070 stores predetermined control words 3080, each representing X and Y voltage levels to be supplied by DAC array 3090, to steer a beam 120 from a particular microcolumn to a particular detector. For two-dimensional microcolumn and/or detector arrays, DAC array 3090 may include one DAC for X-axis positioning and one DAC for Y-axis positioning. Steering voltages required for centering a beam from a particular microcolumn to a particular detector may be determined after construction of the EBX, via a calibration test, and corresponding control words 3080 may be programmed into the memory for each channel. If the EBX remains stable, (i.e., the steering voltages continue to direct beams to the appropriate detectors, over time) they may be measured once after manufacturing and corresponding control words stored in an addressable read-only memory (ROM). If the steering voltages are expected to vary over time, the memory can be a flash EEPROM or a RAM, and calibration may be performed periodically to update the control words corresponding to accurate steering voltages. Crossbar Beam Centering Loops Even after calibration, steering accuracy may be difficult to maintain in some EBXs. For example, high speed in each crossbar channel is achieved with a correspondingly small detector. It may be desirable to use a 1 μm wide detector, but it may be difficult to maintain beamsteering accuracy to a 1 μm tolerance, even with calibration. For example, temperature changes or vibration may cause beamsteering accuracy drifts which may be corrected to improve performance of an EBX. One embodiment of an EBX includes a beam offset centering loop between each deflector and detector, which may operate the same as described for a simple amplifier (FIG. 12). A beam centering measurement signal is coupled to an integrator to generate an offset control voltage, and this voltage is coupled to a beamsteering deflector. For a two-dimensional matrix, there may be two beam centering loops per detector and 2N loops for N detectors. Two independent X and Y beam offset measurement signals may be generated, but a digital detector configuration of two segments can only generate one offset signal, so additional detector segments may be used. FIG. 107 shows three detector configurations 151(18) (FIG. 107A), 151(19) (FIG. 107B) and 151(20) (FIG. 107C) which may be used to generate beam offset information. Detector configuration 151(18) consists of two detector segments 150(100) and 150(101); current output from 150(100) and 150(101) may be used to extract information about beam centering over the two segments, as discussed with respect to FIG. 12. Detector configuration 151(19) consists of detector segments 150(102-105) in which two signal detector segments 150(104) and 150(105) provide X direction beam offset information, and two additional segments 150(102) and 150(103) provide Y direction beam offset information. The Y direction beam offset information may be derived from a differential signal at the outputs of segments 150(102) and 150(103). For example configuration 151(19)′ (FIG. 107D) shows a beam spot 170 shifted so that it partially overlies segment 150(102) but not segment 150(103); a current output of detector segment 150(102) will be correspondingly greater than a current output of 150(103) and beam offset information can be extracted therefrom, as discussed below. Extracting, for example, X direction beam offset information from averaging is undesirable in a digital signalling context, because it may constrain bit patterns to have, on average, a same number of ones and zeros (for binary signalling), requiring special channel coding which may detract from signal throughput. However, if an averaging interval is very long relative to a signal bit rate, no special channel coding is required (for example, if the channel rate is 100 Gbps, and the averaging interval is 1 second). For long time intervals, averaging may be accomplished with a digital filter and a DAC for each channel; the DAC might be shared with a coarse “open-loop” beam-steering DAC. Other arrangements are possible. For example, in configuration 151(20) of FIG. 107C, detector segments 150(109) and 150(110) are surrounded by measurement segments of a quadrature offset measurement detector. Segments 150(109) and 150(110) provide digital output signalling, two segments 150(106) and 150(107) provide Y direction beam offset information, and the segments 150(108) and 150(111) provide X direction beam offset information. Configuration 151(20)′ (FIG. 107E) shows a beam spot 170 with a Y position that is centered but an X position that is misaligned. X direction beam offset detector segments 150(108) and 150(111) of configuration 151(20) may operate in one of at least two ways. (It will be appreciated that in this discussion, the signal beam sweeps in the X direction; the same principles apply in other directions that are the same as a sweep direction.) In one method, a differential signal is averaged in an integrator of a control loop so that an average excitation of segments 150(108) and 150(111) is the same; this assumes the beam spot 170 is somewhat larger than segments 150(109) and 150(110) so that a one or a zero digital level will always excite segments 150(108) and 150(111). This requires a digital bit pattern with the same number of ones and zeros, on average, as in the previous detector embodiment. In another arrangement, beam spot 170 may be made somewhat smaller than the segments 150(109) and 150(110). In this case, the digital modulation is designed so that with perfect spot centering, 150(108) and 150(111) are never excited, but if beam spot 170 is offset to the left (e.g. FIG. 107E), 150(108) is excited, and when beam spot 170 is offset is to the right, 150(111) is excited. An integrator is coupled to segments 150(108) and 150(111), and there is a “bang-bang” type of excitation, with only one detector on while the other is off. If beam spot 170 can be assumed to be coarsely centered within the boundary of these detectors by other means (such as for example, by using calibrated beamsteering voltages), then if 150(108) is excited, a control loop moves the beam to the right, and if 150(111) is excited, a control loop moves the beam to the left. This keeps beam spot 170 centered between 150(109) and 150(110). If a width of beam spot 170 is somewhat less than the width of 150(109) and 150(110), and a spot deflection is approximately equal to the width of 150(109) and 150(110), then configuration 151 (20) does not require the same number of ones and zeros in a digital bit stream, on average or otherwise; this eliminates any need for special channel coding or long integrator time constants. Beam centering loops may slow the rate at which a crossbar can be reconfigured. If an integrator time constant is long, transmission through the crossbar may have to wait for the integrator to settle so that signalling is reliably transmitted to the digital detectors. Nonetheless, some applications may find beam centering loops advantageous, particularly when interconnection of many channels is required, since interconnection of many channels may only be achievable with very small (perhaps sub-micron sized) detectors. Such applications may tolerate a significant settling time delay. For instance, routing switches (e.g., for computer networking), may tolerate delays of tenths of a second or more. In applications requiring somewhat faster reconfiguration, it can be appreciated that a quadrature offset measurement detector is desirable, since it can have fast integrator time constants to quickly center a beam on appropriate detector segments. Beam Centering Loop Reconfiguration Matrix In a crossbar, beam centering loops may be dynamically reconfigured along with the connection that they support, so that they couple the correct offset measurements for a detector n back to an e-beam deflector steering a beam m. For instance, FIG. 108 shows four deflectors 130(20-23) steering four electron beams 120(13-16) to four detector configurations 151(21-24). Beams 120(13-16) may be directed programmably to any of detector configurations 151(21-24); it may be appreciated that detector configurations 151(21-24) may consist solely of detector segments for receiving signals, or may include dedicated offset sense detectors, as discussed above. Beam offset signals 3190(1-4) are transmitted to differential integrators 3200(1-4), generating offset control signals 3210(1-4) which may correctly be coupled back to the corresponding deflectors 130(20-23). For example, if beam 120(13) is targeted at detector configuration 151 (24) as shown, then offset control signal 3210(4) may be coupled to deflector 130(20), and so forth. Thus, some kind of secondary crossbar matrix 3220 is necessary to connect the offset control signals 3210 back to the appropriate deflectors 130. Secondary crossbar matrix 3220 may be another e-beam crossbar, but since the beam centering loops may be much slower in operation than signals being transmitted, matrix 3220 may also be transistors integrated into an e-beam crossbar assembly. A secondary crossbar matrix (e.g., matrix 3220) may be implemented by sequentially sampling the N detector offsets one at a time through a first multi-pole-single-throw switch, and then back through a second multi-pole-single-throw switch to the M input deflectors, calibrating the centering of each beam one at a time in a slow cyclic process. At any one time, a feedback signal may update a voltage on a storage capacitor coupled to a deflector of an input channel. This arrangement requires only a simple switching matrix, and works well when a slow loop update is preferred. Alternatively, a single ADC may measure beam offset at the detectors, and a sequential switching arrangement may transmit the ADC output as a digital correction through a bus structure to be stored in a register that controls a DAC coupled to an appropriate input channel. By way of additional examples, one or more ADCs may feed a processor which performs digital filtering, and may accelerate the initial error correction by non-linear means, or a ROM may be inserted between ADC and each DAC. A number of ways of using offset corrections are also contemplated. For example, a memory which receives matrix configuration commands (e.g., memory 3070 of FIG. 105) may store coarse beam centering values as more significant bits in beam steering control words (e.g., control words 3080), while digital centering corrections supplied by an ADC of a beam centering loop may be written into less significant bits of the beam steering control words. Analog offset control signals (e.g., control signals 3210) may be supplied to an analog mixer to modify signals applied to a single deflector (e.g., deflector voltage signals 3130), or may be supplied to a second deflector to “fine tune” the position of a corresponding beam spot. Photonic I/O Coupling Coupling a large number of I/O channels between an EBX of microfabricated construction and external circuitry may present challenges. For example, an EBX with 10,000 channels may occupy a package of only (5 mm)3 in size. Direct electrical coupling is not easily achieved with such a large number of high-speed channels. While it is possible to electrically mate packages using technologies such as ball-grid arrays (“BGA”) or other high-density interconnect, coupling effects at speeds of 100 GHz or more may produce unacceptable signal distortion. One embodiment of an EBX couples its inputs and outputs to external inputs and outputs (such as a computer bus) by means of optical interconnect. FIG. 109 shows schematically how inputs and outputs of an EBX 3230(1) may coupled through optical fibers 3240(1-8). EBX 3230(1) includes an array of photodetectors 3250(1-4) coupled to deflectors 130(24-27) of a microcolumn array (not shown) to deflect electron beams 120(17-20). Light 3260(1-4) from each of optical fibers 3240(1-4) generates a signal in a corresponding photodetector 3250(1-4). The coupling of photodetectors 3250(1-4) to deflectors 130(24-27) may be direct, as shown, or may be indirect, such as for example an arrangement in which signals from the photodiodes are added to beam-steering offset signals. Outputs 3270(1-4) of e-beam detector configurations 151(25-28) couple to laser diodes 3280(1-4); this coupling may also be direct or indirect, for example laser diodes 3280(1-4) may receive a DC bias current from a bias current source (not shown), with outputs 3270(1-4) capacitively coupled thereto. Light 3290(1-4) emitted by laser diodes 3280(1-4) is coupled to optical fibers 3240(5-8). Thus, in the e-beam configuration of FIG. 109, the signal present in optical fiber 3240(1) is coupled to optical fiber 3240(8), the signal present in optical fiber 3240(2) is coupled to optical fiber 3240(6), and so forth, as shown. A photonic I/O coupled EBX preferably couples photodetectors in close proximity to deflectors, and couples laser diodes in close proximity to detectors, to minimize wiring-induced delays, and parasitic capacitance- and resistance-induced signal distortion. FIG. 110 shows schematically a first lens 3300(1) imaging an array of optical input signals 3310 onto a corresponding photodetector array 3320 of an EBX 3230(2), and a second lens imaging an array of optical output signals 3330 from a laser diode array 3340 to an array of optical fibers 3350. An array of input optical fibers (not shown) has the same shape and layout as photodetector array 3320, and array of optical fibers 3350 has the same shape and layout as laser diode array 3340. The photodetector and laser diode arrays do not have to be the same physical size as the fiber matrix patterns, as long as they are the same pattern; lenses 3300(1) and 3300(2) may magnify or demagnify the corresponding arrays of input and output signals to match the physical sizes. For example, photodetector array 3320 and laser diode array 3340 may be physically much smaller than the corresponding optical fiber arrays. A lens system may make a reducing image of light from an input optical fiber bundle onto a photodetector array. FIG. 111 shows a lens 3300(3) reducing exemplary light rays 3380 from an object 3360 to an image 3370. By making the photodetector and laser diode array patterns match the fiber matrix patterns, a one-to-one association between a given optical fiber and corresponding photodetector or laser diode may be achieved through the use of a reducing lens, like lens 3300(3) of FIG. 111. Thus one embodiment of an EBX with photonic I/O coupling may operate as follows: a modulated input optical signal from an input fiber IFm is transmitted optically to a single photodetector PDm, wherein the input optical signal is converted to an electrical current and a voltage (by driving a resistive termination), and applied directly or indirectly to a deflector Pm of an electron gun EGm. The EBX directs an electron beam from gun EGm to a detector Dn, and an electrical current excited in detector Dn by the beam drives a laser diode LDn. The laser diode LDn generates an output optical signal with the same modulation as fiber IFm. This output optical signal is magnified and imaged onto a single fiber OFn of an output fiber bundle. This sequence of steps is performed in parallel across M potential input fibers and N potential output fibers so that optical signals in any given input fiber may be coupled to any given output fiber. Advantages of this arrangement include leveraging known methods of manipulating fiber bundles for making reliable physical interconnects of high bandwidth. Fiber bundles may have a very high density of fibers, permitting a large number of channels. The optical imaging arrangement may couple thousands of channels to an EBX, which may have physical dimensions as small as a few millimeters. Furthermore, optical I/O provides level-shifting and high voltage isolation, which may allow a high common mode voltage difference between electrical input and output levels of the EBX. Flexibility with respect to high common mode voltage difference may permit high beam acceleration in an EBX drift cavity, high gain, and a high signalling rate for a given EBX electron gun current. EBX Size FIG. 112 shows the mechanical size of a typical EBX comprising 10,000 or more channels. An electron gun array and a detector array may each have a width wx and a height hy of 500 μm (the electron gun array and detector array are drawn with only 64 elements each, for clarity in the drawing). A drift cavity may have a length zdrift of 2.5 mm, and electron gun microcolumns may have a length Leg of 1 mm. Reasonable sizes Sx, Sy, Sz of the final assembly are approximately 5 mm×5 mm×5 mm. Other EBX Embodiments From the foregoing it may be appreciated that many configurations and applications of a crossbar are possible other than digital signalling applications. By the nature of the deflection process and the many variants of the EBTX and EBRX, functions such as analog amplification, time delay control, mixing, pulsing, frequency multiplication and combinational logic may be incorporated in crossbar channels. Thus, both highly integrated and highly specialized functions may be constructed in a single device. For example, a Combinational Crossbar Logic (“CXL”) embodiment may be used as a reconfigurable computer that changes its functionality by forming specialized electron beams and addressing specialized detector configurations, as opposed to a computer that runs new software or firmware routines. In a CXL, extra deflection plates may be incorporated in the electron guns of a electron gun matrix, and specialized detector arrangements are incorporated in a detector matrix. By way of analogy, the electron guns and detector arrangements may be addressably configured in much the same way that logic cells are addressably configured in a field-programmable gate array (“FPGA”). A CXL may allow complex and reconfigurable logic processing in a very small, high speed device. An Analog Crossbar Matrix (“AXM”) is an embodiment whereby, as previously discussed, each e-beam in a crossbar matrix modulates with continuous voltage levels, and each detector is a pair of segments as in an EBRX. Thus, steerable analog channels can be amplified. In an AXM, low noise operation may require higher beam currents for each channel, and sub-arrays of multiple electron guns per beam, as in prior embodiments (e.g., FIG. 18). For example, groups of electron guns within an electron gun matrix of a CXL may be configured to emit and deflect a composite beam with the higher beam current conducive to low noise operation, and this composite beam may be directed to a specialized detector configuration of the CXL. Additionally, beam focusing may be provided in the manner of FIG. 90, where an emission plane electrode is shown enclosing each microcolumn sub-array, and focusing fields are generated by the relation of the potentials of the emission plane electrodes to the potential of a drift can electrode. An Analog Crossbar Beamformer (“AXB”) is another embodiment for applications that can employ analog summation of multiple signals, as from antenna elements. This is similar to the power combiner of FIG. 98. Here, multiple modulated e-beams can be directed at a single detector element, where the modulated signals are detected and summed. If a differential signal from a beam A is ΔxA and a signal from a beam B is ΔxB, it can be seen that the current output of the detector element is a sum ΔxA+ΔxB. This principle allows summation of a plurality of signals carried by the modulation of individual e-beams. It may also be seen that multiple detector elements may be excited simultaneously by different combinations of e-beams; furthermore, each of the e-beams may be time delay controlled. In this manner it is possible to construct a small antenna beamformer. FIG. 113 shows schematically components of a wafer-bonded T-R beamforming array 3390 constructed using the elements described herein. Wafer-bonded T-R array 3390 may include one or more of an EBRX 3400, an EBX 3410 (and/or its variations CXL, AXM, AXB), an EBTX 3420, time and phase shifting elements 3430 and 3450, a horn antenna 3440, and an electron beam ADC 3470, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,221 (LeChevalier). Wafer-bonded T-R array 3390 is one of an identical set of wafer-bonded T-R arrays 3390 concurrently fabricated in a wafer stack 3480, as shown schematically. FIG. 114 shows an example of a large wafer-based antenna array 3490 which may be constructed from a plurality of wafer stacks 3480. Antenna array 3490 has a height ARx of 1 m and a width ARy of 2 m, and has the characteristics of high frequency, wide bandwidth and light weight. Unterminated Waveguide Coupled Beam Deflection Any RF amplifier is generally coupled to a signal source via some kind of wave-guiding structure, such as a transmission line or more generally, a waveguide. Usually the coupling requires terminating load resistors, or a more general matching network of resistors and reactive elements such as capacitors, inductors, waveguide stubs, etc, to provide a low-impedance match (say, 50 ohms) to the waveguide, and a simultaneous match to the input impedance of the amplifier. The match causes the transmission line to see a load with the same real impedance as the waveguide and the amplifier to see a reactive impedance that cancels any reactance at the input port of the amplifier. Advantages of a terminating matched network between the waveguide and an amplifier are two-fold: First, the matched termination maximizes the power transfer from the waveguide to the amplifier. A load impedance that is the complex conjugate match of the same real part impedance or negative reactive impedance of the transmission line (or waveguide) absorbs the maximum signal energy in the real part of the load, e.g., a resistor. Likewise, when the matching network is the complex conjugate of the amplifier impedance, the maximum power is transferred from the network to the amplifier. When the amplifier has no significant reactive input impedance the match can be accomplished with simple resistors. More often, however, the amplifier has a strong reactive impedance, and the matching network must incorporate reactive elements to cancel the amplifier reactance (within a frequency band of interest). This prevents the reactive part of the amplifier load from distorting the frequency response to the amplifier. Generally, the matching network must transform the waveguide impedance of perhaps 50 ohms to a finite and fairly small amplifier impedance of a few kohms at most. Solid-state semiconductor amplifiers generally have a low amplifier impedance as an unavoidable consequence of the technology. For example, bipolar amplifiers are generally limited by the input resistance to the base of a transistor. This is often in the range of 1 kohm or less, dictated by the design requirements at higher frequencies of operation. Amplifiers made in FET technology (MOS, Schottky gate, etc.) may have a very high gate resistance, but a very low capacitive impedance from the large gate structure that is usually required to achieve significant gain. The second advantage of a matching network is that it eliminates (or reduces, depending on the quality of the match) the back-wave reflection of the signal from the load onto the waveguide. This is a corollary to maximum power transfer. Thus, with a match termination, no forward-traveling wave energy is reflected back to the signal source at the input end of the waveguide. All the signal power is thus available to the amplifier (if the transmission line couples the signal to an amplifier), and the source does not have to absorb any reflected power. Generally, the reflection is described by what is termed a “reflection coefficient”, usually denoted by the symbol a factor which is multiplied by the incident wave to determine the amplitude of the reflected wave. The general formula is Γ = Z L - Z 0 Z L + Z 0 ( 1.53 ) where ZL is the load impedance seen by the line, and Z0 is the line impedance (e.g., 50 ohms). Thus, a load open (ZL=high impedance) has Γ=+1, while a load short (ZL=0) has Γ=−1. In the case of a short, the reflected wave is inverted in amplitude, and the total voltage seen at the short is zero. The case of a high impedance load is the one of interest. In this case, the reflected wave has the same polarity and amplitude as the incident wave, and the total voltage seen at the open is twice the incident voltage wave. Backward reflected power is undesirable in some applications if the RF source is impedance mismatched to the transmission line (or waveguide). This is because the reflected wave can in turn get re-reflected at the source if the source is not matched well to the line. Thus, the backward wave is re-reflected towards the load, causing signal distortion. That is, the re-reflected wave reaches the load after the round-trip delay time of the transmission line (twice the line length divided by the velocity of the wave) and the load sees the signal plus a delayed version of the signal from an earlier time—albeit an attenuated, possibly inverted version, depending on the losses of the transmission line and the kind of source and load mismatch. If there is a strong mismatch at both ends and only weak attenuation along the transmission line, the successive reflections can seriously corrupt the signal being amplified with delayed representations thereof. The advantage of a load matching network can thus be seen: for if the load match achieves a small ΓL that attenuates the reflection by x, and if the source match achieves a small ΓS that attenuates the reflection by y, then the total attenuation achieved is xy. For example, if ΓL=0.1 and ΓS=0.1, the total attenuation is 0.01. On the other hand, if the load was an open with ΓL=1, and if the source ΓS=0.1, the total attenuation is only 0.1—ten times worse. Thus, a matching network at the load mitigates the non-ideal characteristics of the amplifier itself, improving the power transfer, frequency response and signal integrity. The signal VS is reflected with twice the voltage amplitude and four times the power gain. Unterminated Waveguide Coupling Though the EBTX or EBRX can be coupled to a waveguide in the conventional manner using a matched load termination, a reflective amplifier 5000 as shown in FIG. 115 is provided with a unique characteristic that largely negates the need for a terminating load matching network: an EBRX (or EBTX) 5002 having a very high input impedance. For example, the deflector circuit impedance ZIN may be a few femtofarads according to the capacitance of the deflectors 5004. This is a direct consequence of the unique microminiature circuitry associated with deflectors 5004, which act to sweep emitted e-beam 5006. Input resistance is substantially an infinite load RL because the deflectors 5004 behave electrically like small capacitors. The capacitance of the deflection apparatus, in turn, is extremely small because the deflectors are very small and have a relatively large plate spacing (e.g., 1 um) with a vacuum between them. As an example, a single deflector for an electron beamlet might have only 0.5 fF capacitance (0.5×10-15 F). An entire array of deflectors might have a total capacitance of only 100 fF. A transmission line and/or waveguide 5008, 5008′ forms a circuit connecting antenna 5010 with deflectors 5004. Incoming RF 5012 strikes antenna 5010 to produce a voltage signal VS, which drives the deflectors 5004 in the usual manner; however, due to the large nature of RL, there is a reflected voltage signal VR which is approximately equal to or equal to VS. The reflected voltage signal VR communicates on transmission line and/or waveguide 5008, 5008′ to antenna 5010 for emission of re-radiated RF field 5014. FIG. 115 shows that under some special circumstances, it is possible to directly couple to an unterminated waveguide or transmission line when two conditions are satisfied, namely: (1) when the frequency band of RF 5012 operation is low enough that the capacitive load of the amplifier 5002 does not attenuate the signal, and (2) when the source signal VS is well matched to the waveguide coupling. Because the total input capacitance of an EBTX or EBRX array may be as low as 100 fF, the bandwidth when coupled to a low-impedance waveguide can be very high. For example, 100 fF coupled to a 50 ohm line has a bandwidth of 60 GHz. The key to using an unterminated line is to have a source impedance match. If the coupling at the source is a match of high quality, the reflection there can be made small enough to tolerate a load mismatch. The re-reflected wave will be much smaller in amplitude than the incident wave, and the effect on the signal at the load will be small. This is often difficult to achieve in practical circuits if the source of signal power is another amplifier. Amplifiers usually have complex reactances in their output port that will create a poor match in the absence of a source-matching network. There is one special case where the source can be well matched: an antenna. If the EBTX is directly coupled to its antenna with a very short transmission line (or no transmission line at all), the source match can be excellent. The antenna match can generally be well controlled, and the effect of the reflected energy is to simply be re-radiated without being re-reflected. Two basic approaches may realize the unterminated coupling. In one approach, the transmission line or waveguide 5002 may end at the deflectors 5004. Alternatively, a transmission line may continue past the EBRX 5002, which merely taps off or “samples” the signal propagating down the guide. In this second case, the deflector 5004 can be the waveguide 5002 itself or the deflector 5004 can sample the voltage VS on a waveguide or transmission line by a wired connection to points of greatest voltage potential. In context of equation 1.53, it may be preferable for Γ=+1 where ZWN is the impedance or EBRX 5002 and Z0 is the impedance of a waveguide. Direct Waveguide-Electron Beam Coupling Although the input capacitance an EBRX or EBTX may be quite small, the loading effect may sill be significant if the frequency of operation is very high, e.g., 100 GHz or more. As shown in FIG. 116, one way to mitigate this loading effect is to make the deflector 5015 forming at least part of waveguide 5016 transporting the signal VS to EBRX 5018. If an electron beam passes through the waveguide rather than merely coupling to it with some wires, the beam is subjected to the electric (and magnetic) field of the signal VS propagating along the waveguide 5016. The key is to make the e-beam travel at approximately right angles to the RF wave motion, because then the beam is subjected to approximately the same amplitude of the RF wave as it passes through. The waveguide must be constructed to ensure a single mode of operation, preferably TE or TEM, so that the electric field vector of the wave is perpendicular to both the e-beam and RF wave motions. This way, the e-beam is deflected uniformly in one direction, the direction of the electric field. For this case the deflector does not really load the waveguide 5016 at all—it is the waveguide 5016 and has an impedance of Z0. according to Equation 1.53. That is, the capacitance of the deflector is just part of the natural distributed capacitance of the waveguide. There is no loading beyond a miniscule coupling to the electron beam itself, and the signal wave can propagate along the line without reflective obstruction or attenuation, and without distortion. The electron beam deflects directly in response to the propagating wave field of the signal VS without the need for a terminating load resistor to generate a voltage. Solid-state amplifiers are not able to directly amplify a wave field. Transistors require the electric and magnetic field of a signal in a waveguide to first be converted to a voltage and current. Direct wave amplification is normally only possible to amplifiers such as TWTs and klystrons which couple the electromagnetic field of a signal to an electron beam by means of a special mechanical waveguiding structure or resonant cavities. In principle, the signal power in a waveguide can generate an electric field of equal magnitude to that of a voltage across a deflector, so long as the wave can be guided into a constricted region having the dimensions of the deflector. In practice, this is not usually possible if the deflector has spacing and length dimensions of a few microns. The reason is that for most frequencies of operation a waveguide of such small cross-section will not sustain the propagation of a traveling RF wave. The maximum dimension for a closed waveguide (width or height) should be at least one-half wavelength. A 100 GHz frequency has a wavelength of 3 mm in free-space. Even a 1 THz frequency has a wavelength of 300 microns. Nonetheless, there are specialized applications at extremely high frequency (100 GHz to 1 THz or more) where this might be done. If the waveguide is filled with a dielectric, for instance, the wavelength is much shorter, in inverse proportion to the relative permittivity of the dielectric. For example, SiO2, which has a relative permittivity of 3.9 would have a wavelength approximately ½ the free-space wavelength. A 1 THz frequency would have a minimum guide dimension of 75 um. Thus, a direct coupling of the electron beam to the signal, by directing the beam through a waveguide, is one embodiment as shown. Waveguide Voltage Sampling Most applications of the EBTX or EBRX include deflectors coupled to a transmission line, which is a special case of a two-wire waveguide. The advantage of the transmission line is that each wire can have a different potential, and therefore the wire spacing is not constrained to be a minimum of one-half wavelength. Unlike the closed waveguide which can only sustain TE (transverse electric) or TM (transverse magnetic) modes of propagation (where waves bounce off the interior walls of a closed waveguide), the transmission line can sustain a TEM mode. Thus, the preferred embodiment couples an unterminated transmission line to the deflection apparatus. Advantage of the Unterminated Embodiments Two advantages accrue to the unterminated load. The first is that the reflected wave doubles the signal voltage received by the amplifier. This has the same effect as 4 times the signal power in a conventional terminated connection. The second advantage is an improvement in input noise. Solid-state amplifiers are normally used at the front-end of RF receivers to amplify the signal from an antenna, because they offer very low-noise amplification (1 to 5 dB noise figure). TWTs and other traditional electron beam amplifiers are normally used where large signal power of many watts is required, because they have only been practical to construct for high power operation, which is usually an extremely noisy process. A typical TWT might have a noise figure of 40 dB. In contrast, low-noise solid-state amplifiers often operate with signal levels that can be equal to or less than the noise power of a simple resistor, which is given by the well know formula PR=4 kTB. This low-noise amplifier (LNA) characteristic is extremely important in any RF receiver. In an RF receiver coupled to an antenna, the LNA must normally have a wide bandwidth. For the reasons cited above, the amplifier coupling normally employs a matching network between the transmission line and the LNA. This terminating resistor is an unavoidable source of noise power diminishing the ultimate sensitivity and dynamic range of an RF receiver. In thermal equilibrium, the RF noise power is a simple result of the brownian motion of electrons in the resistor causing a varying resistor voltage that radiates RF; an equal amount of power is absorbed and re-radiated, and the radiated power is random broadband noise. The EBTX or EBRX, therefore, when employed as a LNA, can improve the sensitivity of an RF receiver over prior art by eliminating the terminating resistor. The RF signal from, say, an antenna, can be amplified prior to being subject to other circuit noise. If the amplifier gain is high enough the added noise of the amplifier referred back to the input (i.e., divided by the amplifier gain) can be much less than the noise power of a simple terminating resistance. In the amplifier embodiment, the gain can be as much as 40 dB, or more. This makes it is possible to have an equivalent input referred noise power that is 1/10 or less of a simple resistor noise power at an ambient temperature of, for example, 300K. In this sense the effect of eliminating the resistor termination is like supercooling an input termination resistor to a temperature of only a few degrees Kelvin. The difference is that it can be done without any refrigeration, which is desirable in many applications such as spaceborne electronics, where the weight, power consumption, reliability and expense of cryogenic operation is unacceptable. To achieve the noise reduction, however, it is desirable that the RF in the guide not be absorbed in any kind of resistance, either a load or losses in the waveguide walls. Any resistive power absorption will generate random RF noise that look just like a resistor, no matter where it is generated in the guide, since it will propagate back to the amplifier input. In any of these embodiments, the goal is the same: to prevent remove the signal energy once it has been detected by the amplifier, without absorbing it in a noise-generating load. Otherwise this would eliminate the key advantage of the unterminated coupling: the reduction of input noise and the improvement of output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Step-tapered Drift Cavity for Short Focal Length Electron Lens For an EBTX or EBRX to operate with high gain, a high current beam is needed. This requires a large initial beam diameter, e.g., or several hundred microns or more, so that the beam can be propagated across a long drift cavity of up to 5 mm or even more without severe beam spreading from space charge forces, and then the beam must be focused down to a small beam spot at the detector to provide a useful output signal with wide bandwidth. Focusing a large diameter beam to a small beam spot requires strong electron optical elements. Many schemes are possible, but one common approach employs what is called an “Einzel lens”. This consists of two annular ring electrodes with a gap between them, similar to a cylindrical soup can cut in half. Each electrode has a different potential applied to it, and the effect is to create the electron optical equivalent of a spherical lens, as in normal light optics. As shown in FIG. 117, an Einzel lensing arrangement 5022 is formed of a relatively larger diameter cylindrical electrode 5024 that is separated by gap 5026 from a relatively smaller diameter cylindrical electrode 5028. Beamlets 5030 are first processed by a strong focusing field 5032 and then weakly defocused by field 5034, such that beam focusing continues in area 5036 beyond lensing fields 5032, 5034. The potential difference between electrodes 5024, 5028 causes equipotentials near the gap 5026 to vary in a symmetrical way. The electrons in beamlet 5030 experience a force vector that is normal to the equipotentials. If the electrons start from the end of the can with the lowest potential (say, 0V), and are directed toward the end of the can at the higher potential (say, +200V), the electrons initially pass through equipotentials that exert a strong focusing force towards the cylindrical axis of a can formed by electrodes 5024, 5028. Because the electrons are traveling from a region of lower to higher potential, they are also accelerated as they pass through the equipotentials. The velocity of the electrons is therefore lower on the focusing side of the lens (the near-side), and higher on the defocusing of the lens (the far-side). The far-side equipotentials exert a strong defocusing force away from the axis of the same magnitude as the focusing forces, but because the electrons are traveling faster in this region, they are exposed to the defocusing action for a shorter period of time. Thus, the focusing action is not entirely cancelled by the defocusing and the lens exhibits a net focusing action. It can be appreciated, however, that the strong defocusing significantly diminishes the overall focusing power that might otherwise be achieved if the electrons were only subject to the focusing action on the near-side of the lens. The essence of the problem with the conventional Einzel lens is that the equipotentials on either side of the gap are symmetrical. Even though the electron beam transit time through the defocusing region is shorter, it is not sufficiently shorter that the defocusing action does not cancel most of the initial focusing action. However, in the symmetrical can structure of an Einzel lens, it is not possible to make the equipotentials asymmetrical to any significant degree. This stems from the physics of static fields described by Maxwell's formula for a potential field in a charge free region of space. The embodiment shown in FIG. 117 achieves asymmetric equipotentials proximate gap 5026 by modifying the Einzel structure so that first and second annular electrodes are made with different radii and the mechanical construction is asymmetric. The second electrode at the higher potential is constructed with a smaller radius than the first and is also provided with a flange 5038. The smaller radius of electrode 5028 prevents the defocusing field from penetrating far into the second electrode, and the flange shields the field potentials from outside influences and shapes the focusing fields inside the first electrode. Since the defocusing fields are greatly diminished both in intensity and length through the region in which the electron beam must propagate, the focusing power of the lens is greatly enhanced. A variation on this theme is possible by electrically decoupling the flange from the first and second electrodes. In this arrangement, the flange acts as a third electrode to shape the equipotentials of the lens, such as to correct for lens aberrations and improve the focusing. It may be noted that the electron beam 5030 should stay focused on a detector, meaning the beam 5030 is never deflected a great distance away from the optical axis. Since the beam stays close to the axis, it is possible to narrow down the initial drift can radius (which is required for a large diameter beam) to a smaller radius drift can (which receives a smaller beam diameter as a result of the focusing action). Thus, it may be appreciated that the stepped radius of the modified Einzel lens structure not only achieves stronger focusing, but is well suited to the electron beam amplifier concept in particular. RF Cavity Detector FIG. 118 shows an RF Cavity detector 5040 that may be used for direct conversion of beam energy to RF electromagnetic radiation 5044. One desirable feature of this embodiment high power RF output with high conversion efficiency. In the embodiments previously discussed, it is desirable to operate with relatively low-beam energies to avoid heating losses in electron striking the detector, and because the beam energy itself is a source of loss, insofar as this does not directly contribute to output power (it contributes indirectly). As shown in FIG. 118, one goal is to use the same principles of swept beam action 5044 and electron focusing 5046 from an array of electron guns 5048 in a microminiature structure, but with a high beam energy 5042, which is converted directly to the output RF signal 5045, by way of example, to convert a 10 keV beam into a high power RF. If the conversion efficiency is high, there will be little heating losses in the amplifier and this can be accomplished without destructive effects in the device. The basic principle of the RF cavity detector 5040 is to receive the high energy swept beam energy 5042 at a porous beam contact, such as a gridded or slotted beam contact or wall 5050 that may act as an electron permeable RF shield. Wall 5050 permits the beam energy 5042 to be transmitted through, generally unimpeded. In this case, however, the beam electrons do not directly enter a semiconductor, but an RF cavity 5052 including conducting detector-waveguide 5054, 5056. The walls 5054, 5056 are generally at a different electrical potential from the potential of the beam contact or wall 5050, and the relation of the wall 5050 to the cavity walls 5054, 5056 creates an electron lens 5058, as has been described. In this, cause, a decelerating lens is preferred. When the beam energy 5042 enters the RF cavity 5052, it is immediately slowed down. Preferably, the speed of the electrons is reduced almost to zero. This is accomplished by having a cavity potential on detector waveguides 5054, 5056 that is negative with respect to the beam contact wall 5050 by the potential of the beam energy 5042. For example, if the energy of the beam entering the cavity is 1 keV, the cavity walls may be 1000V after the beam contact wall 5050. The effect of the decelerating beam is to impart energy back into the cavity walls 5054, 5056 as a wall current on the wall surface. If the beam remained focused on one position, this would deliver a DC energy back to the power supply coupled to the cavity walls, less losses. However, the one feature is to convert this energy into RF field in the cavity 5052 by sweeping action along spots 5059, 5060 where the beam energy 5042 is steered by the action of field 5058. This modulates the spatial position of the beam energy 5042, moving the beam spot across the cavity walls, from left to right and back again, for instance. Many methods of spatial modulation are possible to achieve a desired signal or efficiency, but this one is illustrative as shown. In general, the goal is to mimic, to the extent possible, the wall current which would be present if an RF were already present in the cavity. Thus, in this embodiment, the detector is a region of the cavity walls where the beam spot strikes it. The “detector” is simply a region of the metal guidewall in the cavity 5052. The detector may or may not provide current gain. The beam contact wall 5050 in this embodiment is a gridded screen or slotted aperture to allow the electron beam to pass through unimpeded, and is actually spatially separated from the region on the cavity wall where the beam spot forms. The gridding of the beam contact is small enough relative to the RF field being generated (ie, the grid spacing is much less than a half-wavelength) that little RF can penetrate back into the beam drift cavity, where it would otherwise cause fields that would defocus the electron beam. The gridding isolates the RF in the cavity detector from the drift cavity. In operation, the beam spot sweeps back and forth across screen grid (ie, beam contact) and back and forth inside the cavity, where the spot may be defocused or not, but where it will be “bent” in trajectory by the lensing action therein, causing the beam spot to sweep from one wall to the other (ie, the “segments” of the detector regions), with firehose action. If the spatial motion of the beam and the other factors are properly controlled, this can efficiently generate RF energy directly, which can be coupled out of the cavity by a waveguide, antenna horn or other RF guiding structure. Crossbar Sequencing Control FIG. 119 shows schematic diagram for a crossbar sequencing control circuit 5062 that is used for sequential correction 5063 of refined beam offset error. As shown, a crossbar 5064 is configured by applying beam steering signals 5066 to EBTX or EBRX deflectors to guide each beamlet from an electron gun to a designated detector of a detector array (not shown). Because of mechanical tolerances or interactions between beamlets in any particular arrangement, there may be steering errors that can be corrected if the beamlets are to be centered on the detectors for correct operation, and for this reason some kind of calibration loop might be required, either in the form of fixed calibration coefficients stored for every crossbar configuration, or by means of active feedback loops from the detectors through a filter 5067 generating feedback error correction at the deflectors of the electron guns. In the case of the feedback loops, it can be difficult and complex to perform the all the feedback loops simultaneously, because for many channels of electron beams, just as many channels of feedback would be required. Moreover, some kind of secondary crossbar switch would be required to select each given detector and couple a feedback path back to each given electron gun, since these paths are different for every configuration of the main e-beam crossbar. Speed in the feedback paths can be orders of magnitude slower, though, since once the beamlets are properly centered they will not change except from thermal cycling, and so forth, so the secondary crossbar could be made of transistors, but even that would be excessively complicated if the e-beam crossbar had a lot of channels. A solution is to simply achieve the feedback loops sequentially. In this case, a single detector output from detector output signals 5058 is selected, as may be coupled to a single filter 5067, and the single filter 5067 may couple a single error correction to a selected one of the electron guns (not shown). The selection of the detector can be a simple N to 1 multiplexor switch 5070, and the selection of the electron gun may be a simple 1 to N demultiplexor switch 5072, both made compactly and efficiently from conventional transistor technology. The filter 5067 may be analog but is preferably a digital filter so that the “state variables” of the filter 5067 can be stored and recalled each time a channel is updated, since otherwise the filter 5067 would retain the history of the error of the previous channel. This would slow the convergence of the feedback loops considerably and introduce undesirable transient settling errors into the beam steering. If a digital filter 5067 is employed, then the detector error transmitted from the multiplexor 5070 may be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter (not shown) before it is received by the digital filter 5067. With the sequential update, the output of the filter 5067 is stored for each detector channel 5069. In an all-analog loop, this can be by means of capacitive storage (not shown), for example, a sample-hold on each deflector. In an digital loop, the storage can be a register 5074 s coupled to a DAC 5076, with the DAC 5076 driving the deflector (not shown) with the refined offset correction. In either case, the refined offset correction is summed with the coarse steering command in either digital or analog form, at any point after the refined offset is generated: either before the DAC or after it. The summing can be digital, analog, or even by means of a supplementary set of deflectors in each e-gun to drive the beamlets independently. A sequencer 5078 sequentially repeats this process for each detector in an array. Microlensing Embodiment FIG. 118 also illustrates a microlensing approach to the electron optics, for example, as is also shown in the power combiner 4800 of FIG. 98. As described previously, an array of electron guns and a doublet lens system in the drift cavity may focus the array beamlets from the array of gun, towards the detector. In the power combining embodiment of FIG. 98, this was improved by means of subarrays of electron guns, wherein each sub-array possessed an independent subarray lens to focus the beamlets of the subarray, and then the array of subarrays was then focused by the first lens of a drift cavity doublet lens. This technique of focusing the output of a smaller arrays of lenses by means of a single more encompassing lens has sometimes been called “microlensing” in the field of light optics, where it is sometimes employed. Though some embodiments it might be desirable to focus electron gun subarrays in that manner to achieve power combining, the concept has more general application. For instance, one problem is the maximum current of an electron gun. If the current is too high, the electron gun might focus it, but then the beamlet will spread out from space charge forces within the drift cavity. The doublet lensing of the drift cavity depends on the beamlets staying substantially focused during the drift time to the detector. This means the beamlet current should be quite low. Yet to obtain substantial overall beam current, a large array of electron guns is employed so that the beamlet currents combine additively. Yet the problem of a large array is that if there too many electron guns, the input impedance seen from a signal source will be excessive, and the bandwidth of the amplifier will be reduced. Thus, fewer electron guns having higher beamlet current are desirable. This might be possible with a large diameter beamlet, but the problem is that as the beamlet diameter increases, the deflector plate spacing within the electron gun must increase also. This reduces the gain and the amplifier performance. In the previous embodiments, the electron gun was described as generating a substantially parallel beamlet of electrons as they passed through the deflector and exited into the drift cavity. To increase the beamlet diameter while still maintaining a small deflector plate spacing, the beamlet can be brought to a tight focus near the deflector, then allowed to de-focus quickly so that the space charge forces have little time to cause repulsive effects. As the beamlet enters the drift cavity, the beamlet can be allowed to increase to a much larger diameter than the deflector plate spacing, and this would reduce the space charge forces, but uncorrected would still leave unresolved the problem of beamlet spreading as the beamlet travels to the detector. The solution is microlensing where a series of successively larger lensing electrodes provide successively larger lensing fields 5080, 5046, as shown in FIG. 118. Once the beam so formed exits into the drift cavity, a lens can be use to focus that beamlet and only that beamlet, so that it is restored to near parallel rays during the transit through the drift cavity. If each electron gun does the same, the effect is the same as a greater plurality of electron guns, but without the deleterious effects of an excess of deflectors on the input impedance. In this case, the first lens of the doublet for the drift cavity still operates on the array of beamlets as a whole. Thus the structure is an array of lenses within a lens. The first doublet lens 4806 is as shown before in FIG. 98: a planar disk electrode encompassing the array of electron guns, and another electrode 4802 surrounding it with the potentials of both selected to achieve the overall “large-scale” lensing action. The microlenses 4818, 4820 are constructed in a similar fashion: a small disk electrode encompasses the output of a single electron gun, and in concert with the potential of another electrode around it, the microlense field is achieved. But since the microlenses are inside the first doublet lens, this second electrode surrounding the first electrode of the first double lens can be the same. The idea can be extended any time more current is effectively required from an electron gun without increasing the number of guns, or to couple more signals into the deflector array. The key concept here is the idea of electron lenses inside electron lenses inside electron lenses, which has ever been done before. For example, single microlensed electron guns, then bigger microlenses for subgroups of electron guns, then groups of guns in a doublet lens of the drift cavity is a real possibility that is practical and useful. Multiple Deflector Load Compensation Depending on the application, the electron beam amplifier may require up to several hundred deflectors to be coupled to a waveguide or transmission line. Multiple deflector coupling can be accomplished in the same manner as a single deflector so long as the total capacitance of the multiple deflectors is small relative to the waveguide impedance and the bandwidth required, and the area encompassed by the multiple deflectors is small enough that transmission line delays do not cause substantial differences in the electron beam deflection between any two deflectors in the array. One problem of coupling multiple deflectors to a transmission line is the additional capacitive loading. As indicated previously, the capacitance of the array (CARRAY) might be greater than 100 fF. This is large enough that it can cause enough mismatch on the transmission line for destructive signal reflections to occur. One further embodiment therefore mitigates these reflections by compensating the waveguide structure so that the loading of the deflector array creates a constant waveguide impedance. The general principle is to transform the waveguide impedance from an initial value Z0, where the guide does not couple to the CARRAY, to a larger value Z1 in the region where the guide couples to CARRAY. As known in the art, a waveguide can be viewed as a distributed ladder of series inductors and grounded capacitors per unit length (FIG. 9a), and the guide impedance is given simply by Z 0 = L 0 C 0 ( 1.54 ) The magnitudes of L0 and C0 are determined by the physical structure of the guide, but in general it can be appreciated that if L0 is constant, then increasing C0 reduces Z0 and decreasing C0 increases Z0. Thus, excess load capacitance decreases Z0, and by the previous formula for □, there will be reflections generated. The formula therefore suggests another embodiment: If the capacitance of the deflector array is enough to induce undesired reflections, the waveguide structure can be modified across a section to reduce the distributed capacitance of the guide, thereby raising the impedance to a different value Z1. Then the deflector capacitance can be coupled in distributed fashion along the modified section so that the average distributed capacitance is the same as the unmodified guide. Thus, the effective impedance along the modified section of guide will equal Z0, the magnitude in the unmodified sections of guide. This can substantially eliminate any reflections from the deflector array loading. Modifying a section of the guide can be quite simple in principle though details must be carefully determined in practice. For a simple two-wire transmission line, the wire spacing can be increased for the distance of the modified section. For a closed waveguide, the guide walls on which the electric field lines terminate (as in a TEmn mode) can be spaced further apart. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Other Detector Embodiments with Improved Gain and Linearity One problem with a diode detector is achieving sufficient current gain without incurring distortion in the output waveform. The cascade gain mechanism multiplies beam current without sensitivity to the voltage of the load, since it depends only on the beam energy and the semiconductor material. But the gain from this mechanism is limited to perhaps a few hundred, even with high beam energies. For this reason, a detector might be supplemented with avalanche gain, to further multiply the diode current by a second gain factor of 5—perhaps 20 or more. Thus, overall detector gain, which is the multiple of the cascade and avalanche effects can exceed several thousand, thereby providing significantly greater output drive and output power. Avalanche gain is inherently voltage sensitive. Avalanche operates by creates a strong field across a reverse biased diode junction that is near breakdown; as electrical carriers (electrons and holes) drift into the internal field of the diode junction, they are accelerated sufficient velocity to impact with atoms in the crystal lattice, breaking free more electrons. These electrons are themselves then accelerated in the field, breaking free more electrons, and so on in a chain reaction the grows until the electrons leave the high field region. The problem is that the intensity of the high field region is very sensitive to the external voltage across the diode. Even small changes in the voltage can cause large changes in the avalanche gain. When an avalanche diode is connected directly to a load, the large current modulates the load voltage and hence the avalanche gain. Thus, if the avalanche diode is a detector, the beam current generates a cascade current in the diode, and the cascade current is multiplied by the avalanche gain, generating a diode output current which drives the load—but as the load voltage changes in response to the diode output current the voltage across the detector changes, and hence the detector gain changes, thereby modifying the output current. This makes it impossible for the load voltage to linearly follow the collected beam current, and hence, the output voltage becomes distorted by harmonics. While this might be desirable in a frequency multiplier, it is very undesirable in a linear amplifier. Thus, one option is to isolate the detector from the load voltage, as shown in FIG. 120 illustrating an avalanche detector with heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) load isolation 5090. An HBT 5092 is biased in a “cascode” or “common base” mode. By coupling a cathode 5094 of a detector 5096 to the emitter 5097 of the HBT 5092, the current is essentially transmitted to the collector 5098 of the HBT 5092 without amplification or distortion, and coupled to the load 5100 according to well-known principles of bipolar transistor action. Furthermore, this is a fast mode of bipolar operation, and in HBT's the bandwidth of the bipolar can exceed hundreds of gigahertz. Detector 5096 is subject to bias 5102 to configure the detector 5096 for avalanche amplification of beam current 5104 to drive RF output 5106. In effect, the high transconductance of the bipolar isolates the detector from the load. According to bipolar physics, large changes in the bipolar emitter-collector current are caused by very small changes of only a few millivolts in the base-emitter voltage, or vice versa. Thus, if the base contact of the bipolar is fixed to a bias supple, large changes in the avalanche current transmitted to the bipolar emitter cause very little change in the voltage across the avalanche diode. The bipolar in effect behaves as an impedance transformer so that the avalanche diode sees a small “AC” resistance, while the bipolar sees the high resistance of the load. HBT Detector Another option is to make a detector supplementary gain without using the avalanche effect, as shown in FIG. 121 HBT detector circuit 5108 makes use of HBT 5110, but is otherwise made of components previously described in context of FIG. 120. One type of HBT 5110 operates on the principle of a phototransistor, except impingement of beam current 5104 causes bipolar injection gain in this type of structure. In this case, the detector 5110 is made of alternating layers of semiconductor N-P-N doping compositions, for example, as shown in FIG. 122A where beam current 5104 strikes P layer E to cause shifting of electrons and holes as shown in FIG. 122B. The layer E adjacent to the beam contact can operate similarly to that previously described, to generate cascade gain, but the next two layers B, C make the sandwich a bipolar transistor. In the figure, the layers are labeled E, B and C for the respective emitter, base and collector. Unlike the previously describe Schottky detector having a thin cascade layer over a thicker layer, the cascade layer in this new structure is the middle base layer. This best uses an extremely thin emitter layer of perhaps 10 angstroms so that most beam electrons penetrate into the base. If minority carriers (in this case, the electrons of the beam as multiplied by the cascade action) enter a base region, they generate bipolar gain described by a current gain factor “beta”, or {tilde over (β)} Beta is also often called “hFE”, and is the ratio of the collector current to the base current. Typical values are β=100. For example, if the base current is 1 uA and beta=100, the collector current is 100 uA. Generally, the emitter current is very nearly equal to the collector current by (1+β)/β, so the two can be assumed the same value here for convenience. The method of operation may depend on the ratio of the carrier mobilities μn and μp between base and emitter, the thickness of the emitter and base layers XE and XB, and the doping concentration of emitter and base layers, NE and NB. according to a formula 1. h FE = μ nB X E N E μ pE X B N B ( 1.55 ) Controlling these parameters in a suitable device structure can thus create a detector of very high gain. To use this as a detector, the base is simply coupled to a fixed bias supply, and the emitter is coupled to a beam contact of suitable thin construction so as to permit beam electrons to pass through, and the collector is coupled to the load. Injecting a beam current into the base of a detector so constructed multiplies the beam current, first by cascade, and then by the bipolar β factor. In this manner, extremely high detector output current can be achieved at the bipolar collector. For example, if the cascade gain is 100 and the bipolar gain is 100, an overall gain of 10,000 is possible. It works. Moreover, the bipolar gain mechanism is not nearly so sensitive to voltage excursions of the output voltage on the collector. Thus, it achieve improvement of the detector linearity in the manner of the aforementioned cascode structure. Nonetheless, the bipolar detector is not completely immune to gain non-linearity. As is well-known, bipolar devices suffer a second-order modulation of their current gain as the collector-base voltage. This is not expressed in the previous equation, but the effect can be as much as tens of percent or as little as a few percent. Compared to the voltage sensitivity of an avalanche diode, which might vary the gain from 1 to 1000 for a change in voltage of a few volts, this is not much, but it can still be significant. A second problem with the bipolar detector is AC feedback from the collector voltage to the base region. This is due to the junction capacitance between these two point, and the effect is to substantially reduce the bandwidth of the detector, by approximately the factor β. In high frequency RF circuits this is generally (almost always) avoided by using a cascode(common base) transistor to achieve AC isolation. Thus, it may be appreciated that the bipolar detector could, in some circumstances, profit from isolating the collector of the detector from the load voltage, in the same manner as the avalanche diode detector can: with a cascode transistor. The method can, in fact, be the same: a bipolar or HBT transistor. REFERENCES The following documents are incorporated by reference: 1 T. H. P. Chang et al, “Electron-beam microcolumns for lithography and related applications”, J. Vac Sci. Technol. B 14(6), November/December 1996, pp. 3774-3781 2 M. G. R. Thomson et al., “Lens and deflector design for microcolumns”, J. Vac Sci. Technol. B 13(6), November/December 1995 American Vacuum Society, pp. 2445-2449. 3 E. Kratschmer et al., “Experimental evaluation of a 20×20 mm footprint microcolumn”, J. Vac Sci. Technol. B 14(6), November/December 1996 American Vacuum Society, pp. 3792-3796. 4 T. H. P. Chang et al., “Electron beam microcolumn technology and applications”, Electron-Beam Sources and Charged-Particle Optics, SPIE vol. 2522, 1995, 10 pgs. 5 T. H. P. Chang et al., “Arrayed miniature electron beam columns for high throughput sub-100 nm lithography”, J. Vac Sci. Technol. B 10(6), November/December 1992 American Vacuum Society, pp. 2743-2748 6 T. H. P Chang et al., “Electron beam technology—SEM to microcolumn”. Microelectronic Engineering 32, (1996), pp. 113-130. 7 H. S. Kim et al., “Miniature Schottky electron source”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 13(6), November/December 1995, pp. 2468-2472. 8 N. M. Froberg et al, “TeraHertz Radiation from a Photoconducting Antenna Array”, IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, vol. 28, No. 10, pp. 2291-2301 (1992) 9 Sang-Gyu Park et al, “High-Power Narrow-Band Terahertz Generation Using Large-Aperture Photoconductors”, IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, vol 35, No. 8, pp. 1257-1268 (1999). 10 Cha-Mei Tang et al, “Deflection microwave and millimeter-wave amplifiers”, J. Vac Sci. Technol. B 12(2), March/April 1994, pp. 790-794. 11 Manohara et al, “Design and fabrication of a THz nanoklystron”, Far-IR, Sub-mm & MM Detector Technology Workshop, Monterey Calif.; Apr. 1-3, 2002. www.sofia.usra.edu/det_workshop/papers/session6/3-43manohara_rev020911.pdf: www.sofia.usra.edu/det_workshop/posters/session3/3-43manohara_Poster.pdf 12 Kitamura et al, “Microfield emitter array triodes with electron bombarded semiconductor anode”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 11(2), March/April 1993. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The twentieth century opened with the discovery of radio wave transmission by Marconi. World War II heralded the emergence of radar. The 1960's witnessed the launching of satellites. The 1990's saw the proliferation of commercial wireless data communications. These four events signaled epochal moments in history, opening up entirely new ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum for revolutionary applications such as radio, television, long-range surveillance, satellite communications and computer networking. The key components that made these advances possible were the development of electronic components capable of detecting, amplifying and re-transmitting high-frequency electrical signals: the point contact diode, the vacuum tube triode, the semiconductor transistor, the traveling wave tube, the integrated circuit. Each had—or is having—its moment and was superceded by a newer technology as demand for higher performance increased. Today, RF communications, radar and other applications are pushing well into the high gigahertz region, as much as 200 GHz or more. Even home wireless networking and simple cordless telephones are operating at over 5 GHz, a domain once reserved to only the military a few short decades ago. The key components that made these advances possible are high-frequency devices: transistors with current-gain-bandwidth product f T >200 GHz, LNAs with high linearity (IIP3), emerging power transistors made of SiC and GaN, and the venerable traveling wave tube (TWT). Many applications such as digital radio and military surveillance today are limited by the power or bandwidth achievable in a conventional semiconductor, or by the size, weight, cost, power and distortion products of the TWT. Space electronics is also limited by the radiation hardness and reliability of semiconductors. Military applications also require greater bandwidth, with tuning ranges exceeding 10:1 at frequencies up to 100 GHz. Semiconductor Amplifiers Despite the ubiquity of modem semiconductors, they suffer several limitations for the highest frequency RF applications. First, transistor breakdown voltage must be reduced significantly to achieve the necessary bandwidth, often to a volt or two or less. This severely limits the power they can generate, especially when low distortion is required. More fundamentally, semiconductors have an upper bandwidth dictated by the physics of the semiconductors: the maximum carrier velocity, especially, the saturated electron velocity. Current art places a limitation of perhaps 400 GHz f T on III-V compound devices such in InP, GaAs, InAs, and a theoretical limit of approximately 1 THz is dictated by the velocity of current-conducting carriers (electrons) in any semiconductor crystal. Practical applications such as an RF low-noise amplifier (LNA) usually can only operate at no more than 1/10 of theft. Furthermore, to operate at speeds of 100 GHz or more (as in an RF LNA) requires considerable power. At this time, there are almost no semiconductor power amplifiers capable of operating much above 10 GHz, leaving the entire field of high-power antennas to the field of vacuum electronic devices, such as the TWT, which are orders of magnitude more expensive and bulky. Semiconductor amplifiers are also extremely sensitive to radiation induced degradation and failure in space environments. TWTs and other Traditional Vacuum Electronic Devices TWT's offer direct RF amplification with power gains exceeding 40dB, frequency of amplification over 100 GHz, and bandwidth of more than 2 octaves in specialized devices. The drawback is they are large, very expensive, power consumptive, noisy and introduce significant signal distortion. Size can vary from 10 cubic inches in very high frequency devices (˜100 GHz). Cost can be $10,000 in a typical device to as much as $100 k in a space-rated device. Minimum power consumption can be hundreds of watts even in a low power device. Noise figures are typically 40 dB, compared to as little as 1 dB in a semiconductor LNA. Distortion products for wideband operation can be similarly oppressive, restricting their use to power amplification. TWTs can in principle operate at frequencies approaching or exceeding 1 THz, but become extremely inefficient at these frequencies (as little as a few percent), and very hard to build because of the micron-sized dimensions. Machining tolerances of a few nanometers become necessary, and waveguide losses become dominant, since a long waveguide (such as a helix, serpentine, or many coupled cavities) has unavoidable ohmic sidewall losses. Many applications today are severely constrained by the lack of high-frequency performance in available amplifiers. For example, an emerging application is wireless networking in dense urban environments. The demand for communication bandwidth on network channels is already exceeding 1 Gbps, yet the limits of present-day carrier frequencies is only about 5-10 GHz. As is known in the art, the carrier frequency must normally be much higher than the data rate—100 times higher or more. For example, 2.4 Ghz carriers typically provide 10 Mbps data rates or less in the well-known “Bluetooth” system (sometimes called “802.11b”). 1 Gbps data rates imply a carrier of at least 100 GHz or more. The problem is exacerbated in dense urban environments, especially around large office buildings. Current technology increases the spectrum capacity by limiting the range of a limited number of sub-channels (which may be spectrally broad in spread spectrum or Ultra Wideband (UWB) systems). No more than a few hundred low-bandwidth (10 Mbps) channels can typically be made available within a short geographic radius of a few hundred meters. In an urban environment with thousands of network connections within a single building and other buildings in close proximity, it can be seen that there is a hard limit, indeed, on the number of network connections and the aggregate data transfer rate that is possible per cubic mile. Hard-wired networks traditionally overcome this density limitation, but they are difficult to install and very expensive to retrofit an existing structure. Wireless systems have recently proliferated (based on the 802.11b standard, among others) using higher carrier frequencies, but for higher bandwidths and link densities, few or no solutions exist today. As mentioned, semiconductor amplifiers cannot operate much above 100 GHz with any gain at all, and are very power inefficient. TWT amplifiers also cannot operate efficiently much above 100 GHz (though they are much better), but are prohibitively expensive for most applications. What is needed is a solution that offers the size and economies of scale of semiconductors, and the gain and frequency performance of TWTs, with power efficiency and linearity greater than both. Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a real demand for a low cost, efficient millimeter wave to sub-millimeter wave RF technology. Related Art As will become apparent, the present invention relates to microminiature electron beam devices applied to RF amplification and signaling, particularly those that operate in the millimeter to sub-millimeter wave region (50 GHz to 2 THz). Similar inventions have claimed advances that might operate in this region. For example, Manohara et al (ref. 11) have published work on sub-millimeter “nano-klystrons” based on many of the elements described herein for the present invention: semiconductor fabrication, MEMS and electron gun construction. An impressive development, it nonetheless suffers many deficiencies, including narrowband tuning, and relatively slow response to signal modulation, because of the resonant cavities inherent in the method. The nano-klystron also lacks integral phase and polarization control, which are highly desirable features of any RF power device intended for transmission purposes, yet expensive and bulky to provide as separate elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,053 issued to Tang, et al shows a deflection amplifier (or “deflectron”) that purports to offer wideband amplification, but suffers low gain, relative to the invention here, because the detrimental effects of space charge repulsion limit the maximum beam current. Furthermore, such beam current as Tang et al. can generate creates significant heating losses. Tang et al. also does not offer integral solutions to antenna coupling, phase and polarization control. U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,803 issued to Yoder predates Tang et al., and teaches an electron beam driven P-N junction in a push-pull detector arrangement. Yoder does not suggest his method provides extra gain through the beam interaction with the semiconductor diodes, though it may be inferred. However, such extra gain as may be provided will be modest, and the apparatus does not lend itself well to microfabrication. Further, Yoder does not adequately elaborate on how his method will provide linear gain, and it may be inferred from the description that high linearity will not be achievable. For example, Yoder does not describe means for achieving a substantially uniform electron beam. Yoder does not indicate how the detection apparatus can be constructed so as to achieve a linear output from a uniform beam, and in fact, it achieves just the opposite. Thus, Yoder's arrangement is seriously deficient in regard to actual construction of a deflectron having linear response. Chang, Muray, Lee, MacDonald (see references) have described “microcolumn arrays” of miniature electron guns and elements thereof for the purpose of improved electron beam lithography in semiconductor fabrication, yet they have not explored the potential of employing microcolumn arrays in amplifiers, RF generators or computing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,616 issued to Weiner describes one way to provide gain from an electron beam, by means of an electron bombarded semiconductor. This is commonly called an “EBS” amplifier. The method is based on a p+-i-n+ diode with an intrinsic “i” layer. Kitamura et al (1993, ref 12) explicitly describes an EBS amplifier based on a silicon Schottky diode, but do not employ deflection means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,903 issued to Weider describes a heterojunction EBS amplifier based on InGaAs and InP compounds to improve the speed and bandwidth, but these suffer from lack of compatibility with low-cost silicon microfabrication. All three disclosures provide means to improve the gain of an electron beam deflectron amplifier over that of Yoder or Tang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,053 issued to Fox et al. describes a variation on the EBS amplifier that provides gain via an electron-beam activated diamond conductor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,380 issued to Lin describes a related e-beam excited diamond switch for millimeter wave generation that depends on modulating the current of an electron beam. The principle disadvantage in either is that high beam energies are required with a diamond detector material. This causes extra heating losses, reduced efficiency, and severely limits the deflection gain. Another disadvantage is that Fox does not employ a precision e-beam forming device, such as a microcolumn. Another disadvantage is the difficulty of fabricating high-quality diamond films. Again, beam deflection is not incorporated in the gain mechanism. A principle disadvantage of following Tang et al., Yoder, or Weiner is that they rely on high current electron beams, which are difficult to focus in low-energy beam systems because of the space charge effect. Lack of focus reduces amplifier gain, decreases bandwidth and increases amplifier distortion. Fox overcomes this with a high energy beam. High current and high energy beams are antithetical to microfabricated electron beam systems. High current and high energy beams dissipate excess anode heating power. High voltage beam circuitry is susceptible to destructive arcing and requires high voltage power supplies, which are difficult to build, bulky and power consumptive, and not amenable to microfabrication. U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,466 issued to Norris et al describes an EBS amplifier that operates with a sheet beam to disperse the space charge and permit higher beam current, but sheet beams still suffer substantial space charge effects, thereby limiting the beam current and amplifier gain. Norris' amplifier suffers from the complexity of a distributed architecture to achieve high frequency broadband and high power operation, making it unsuitable for low-cost microfabrication. Low current beams are desirable, yet they reduce amplifier gain. It may be appreciated that there is a need for higher current, but low energy electron beam systems for microfabricated high speed amplifiers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,069 issued to Seiler, U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,909 issued to Reid, and Froberg (ref. 8) have constructed photoconductive antennas which employ semiconductor antenna excitation to generate THz radiation, yet they suffer from uncontrolled wideband transmission, no phase or polarization control, and require complex laser activation with slow pulse repetition rates. As will be seen, the present invention advances the art over all these examples of prior art, simultaneously providing, in different embodiments, controlled wideband modulation, high gain, RF transmission, phase and polarization control. It will be appreciated in the following description and appended claims that the present invention combines many of the advantages of prior art while overcoming the deficiencies in a novel arrangement, to thereby achieve RF amplifier embodiments possessing higher gain, faster operation, less distortion and lower power consumption. These benefits accrue in almost any RF receiver or transmitter application including wireless networking and antenna beamforming, frequency multiplication, high-speed digital logic and computing. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The disclosure to follow provides method and apparatus for wideband RF amplification that solves the shortcomings of both semiconductor and conventional vacuum electronic amplifiers. It can simultaneously provide high frequency of operation (exceeding 1 THz), wide bandwidth (up to 10:1 frequency range or more), high power gain (60 dB or more), linear operation and low noise in a size comparable to an integrated circuit (several cubic millimeters) with similar cost and lower power consumption. What is disclosed is a hybrid of semiconductor and vacuum electronics. It can be constructed using standard semiconductor fabrication techniques. There are many embodiments of the same basic principle: A first embodiment, amplifies a voltage signal and generates a highly linear current output by exciting a detector with a deflection modulated electron beam. The method includes a two-dimensional array of electron guns to generate beamlets, a distributed beam deflection apparatus in each electron gun array to provide high deflection gain to re-direct the electron beam in response to a voltage signal, and an electrostatic lens system to create a shaped electron beam spot where the beam strikes a current amplifying detector. The detector in one form comprises dual segments to differentially collect the beam in proportion to the deflection. Each segment converts a collected proportion of the beam to an electrical current, amplifies it, and couples it to an output network. In the most linear configurations, the dual detector segments are triangular and oriented in opposition to respond to a narrow rectangular beam spot; for the highest linearity, the space separating the segments distorts the shape of the segments from pure triangularity. In the fastest configuration, the segments are rectangular and the beam spot is rectangular to give a configuration that has the smallest detector. One construction is by semiconductor manufacturing processes including wafer bonding. In another embodiment the detector is a Schottky diode made of a germanium-silicon heterostructure. In another, the detector is Schottky diode made from a low-ionization material such as InAs or InSb. In either case, the detector provides beam-generated cascade gain and avalanche multiplication by a sandwich of semiconductor between a beam contact and an output contact. In another embodiment, the beam shaping is achieved with a shaped array of electron guns that are imaged on the detector by the electrostatic lens system. In another embodiment, the lens system is a doublet of a retarding and accelerating lens constructed from planar electrodes in the drift cavity. One configuration comprises a circular disc electrode enclosing the electron gun array to generate the retarding lens, and a circular electrode enclosing the detector to generate the accelerating lens. The drift cavity is enclosed by a cylindrical drift can with the electron gun array centered in one end, and the detector centered in the other. Planar donut electrodes may enclose the first and second disc electrodes in their respective planes. A variation achieves beam shaping with an astigmatic electron lens system comprising multiple shaping electrodes disposed around the exit plane of the electron gun array, and the electrodes are subject to different applied voltage potentials. All embodiments employ electron gun construction comprising field emission cathodes, cathode gating, a plurality of focusing and aperture electrodes, and deflection plates. In one variation, the plurality of focusing and aperture electrodes is increased in number to reduce the diameter of the gun column (relative to the beam axis). In another a beam blanking deflector is incorporated for pulsed operation. Another embodiment incorporates current control in every electron gun, comprising a ballast resistor to sense the cathode current and an amplifier to compare the ballast voltage against a reference, thereby generating an error signal that is applied to the cathode gate electrode. In another embodiment, offset centering apparatus keeps the beam centered on the detector with a control loop comprising an integrator generating an offset correction signal in response to the beam offset as measured at the detector. A variation employs independent detector segments to measure the offset. Another embodiment provides true time delay shifting by means of apparatus to adjust the energy of the electron beam and thereby the drift time through the drift cavity. One variation adjusts the potential of the detector plane, and in a configuration that improves the focusing, augments the cylindrical drift can electrode with a consecutive series of ring electrodes to approximate the fields potentials generated by a much larger drift cavity. In another variation the acceleration energy of the electron gun achieves the time delay control by augmenting the construction with a plurality of DACs coupled to deliver precise electrode focusing voltages for every time delay command. A further variation augments this arrangement with an analog-to-digital converter to couple a digitized measurement of the control gate with the time delay command, to generate electron gun focusing electrode potentials that are corrected for varying gate voltages in response to a current control loop. Yet another embodiment achieves frequency multiplication. One configuration uses a multiplicity of detector segments in a linear array that provides programmable multiplication. Another configuration achieves lower inharmonicity by using a circular detector in a two-dimensional arrangement of segments similar to the slices of a pie, and uses horizontal and vertical electron gun deflection. Another embodiment of frequency multiplication employs a single shaped detector segments and a shaped beam spot. The sweep of the shaped beam spot across the edge of the segment generates strong harmonics. The variations include triangular beam spots on rectangular detectors, rectangular beam spots on triangular detectors, rectangular beam spots on quadratically shaped detectors, and so forth, to generate second, third, fourth and so on harmonics. Another embodiment, is a mixing device comprising a square detector made of four equal square segments arranged symmetrically around axes X and Y, a square beam spot disposed to sweep in X and Y directions in response to a first signal applied to an X deflection apparatus and a second signal applied to a Y deflection apparatus. Another embodiment is a combinational logic device comprising a plurality of N deflectors X 1 , X 2 , . . . XN, a corresponding plurality of deflection signals V 1 , V 2 , . . . VN, and detectors D 1 , D 2 , . . . DM, each individually positioned to correspond to a logic state of the deflection vector V 1 . . . VN. Some of the deflectors XN are oriented for horizontal beam deflection and some of the deflectors are oriented for vertical beam deflection to improve the degeneracy of states and the compaction of the system. A further extension of the concept employs deflectors of different geometries to achieve gray coding for a further reduction in the state degeneracy. Another embodiment, is a method of exciting electromagnetic radiation by incorporating an antenna, such as a dipole, patch or horn. Some variations provide a selectable polarization dipole or patch by means of X and Y deflection, multiple detector segments and/or multiple addressable feedpoints. Another radiating embodiment, excites a waveguide. The waveguide may be rectangular or circular. The excitation can be single or dual polarization to excite desired waveguide modes. The dual polarization device consists of four segments, with two opposing segments connected across a diameter of the waveguide, and the other two opposing segments connected across an orthogonal diameter of the waveguide. This may be augmented with a selectably shaped beam spot for selectable polarization, with a rectangular spot shape spanning two opposing detectors and a motion that sweeps between the two detectors. Any of the waveguide embodiments may be coupled to the feed of an antenna horn. Another embodiment merges the detector and antenna in a single structure to make a novel radiator that can simultaneously generate harmonics and controlled phase and polarization. In a variation, multiple, independently steerable beams are employed to enhance the diversity of the output radiation. Another embodiment, is constructed as an array of amplifiers according to any of the other embodiments, thereby achieving transmit antenna arrays, receive antenna arrays, T-R arrays and signal combining networks. Another embodiment, is a crossbar matrix comprising a plurality of N independent electron guns, a plurality of M detectors and crossbar addressing means. Each electron gun includes independent X and Y deflectors, and receives N digital input signals and N X and Y offset control signals for addressably configuring the matrix. The crossbar addressing means comprises a plurality of DACs under the control of a processor or ROM. An extension of the crossbar matrix further includes free-space photonic I/O comprising a photonic input array, an input lens system, a photodetector array, a laser diode array, an output lens system, and an output photonic coupling array. The lens system images the photonic input array on the photodiode array. The photodiode array electrically couples individual photodiodes to individual electron guns to transmit the signals to addressed detector outputs. The laser diode array electrically couples individual laser diodes to individual detectors. The photonic I/O can be provided by fiber optic bundles Another embodiment, is a multiprocessing compute engine comprised of a crossbar matrix coupled to a plurality of processor elements. | 20040623 | 20081104 | 20051229 | 71079.0 | 0 | NGUYEN, KHANH V | ELECTRON BEAM RF AMPLIFIER AND EMITTER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,532 | ACCEPTED | Method for producing fats or oils | The present invention is directed to improving productivity of an enzymatic method for making esterified, transesterified or interesterified products. Specifically, a method that can greatly improve the productivity of enzymatic transesterification or esterification by deodorization alone, or by deodorization and purification of the initial substrate to extend the useful life of the enzyme is disclosed. | 1. A method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product comprising: (a) forming an initial substrate comprising one or more fats or oils; (b) deodorizing said initial substrate thereby reducing the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation in said initial substrate and thereby producing a deodorized substrate; (c) contacting said deodorized substrate with an enzyme thereby making said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; wherein the half-life of said enzyme is prolonged. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said initial substrate was previously deodorized. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said deodorizing is a batch deodorization process, a semi-continuous deodorization process, or a continuous deodorization process. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said deodorizing occurs from 25° C. to 320° C. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said deodorizing occurs from 100° C. to 300° C. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said deodorizing occurs from 150° C. to 270° C. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said deodorizing occurs at a pressure of 0 to 760 torr. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said deodorization occurs at a pressure of 1 to 10 torr. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more unrefined and/or unbleached fats or oils comprise butterfat, cocoa butter, cocoa butter substitutes, illipe fat, kokum butter, milk fat, mowrah fat, phulwara butter, sal fat, shea fat, borneo tallow, lard, lanolin, beef tallow, mutton tallow, tallow or other animal fat, canola oil, castor oil, coconut oil, coriander oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, hazlenut oil, hempseed oil, linseed oil, mango kernel oil, meadowfoam oil, neat's foot oil, olive oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm olein, palm stearin, palm kernel olein, palm kernel stearin, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, sasanqua oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, tall oil, tsubaki oil, vegetable oils, marine oils which can be converted into plastic or solid fats such as menhaden, candlefish oil, cod-liver oil, orange roughy oil, pile herd, sardine oil, whale and herring oils, 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-monooleine (POP), 1(3)-palmitoyl-3(1)-stearoyl-2-monooleine (POSt), 1,3-distearoyl-2-monooleine (StOSt), triglyceride, diglyceride, monoglyceride, behenic acid triglyceride, trioleine, tripalmitine, tristearine, triglycerides of medium chain fatty acids, or combinations thereof. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said enzyme is a lipase obtained from a cultured eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell line. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said lipase is a 1,3-selective lipase. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein said lipase is a non-selective lipase. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product comprises 1,3-diglycerides. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said enzyme is packed in one or more jacketed columns in which the temperature of one or more of said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product, or said enzyme is regulated. 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising mixing said deodorized substrate with said enzyme in one or more tanks for a batch slurry reaction. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein said deodorized substrate is mixed with monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols prior to contacting said deodorized substrate with said enzyme; and wherein said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product is formed from the esterification, transesterification or interesterification of said monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said monohydroxyl alcohols or said polyhydroxyl alcohols are primary, secondary or tertiary alcohols of annular, straight or branched chain compounds. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said deodorized substrate is mixed with monohydroxyl alcohols which are selected from the group consisting of methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, allyl alcohol, ethanol, propanol, n-butanol, iso-butanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, n-pentanol, iso-pentanol, n-hexanol, hexadecyl alcohol or octadecyl alcohol. 19. The method of claim 17, wherein said deodorized substrate is mixed with polyhydroxyl alcohols which are selected from the group consisting of glycerol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol. 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the deodorization holding time is from 5 minutes to 10 hours. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the deodorization holding time is from 30 minutes to 3 hours. 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the deodorization stripping gas is steam, and the stripping steam ratio is 1-15 wt % of the initial substrate. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the deodorization stripping gas is steam, and the stripping steam ratio is 1-5 wt % of the initial substrate. 24. The method of claim 1, further comprising preventing oxidative degradation of said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product or said enzyme. 25. The method of claim 9, wherein said initial substrate comprises partially or fully hydrogenated processed fats or oils, or fractionated fats or oils thereof. 26. The method of claim 1, further comprising contacting said initial substrate or said deodorized substrate with one or more types of purification media thereby producing a purification media-processed substrate. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein one or more of said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said purification media-processed substrate, said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product and said enzyme are in an inert gas environment. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein said inert gas is selected from the group consisting of N2, CO2, He, Ar, and Ne. 29. The method of claim 26, wherein said purification medium is selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, coal activated carbon, wood activated carbon, peat activated carbon, coconut shell activated carbon, natural minerals, processed minerals, montmorillonite, attapulgite, bentonite, palygorskite, Fuller's earth, diatomite, smectite, hormite, quartz sand, limestone, kaolin, ball clay, talc, pyrophyllite, perlite, silica, sodium silicate, silica hydrogel, silica gel, fumed silica, precipitated silica, dialytic silica, fibrous materials, cellulose, cellulose esters, cellulose ethers, microcrystalline cellulose; alumina, zeolite, starches, molecular sieves, previously used immobilized lipase, diatomaceous earth, ion exchange resin, size exclusion chromatography resin, chelating resins, chiral resins, rice hull ash, reverse phase silica, and bleaching clays. 30. The method of claim 26, wherein said purification medium is silica having a surface area from 200 to 750 m2/g, a mesh value from 3 to 425, an average particle size from 4-200μ, an average pore radius from 20 to 150 Å, and an average pore volume from 0.68 to 1.15 cm3/g. 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said silica is 35-60 mesh with an average pore size of about 60 Å. 32. The method of claim 26, wherein said one or more types of purification media and said enzyme are packed together or separately in one or more columns through which said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said purification media-processed substrate or said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product flows. 33. The method of claim 32 wherein said columns are jacketed columns in which the temperature of one or more of said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said purification media-processed substrate, said one or more types of purification media and said enzyme is regulated. 34. The method of claim 26, wherein said purification media-processed substrate is prepared by mixing said initial substrate or said deodorized substrate with said one or more types of purification media in a tank for a batch slurry purification reaction or mixing said initial substrate or said deodorized substrate in a series of tanks for a series of batch slurry purification reactions. 35. The method of claim 34, wherein said purification media-processed substrate is separated from said one or more types of purification media via filtration, centrifugation or concentration prior to reacting said purification media-processed substrate with said enzyme. 36. The method of claim 26, further comprising mixing said purification media-processed substrate with said enzyme in a tank for a batch slurry reaction, or flowing said purification media-processed substrate through a column containing said enzyme. 37. The method of claim 32, wherein a bed of said one or more types of purification media is placed upon a bed of said enzyme within a column. 38. The method of claim 27, further comprising preventing oxidative degradation to one or more of said initial substrate, said deodorized substrate, said purification media-processed substrate, said esterified, transesterified or interesterified product and said enzyme. 39. The method of claim 26, wherein the purification medium is a combination of silica and coconut shell activated carbon. 40. The method of claim 1, wherein said deodorized substrate has a peroxide Value of less than 5 mEq/kg oil. 41. The method of claim 40, wherein said peroxide value is less than 2 mEq/kg oil. 42. The method of claim 41, wherein said peroxide value is less than 1 mEq/kg oil. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to methods for producing fats and oils. Specifically, the invention pertains to prolonging the enzymatic activity of an enzyme used for transesterification or esterification of a substrate for the production of fats and oils by deodorization of the substrate prior to transesterification or esterification. The invention also relates to using deodorization in tandem with a purification medium. 2. Related Art Fats and oils are composed principally of triglycerides made up of a glycerol moiety in which the hydroxyl groups are esterified with carboxylic acids. Whereas solid fats tend to be formed by triglycerides having saturated fatty acids, triglycerides with unsaturated fatty acids tend to be liquid (oils) at room temperature. Monoglycerides and diglycerides, having respectively one fatty acid ester and two alcoholic groups or two fatty acid esters and one alcoholic group, are also found in fats and oils to a lesser extent than triglycerides. Many fats and oils are readily obtained from processing plant or animal matter. However, some fats and oils are obtained via well-known chemical or enzymatic transesterification or esterification processes. By these processes, one or more of the fatty acid groups on a glyceride is transferred, hydrolyzed or replaced with a different fatty acid group. Chemical methods require harsh alkaline conditions, high temperatures and generate wasteful by-products. The discolored fats and oils produced need to be neutralized, washed and centrifuged to remove catalysts, and ultimately bleached. In addition to these problems, chemical transesterification or chemical esterification is non-specific in the glyceride position or type of fatty acid group transferred, hydrolyzed or replaced. It is thus very difficult or impossible to produce specific fats or oils via large scale chemical catalytic processes. In contrast, enzymatic methods of transesterification or esterification are simpler, cleaner, environmentally friendly and are highly specific with respect to modifying glyceride fatty acid groups. One family of enzymes capable of affecting this transesterification or esterification in glycerides are known as lipases. Lipases are obtained from prokaryotic or eukaryotic microorganisms and typically fall into one of three categories (Macrae, A. R., J.A.O.C.S.60:243A-246A (1983)). The first category includes nonspecific lipases capable of releasing or binding any fatty acid group from or to any glyceride position. Such lipases have been obtained from Candida cylindracae, Corynebacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus (Macrae, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,251). The second category of lipases only adds or removes specific fatty acid groups to or from specific glycerides. Thus, these lipases are useful in producing or modifying specific glycerides. Such lipases have been obtained from Geotrichum candidium and Rhizopus, Aspergillus, and Mucor genera (Macrae, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,251). The last category of lipases catalyze the removal or addition of fatty acid groups from the glyceride carbons on the end in the 1- and 3-positions. Such lipases have been obtained from Thermomyces lanuginosa, Rhizomucor miehei, Aspergillus niger, Mucor javanicus, Rhizopus delemar, and Rhizopus arrhizus (Macrae, 1983). The last category of enzymes have wide applicability. For example, cocoa butter consists primarily (about 70-80% by weight) of saturated-oleic-saturated (SOS) triglycerides (European published patent application no. EP 0188122 A1). It is this triglyceride composition which provides the unique characteristics by which chocolate products hold their shape at room temperature but melt slightly below human body temperature (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,322). These SOS triglycerides include 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-monooleine (POP), 1(3)-palmitoyl-3(1)-stearoyl-2-monooleine (POSt) and 1,3-distearoyl-2-monooleine (StOSt). Thus, oleic acid-rich glycerides with an oleic ester group in the middle position can be incubated with palmitic and stearic acid in the presence of a 1,3-specific lipase to produce POP, POSt and StOSt, i.e., cocoa butter substitutes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,322). The production of cocoa butter substitutes alleviates food manufacturers from widely fluctuating cocoa butter supply and cost. 1,3-specific lipases also are useful in the manufacture of specialty 1,3-diglycerides, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,611. Despite these benefits, enzymatic transesterification or esterification is a costly process because of the expense in providing a large amount of purified lipase. Moreover, the enzymatic activity of lipase decays with time and with exposure to large amounts of fats or oils. The present invention reduces these problems by providing an enzymatic method for producing fats or oils by which the enzymatic activity of lipase is prolonged. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product comprising: (a) forming an initial substrate comprising one or more fats or oils; (b) deodorizing the initial substrate thereby reducing the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation and thereby producing a deodorized substrate; (c) contacting the deodorized substrate with an enzyme thereby making the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; wherein the half-life of the enzyme is prolonged. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a graph showing the decay of lipase enzymatic activity as measured by the decrease in product flow rate where a piston pump is used without purification medium (closed diamonds), where a peristaltic pump is used without purification medium (open squares), and where a piston pump is used with purification medium (open triangles). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For purposes herein, the term “initial substrate” includes refined or unrefined, bleached or unbleached and/or deodorized or non-deodorized fats or oils. The fats or oils can comprise a single fat or oil or combinations of various fats or oils. The term “deodorized substrate” refers to a substrate which has undergone at least one deodorization process. The term “purification media-processed substrate” refers to a substrate which has contacted one or more purification media at least once. Prior to its contact with enzyme, a deodorized substrate or a purification media-processed substrate can be mixed with additional components including esters, free fatty acids or alcohols. Prior to its contact with purification media, a deodorized substrate can be mixed with additional components including esters, free fatty acids or alcohols. Preferably, these esters, free fatty acids or alcohols which are added to the deodorized substrate or purification media-processed substrate are not themselves subjected to the deodorization process. However, these additional components can optionally contact purification media. Except where reference is explicitly or implicitly made to a substrate which has not been deodorized, the term “substrate” includes deodorized substrate or purification media-processed substrate, either of which optionally have one or more of the aforementioned additional components. The terms “product” and “esterified, transesterified or interesterified product” are used interchangeably and include esterified, transesterified or interesterified fats, oils, triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols, or esters of mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols produced via the enzymatic transesterification or esterification process. Product has come into contact at least once with an enzyme capable of causing esterification, transesterification or interesterification. Product can be a fluid or solid at room temperature. Product is increased in its proportional content of esterified, transesterified or interesterified fats, oils, triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols, or esters of mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols as a result of their having contacted the transesterification or esterification enzyme. Esterified, transesterified or interesterified product is to be distinguished from the contents of initial substrate, deodorized substrate, or purification-media processed substrate in that product has undergone additional enzymatic transesterification or esterification reaction. The present invention contemplates use of any combination of the deodorization, purification and transesterification or esterification processes for the production of esterified, transesterified or interesterified fats, oils, triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols, or esters of mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols. The term “enzyme” as used in the method of the present invention includes lipases, as discussed herein, or any other enzyme capable of causing esterification, transesterification or interesterification of substrate. According to the present invention, a substrate can be recycled (i.e., deodorized, contact purification media, esterified, transesterified or interesterified more than once). Hence, the skilled artisan would recognize that “initial substrate” includes i) substrates that have never been deodorized, ii) substrates that have been deodorized one or more times, iii) substrates that have never contacted purification media, iv) substrates that have contacted purification media one or more times, v) substrates that have never been esterified, transesterified or interesterified, and vi) substrates that have been esterified, transesterified or interesterified one or more times. Glycerides useful in the present invention include molecules given by the chemical formula CH2RCHR′CH2R″ wherein R, R′ and R″ are alcohols (OH) or fatty acid groups given by —OC(═O)R′″, wherein R′″ is a saturated, unsaturated or polyunsaturated, straight or branched carbon chain with or without substituents. R, R′, R″ and the fatty acid groups on a given glyceride can be the same or different. The acid groups R, R′ and R″ can be obtained from any of the free fatty acids described herein. Glycerides for the present invention include triglycerides in which R, R′ and R″ are all fatty acid groups, diglycerides in which two of R, R′ and R″ are fatty acid groups and one alcohol functionality is present; monoglycerides in which one of R, R′ and R″ is a fatty acid group and two alcohol functionalities are present; and glycerol in which each of R, R′ and R″ is an alcohol group. Glycerides useful as starting materials of the invention include natural, processed, refined and synthetic fats and oils. Examples of refined fats and oils are described herein and in Stauffer, C., Fats and Oils, Eagan Press, St. Paul, Minn. Examples of processed fats and oils are hydrogenated and fractionated fats and oils. The terms “fatty acid groups” or “acid groups” both refer to chemical groups given by —OC(═O)R′″. Such “fatty acid groups” or “acid groups” are connected to the remainder of the glyceride via a covalent bond to the oxygen atom that is singly bound to the carbonyl carbon. In contrast, the terms “fatty acid” or “free fatty acid” both refer to HOC(═O)R′″ and are not covalently bound to a glyceride. In “fatty acid groups,” “acid groups,” “free fatty acids,” and “fatty acids,” R′″ is a saturated, unsaturated or polyunsaturated, straight or branched carbon chain with or without substituents, as discussed herein. The skilled artisan will recognize that R′″ of the “free fatty acids” or “fatty acids” (i.e., HOC(═O)R′″) described herein are useful as R′″ in the “fatty acid groups” or “acid groups” attached to the glycerides or to other esters used as substrates in the present invention. That is, a substrate of the present invention may comprise fats, oils or other esters having fatty acid groups formed from the free fatty acids or fatty acids discussed herein. “Esterification” or “transesterification” are the processes by which an acid group is added, hydrolyzed, repositioned or replaced on one or more components of the substrate. The acid group can be derived from a fat or oil which is part of the initial substrate, or from a free fatty acid or ester that has been added to the deodorized substrate or purification media-processed substrate. The term “esterification” includes the process in which R, R′ or R″ on a glyceride is converted from an alcoholic group (OH) to a fatty acid group given by —OC(═O)R′″. The fatty acid group which replaces the alcoholic group can come from the same or different glyceride, or from a free fatty acid or ester that has been added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. The present invention also contemplates esterification of alcohols which have been added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. For example, an alcohol so added may be esterified by an added free fatty acid or by a fatty acid group present on a glyceride which was a component of the initial substrate. A non-limiting example of esterification includes reaction of a free fatty acid with an alcohol. The term “transesterification” includes the process in which R, R′ or R″ on a glyceride is a first fatty acid group given by —OC(═O)R′″, and the first fatty acid group is replaced by a second, different fatty acid group. The second fatty acid group which replaces the first fatty acid group can come from the same or different fat or oil present in the initial substrate. The second fatty acid can also come from a free fatty acid or ester added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. The present invention also contemplates transesterification or interesterification of esterified alcohols or other esters which have been added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. For example, an alcohol so added may be transesterified or interesterified by an added free fatty acid, by a fatty acid group on an added ester, or by a fatty acid group present on a glyceride which was a component of the initial substrate. A non-limiting example of transesterification includes reaction of a fat or oil with an alcohol (e.g., methanol) or with an ester. The term “interesterification” includes the processes acidolysis, alcoholysis, glycerolysis, and transesterification. Examples of these processes are described herein, and in Fousseau, D. and Marangoni, A. G., “Chemical Interesterification of Food Lipids: Theory and Practice,” in Food Lipids Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biotechnology, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, Akoh, C. C. and Min, D. B. eds., Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, N.Y., Chapter 10. Acidolysis includes the reaction of a fatty acid with a triacylglycerol; alcoholoysis includes the reaction of an alcohol with a triacylglycerol; and glycerolyis includes alcoholysis reactions in which the alcohol is glycerol. A non-limiting example of nteresterification or transesterification includes reactions of different triglycerides resulting in randomization of the fatty acid group. Esterification also includes processes pertaining to the manufacture of biodiesel, such as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,578,090; 5,713,965; and 6,398,707. The term “biodiesel” includes lower alkyl esters of fatty acid groups found on animal or vegetable glycerides. Lower alkyl esters include methyl ester, ethyl ester, n-propyl ester, and isopropyl ester. In the production of biodiesel, the initial substrate comprises fats or oils and is deodorized as described herein. One or more lower alcohols (e.g., methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and isopropanol) are added to this substrate and the mixture then comes into contact with enzyme. The enzyme causes the alcohols to be esterified with the fatty acid groups which is part of the fat or oil glycerides. For example, R, R′ or R″ on a glyceride is a fatty acid group given by —OC(═O)R′″. Upon esterification of methanol, the biodiesel product is CH3C(═O)R′″. Biodiesel products also include esterification of lower alcohols with free fatty acids or other esters which are added to the deodorized substrate. An esterified, transesterified or interesterified product has respectively undergone the esterification, transesterification or interesterification process. The present invention relates to enzymes capable of affecting the esterification, transesterification or interesterification process for fats, oils, triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, free fatty acids, mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols, or esters of mono- or polyhydroxyl alcohols. As used herein, the “half-life” of an enzyme is the time in which the enzymatic activity of an enzyme sample is decreased by half. If, for example, an enzyme sample decreases its relative activity from 100 to 50 in 10 minutes, then the half life of the enzyme sample is 10 minutes. If the half-life of this sample is constant, then the relative activity will be reduced from 100 to 25 in 20 minutes (two half lives), the relative activity will be reduced from 100 to 12.5 in 30 minutes (three half lives), the relative activity will be reduced from 100 to 6.25 in 40 minutes (four half lives), etc. As used herein, the expression “half-life of an enzyme” means the half-life of an enzymatic sample. A “prolonged” half-life refers to an increased “half-life”. Prolonging the half-life of an enzyme results in increasing the half life of an enzyme by about 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 100%, 105%, 110%, 115%, 120%, 125%, 130%, 135%, 140%, 145%, 150%, 155%, 160%, 165%, 170%, 175%, 180%, 185%, 190%, 195%, 200%, 210%, 220%, 230%, 240%, 250%, 260%, 270%, 280%, 290%, 300%, 320%, 340%, 360%, 380%, 400%, 420%, 440%, 460%, 480%, 500% or more as compared to the half-life of an enzyme used in an esterified, transesterified or interesterified fat or oil producing process which does not employ deodorization and/or a purification medium. Non-limiting examples of “constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation” include oxidative or oxidating species, reactive oxygen species, fat or oil oxidation products, peroxides, ozone (O3), O2, superoxide, free fatty acids, volatile organic compounds, free radicals, trace metals, and natural prooxidants such as chlorophyll. Such constituents also include other characterized or uncharacterized compounds recognized by the skilled artisan to cause or arise from fat or oil degradation. Such constituents can arise from oxidation pathways, or from other pathways recognized by the skilled artisan to result in fat or oil degradation. “Reducing” the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation in a substrate sample refers to lowering the concentration, percentage or types of such constituents in the sample. A variety of factors lead to the degradation of fats and oils. This has, in part, been identified as due to fat or oil lipids becoming rancid as a consequence of oxidation. See Gray, J. I., “Measurement of Lipid Oxidation: A Review,” J.A.O.C.S. 55: 539-546 (1978). Fat or oil oxidation can be caused by a variety of factors including exposure to oxygen, air, heat, light, or prooxidant metals; or simply by the lapse of time. See Gavin, A. M. “Deodorization and Finished Oil Handling,” J.A.O.C.S. 58: 175-184 (1981). Over time, deodorized oil can take on the characteristics of non-deodorized oil. The presence of minor impurities including oxidative species that initiate self-propagated radical reaction pathways, or other reactive oxygen species (such as peroxides, ozone, superoxide, etc.) also affect fat or oil oxidation. However, the processes by which fats and oils become degraded are not completely understood. A variety of chemical assays have been developed to help quantitatively assess constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation. These assays can evaluate the relative oxidation level in fat or oil by quantitating constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation present in a given fat or oil sample. For example, a fat or oil sample's peroxide value (PV) can be evaluated using the Stamm method (see Lau, F. Y. et al., “Effect of Randomization on the Oxidation of Corn Oil,” J.A.O.C.S. 59:407-411 (1982)) or via AOCS Official Method Cd 8-53. Other methods for evaluating a sample's relative oxidation level include assessing the anisidine value (AV), thiobarbituric acid number (TBA), carbonyl value (CV) and percent free fatty acids (FFA). See Hung, S. S. O. and Slinger, S. J. “Studies of Chemical Methods for Assessing Oxidative Quality and Storage Stability of Feeding Oils,” J.A.O.C.S. 58: 785-788 (1981). Oxidative changes of fats or oils can also be monitored using thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) curves, or differential thermal analysis (DTA). See Buzás, I. and Kurucz, É. “Study of the Thermooxidative Behavior of Edible Oils by Thermal Analysis,” J.A.O.C.S. 56: 685-688 (1979). Oxidation levels can also be measured by monitoring changes in a fat or oil sample's total or individual volatile components. See Snyder, J. M. et al., “Headspace Volatile Analysis to Evaluate Oxidative and Thermal Stability of Soybean Oil. Effect of Hydrogenation and Additives,” J.A.O.C.S. 63: 1055-1058 (1986). The skilled artisan will be familiar with other manners by which to assess a fat or oil sample's relative oxidation. Deodorization can remove some of the constituents which are quantitated by the above described assays. Typically, deodorization is the last step of the conventional edible oil refining process performed to improve the taste, odor, color and stability of oils by removal of these undesirable substances. Deodorization is principally a steam distillation, during which substances with greater volatility are removed by high temperature under vacuum. Introduction of steam, or an inert gas, into the deodorizer greatly increases the volatilization efficiency. Various substances removed by deodorization include free fatty acids and various flavor and odor compounds either present originally or generated by oxidation of fats and oils. Also removed are the substances formed by the heat decomposition of peroxides and pigments. Examples of deodorization processes include the deodorization techniques described by O. L. Brekke, Deodorization, in Handbook of Soy Oil Processing and Utilization, Erickson, D. R. et al. eds., pp. 155-191 published by the American Soybean Association and the American Oil Chemists' Society; or by Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products, 5th ed., Vol. 2 (pp. 537-540) and Vol. 4 (pp. 339-390), Hui, Y. H. ed., published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Deodorization at ambient temperature can also be used as it will remove air from oil, which causes oxidation of oil. Other deodorization processes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,172,248 and 6,511,690. The present application relates to the removal of constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation from a fat or oil substrate prior to the substrate's contacting an esterification, transesterification or interesterification enzyme. Preferably, removal of constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation is accomplished via deodorization. However, deodorization as used in the present invention is not limited to removal of the above described constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation. Other characterized constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation will be recognized by the skilled artisan and can also be removed by deodorization as used in the present invention. Other, as-of-yet uncharacterized constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation can also be removed by deodorization as used in the present invention. According to the method of the present invention, deodorization greatly improves the productivity of enzymatic transesterification or esterification by purifying the substrate fat or oil to extend the useful life of the enzyme. Constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation can detrimentally affect lipase enzymatic activity. Hence, the invention relates to using deodorization to purify the substrate fat or oil prior to esterification, transesterification or interesterification enzymatic reaction for the purpose of prolonging the useful life of the enzyme. It is also beneficial to prevent the substrate oil from oxidation by keeping the oil under inert gases, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide or helium. The esterified, transesterified or interesterified products of the present invention can also be deodorized after the treatment with enzyme. The invention relates to a method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product comprising: (a) forming an initial substrate comprising one or more fats or oils; (b) deodorizing the initial substrate thereby reducing the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation in the initial substrate and thereby producing a deodorized substrate; (c) contacting the deodorized substrate with an enzyme thereby making the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; wherein the half-life of the enzyme is prolonged. The deodorizing can be a batch deodorization process, a semi-continuous deodorization process, or a continuous deodorization process. The deodorizing can occur from 25° C. to 320° C.; from 100° C. to 300° C.; or from 150° C. to 270° C. The deodorizing can occur at a pressure of 0 to 760 torr, or at a pressure of 0 to 50, 0 to 40, 0 to 30, 0 to 20, 0 to 10, or 1 to 10 torr. The deodorization holding time can be from 5 minutes to 10 hours; or from 30 minutes to 3 hours. The deodorization stripping gas can be steam, and the stripping steam ratio can be 1-15 wt % of the initial substrate; or 1-5 wt % of the initial substrate. The method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise preventing oxidative degradation of the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product or the enzyme. The initial substrate can be partially or fully hydrogenated processed fats or oils, or fractionated fats or oils thereof. The initial substrate could have been previously deodorized. Preferably, deodorization of the present invention reduces the peroxide value (PV) of the fat or oil sample to less than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 mEq/kg oil. More preferably, deodorization reduces the PV value of the fat or oil sample to less than 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 mEq/kg oil. Most preferably, deodorization reduces the PV value of the fat or oil sample to less than 1 or 2 mEq/kg oil, or to zero mEq/kg oil or an undetectable PV level. The one or more unrefined and/or unbleached fats or oils can comprise butterfat, cocoa butter, cocoa butter substitutes, illipe fat, kokum butter, milk fat, mowrah fat, phulwara butter, sal fat, shea fat, borneo tallow, lard, lanolin, beef tallow, mutton tallow, tallow or other animal fat, canola oil, castor oil, coconut oil, coriander oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, hazlenut oil, hempseed oil, linseed oil, mango kernel oil, meadowfoam oil, neat's foot oil, olive oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm olein, palm stearin, palm kernel olein, palm kernel stearin, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, sasanqua oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, tall oil, tsubaki oil, vegetable oils, marine oils which can be converted into plastic or solid fats such as menhaden, candlefish oil, cod-liver oil, orange roughy oil, pile herd, sardine oil, whale and herring oils, 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-monooleine (POP), 1(3)-palmitoyl-3(1)-stearoyl-2-monooleine (POSt), 1,3-distearoyl-2-monooleine (StOSt), triglyceride, diglyceride, monoglyceride, behenic acid triglyceride, trioleine, tripalmitine, tristearine, triglycerides of medium chain fatty acids, or combinations thereof. The enzyme can be a lipase obtained from a cultured eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell line, such as a 1,3-selective lipase or a non-selective lipase. The method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise: (d) monitoring enzymatic activity by measuring one or more physical properties of the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; (e) optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the initial substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the amount of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; and (f) optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the deodorized substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the amount of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product. The one or more physical properties includes the dropping point temperature of the product and the solid fat content temperature profile of the product. The esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can comprise 1,3-diglycerides. The deodorized substrate can be mixed with monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols prior to contacting the deodorized substrate with the purification medium or the enzyme, and the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can be formed from the esterification, transesterification or interesterification of the monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols. The monohydroxyl alcohols or the polyhydroxyl alcohols can be primary, secondary or tertiary alcohols of annular, straight or branched chain compounds. The monohydroxyl alcohols can be selected from the group consisting of methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, allyl alcohol, ethanol, propanol, n-butanol, iso-butanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, n-pentanol, iso-pentanol, n-hexanol, hexadecyl alcohol or octadecyl alcohol. The polyhydroxyl alcohols can be selected from the group consisting of glycerol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol. The esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can be 1,3-diglycerides, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,611. The invention also relates to using a purification medium to reduce within a fat or oil substrate the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation. Accordingly, the method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise contacting the initial substrate or the deodorized substrate (fats or oils alone, or mixed with additional components such as esters, free fatty acids or alcohols) with one or more types of purification media thereby producing a purification media-processed substrate. The purification media can contact the substrate in one or more columns or in one or more batch slurry type reactions. The purification medium preferably comes into contact with the substrate prior to the substrate's contacting the enzyme. The purification medium can be selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, coal activated carbon, wood activated carbon, peat activated carbon, coconut shell activated carbon, natural minerals, processed minerals, montmorillonite, attapulgite, bentonite, palygorskite, Fuller's earth, diatomite, smectite, hormite, quartz sand, limestone, kaolin, ball clay, talc, pyrophyllite, perlite, silica, sodium silicate, silica hydrogel, silica gel, fumed silica, precipitated silica, dialytic silica, fibrous materials, cellulose, cellulose esters, cellulose ethers, microcrystalline cellulose; alumina, zeolite, starches, molecular sieves, previously used immobilized lipase, diatomaceous earth, ion exchange resin, size exclusion chromatography resin, chelating resins, chiral resins, rice hull ash, reverse phase silica, and bleaching clays. Most preferably, the combination of the purification medium is a combination of the silica and coconut shell activated carbon. The purification medium can be silica having a surface area from 200 to 750 m2/g, a mesh value from 3 to 425, an average particle size from 4-200μ, an average pore radius from 20 to 150 Å, and an average pore volume from 0.68 to 1.15 cm3/g. The silica can be 35-60 mesh with an average pore size of about 60 Å. The method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise: (e) monitoring enzymatic activity by measuring one or more physical properties of the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; (f) optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the initial substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the amount of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; (g) optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the deodorized substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the amount of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; and (h) optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the purification media-processed substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the amount of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product. The one or more physical properties can include the dropping point temperature of the product, or the solid fat content temperature profile of the product. The one or more types of purification media and the enzyme can be packed together or separately in one or more columns through which the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate or the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product flows. The columns can be jacketed columns in which the temperature of one or more of the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the one or more types of purification media, the enzyme or the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can be regulated. The purification media-processed substrate can be prepared by mixing the initial substrate or the deodorized substrate with the one or more types of purification media in a tank for a batch slurry purification reaction or mixing the initial substrate or the deodorized substrate in a series of tanks for a series of batch slurry purification reactions. The purification media-processed substrate can be separated from the one or more types of purification media via filtration, centrifugation or concentration prior to reacting the purification media-processed substrate with the enzyme. The method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise mixing the deodorized substrate and/or the purification media-processed substrate with the enzyme in one or more tanks for a batch slurry reaction, or flowing the deodorized substrate and/or the purification media-processed substrate through a column containing the enzyme. A bed of the one or more types of purification media can be placed upon a bed of the enzyme within a column. The initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product and the enzyme can be in an inert gas environment. The inert gas can be selected from the group consisting of N2, CO2, He, Ar, and Ne. Preferably, the methods of the present invention further comprises preventing oxidative degradation of the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product or the enzyme. The method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can further comprise preventing oxidative degradation to the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product or the enzyme. The skilled artisan would recognize that in respect to the method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product, any combination of the above described particulars pertaining to deodorization options (e.g., flow rate, residence or holding time, temperature, pressure, choice of inert gas), initial substrate, components (e.g., free fatty acids, non-glyceride esters, alcohols) optionally added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate, enzyme, monitoring or adjusting methods, fats or oils produced, use of columns or batch slurry reactions, and purification medium are useful in the present invention. The substrate can be deodorized and then come into contact with purification medium, or vice versa. The initial substrate can be composed of one or more types of fat or oil and have its physical properties modified in an esterification, transesterification or interesterification process known as randomization. Nonselective enzymes randomize at all three positions on a glyceride; but 1,3-specific lipases randomize only at the 1 and 3 positions on a glyceride. For example, when fully hydrogenated palm kernel oil is treated with lipase capable of randomization, the components of the product have different physical properties. Both 1,3-specific lipases and nonselective lipases such as Candida cylindracae lipase are capable of this randomizing process. Transesterification or esterification is affected by an enzyme, which is preferably obtained from a cultured eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell line. The enzyme can be a lipase that is specific or unspecific with respect to its substrate. Preferably, the lipase is a 1,3-selective lipase, which catalyzes esterification or transesterification of the terminal esters in the 1 and 3 positions of a glyceride. The lipase can also preferably be a non-selective, nonspecific lipase. There are many microorganisms from which lipases useful in the present invention are obtained. U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 lists examples of such microorganisms including those of the genus Achromobacter such as A. iofurgus and A. lipolyticum, the genus Chromobacterium such as C. viscosum var. paralipolyticum; the genus Corynebacterium such as C. acnes; the genus Staphylococcus such as S. aureus; the genus Aspergillus such as A. niger and A. oryzae; the genus Candida such as C. cylindracea, C. antarctica b, C. rosa and C. rugosa; the genus Humicora such as H. lanuginosa; the genus Penicillium such as P. caseicolum, P. crustosum, P. cyclopium and P. roqueforti; the genus Torulopsis such as T. ernobii; the genus Mucor such as M. miehei, M. japonicus and M. javanicus; the genus Bacillus such as B. subtilis; the genus Thermomyces such as T. ibadanensis and T. lanuginosa (see Zhang, H. et al. J.A.O.C.S. 78: 57-64 (2001)); the genus Rhizopus such as R. delemar, R. japonicus, R. arrhizus and R. neveus; the genus Pseudomonas such as P. aeruginosa, P. fragi, P. cepacia, P. mephitica var. lipolytica and P. fluorescens; the genus Alcaligenes; the genus Rhizomucor such as R. miehei; the genus Humicolo such as H. rosa; and the genus Geotrichum such as G. candidum. Several lipases obtained from these organisms are commercially available as purified enzymes. The skilled artisan would recognize other enzymes capable of affecting esterification, transesterification or interesterification including other lipases useful for the present invention. Lipases obtained from the organisms above are immobilized for the present invention on suitable carriers by a usual method known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,798,793; 5,166,064; 5,219,733; 5,292,649; and 5,773,266 describe examples of immobilized lipase and methods of preparation. Examples of methods of preparation include the entrapping method, inorganic carrier covalent bond method, organic carrier covalent bond method, and the adsorption method. The lipase used in the examples below were obtained from Novozymes (Denmark) but can be substituted with purified and/or immobilized lipase prepared by others. The present invention also contemplates using crude enzyme preparations or cells of microorganisms capable of over expressing lipase, a culture of such cells, a substrate enzyme solution obtained by treating the culture, or a composition containing the enzyme. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,845 and 5,219,733 describe the characteristics of several useful carriers. Useful carriers are preferably microporous and have a hydrophobic porous surface. Usually, the pores have an average radius of about 10 Å to about 1,000 Å, and a porosity from about 20 to about 80% by volume, more preferably, from about 40 to about 60% by volume. The pores give the carrier an increased enzyme bonding area per particle of the carrier. Examples of preferred inorganic carriers include porous glass, porous ceramics, celite, porous metallic particles such as titanium oxide, stainless steel or alumina, porous silica gel, molecular sieve, active carbon, clay, kaolinite, perlite, glass fibers, diatomaceous earth, bentonite, hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphate gel, and alkylamine derivatives of inorganic carriers. Examples of preferred organic carriers include microporous Teflon, aliphatic olefinic polymer (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, a homo- or copolymer of styrene or a blend thereof or a pretreated inorganic support) nylon, polyamides, polycarbonates, nitrocellulose and acetylcellulose. Other suitable organic carriers include hydrophillic polysaccharides such as agarose gel with an alkyl, phenyl, trityl or other similar hydrophobic group to provide a hydrophobic porous surface (e.g., “Octyl-Sepharose CL-4B”, “Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B”, both products of Pharmacia Fine Chemicals (Kalamazoo, Mich.). Microporous adsorbing resins include those made of styrene or alkylamine polymer, chelate resin, ion exchange resin such a “DOWEX MWA-1” (weakly basic anion exchange resin manufactured by the Dow Chemical Co., having a tertiary amine as the exchange group, composed basically of polystyrene chains cross linked with divinylbenzene, 150 Å in average pore radius and 20-50 mesh in particle size), and hydrophilic cellulose resin such as one prepared by masking the hydrophilic group of a cellulosic carrier, e.g., “Cellulofine GC700-m” (product of Chisso Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), 45-105 μm in particle size). The esterification, transesterification or interesterification can be conducted in a column or in batch slurry type reactions as described in the Examples section below. In the batch slurry reactions, the enzyme and substrates are mixed vigorously to ensure a good contact between them. Preferably, the transesterification or esterification reaction is carried out in a fixed bed reactor with immobilized lipases. The fatty acid groups described herein can be added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate to esterify alcoholic groups present on glycerides of the initial substrate, or alcoholic groups of other compounds (e.g., alcohols or esters) added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. Glycerides having any of the fatty acid groups as described herein can also be used in the initial substrate; and other esters having any of the fatty acid groups described herein can be added to the deodorized or purification media-processed substrate. Such fatty acids include saturated straight-chain or branched fatty acid groups, unsaturated straight-chain or branched fatty acid groups, hydroxy fatty acid groups, and polycarboxylic acid groups, or contain non-carbon substituents including oxygen, sulfur or nitrogen. The fatty acid groups can be naturally occurring, processed or refined from natural products or synthetically produced. Although there is no upper or lower limit for the length of the longest carbon chain in useful fatty acids, it is preferable that their length is about 6 to about 34 carbons long. Specific fatty acid groups useful for the present invention can be formed from the fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,883,684; 5,124,166; 5,149,642; 5,219,733; 5,399,728. Examples of useful saturated straight-chain fatty acid groups having an even number of carbon atoms can be formed from the fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including acetic acid, butyric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid, hexacosanoic acid, octacosanoic acid, triacontanoic acid and n-dotriacontanoic acid, and those having an odd number of carbon atoms, such as propionic acid, n-valeric acid, enanthic acid, pelargonic acid, hendecanoic acid, tridecanoic acid, pentadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid, nonadecanoic acid, heneicosanoic acid, tricosanoic acid, pentacosanoic acid and heptacosanoic acid. Examples of useful saturated branched fatty acid groups can be formed from fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including isobutyric acid, isocaproic acid, isocaprylic acid, isocapric acid, isolauric acid, 11-methyldodecanoic acid, isomyristic acid, 13-methyl-tetradecanoic acid, isopalmitic acid, 15-methyl-hexadecanoic acid, isostearic acid, 17-methyloctadecanoic acid, isoarachic acid, 19-methyl-eicosanoic acid, a-ethyl-hexanoic acid, a-hexyldecanoic acid, a-heptylundecanoic acid, 2-decyltetradecanoic acid, 2-undecyltetradecanoic acid, 2-decylpentadecanoic acid, 2-undecylpentadecanoic acid, and Fine oxocol 1800 acid (product of Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd.) Examples of useful saturated odd-carbon branched fatty acid groups can be formed from fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including anteiso fatty acids terminating with an isobutyl group, such as 6-methyl-octanoic acid, 8-methyl-decanoic acid, 10-methyl-dodecanoic acid, 12-methyl-tetradecanoic acid, 14-methyl-hexadecanoic acid, 16-methyl-octadecanoic acid, 18-methyl-eicosanoic acid, 20-methyl-docosanoic acid, 22-methyl-tetracosanoic acid, 24-methyl-hexacosanoic acid and 26-methyloctacosanoic acid. Examples of useful unsaturated fatty acid groups can be formed from fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including 4-decenoic acid, caproleic acid, 4-dodecenoic acid, 5-dodecenoic acid, lauroleic acid, 4-tetradecenoic acid, 5-tetradecenoic acid, 9-tetradecenoic acid, palmitoleic acid, 6-octadecenoic acid, oleic acid, 9-octadecenoic acid, 11-octadecenoic acid, 9-eicosenoic acid, cis-11-eicosenoic acid, cetoleic acid, 13-docosenoic acid, 15-tetracosenoic acid, 17-hexacosenoic acid, 6,9,12,15-hexadecatetraenoic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, α-eleostearic acid, β-eleostearic acid, punicic acid, 6,9,12,15-octadecatetraenoic acid, parinaric acid, 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 7,10,13,16,19-docosapentaenoic acid, 4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and the like. Examples of useful hydroxy fatty acid groups can be formed from fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including α-hydroxylauric acid, α-hydroxymyristic acid, α-hydroxypalmitic acid, α-hydroxystearic acid, ω-hydroxylauric acid, α-hydroxyarachic acid, 9-hydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid, ricinoleic acid, α-hydroxybehenic acid, 9-hydroxy-trans-10,12-octadecadienic acid, kamolenic acid, ipurolic acid, 9,10-dihydroxystearic acid, 12-hydroxystearic acid and the like. Examples of useful polycarboxylic acid fatty acid groups can be formed from fatty acids described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 including oxalic acid, citric acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, D,L-malic acid and the like. Preferably, the fatty acid groups have carbon chains from 4 to 34 carbons long. More preferably, the fatty acid groups have carbon chains from 4 to 26 carbons long. Most preferably, the fatty acid groups have carbon chains from 4 to 22 carbons long. Preferably the fatty acid groups are formed from the following group of free fatty acids: palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, erucic acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, eicosapentanoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), lauric acid, myristic acid, 5-eicosenoic acid, butyric acid, g-linolenic acid and conjugated linoleic acid. Fatty acid groups formed from fatty acids derived from various plant and animal fats and oils (such as fish oil fatty acids) and processed or refined fatty acids from plant and animal fats and oils (such as fractionated fish oil fatty acids in which EPA and DHA are concentrated) can also be added. Fatty acid groups can also be formed from medium chain fatty acids (as described by Merolli, A. et al., INFORM, 8:597-603 (1997)). Also preferably, the fatty acid groups are formed from free fatty acids having carbon chains from 4 to 36, 4 to 24 or 4 to 22 carbons long. Alcohols or esters of alcohols can also be added to the deodorized substrate or the purification media-processed substrate. These alcohols and esters can be esterified, transesterified or interesterified by acid groups present on glycerides of the initial substrate. Alternatively, these alcohols or esters thereof can be esterified, transesterified or interesterified by free fatty acids or esters added to the deodorized substrate or purification media-processed substrate. “Esters” include any of the alcohols described herein esterified by any of the fatty acids described herein. Examples of alcohols useful in the present invention include monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols. The monohydroxyl alcohols can be primary, secondary or tertiary alcohols of annular, straight or branched chain compounds with one or more carbons such as methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, allyl alcohol, ethanol, propanol, n-butanol, iso-butanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, n-pentanol, iso-pentanol, n-hexanol, hexadecyl alcohol or octadecyl alcohol. The hydroxyl group can be attached to an aromatic ring, such as phenol. Examples of polyhydroxyl alcohols includes glycerol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol. U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,733 indicates other alcohols useful for the present invention. These alcohols include, but are not limited to 14-methylhexadecanol-1,16-methyloctadecanol-1,18-methylnonadecanol, 18-methyleicosanol, 20-methylheneicosanol, 20-methyldocosanol, 22-methyltricosanol, 22-methyltetracosanol, 24-methylpentacosanol-1 and 24-methylhexacosanol. Examples of useful esters other than glycerides include wax esters, alkyl esters such as methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, hexadecyl or octadecyl esters, aryl esters, propylene glycol esters, ethylene glycol esters, 1,2-propanediol esters and 1,3-propanediol esters. Esters can be formed from the esterification, transesterification or interesterification of monohydroxyl alcohols or polyhydroxyl alcohols by the free fatty acids, fats or oils as described herein. Processed fats and oils such as hydrogenated or fractionated fats and oils can also be used. Examples of fractionated fats include palm olein, palm stearin, palm kernel olein, and palm kernel stearin. Fully or partially hydrogenated, saturated, unsaturated or polyunsaturated forms of the above listed fats, oils, triglycerides or diglycerides are also useful for the present invention. For the method of this invention, the described fats, oils, triglycerides or diglycerides are usable singly, or at least two of them can be used in admixture. In addition to deodorization, purification using a purification medium can be performed to prolong the half-life of the enzyme. Use of the purification media can occur before or after deodorization. One example of the purification means is silica gel packed in a column for pre-column purification of the substrate. However, it is also contemplated that the silica gel can be provided as a packed bed on top of the column packed lipase. The purification medium of the present invention is preferably silica having a surface area from 200 to 750 m2/g, a mesh value from 3 to 425, an average particle size from 4-200μ, an average pore radius from 20 to 150 ∈, and an average pore volume from 0.68 to 1.15 cm3/g. Also preferably the silica gel is 35-60 mesh with an average pore size of 60 Å. Most preferably, the purification media is a combination of silica and coconut shell activated carbon. It is also contemplated that the purification medium useful in the present invention can be selected from one of the following: activated carbon, coal activated carbon, wood activated carbon, peat activated carbon, coconut shell activated carbon, natural minerals, processed minerals, montmorillonite, attapulgite, bentonite, palygorskite, Fuller's earth, diatomaceous earth, diatomite, smectite, hormite, quartz sand, limestone, kaolin, clays, ball clay, talc, pyrophyllite, perlite, silica, sodium silicate, silica hydrogel, silica gel, fumed silica, precipitated silica, dialytic silica, TriSyl® silica (Grace Davison, Columbia, Md.), fibrous materials, cellulose, cellulose esters, cellulose ethers, microcrystalline cellulose, Avicel® (FMC BioPolymer), alumina, zeolite, starches, molecular sieves, previously used immobilized lipase, ion exchange resin, size exclusion chromatography resin, chelating resins, chiral resins, rice hull ash, reverse phase silica, and bleaching clays. The purification medium can be resinous, granulated, particulate, membranous or fibrous. In the method of the present invention, one or more types of purification media and the lipase are packed into one or more columns. If multiple types of purification media are used, they can be mixed together and packed into a single column or kept separate in different columns. In an alternative embodiment, one or more types of purification media are placed upon a bed of packed lipase within a column. Alternatively, the lipase can be kept separate from the purification media by packing it in its own column. More than one type of purification media can be used for purposes of removing different kinds of impurities in the initial substrate. The columns and other fluid conduits can be jacketed so as to regulate the temperature of the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the purification media or the enzyme. The purification media can be regenerated for repeated use. Also in the method of the present invention, the purification media-processed substrate is prepared by mixing the initial substrate or the deodorized substrate with one or more types of purification media in a tank for a batch slurry type purification reaction or mixing the initial substrate in a series of tanks for a series of batch slurry type purification reactions. In these batch slurry type purification reactions, the different types of purification media can be kept separate or can be combined. After reacting with one type of purification medium (or specific mixture of purification media), the initial substrate is separated from the purification medium (or media) via filtration, centrifugation or concentration. After this separation step, the initial substrate is further purified with other purification media or serves as purification media-processed substrate and is reacted with lipase. The purification media-processed substrate prepared by this batch slurry type purification reaction method can be reacted with lipase in a tank for batch slurry type transesterification or esterification. Alternatively, the purification media-processed substrate can be caused to flow through a lipase column. The reacting tanks, columns and other fluid conduits can be jacketed so as to regulate the temperature of the initial substrate, the deodorized substrate, the purification media-processed substrate, the purification media or the enzyme. Other manners of temperature regulation, such as heating/cooling coils or temperature controlled rooms, are contemplated and well known in the art. The purification media can be regenerated for repeated use. Lipase enzymatic activity is also affected by factors such as temperature, light and moisture content. Temperature is controlled as described above. Light can be kept out by using various light blocking or filtering means known in the art. Moisture content, which includes ambient atmospheric moisture, is controlled by operating the process as a closed system. Where the deodorization process uses steam as the stripping agent, the deodorization process can be kept isolated from the enzyme. Because deodorization is performed at high temperature and under vacuum, moisture content in the deodorized oil is very low. Where the deodorization process uses an inert gas as the stripping agent, the deodorization process is optionally kept isolated from the enzyme. Alternatively, a bed of nitrogen gas (or other inert gas) can be placed on top of the bed or column containing either purification medium or enzyme. These techniques have the added benefit of keeping atmospheric oxidative species (including oxygen) away from the substrate, product or enzyme. Immobilized lipase can be mixed with initial, deodorized or purification media-processed substrate to form a slurry which is packed into a suitable column. Alternatively, substrate can flow through a pre-packed enzyme column. The temperature of the substrate is regulated so that it can continuously flow though the column for contact with the transesterification or esterification enzyme. If solid or very viscous fats, oils, triglycerides or diglycerides are used, the substrate is heated to a fluid or less viscous state. The substrate can be caused to flow through the column(s) under the force of gravity, by using a peristaltic or piston pump, under the influence of a suction or vacuum pump, or using a centrifugal pump. The transesterified fats and oils produced are collected and the desired glycerides are separated from the mixture of reaction products by methods well known in the art. This continuous method involves a reduced likelihood of permitting exposure of the substrates to air during reaction and therefore has the advantage that the substrates will not be exposed to moisture or oxidative species. Alternatively, reaction tanks for batch slurry type production as described above can also be used. Preferably, these reaction tanks are also sealed from air so as to prevent exposure to oxygen, moisture, or other ambient oxidizing species. The method of the present invention also relates to monitoring enzymatic activity by measuring one or more physical properties of the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the initial substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product relative to the initial substrate; optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the deodorized substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product relative to the deodorized substrate; optionally adjusting the temperature or process flow rate of the purification media-processed substrate in response to changes in the physical properties thereby increasing the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product relative to the purification media-processed substrate; and optionally adjusting the amount and type of the one or more types of purification media in response to changes in the physical properties to increase the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product relative to the substrate. In the present invention, changes in enzymatic activity are monitored by following changes in the physical properties of the product. As the enzymatic activity decreases, less of the substrate is converted into product via esterification, transesterification or interesterification. Consequently, as the enzymatic activity decays, the physical properties of the product increasingly resemble the physical properties of the components of the substrate. The skilled artisan recognizes that by following changes in physical properties, the parameters of the esterified, transesterified or interesterified production process can be adjusted, thereby increasing the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product relative to the substrate. The Mettler dropping point (MDP) is one example of a physical property which can be measured to follow changes in enzymatic activity. The MDP is determined using Mettler Toledo, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) thermal analysis instruments according to the American Oil Chemists Society Official Method #Cc 18-80. The MDP is the temperature at which a mixture of fats or oils becomes fluid. The product's solid fat content (SFC) temperature profile is another useful physical property for tracking changes in enzymatic activity. SFC can be measured according to American Oil Chemists Society Official Method #Cd 16b-93. Following changes in optical spectra is another way to monitor changes in enzymatic activity. The substrate and product each have a characteristic optical spectrum. As the lipase activity decays, the amount of product that gives rise to spectroscopic signals attributable to esterified, transesterified or interesterified product (and not attributable to substrate) diminishes. All of these properties are measured using techniques well known in the art, and are useful in following changes in enzymatic activity. For example, as the lipase enzymatic activity decays, less substrate is converted into product resulting in an increased substrate:product ratio. This increased ratio is manifested in a change of physical properties of the outflowing product tending towards the physical properties of the non-esterified or non-transesterified substrate. To minimize this change, the flow rate of the substrate is reduced so that it is exposed for a longer period of time to the packed lipase. The flow rate reduction increases the product:substrate ratio and consequently the physical properties of the outflowing fats or oils reflect that of esterified, transesterified or interesterified product. Other process parameters that can be altered include the flow rate, temperature or pressure of the initial substrate, deodorized substrate, or the purification media-processed substrate. Where purification media-processed substrate is reacted with lipase in a tank for batch slurry type production, changes in the product's physical properties can also be monitored as described above. In a batch slurry type process, an optimized duration of time is determined for contacting the initial substrate or deodorized substrate with the purification medium (or media). An optimized time is also determined for contacting the deodorized substrate or purification media-processed substrate with enzyme. Thus, the present invention involves monitoring enzymatic activity by measuring one or more physical properties of the product after having flowed through the lipase, adjusting flow rate, column residence time, or temperature of the initial substrate, deodorized substrate, or purification media-processed substrate, and adjusting the deodorization parameters or the amount and type of the purification medium in response to changes in the physical properties to increase the proportion of esterified, transesterified or interesterified fats or oils in the product. The esterified, transesterified or interesterified product can be subjected to usual oil refining processes including fractionation, separation or purification process, or additional deodorization processing. The method of the present invention can produce 1,3-diglycerides. Also preferably, the process produces esterified, transesterified or interesterified fats with no or reduced trans fatty acids for margarine, shortening, and other confectionery fats such as cocoa butter substitute. The product of the present process can be separated from any free fatty acid or other by-products by refining techniques well known in the art. In the case of batch slurry type methods, the desired product can be separated using a suitable solvent such as ether, removing the fatty acid material with an alkali, dehydrating and drying the solvent layer, and removing the solvent from the layer. The desired product can be purified, for example, by column chromatography. The desired products thus obtained are usable for a wide variety of culinary applications. The following examples show the effect of the substrate pretreatment on the enzyme productivity. EXAMPLES The examples described below show that productivity of the enzymatic transesterification or esterification is improved greatly by deodorization and/or purification of the substrate oil. The following examples are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In Example 1 and 2, the transesterification was performed without any pretreatment. In both of the examples, a rapid loss of enzyme activity was observed at the beginning of the column operation. Estimated half-lives during this period of rapid activity loss were 6 to 14 days; then, the rate of activity loss slowed, giving half-lives estimations of 28 to 30 days. A rapid loss of activity was observed, again, after running the column for about 30 days. In contrast, Example 3 demonstrates that the operation with a silica purification column did not have an initial period of rapid enzyme activity loss. Rather, the half-life estimation was about 30 days; then, the activity loss even slowed to give about 50-day estimation for the second half-life. Example 1 22 g of enzyme (Novozymes' Lipozyme® TL IM) was mixed with liquid soybean oil and packed into a jacketed glass column (2.7-cm diameter). The soy oil was flushed out by pumping the actual substrate (fully hydrogenated soy oil:liquid soy oil=27:73). The column and the substrate were maintained at 65° C. Extent of enzyme reaction could be monitored very well by the change of melting properties of the substrate and products, which was measured as Mettler dropping point (MDP). Oil flow of the column was adjusted so as to have the products' MDP at 117-118° F. Enzyme activity was calculated by comparing the flow rates at which the products have similar MDPs near 117-118° F. Table 1 summarizes the results. There was a quick activity drop for the first 2 weeks; then the activity drop slowed down. The enzyme activity at Day 13 was about 60% level of that at Day 4. There was another quick activity drop after Day 30. FIG. 1 (closed diamonds) shows the data in greater detail. TABLE 1 Summary Results of the Column Operation Without Silica Pretreatment as in Example 1 ˜Day 4: Flushing out soy oil from the column & flow rate adjustment Day 4˜Day 7: 25% activity drop in 3 days (6-day half-life estimation) Day 7˜Day 10: 13% drop in 3 days (12-day half-life estimation) Day 10˜Day 13: 11% drop in 3 days (14-day half-life estimation) Day 13˜Day 25: 20% drop in 12 days (30-day half-life estimation) Day 26 Total draining of column happened. Day 13˜Day 35: 40% drop in 22 days (29-day half-life estimation) Day 27˜Day 35: 20% drop in 8 days (20-day half-life estimation) Day 36˜Day 41: 25% drop in 5 days (10-day half-life estimation) Example 2 An enzyme column was prepared and run in the same way as described in Example 1, except using a peristaltic pump instead of a piston pump, for replication. Table 2 summarizes the results. As in Example 1, there was a quick activity drop for the first 2 weeks; then, the activity drop slowed down. However, there was another quick activity drop after Day 35. FIG. 1 (open squares) shows the data in greater detail. TABLE 2 Summary Results of the Column Operation Without Silica Pretreatment as in Example 2 ˜Day 2: Flushing out soy oil & flow rate adjustment Day 2˜Day 8: 44% activity drop in 6 days (7-day half-life estimation) Day 2˜Day 12: 49% drop in 10 days (10-day half-life estimation) Day 12˜Day 35: 28% drop in 23 days (40-day half-life estimation) Day 35˜Day 46: 37% drop in 11 days (15-day half-life estimation) Day 45˜Day 51: 18% drop in 6 days (16-day half-life estimation) Example 3 An enzyme column was prepared as described in Example 1 and 2, and 38 g of silica gel (35-60 mesh, 60 Å) was placed on top of the enzyme bed. Conditions for column operation and analysis were the same as in the previous examples. Table 3 summarizes the results. There was no quick activity drop in the beginning of the column operation, and the half-life estimation at the time was about 30 days. Even longer half-life estimation was observed as the column was operating for an extended period. FIG. 1 (open triangles) shows the data in greater detail. TABLE 3 Summary Results of the Column Operation with Silica Pre-Column Treatment ˜Day 2: Flushing out soy oil & flow rate adjustment Day 2˜Day 9: 13% activity drop in 7 days (28-day half-life estimation) Day 9˜Day 34: 46% drop in 25 days (27-day half-life estimation) Day 34˜Day 46: 15% drop in 12 days (41-day half-life estimation) Day 45˜Day 60: 15% drop in 15 days (50-day half-life estimation) Example 4 400 g of the substrate oil (fully hydrogenated soy oil:corn oil=27:73) in a 1-L flask was heated to 70° C. before adding 40 g of Novozymes' Lipozyme® TL IM lipase. The enzyme/oil slurry was stirred vigorously at the temperature, and samples were taken after 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 18 hours of reaction. After the batch reaction, the enzyme was separated from the product oil by filtering the slurry through a filter paper with 2.7-micron particle retention. Table 4 shows the SFC temperature profiles and free fatty acid contents of the samples. The batch reaction yielded more than 10 times greater free fatty acids. The reaction seemed to reach equilibrium after 8 hours of reaction. TABLE 4 SFC Temperature Profiles and Free Fatty Acid (FFA) Contents of the Batch Reaction Samples SFC 1 hr 2 hr 3 hr 4 hr 8 hr 18 hr Feed 50° F. 18.090 15.493 15.128 14.237 14.730 14.873 30.833 70° F. 18.297 12.905 10.739 9.130 8.387 7.816 28.032 80° F. 17.013 12.047 9.089 7.844 6.848 6.991 26.096 92° F. 12.963 8.558 7.062 5.643 5.194 4.425 24.246 100° F. 10.318 6.711 4.307 3.433 2.831 2.562 22.215 % FFA 4.88% 5.02% 5.36% 5.27% 5.49% 5.47% 0.066% Example 5 To determine the effect of deodorization on enzyme half-life, non-deodorized hydrogenated palm kernel oil was obtained and batch-deodorized at the lab and used for the enzyme column operation. Deodorization conditions were 30 min at 230° C. under 1-2 torr vacuum with about 5% steam/oil ratio. Peroxide values (PV) of the oils before and after deodorization were 0.5 and 0 meq/Kg oil, respectively. The oil was re-deodorized daily for the column operation. The half-life of the enzyme exposed to the lab-deodorized oil was 30 days; on the other hand, the half-life for the enzyme exposed to the non-deodorized oil was 7 days. Distillates from the deodorization, which contains impurities removed from oil, were recovered and added back to the non-deodorized oil for enzyme column operation. The oil with added-distillate inactivated the enzyme quickly (half-life was only 3 days). This example shows that the enzyme half-life can be affected greatly by the impurities in oil even with low PV. Example 6 In another example, a substrate of a refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) oil mixture was batch re-deodorized at the lab and used for the enzyme column operation. The substrate oil mixture consisted of 27% RBD fully hydrogenated soy oil (FHSBO) and 73% RBD soy oil. Deodorization conditions were 30 min at 240° C. under 1-2 torr vacuum with about 5% steam/oil ratio. Prior to re-deodorization, PVs of RBD FHSBO and RBD soy oil were 0.8 and 2.4 meq/Kg oil, respectively. However, the re-deodorized oil did not contain any peroxide. The oil was re-deodorized daily for the column operation. Half-life with the re-deodorized oil was 20 days; on the other hand, the one with non-redeodorized RBD substrate was only 9 days. All publications mentioned above are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference. While the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art from a reading of this disclosure that various changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention and appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to methods for producing fats and oils. Specifically, the invention pertains to prolonging the enzymatic activity of an enzyme used for transesterification or esterification of a substrate for the production of fats and oils by deodorization of the substrate prior to transesterification or esterification. The invention also relates to using deodorization in tandem with a purification medium. 2. Related Art Fats and oils are composed principally of triglycerides made up of a glycerol moiety in which the hydroxyl groups are esterified with carboxylic acids. Whereas solid fats tend to be formed by triglycerides having saturated fatty acids, triglycerides with unsaturated fatty acids tend to be liquid (oils) at room temperature. Monoglycerides and diglycerides, having respectively one fatty acid ester and two alcoholic groups or two fatty acid esters and one alcoholic group, are also found in fats and oils to a lesser extent than triglycerides. Many fats and oils are readily obtained from processing plant or animal matter. However, some fats and oils are obtained via well-known chemical or enzymatic transesterification or esterification processes. By these processes, one or more of the fatty acid groups on a glyceride is transferred, hydrolyzed or replaced with a different fatty acid group. Chemical methods require harsh alkaline conditions, high temperatures and generate wasteful by-products. The discolored fats and oils produced need to be neutralized, washed and centrifuged to remove catalysts, and ultimately bleached. In addition to these problems, chemical transesterification or chemical esterification is non-specific in the glyceride position or type of fatty acid group transferred, hydrolyzed or replaced. It is thus very difficult or impossible to produce specific fats or oils via large scale chemical catalytic processes. In contrast, enzymatic methods of transesterification or esterification are simpler, cleaner, environmentally friendly and are highly specific with respect to modifying glyceride fatty acid groups. One family of enzymes capable of affecting this transesterification or esterification in glycerides are known as lipases. Lipases are obtained from prokaryotic or eukaryotic microorganisms and typically fall into one of three categories (Macrae, A. R., J.A.O.C.S.60:243A-246A (1983)). The first category includes nonspecific lipases capable of releasing or binding any fatty acid group from or to any glyceride position. Such lipases have been obtained from Candida cylindracae, Corynebacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus (Macrae, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,251). The second category of lipases only adds or removes specific fatty acid groups to or from specific glycerides. Thus, these lipases are useful in producing or modifying specific glycerides. Such lipases have been obtained from Geotrichum candidium and Rhizopus, Aspergillus , and Mucor genera (Macrae, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,251). The last category of lipases catalyze the removal or addition of fatty acid groups from the glyceride carbons on the end in the 1- and 3-positions. Such lipases have been obtained from Thermomyces lanuginosa, Rhizomucor miehei, Aspergillus niger, Mucor javanicus, Rhizopus delemar , and Rhizopus arrhizus (Macrae, 1983). The last category of enzymes have wide applicability. For example, cocoa butter consists primarily (about 70-80% by weight) of saturated-oleic-saturated (SOS) triglycerides (European published patent application no. EP 0188122 A1). It is this triglyceride composition which provides the unique characteristics by which chocolate products hold their shape at room temperature but melt slightly below human body temperature (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,322). These SOS triglycerides include 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-monooleine (POP), 1(3)-palmitoyl-3(1)-stearoyl-2-monooleine (POSt) and 1,3-distearoyl-2-monooleine (StOSt). Thus, oleic acid-rich glycerides with an oleic ester group in the middle position can be incubated with palmitic and stearic acid in the presence of a 1,3-specific lipase to produce POP, POSt and StOSt, i.e., cocoa butter substitutes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,322). The production of cocoa butter substitutes alleviates food manufacturers from widely fluctuating cocoa butter supply and cost. 1,3-specific lipases also are useful in the manufacture of specialty 1,3-diglycerides, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,611. Despite these benefits, enzymatic transesterification or esterification is a costly process because of the expense in providing a large amount of purified lipase. Moreover, the enzymatic activity of lipase decays with time and with exposure to large amounts of fats or oils. The present invention reduces these problems by providing an enzymatic method for producing fats or oils by which the enzymatic activity of lipase is prolonged. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a method of making an esterified, transesterified or interesterified product comprising: (a) forming an initial substrate comprising one or more fats or oils; (b) deodorizing the initial substrate thereby reducing the constituents which cause or arise from fat or oil degradation and thereby producing a deodorized substrate; (c) contacting the deodorized substrate with an enzyme thereby making the esterified, transesterified or interesterified product; wherein the half-life of the enzyme is prolonged. | 20040625 | 20081118 | 20050120 | 71087.0 | 0 | LILLING, HERBERT J | METHOD FOR PRODUCING FATS OR OILS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,623 | ACCEPTED | Operation scheme with charge balancing for charge trapping non-volatile memory | A memory cell with a charge trapping structure has multiple bias arrangements. Multiple cycles of applying the bias arrangements lowering and raising a threshold voltage of the memory cell leave a distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer. The charge interferes with the threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell. This distribution of charge is balanced by applying a charge balancing bias arrangement at intervals during which a plurality of program and erase cycles occurs. Also, the charge balancing bias arrangement is applied prior to the beginning of program and erase cycles of the memory cell. | 1. A method of operating a memory cell having a threshold voltage and comprising a charge trapping structure, the method comprising: lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement and raising the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement; and after an interval within which the plurality of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles occurs or is likely to occur, applying a third bias arrangement tending to balance a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel of the memory cell having a magnitude of 1.0 plus or minus about 10% volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the interval is determined by a timer. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the interval is determined by counting a number of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the interval ends after a random number of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the interval ends when the memory cell fails to lower the threshold voltage. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the interval includes a time between power up events of a machine including the memory cell. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the distribution of charge includes removing excess charge from the charge trapping structure. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the distribution of charge includes adding charge to the charge trapping structure. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles leaves a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure which acts as an interference with a minimum threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell via at least one of the first bias arrangement and the second bias arrangement, and the interference results in the minimum threshold voltage achievable exceeding an erase verify voltage of the memory cell, and changing the distribution of charge results in the minimum threshold voltage achievable being less than an erase verify voltage of the memory cell. 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to any threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles, applying a pulse to the memory cell according to the third bias arrangement. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to change balance state. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 20. The method of claim 1, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval long enough to substantially establish an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 21. The method of claim 1, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 100 milliseconds. 22. The method of claim 1, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 500 milliseconds. 23. The method of claim 1, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 1 second. 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection in a second region closer to the one side of the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first and second regions. 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first region. 26. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes across the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling across the channel. 27. An integrated circuit device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of memory cells on the substrate, each memory cell of the plurality of memory cells having a threshold voltage and comprising a charge trapping structure; and controller circuitry coupled to the plurality of memory cells, including logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic to change a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure via a third bias arrangement at least after an interval within which a plurality of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles occurs or is likely to occur. 28. The device of claim 27, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 29. The device of claim 27, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 30. The device of claim 27, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 31. The device of claim 27, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 32. The device of claim 27, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 1.0 plus or minus about 10% volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 33. The device of claim 27, including a timer, and logic to determine the interval using the timer. 34. The device of claim 27, including a program and erase cycle counter, and logic to determine the interval is determined by counting a number of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 35. The device of claim 27, wherein the interval ends after a random number of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 36. The device of claim 27, including logic to apply the third bias arrangement after an interval that ends when the memory cell fails to lower the threshold voltage. 37. The device of claim 27, including logic to apply the third bias arrangement after an interval that ends upon power up events of the device. 38. The device of claim 27, including logic to apply the third bias arrangement, prior to any threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 39. The device of claim 27, wherein the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 40. The device of claim 27, wherein the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 41. The device of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 42. The method of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 43. The method of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 44. The device of claim 27, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval long enough to substantially establish an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 45. The device of claim 27, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 100 milliseconds. 46. The device of claim 27, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 500 milliseconds. 47. The device of claim 27, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 1 second. 48. The device of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection in a second region closer to the one side of the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first and second regions. 49. The method of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first region. 50. The method of claim 27, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes across the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling across the channel. 51. A method of preparing a threshold voltage of a memory cell for operation, the memory cell comprising a charge trapping structure, the method comprising: prior to any lowering of the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement of the memory cell and any raising of the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement of the memory cell, adding charge to the charge trapping structure via a third bias arrangement of the memory cell. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 53. The method of claim 51, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 54. The method of claim 51, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 55. The method of claim 51, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 56. The method of claim 51, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the third bias arrangement includes applying a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of 1.0 plus or minus about 10% volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 57. The method of claim 51, wherein the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 58. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement places the gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 59. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 60. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons from the substrate, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential leading to an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 61. The method of claim 51, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval long enough to substantially establish an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 62. The method of claim 51, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 100 milliseconds. 63. The method of claim 51, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 500 milliseconds. 64. The method of claim 51, including applying the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 1 second. 65. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection in a second region closer to the one side of the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first and second regions. 66. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first region. 67. The method of claim 51, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes across the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling across the channel. 68. An integrated circuit device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of memory cells on the substrate, each memory cell of the plurality of memory cells having a threshold voltage and comprising a charge trapping structure; and controller circuitry coupled to the plurality of memory cells, including logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic to add charge to the charge trapping structure via a third bias arrangement prior at least to any threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles. 69. The device of claim 68, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 70. The device of claim 68, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 71. The device of claim 68, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 72. The device of claim 68, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage on the gate of the memory cell having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness, while applying near ground potential to the substrate in the region of the channel and applying near ground potential to the source and drain. 73. The device of claim 68, wherein the memory cell comprises a gate, source and drain regions in a substrate region, and a channel in the substrate between the source and drain regions, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of 1.0 plus or minus about 10% volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 74. The device of claim 68, wherein the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 75. The device of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection and the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 76. The device of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection and the second bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons, and the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 77. The device of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of holes and the second bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons, and the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from the charge trapping structure to a substrate of the memory cell and E-field assisted tunneling of electrons from a gate of the memory cell. 78. The device of claim 68, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval long enough to substantially establish an equilibrium in the amount of charge in the charge trapping layer. 79. The device of claim 68, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 100 milliseconds. 80. The device of claim 68, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 500 milliseconds. 81. The device of claim 68, wherein the logic applies the third bias arrangement for an interval longer than about 1 second. 82. The device of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection in a second region closer to the one side of the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first and second regions. 83. The method of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection in a first region closer to one side of the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel that overlaps with the first region, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling in a third region extending across the channel and overlapping with the first region. 84. The method of claim 68, wherein the first bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of holes across the channel, the second bias arrangement causes E-field assist tunneling of electrons across the channel, and the third biasing causes E-field assisted tunneling across the channel. 85. An integrated circuit device comprising: a substrate; a plurality of memory cells on the substrate, each memory cell of the plurality of memory cells having a threshold voltage and comprising a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel; and controller circuitry coupled to the plurality of memory cells, including logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic applying a third bias arrangement, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness greater than 3 nanometers, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.7 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. 86. An integrated circuit device comprising: a substrate; a plurality of memory cells on the substrate, each memory cell of the plurality of memory cells having a threshold voltage and comprising a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate, and including a top dielectric, a charge trapping structure, and a bottom dielectric between the gate and the channel; and controller circuitry coupled to the plurality of memory cells, including logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic applying a third bias arrangement, and wherein the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure, and the bottom dielectric have a combined effective oxide thickness, and the bottom dielectric has an effective oxide thickness about 3 nanometers or less, and the third bias arrangement includes a negative voltage from the gate of the memory cell to the substrate in the region of the channel having a magnitude of about 0.3 or higher volts per nanometer of the combined effective oxide thickness. | RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/565,377 filed 26 Apr. 2004. The present application also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/566,669 filed 30 Apr. 2004. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electrically programmable and erasable non-volatile memory, and more particularly to charge trapping memory with a bias arrangement, in addition to threshold voltage raising and lowering operations, that modifies the charge in the memory. 2. Description of Related Art Electrically programmable and erasable non-volatile memory technologies based on charge storage structures known as EEPROM and flash memory are used in a variety of modern applications. A number of memory cell structures are used for EEPROM and flash memory. As the dimensions of integrated circuits shrink, greater interest is arising for memory cell structures based on charge trapping dielectric layers, because of the scalability and simplicity of the manufacturing processes. Memory cell structures based on charge trapping dielectric layers include structures known by the industry names NROM, SONOS, and PHINES, for example. These memory cell structures store data by trapping charge in a charge trapping dielectric layer, such as silicon nitride. As negative charge is trapped, the threshold voltage of the memory cell increases. The threshold voltage of the memory cell is reduced by removing negative charge from the charge trapping layer. Conventional SONOS devices use ultra-thin bottom oxide, e.g. less than 3 nanometers, and a bias arrangement that causes direct tunneling for channel erase. Although the erase speed is fast using this technique, the charge retention is poor due to the charge leakage through ultra-thin bottom oxide. NROM devices use a relatively thick bottom oxide, e.g. greater than 3 nanometers, and typically about 5 to 9 nanometers, to prevent charge loss. Instead of direct tunneling, band-to-band tunneling induced hot hole injection BTBTHH can be used to erase the cell. However, the hot hole injection causes oxide damage, leading to charge loss in the high threshold cell and charge gain in the low threshold cell. Moreover, the erase time must be increased gradually during program and erase cycling due to the hard-to-erase accumulation of charge in the charge trapping structure. This accumulation of charge occurs because the hole injection point and electron injection point do not coincide with each other, and some electrons remain after the erase pulse. In addition, during the sector erase of an NROM flash memory device, the erase speed for each cell is different because of process variations (such as channel length variation). This difference in erase speed results in a large Vt distribution of the erase state, where some of the cells become hard to erase and some of them are over-erased. Thus the target threshold Vt window is closed after many program and erase cycles and poor endurance is observed. This phenomenon will become more serious when the technology keeps scaling down. In addition, charge trapping memory devices capture electrons in a charge trapping layer in both shallow and deep energy levels. Electrons trapped in shallow levels tend to de-trap faster than those electrons in deeper energy level traps. The shallow level electrons are a significant source of charge retention problems. In order to keep good charge retention, deeply trapped electrons are preferred. Thus, a need exists for a memory cell that can be programmed and erased many times, without suffering increasing the threshold voltage after the erase operation that renders the memory cell inoperable, and which demonstrates improved charge retention and reliability. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of operating a memory cell, and an architecture for an integrated circuit including such a memory cell, are provided having improved endurance and reliability. A charge balancing operation for charge trapping-type memory cells is described. This charge balancing operation includes a bias arrangement inducing E-field assisted electron ejection from the gate to the channel and/or direct tunneling of holes for embodiments with thin bottom dielectrics, balanced by E-field assisted electron injection from the gate to the charge trapping structure, including applying a negative gate voltage relative to the substrate (either by applying a −VG or a positive substrate voltage +VSUB, or a combination of −VG and +VSUB), with ground or a low positive voltage applied to the source and drain. The voltage across from the gate to the substrate in the channel of the memory cell in order to accomplish the charge balancing operation of the present invention in practical time limits is higher than about −0.7 V/nanometer and in examples described below about −1.0 V/nanometer. Thus, for a memory cell having a gate electrode, a top oxide layer, a charge trapping layer and a bottom oxide layer over a channel, the gate to substrate bias for the charge balancing operation is equal to about the effective oxide thickness of the combination of the top dielectric, charge trapping dielectric and bottom dielectric in nanometers, times about −0.7 to −1.1 V/nanometer. During the charge balancing operation, gate injection and electron de-trapping could occur in a manner that tends to establish a dynamic balance or equilibrium state. The gate injected electrons can neutralize hole traps left after a hot hole erase. Therefore, the charge balancing operation offers a strong “electrical annealing” to minimize the damage induced from hot hole injection. Reliability tests also show that this charge balancing operation greatly reduces the charge loss after a large number of program and erase P/E cycles. A method according to the described technology, comprises lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement, raising the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement, and applying to the gate of the memory cell a third bias arrangement, such as a charge balancing pulse, in association with one of the first and second bias arrangements. The third bias arrangement can be considered to cause a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons. If the gate has a negative voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the gate to the charge trapping structure (electron gate injection) and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the substrate (electron ejection to the channel). If the gate has a positive voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the substrate to the charge trapping structure and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the gate. The rate of the first movement of electrons decreases as the threshold voltage increases, or increases as the threshold voltage decreases. The rate of the second movement of electrons increases as the threshold voltage increases, or decreases as the threshold voltage decreases. These movements of electrons cause the threshold voltage to converge toward a target threshold. The technology also includes a bias arrangement which tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer, when the threshold voltage nears the target threshold, substantially across the length of the channel of the memory cell, as opposed to concentrating the charge on one side of the channel or the other. Another aspect of the present invention provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic applying a third bias arrangement. The third bias arrangement causes a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons causing the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, and logic responding to a command to lower the threshold voltage by applying a second bias arrangement and a third bias arrangement. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement causes a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons causing the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to apply a first bias arrangement. The first bias arrangement causes a movement of holes, a first movement of electrons, and a second movement of electrons. In the movement of holes, holes move to the charge trapping structure, lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. Due to the movements of charge, the threshold voltage converges toward a convergence voltage. In some embodiments, the third bias arrangement removes holes from the charge trapping structure. For example, a movement of electrons into the charge trapping structure will result in the recombination of trapped holes with electrons moving to the charge trapping structure. In some embodiments, the charge balancing bias arrangement is applied to add a balanced charge to the charge trapping structure prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. For example, the addition of electrons raises the threshold voltage of the memory cell prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. In one embodiment, this raised threshold voltage prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage is lower than the minimum threshold voltage achievable via the first bias arrangement and second bias arrangement. In another embodiment, this raised threshold voltage prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage is lower than the program verify voltage and the erase verify voltage of the memory cell. Embodiments of the technology described herein include an operating method for memory cell comprising a charge trapping structure. The method includes lowering the threshold of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement in raising the threshold of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement. After an interval of time in which a plurality of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles occurs or is likely to occur, a third bias arrangement is applied pending to balance the distribution of charge of the charge trapping structure. When applied at intervals, the charge balancing operation includes a relatively long pulse (such as one second in embodiments described below), so that the memory cells achieve equilibrium state, or nearly achieve equilibrium state. The interval of time between charge balancing operations that include applying the third bias arrangement, is determined in a variety of manners as suits the particular implementation. For example, interval can be determined using a timer, causing a charge balancing operation in regular periods of time. Alternatively, interval can be determined using a counter for program an erase cycles. Alternatively, the interval can be determined using other factors indicating the lapse of time during operation of the device, including power on and power off events in the like. Embodiments of the technology include a method of operating a memory cell that comprises applying a first procedure (typically erase) to establish a low threshold state including a first bias arrangement causing reduction in negative charge in the charge trapping structure, and a second bias arrangement tending to the induce balanced charge tunneling between the gate and the charge trapping structure and between the charge trapping structure in the channel. A second procedure (typically program) is used to establish a high threshold state in the memory cell, including a third bias arrangement that causes an increase in negative charge in the charge trapping structure. In embodiments applying a charge balancing pulse during a procedure for establishing a low threshold state, the charge balancing pulse may not be long enough to achieve equilibrium state, but rather long enough (50 to 100 milliseconds in embodiments described below) to cause some tightening in the threshold, and balancing of charge in the charge trapping structure. A charge balancing and erase technique described herein can be performed in any sequence, for example in a sequence that starts in response to an erase command that starts an erase operation, such as a sector erase. By applying the charge balancing operation as part of an erase procedure, the operation can be applied using shorter intervals of charge balancing pulses, which do not necessarily achieve the equilibrium state, but rather tend to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. For example, a relatively short charge balancing pulse can be applied before the erase, where the charge balancing pulse will tend to cause greater electron ejection current due to the negative charge in the charge trapping structure prior to the hot hole injection, to tighten the erase state Vt distribution, making erase easier. Alternatively, a relatively short charge balancing pulse can be applied after the erase, where the charge balancing pulse will tend to cause greater electron injection because of the more positive charge in the charge balancing structure, to neutralize the hole traps and improve the charge retention. For NROM-like flash memory devices, sector erase is performed by hot hole erase procedures. In combination with the hot hole erase procedure, an additional charge balancing operation is applied in embodiments of the technology described. Since the charge balancing operation has self-convergent properties, it helps to raise the threshold voltage of the over-erased cell and decrease the threshold voltage of the hard-to-erase cell. Also, tightening of the distribution of the target threshold voltage for the low threshold state across an array of memory cells can be accomplished using the charge balancing operation. For SONOS-type memory cells, FN tunneling is used for erase procedures, in combination with the charge balancing pulse. An alternative method to combine the charge balancing and hot hole erase is to turn on the junction bias on the source and drain slightly during a negative gate voltage bias arrangement for charge balancing. In this situation, hot hole injection, gate injection and electron de-trapping happen simultaneously. This hybrid erase method also shows good endurance and better reliability properties than that of the conventional hot hole erase method. Smart erase algorithms are suggested by the present technology. The user can design a suitable sequence of charge balancing and erase to obtain good endurance and reliability. The charge balancing operation based on negative gate tunneling is used in combination with hot hole injection or other bias arrangements, to achieve better erase-state threshold voltage control, and acceptable erase speed. The charge balancing/hot hole erase can converge the threshold voltage for the over-erased cell and the hard-to-erase cell simultaneously. The charge balancing operation can serve as an electrical annealing step to neutralize hole traps, and thus greatly improve device reliability. The charge balancing method and erase method can be combined in any sequence during the erase operation, or they can be turned on simultaneously. Another method embodiment also applies multiple bias arrangements. Via a first bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is raised. In response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the second bias arrangement and the third bias arrangement are applied. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement comprises a charge balancing pulse, which causes the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied after the second bias arrangement. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied before the second bias arrangement. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied both before and after the second bias arrangement. In yet other embodiments, the charge balancing third bias arrangement is applied at the same time as, and in combination with the second bias arrangement. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage (program) via a first bias arrangement, and logic responding to a command to lower the threshold voltage (erase) by applying a second bias arrangement and a third bias arrangement. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement causes a balancing of charge movement so that the threshold voltage converges toward a target threshold. In some embodiments, the charge balancing bias arrangement is applied to add charge to the charge trapping structure prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. For example, the addition of electrons in a balanced distribution in the charge trapping structure of the cell raises the threshold voltage of the memory cell prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. A programming algorithm according to embodiments of the technology includes a refill cycle to alter the electron trapping spectrum in the charge trapping structure of the memory devices. A refill cycle includes applying a bias arrangement to increase the negative charge in the charge trapping structure followed by a short charge balancing pulse tending to cause ejection electrons from shallow traps in the charge trapping structure, and repeating them bias arrangement to increase the negative charge in the charge trapping structure. One or more of the refill cycles is applied to increase the relative concentration of electrons in deeper traps in the charge trapping structure, and to maintain the high threshold state which is the target of the program operation. The shallow level electrons tend to de-trap faster than the deeper level electrons. After the charge balancing pulse, the threshold voltage drops a little, and a reprogram or “refill” of charge is applied to return the device to the original program verify threshold level. Repeated charge balance/refill processes result in a shift of the trapping spectrum towards deep level electrons. This phenomenon is called “spectrum blue shift”. The refill processes can greatly improve charge retention, even for devices strongly damaged by large numbers of program and erase cycles. Therefore, the refill process provides an effective operation to improve charge retention in charge trapping memory devices. Furthermore, with the refill method, thinner dielectric layers can be utilized for the bottom dielectric, charge trapping structure and top dielectric without charge loss. Thinner dielectric layers may help scale device sizes downward for charge trapping memory devices. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage (program) via a refill procedure as described above. The target threshold of the charge balancing operation depends on a number of factors, including the relative amounts of charge tunneling from the gate to the charge trapping structure through the top dielectric, and from the charge trapping structure to the channel through the bottom dielectric. For a lower target threshold, injection current by electron tunneling from the gate to the charge trapping structure is reduced relative to ejection current by electron tunneling from the charge trapping structure to the channel. The reduction is achieved in embodiments of the technology by inhibiting tunneling in the top dielectric by using a gate material having a relatively high work function. Other aspects and advantages of the technology presented herein can be understood with reference to the figures, the detailed description and the claims, which follow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell prior to any program and erase cycles. FIG. 1B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 1A with a balanced distribution of charge added prior to any program and erase cycles. FIG. 2A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. FIG. 2B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 2A following a balancing in the distribution of charge. FIG. 3A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell following a balancing in the distribution of charge. FIG. 3B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3A undergoing channel hot electron injection. FIG. 3C is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3B undergoing band-to-band tunneling hot hole injection. FIG. 3D is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3C undergoing a balancing in the distribution of charge. FIG. 4 illustrates a representative process for changing a distribution of charge in a charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. FIG. 5 illustrates a representative process for adding charge to a charge trapping memory cell prior to any program and erase cycles, and changing a distribution of charge in the charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. FIG. 6 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles, and compares the threshold voltage of memory cells before and after changing the distribution of charge. FIG. 7 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles, and shows the consistency of threshold voltage of memory cells following a change of the distribution of charge. FIG. 8 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of erase operations, and compares the efficacy of the erase operation in lowering the threshold voltage with and without a change in the distribution of charge. FIG. 9 is a graph of delta threshold voltage versus retention time, and compares a programmed memory cell without any program and erase cycles with memory cells undergoing many program and erase cycles. FIG. 10 is a graph of delta threshold voltage versus retention time, and compares memory cells that have charge added prior to any program and erase cycles but afterwards experience a different number of program and erase cycles. FIG. 11 illustrates a representative process for adding charge to a charge trapping memory cell prior to any program and erase cycles, and changing a distribution of charge in the charge trapping memory cell following an interval in which program and erase cycles are likely to occur. FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of an integrated circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a flow chart for an erase process including a balancing pulse. FIG. 14 is a flow chart of an alternative erase process including a balancing pulse. FIG. 15 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, and compares the different rates of saturation at various gate voltages. FIGS. 16 and 17 are graphs of threshold voltage versus time, and show the convergent behavior of the memory cell in response to a bias that changes a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. FIG. 18 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, and shows the convergent behavior for memory cells with different channel lengths. FIG. 19 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles for a multi-bit memory cell with regular changes in the distribution of charge. FIG. 20 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles for a multi-bit memory cell without regular changes in the distribution of charge. FIG. 21 is a graph of delta threshold voltage versus retention time, and contrasts memory cells with and without regular changes in the distribution of charge. FIG. 22 is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell with a hybrid bias that simultaneously lowers the threshold voltage of the memory cell and changes the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer. FIG. 23 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, and compares memory cells with different hybrid biases. FIGS. 24 and 25 illustrate representative processes for operating a memory cell by changing the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer before and after lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. FIG. 26 illustrates a representative process for operating a memory cell by applying a hybrid bias that simultaneously changes the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer while lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. FIG. 27 is a flow chart for a program operation with refill cycles according to embodiments of the described technology. FIG. 28 is a graph of threshold voltage versus erase time for a charge balancing pulse for one embodiment of a program operation with refill cycles. FIG. 29 is a graph of threshold voltage versus refill cycle for the embodiment of a program operation used for the data in FIG. 28. FIG. 30 is a graph of threshold voltage versus erase time for a charge balancing pulse for one embodiment of a program operation with refill cycles. FIG. 31 is a graph of threshold voltage versus refill cycle for the embodiment of a program operation used for the data in FIG. 30. FIG. 32 is a graph illustrating data retention characteristics for a device programmed using refill operations, and a device programmed without refill operations. FIG. 33 is a simplified energy level diagram for a charge trapping memory cell illustrating concepts applied in the present description. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell. The substrate includes n+ doped regions 150 and 160, and a p-doped region 170 between the n+ doped regions 150 and 160. The remainder of the memory cell includes a bottom dielectric structure 140 on the substrate, a charge trapping structure 130 on the bottom dielectric structure 140 (bottom oxide), a top dielectric structure 120 (top oxide) on the charge trapping structure 130, and a gate 110 on the oxide structure 120. Representative top dielectrics include silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride having a thickness of about 5 to 10 nanometers, or other similar high dielectric constant materials including for example Al2O3. Representative bottom dielectrics include silicon dioxide and silicon oxynitride having a thickness of about 3 to 10 nanometers, or other similar high dielectric constant materials. Representative charge trapping structures include silicon nitride having a thickness of about 3 to 9 nanometers, or other similar high dielectric constant materials, including metal oxides such as Al2O3, HfO2, and others. The charge trapping structure may be a discontinuous set of pockets or particles of charge trapping material, or a continuous layer as shown in the drawing. The charge trapping structure 130 has trapped charge such as represented by electron 131. The memory cell for NROM-like cells has, for example, a bottom oxide with a thickness ranging from 3 nanometers to 10 nanometers, a charge trapping layer with a thickness ranging from 3 nanometers to 9 nanometers, and a top oxide with a thickness ranging from 5 nanometers to 10 nanometers. The memory cell for SONOS-like cells has, for example, a bottom oxide with a thickness ranging from 1 nanometer to 3 nanometers, a charge trapping layer with a thickness ranging from 3 nanometers to 5 nanometers, and a top oxide with a thickness ranging from 3 nanometers to 10 nanometers. In some embodiments, the gate comprises a material having a work finction greater than the intrinsic work function of n-type silicon, or greater than about 4.1 eV, and preferably greater than about 4.25 eV, including for example greater than about 5 eV. Representative gate materials include p-type poly, TiN, Pt, and other high work finction metals and materials. Other materials having a relatively high work function suitable for embodiments of the technology include metals including but not limited to Ru, Ir, Ni, and Co, metal alloys including but not limited to Ru-Ti and Ni-T, metal nitrides, and metal oxides including but not limited to RuO2. High work function gate materials result in higher injection barriers for electron tunneling than that of the typical n-type polysilicon gate. The injection barrier for n-type polysilicon gates with silicon dioxide as the top dielectric is around 3.15 eV. Thus, embodiments of the present technology use materials for the gate and for the top dielectric having an injection barrier higher than about 3.15 eV, such as higher than about 3.4 eV, and preferably higher than about 4 eV. For p-type polysilicon gates with silicon dioxide top dielectrics, the injection barrier is about 4.25 eV, and the resulting threshold of the converged cell, as discussed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 1B, is reduced about 2 volts relative to a cell having an n-type polysilicon gate with a silicon dioxide top dielectric. In the diagram of FIG. 1A, the memory cell has not undergone any program and erase cycles, and the trapped charge is a result of the semiconductor fabrication process, for example. In an array of such memory cells, the amount of charge trapped in the memory cells due to manufacturing processes can vary significantly across the array. As generally used herein, programming refers to raising the threshold voltage of a memory cell and erasing refers to lowering the threshold voltage of a memory cell. However, the invention encompasses both products and methods where programming refers to raising the threshold voltage of a memory cell and erasing refers to lowering the threshold voltage of a memory cell, and products and methods where programming refers to lowering the threshold voltage of a memory cell and erase refers to raising the threshold voltage of a memory cell. FIG. 1B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 1A with charge added prior to any program and erase cycles. A potential of 0 V is placed on the source 150, the drain 160, and the substrate 170. A potential of −20 V is placed on the gate 110, which is sufficient to induce an E-field across the bottom oxide of about 0.7 to 1.0 Volts/nm or higher. This bias arrangement tends to balance the charge distribution in the charge trapping structure 130, by inducing both electron injection current from the gate to the charge trapping layer and electron ejection current from the charge trapping structure to the channel, which reaches a dynamic balance or equilibrium after sufficient time, in which the threshold voltage of the memory cell is converged on a target threshold, and which results in a balanced distribution of charge across the length of the channel. This bias arrangement is substantially symmetrical across the channel of the memory cell. This bias arrangement adds charge to the charge trapping structure 130, such as electron 132, when the cell has a small amount of charge before the bias arrangement is applied. However, the amount of charge trapped in a charge trapping structure due to manufacturing induced stress or otherwise before the device is programmed and erased in the field, can vary substantially across an array of memory cells on a single integrated circuit. The bias arrangement of FIG. 1B will tend to balance, and establish an equilibrium in, the amount of charge trapped in memory cells across the array within a reasonable tolerance. The target threshold of the bias arrangement of FIG. 1B depends on the equilibrium condition at which the electron injection current and electron ejection current balance. This equilibrium occurs when the amount of charge in the charge trapping structure is balanced across the channel, and remains substantially constant under the bias condition. The threshold voltage of the memory cell, which is a function of the amount of charge in the charge trapping structure, when the dynamic balance condition is reached depends on the characteristics of the top and bottom oxides, the gate and the charge trapping structure. Conditions favoring electron ejection current over electron injection from the gate tend to lower the target threshold. Lower target thresholds are desirable because they allow lower voltage operations of the memory cell during read. Thus, embodiments of the memory cell employ high work function gate material, such as p+ doped polysilicon, or high dielectric constant top oxide material such as Al2O3, or both, to achieve a lower target threshold. The magnitude of the gate-to-substrate bias according to embodiments of a charge balancing pulse is determined with reference to the effective oxide thickness EOT of the dielectric stack, including the top dielectric, the charge trapping structure and the bottom dielectric, when the EOT is the actual thickness as normalized with respect to the permittivity of silicon dioxide. For example, when the top dielectric, charge trapping structure and bottom dielectric comprise silicon dioxide, silicon nitride and silicon dioxide, respectively, the structure is referred to as an ONO stack. For an ONO stack, the EOT is equal to the top oxide thickness, plus the bottom oxide thickness plus the nitride thickness times the oxide permittivity divided by nitride permittivity. Now, the bias arrangement for a charge balancing pulse can be defined for NROM-like and SONOS-like memory cells as follows: 1. NROM-like memory cells for the purpose of this description are cells that have a bottom oxide thickness>3 nm. The dielectric stack has an EOT (10 nm to 25 nm, for example), and the bottom oxide is thicker than 3 nm to prevent direct tunneling of holes from the substrate, and the gate to the substrate bias has a voltage (−12 volts to −24 volts for example), and the voltage divided by EOT is greater than 0.7 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, plus or minus about 10%. EOT Calculation for ONO in NROM-like cell: MIN MAX Top OX (permittivity = 3.9) 5 nm 10 nm SIN (permittivity = 7) 3 nm 9 nm Bottom OX (permittivity = 3 nm 10 nm 3.9) SUM 5 + 3*3.9/ 10 + 9*3.9/ 7 + 3 = 10 (nm) 7 + 10 = 25 nm 2. SONOS-like memory cells for the purpose of this description are cells that have a bottom oxide thickness<3 nm. The dielectric stack has an EOT (5 nm to 16 nm, for example), and the bottom oxide is thinner than 3 nm, allowing direct tunneling of holes from substrate. The gate to the substrate bias for SONOS-like cells has a voltage (−5 volts to −15 volts for example), and that voltage divided by the EOT is greater than 0.3 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, plus or minus about 10%. EOT Calculation for ONO in SONOS-like cell: MIN MAX Top OX (permittivity = 3.9) 3 nm 10 nm SIN (permittivity = 7) 3 nm 5 nm Bottom OX (permittivity = 1 nm 3 nm 3.9) SUM 3 + 3*3.9/ 10 + 5*3.9/ 7 + 1 = 5.7 (nm) 7 + 3 = 15.8 nm For materials other than silicon dioxide and silicon nitride in the stack, the EOT is calculated in the same way, normalizing the thickness of the material by a factor of the permittivity of silicon dioxide divided by the permittivity of the material. FIG. 2A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. The substrate includes n+ doped regions 250 and 260, and a p-doped region 270 between the n+doped regions 250 and 260. The remainder of the memory cell includes an oxide structure 240 on the substrate, a charge trapping structure 230 on the oxide structure 240, another oxide structure 220 on the charge trapping structure 230, and a gate 210 on the oxide structure 220. The multiple program and erase cycles leave behind trapped charge in the charge trapping structure 230, such as electrons 231 and 232, due to the difference in the bias arrangements used to achieve program and erase, due to which some electrons may be trapped at locations in the charge trapping structure, using channel hot electron injection, that the erasing algorithm, such as band-to-band tunneling induced hot hole injection, is unable to affect. FIG. 2B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 2A following a change in the distribution of charge, and applying a bias arrangement like that described above with reference to FIG. 1B. A potential of 0 V is placed on the source 250, the drain 260, and the substrate 270. A potential of −20 V, in this example, is placed on the gate 210. This bias arrangement tends to balance the charge distribution in the charge trapping structure 230, by removing excess electrons in regions in which the electrons have built up during program and erase cycling, such as electron 232, and by inducing both electron injection current from the gate to the charge trapping layer and electron ejection current from the charge trapping structure to the channel, which reaches a dynamic balance or equilibrium after sufficient time, in which the threshold voltage of the memory cell is converged on a target threshold, and which results in a balanced distribution of charge across the length of the channel. This bias arrangement is substantially symmetrical across the channel of the memory cell. A method according to the described technology, comprises lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement, raising the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement, and applying to the gate of the memory cell a third bias arrangement in association with one of the first and second bias arrangements. The third bias arrangement can be considered to cause a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons. If the gate has a negative voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the gate to the charge trapping structure and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the substrate. If the gate has a positive voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the substrate to the charge trapping structure and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the gate. The rate of the first movement of electrons decreases as the threshold voltage increases, or increases as the threshold voltage decreases. The rate of the second movement of electrons increases as the threshold voltage increases, or decreases as the threshold voltage decreases. These movements of electrons cause the threshold voltage to converge toward a target threshold. The bias arrangement tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer, when the threshold voltage nears the target threshold, substantially across the length of the channel of the memory cell, as opposed to concentrating the charge on one side of the channel or the other. FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate a program and erase cycle that leaves behind charge in the charge trapping layer of a memory cell, followed by a change in the distribution of charge. FIG. 3A is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell following a balancing of the distribution of charge. The substrate includes n+doped regions 350 and 360, and a p-doped region 370 between the n+ doped regions 350 and 360. The remainder of the memory cell includes an oxide structure 340 on the substrate, a charge trapping structure 330 on the oxide structure 340, another oxide structure 320 on the charge trapping structure 330, and a gate 310 on the oxide structure 320. FIGS. 3B and 3C show examples of bias arrangements that program and erase the memory cell, respectively. FIG. 3B is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3A undergoing channel hot electron CHE injection. A potential of 0 V is placed on the source 350. A potential of 5.5 V is placed on the drain 360. A potential of 8 V is placed on the gate 310. This bias arrangement causes channel hot electrons such as electron 332 to be transported from the channel in p-doped region 370 into the charge trapping structure 330 in a region focused near the drain at which the positive voltage is applied. Electron 331 is an example of charge that has been trapped in the charge trapping structure 330 following injection. Other programming bias arrangements (bias arrangements for establishing a high threshold state, or multiple high threshold states for multibit operation) are applied in other embodiments. Representative program bias arrangements include channel initiated secondary electron injection CHISEL, source side injection SSI, drain avalanche hot electron injection DAHE, pulse agitated substrate hot electron injection PASHEI, and positive gate E-field assisted (Fowler-Nordheim) tunneling, and other bias arrangements. FIG. 3C is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3B undergoing band-to-band tunneling induced hot hole injection. A potential of −3 V is placed on the gate. A potential of 0 V is placed on the source 350. A potential of 5.5 V is placed on the drain 360. A potential of 0 V is placed on the other portion of the substrate 370. This bias arrangement causes hot hole injection via band-to-band tunneling of holes such as 334 to be transported from a region near the drain 360 into the charge trapping structure 330. Hole 333 is an example of charge that has been trapped in the charge trapping structure 330 following injection. The region in which holes are injected to reduce the concentration of electrons in the charge trapping layer does not match perfectly with the region in which electrons are injected. Thus, after a number of program and erase cycles, a concentration of electrons accumulates in the charge trapping structure, which interferes with the ability to achieve a low threshold state, and limits the endurance of the device. Other erase bias arrangements (bias arrangements for establishing a low threshold state) include negative gate E-field assisted tunneling at voltages causing electron ejection without significant electron injection from the gate, direct tunneling of electrons out of, or holes into, the charge trapping structure for thin bottom oxide embodiments, and others. FIG. 3D is a simplified diagram of the charge trapping memory cell of FIG. 3C, showing a concentration of trapped electrons 335 that is not affected by the injected holes 333, and interferes with the minimum threshold that can be achieved. By applying a charge balancing bias arrangement like that described above with reference to FIG. 1B, tending to balance the distribution of charge, a change in the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer is achieved which reduces or eliminates the excess trapped charge. In this example, a potential of −20 V is placed on the gate. The potential from the gate to the substrate in the region of the channel is a voltage, which when divided by the EOT of the top dielectric, charge trapping structure and bottom dielectric is greater than 0.7 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, for NROM-like cells and greater than about 0.3 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, for SONOS-like cells. A potential of 0 V is placed on the source 350, the drain 360, and the portion of the substrate 370 in which the channel is formed in this example. This bias arrangement causes a change in the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure 330. In the change in the distribution of charge, excess charge is removed, and/or electrons are added. Charge such as electron 311 is transported from the gate to the charge trapping structure 330, by a charge movement mechanism such as E-field assisted tunneling. This charge removes trapped holes from the charge trapping structure 330 such as hole 333. Charge such as electron 335 which is trapped in locations that are spaced away from the region in which hot holes are injected, is transported from the charge trapping structure 330 to the p-type region 370, by a charge movement mechanism such as E-field assisted tunneling. In fact, E-field assisted tunneling from the charge trapping layer to the channel can occur under this bias arrangement substantially entirely across the length of the channel. This bias arrangement tends to balance the charge distribution in the charge trapping structure 330, by removing excess electrons in regions in which the electrons have built up during program and erase cycling, such as electron 333, and by inducing both electron injection current from the gate to the charge trapping layer and electron ejection current from the charge trapping structure to the channel, which reaches a dynamic balance or equilibrium after sufficient time, in which the threshold voltage of the memory cell is converged on a target threshold, and which results in a balanced distribution of charge across the length of the channel. This bias arrangement is substantially symmetrical across the channel of the memory cell. If the bias arrangement is applied for a long pulse, on the order of 0.5 to 1.0 seconds, then equilibrium, or near equilibrium, is achieved, and the charge distribution is balanced as illustrated in FIG. 3A for example. If the bias arrangement is applied for a short pulse, on the order of 1 to 50 milliseconds seconds for example, then the charge distribution tends to balance but may not reach the equilibrium state. FIG. 4 illustrates a representative process for changing a distribution of charge in a charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. A new memory cell 410 has not yet experienced any program and erase cycles. At 420 and 430, the memory cell is programmed and erased via first and second bias arrangements. At 440, a determination occurs as to whether the interval of program and erase cycles is over. The interval is determined by counting a number of program and erase cycles. If interval is not yet over, the memory cell is programmed and erased at 420 and 430 again. Otherwise, at 450 the distribution of charge in the memory cell is changed via a third bias arrangement in which the potential from the gate to the substrate in the region of the channel is a voltage, which when divided by the EOT of the top dielectric, charge trapping structure and bottom dielectric is greater than 0.7 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, for NROM-like cells and greater than about 0.3 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm, for SONOS-like cells. In various embodiments, the first bias arrangement and the second bias arrangement each cause one or more of E-field assisted tunneling, hot electron injection such as channel hot electron CHE injection, channel initiated secondary electron CHISEL injection, and/or hot hole injection such as band-to-band tunneling hot hole BTBTHH injection. The charge movement mechanisms may be the same or different among different bias arrangements. However, even if one or more charge movement mechanisms are the same among different bias arrangements, the first bias arrangement, the second bias arrangement, and the third bias arrangement each place a different bias arrangement on the memory cell, each with a distinct combination of voltages on the terminals of the memory cell. In some embodiments with exemplary specific bias arrangements: the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential relative to a source, drain, and substrate of the memory cell; the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection and the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection; the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement causes E-field assisted tunneling; the first bias arrangement causes hot hole injection, the second bias arrangement causes hot electron injection, and the third bias arrangement places a gate of the memory cell at a negative potential relative to a source, drain, and substrate of the memory cell, which has a magnitude for NROM-like cells greater than about 0.7 V/nm of EOT for dielectric stack, and a magnitude for SONOS-like cells greater than about 0.3 V/nm, and preferably about 1.0 V/nm of EOT for the dielectric stack. FIG. 5 illustrates a representative process for adding charge to a charge trapping memory cell prior to any program and erase cycles, and changing a distribution of charge in the charge trapping memory cell following multiple program and erase cycles. The process is similar to the process of FIG. 4. However, prior to any program and erase cycles at steps 520 and 530, charge is added to the cell at 515 using a charge balancing pulse as described above, thereby raising the threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell via programming and/or erasing. Following the addition of charge at 515, the threshold voltage is less than a threshold voltage in the memory cell following erasing or programming, and is less than program verify and erase verify voltages of the memory cell. FIG. 6 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles, and compares the threshold voltage of memory cells before and after changing the distribution of charge. Memory cells undergo a different number of program and erase cycles prior to undergoing a change in the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. The data points 610 (hollow dot) represent memory cells prior to undergoing a change in the distribution of charge. The data points 610 include data sets 630, 640, 650, and 660. In data set 630, the memory cell undergoes 500 program and erase cycles at a time before each operation to change the distribution of charge. In data set 640, after the first 1,000 program and erase cycles, the memory cell undergoes 1,000 program and erase cycles at a time before each operation to change the distribution of charge. In data set 650, after the first 10,000 program and erase cycles, the memory cell undergoes 10,000 program and erase cycles at a time before each operation to change the distribution of charge. In data set 660, after the first 100,000 program and erase cycles, the memory cell undergoes 50,000 program and erase cycles at a time before each operation to change the distribution of charge. As the number of program and erase cycles increases through data sets 630, 640, 650, and 660, the threshold voltage of the memory cell increases prior to an operation to change the distribution of charge. The data points 620 (solid dot) represent the memory cells after undergoing a change in the distribution of charge using the bias arrangement described above with reference to FIG. 3D. The graph shows that all the data points 610, except for data set 630, exceed the erase verify voltage of 3.8 V indicated by line 670. The data set 660 actually exceeds the program verify voltage of 5.3 V indicated by line 680. Data sets 630, 640, 650, and 660 show varying degrees of interference with a minimum threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell. The data points 620 show that the operation to change the distribution of charge successfully lowers the threshold voltage of the memory cell back below the erase verify voltage line 670, except for the memory cell which has undergone over 1 million program and erase cycles. The graph shows that as the number of program and erase cycles is increased prior to the operation to change the distribution of charge, the amount of interference with a minimum threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell increases. Thus, for the embodiment from which the data of FIG. 6 was generated, it would be desirable to apply the charge balancing bias arrangement of FIG. 3D in intervals in which about 1000 program and erase cycles occur, maintaining the threshold voltage achieved by the erase bias arrangement of the memory cells below the target threshold set by the erase verify potential (line 670). FIG. 7 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles, and shows the consistency of threshold voltage of memory cells maintained by applying the charge balancing bias arrangement, with a relatively long pulse of high negative voltage on the gate on the order of 0.5 seconds, after every 1000 program and erase cycles using CHE and BTBTHH. Data points 710 (solid dots) represent the threshold voltage of memory cells following a program operation. Data points 720 (hollow dots) represent the threshold voltage of memory cells following an erase operation. As can be seen, the threshold after the erase procedure remains below the target threshold of about 3.7 Volts for as many as 1 million program and erase cycles in this example. FIG. 8 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of erase pulses, and compares the efficacy of the erase operation in lowering the threshold voltage with and without a change in the distribution of charge. Data points 810 (solid dots) represent the memory cell prior to the negative charge balancing operation to change the distribution of charge. Prior to the negative charge balancing operation, the threshold voltage of the memory cell cannot be lowered sufficiently with the erase pulses alone, even after the erase pulse is applied many times. Data points 820 (hollow dots) represent the same memory cell after a negative charge balancing operation. The graph shows that the negative charge balancing operation quickly substantially eliminates the interference with the minimum threshold voltage achievable caused by program and erase cycling. FIG. 9 is a graph of the change in threshold voltage versus retention time, and compares a programmed memory cell without any program and erase cycles with memory cells undergoing many program and erase cycles. Trace 910 represents a programmed memory cell that has not undergone any program and erase cycles, so that charge retention is good. The data sets 920 and 930 both represent a memory cell that has undergone 150,000 program and erase cycles, with a negative charge balancing operation every 900 program and erase cycles. The data set 920 represents a cycled memory cell that undergoes the data retention test immediately after the negative charge balancing operation. In contrast, the data set 930 represents a cycled memory cell that has a data retention test before undergoing the negative charge balancing operation. To accelerate the retention test, a potential of −10 V is applied to the gate, thereby accelerating the detrapping of trapped electrons from the charge trapping structure of the memory cell. Because a larger change in threshold represents worse data retention, the graph shows that the negative charge balancing operation improves data retention of the memory cell. FIG. 10 is a graph of change in threshold voltage versus retention time, and compares memory cells that have the negative charge balancing operation applied prior to any program and erase cycles but afterwards experience a different number of program and erase cycles. Data points 1000 (solid dot) represent a programmed memory cell that has not undergone any program and erase cycles. The data sets 1010 (hollow triangle), 1020 (hollow square), and 1030 (hollow diamond) respectively represent memory cells that have 150,000 program and erase cycles, 200,000 program and erase cycles, and 1,000,000 program and erase cycles. The memory cells represented by data sets 1010, 1020, and 1030 undergo an operation to change the distribution of charge every 1000 program and erase cycles. The data retention test occurs immediately after an operation to change the distribution of charge. As can be seen, the periodic application of the negative charge balancing operation results in substantially constant data retention characteristics for cells that have undergone 150,000 program and erase cycles, 200,000 program and erase cycles, and 1,000,000 program and erase cycles, respectively. FIG. 11 illustrates a representative process for adding charge to a charge trapping memory cell prior to any program and erase cycles, and changing a distribution of charge in the charge trapping memory cell following an interval in which program and erase cycles are likely to occur. A new memory cell 1110 has not experienced any program and erase cycles yet. At 1115, charge is added to the cell by applying a charge balancing pulse. At 1120, an interval begins within which program and erase cycles are likely to occur. Programming and erasing occur via first and second bias arrangements. At 1140, a determination occurs as to whether the interval is over. If not, the interval continues. Otherwise, at 1150 the distribution of charge in the memory cell is changed via a third bias arrangement. The third bias arrangement comprises a pulse with negative gate voltage relative to the substrate in the region of the channel, tending to balance the charge distribution, by electron injection current from the gate to the charge trapping structure, and ejection current which occurs between the charge trapping structure and the channel, substantially across the length of the channel. In some embodiments, the pulse applied has a pulse length sufficient to substantially converge the threshold voltage of the memory cells in the array on a target convergence threshold, such as 0.5 to 1.0 seconds for a pulse height of about −20 Volts in this example. In various embodiments, the interval ends after a random number of program and erase cycles, and/or when the memory cell fails to erase. In another embodiment, the interval includes the time between power up events, such as a time from supplying power to a machine including the memory cell until powering off the machine and powering it on again. In this way, the third bias arrangement is applied after turning on the machine. FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of an integrated circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The integrated circuit 1250 includes a memory array 1200 implemented using localized charge trapping memory cells, on a semiconductor substrate. A row decoder 1201 is coupled to a plurality of wordlines 1202 arranged along rows in the memory array 1200. A column decoder 1203 is coupled to a plurality of bitlines 1204 arranged along columns in the memory array 1200. Addresses are supplied on bus 1205 to column decoder 1203 and row decoder 1201. Sense amplifiers and data-in structures in block 1206 are coupled to the column decoder 1203 via data bus 1207. Data is supplied via the data-in line 1211 from input/output ports on the integrated circuit 1250, or from other data sources internal or external to the integrated circuit 1250, to the data-in structures in block 1206. Data is supplied via the data-out line 1212 from the sense amplifiers in block 1206 to input/output ports on the integrated circuit 1250, or to other data destinations internal or external to the integrated circuit 1250. A bias arrangement state machine 1209 controls the application of bias arrangement supply voltages 1208, such as for the erase verify and program verify voltages, the first and second bias arrangements for programming and lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cells, and the third bias arrangement to change a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure of a memory cell. The technology is applied in combination with an erase procedure, or other procedure adapted to establish a low threshold state in the memory cell, as illustrated in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. In FIG. 13, an erase procedure is initiated by an erase command (block 1300). Heuristically at this point, an index n is set to zero for use in the erase procedure. The erase command in some implementations corresponds with a “flash” sector erase operation typical for flash memory devices in the art. In response to the erase command, a biasing procedure is instituted. In one embodiment, the first operation in the biasing procedure is to apply a bias arrangement that induces hot hole injection in the sector of memory cells (block 1301). For example, wordlines in the sector are biased with about −3 to −7 volts, bit lines coupled to the drains of the memory cells are biased with about +3 to +7 volts, and the source lines coupled to the sources of the memory cells in the sector are biased with ground, while the substrate region in which the memory cell channels are formed is grounded. This induces hot hole injection on the side of the charge trapping structure adjacent the drain terminal for the memory cells in the sector being erased. After applying the hot hole injection bias arrangement, a state machine or other logic determines whether the erase operation has been successful for each cell in the sector by performing an erase verify operation. Thus, in the next step, the algorithm determines whether the memory cells passed the verify operation (block 1302). If the cell does not pass verify, then the index n is incremented (block 1303), and the algorithm determines whether the index has reached a pre-specified maximum number N of retries (block 1304). If the maximum number of retries has been executed without passing verify, then the procedure fails (block 1305). If the maximum number of retries has not been executed at block 1304, then the procedure returns to block 1302 to retry the hot hole injection bias arrangement. If at block 1302, the memory cell passes verify, then a charge balancing bias operation, which simultaneously causes electron injection and electron ejection current as described above with reference to FIG. 1B, is applied (block 1306). The charge balancing biasing operation includes a negative gate voltage pulse having a length on the order of 10 to 100 milliseconds, and for example about 50 milliseconds. Such a pulse tends to balance the charge distribution in the memory cell and neutralize trapped holes, and is sufficient to improve the endurance and reliability the memory cell, as described above. After the charge balancing biasing operation, an erase verify operation is repeated (block 1307). If the memory cell does not pass verify, then the algorithm loops to block 1303, increments the index n and retries or fails depending on whether the maximum number of retries has been attempted. If at block 1307, the algorithm passes, then the erase procedure is finished (block 1308). In FIG. 14, an erase procedure is initiated by an erase command (block 1400). Heuristically at this point, an index n is set to zero for use in the erase procedure. The erase command in some implementations corresponds with a “flash” sector erase operation typical for flash memory devices in the art. In response to the erase command, a biasing procedure is instituted. In this example, after the erase command, a charge balancing bias arrangement is applied which induces electron injection and electron ejection current as described above (block 1401). The charge balancing biasing operation includes a negative gate voltage pulse having a length on the order of 10 to 100 milliseconds, and for example about 50 milliseconds. This charge balancing bias arrangement tends to cause convergence of the amount of charge stored in the memory cells in the sector on the target threshold while balancing the distribution of charge. In other embodiments, the charge balancing bias arrangement includes a negative gate voltage pulse having a length on the order of 500 to 1000 milliseconds, in order to achieve, or nearly achieve, the equilibrium state in trapped charge during each erase cycle. The pulse length for the negative gate voltage pulse is chosen according to the embodiment of the memory array, the timing budget allowed for the sector erase procedure, the length of the hot hole injection bias arrangement applied and other factors. The next operation in the biasing procedure is to apply a bias arrangement that induces hot hole injection in the sector of memory cells (block 1402). For example, wordlines in the sector are biased with about −3 to −7 volts, bit lines coupled to the drains of the memory cells are biased with about +3 to +7 volts, and the source lines coupled to the sources of the memory cells in the sector are biased with ground, while the substrate region in which the memory cell channels are formed is grounded. This induces hot hole injection on the side of the charge trapping structure adjacent the drain terminal for the memory cells in the sector being erased. Because of the previous charge balancing bias arrangement of block 1401, a more uniform result is achieved by the hot hole injection bias arrangement. After applying the hot hole injection bias arrangement, a state machine or other logic determines whether the erase operation has been successful for each cell in the sector by performing an erase verify operation. Thus, in the next step, the algorithm determines whether the memory cells passed the verify operation (block 1403). If the cell does not pass verify, then the index n is incremented (block 1404), and the algorithm determines whether the index has reached a pre-specified maximum number N of retries (block 1405). If the maximum number of retries has been executed without passing verify, then the procedure fails (block 1406). If the maximum number of retries has not been executed at block 1405, then the procedure returns to block 1402 to retry the hot hole injection bias arrangement. If at block 1403, the memory cell passes verify, then a second charge balancing bias arrangement, which simultaneously causes electron injection and electron ejection current as described above is applied (block 1407). The charge balancing biasing operation includes a negative gate voltage pulse having a length on the order of 10 to 100 milliseconds, and for example about 50 milliseconds. Such a pulse tends to balance the charge distribution in the memory cell and neutralize trapped holes, and is sufficient to improve the endurance and reliability of the memory cell, as described above. In some embodiments of the technology, the second charge balancing arrangement of block 1407 is not utilized. The pulse lengths in the charge balancing biasing operation of block 1401 and the charge balancing biasing operation of 1407 might be shorter than in embodiments where only one charge balancing biasing operation is applied. After the charge balancing biasing operation at block 1407, an erase verify operation is repeated (block 1408). If the memory cell does not pass verify, then the algorithm loops to block 1404, increments the index n and retries or fails depending on whether the maximum number of retries has been attempted. If at block 1408, the algorithm passes, then the erase procedure is finished (block 1409). FIG. 15 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, where the time is the length of time that a negative-gate charge balancing bias pulse is applied to a low threshold cell, such as a fresh cell prior to program and erase cycling as illustrated for example in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The four traces including data points 1510 (hollow triangle), 1520 (solid triangle), 1530 (hollow dot) and 1540 (solid dot), compare the different rates of threshold convergence at various gate voltages. The memory cells for this experiment have L/W dimensions of=0.5 μm/0.38 μm, ONO (oxide-nitride-oxide) stack dimensions of 55 Å/60 Å/90 Å, and a p+ poly gate. Prior to any program and erase cycles, a negative-gate charge balancing pulse including a negative voltage on the gate while grounding the source, substrate, and drain, is applied. The data points 1510 correspond to applying −21 V to the gate; data points 1520 correspond to applying −20 V to the gate; data points 1530 correspond to applying −19 V to the gate; and data points 1540 correspond to applying −18 V to the gate. The threshold voltages of data points 1510, 1520, 1530, and 1540 all saturate towards a common convergence voltage 1505 of about 3.8 V. A higher magnitude of the negative gate voltage causes a faster saturation of the threshold voltage. With about −21 V on the gate, the threshold convergence is substantially completed with a pulse of about 0.1 to 1.0 seconds. Other embodiments apply a higher magnitude gate voltage to decrease time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or apply a lower magnitude gate voltage to increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage. Thicker dimensions of the ONO stack or a thicker bottom oxide would increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or require a higher magnitude of the negative gate voltage to saturate the threshold voltage in the same amount of time. Similarly, thinner dimensions of the ONO stack or a thinner bottom oxide would decrease the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or require a lower magnitude of the negative gate voltage to saturate the threshold voltage in the same amount of time. FIGS. 16 and 17 are graphs of threshold voltage versus time, and show the convergent behavior of the memory cell in response to a bias that changes a distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. The memory cells have L/W dimensions of=0.5 μm/0.38 μm. With regard to FIG. 16, the threshold voltages of memory cells that have not undergone any program and erase cycles are raised to varying degrees as indicated by starting threshold levels of the five traces 1610, 1620, 1630, 1640, and 1650, by adding different amounts of electrons via Fowler-Nordheim tunneling to the charge trapping layers. After adding these electrons, the memory cell of trace 1610 has a threshold voltage of about 5.3 V, the memory cell of trace 1620 has a threshold voltage of about 3.0 V, the memory cell of trace 1630 has a threshold voltage of about 2.4 V, the memory cell of trace 1640 has a threshold voltage of about 2.0 V, and the memory cell of trace 1650 has a threshold voltage of about 1.5 V. The graph illustrates the variation of the threshold voltages of these memory cells versus time as a negative voltage of −21 V is applied to the gate while grounding the source, substrate, and drain. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1610, 1620, 1630, 1640, and 1650 all converge towards a common convergence voltage of about 3.9 V after about 1 second of negative gate biasing to induce the charge balancing operation. With regard to FIG. 17, the threshold voltages of the memory cells of the four traces 1710, 1720, 1730 and 1740 are established by hot carrier charging including via channel hot electron injection and hot hole injection. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1710 is raised to about 4.9 V. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1720 is raised to about 4.4 V. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1730 is about 3.3 V. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1740 is about 3.1 V. The graph illustrates the variation of the threshold voltages of the memory cells of traces 1710, 1720, 1730, and 1740 versus time as a negative voltage of −21 V is applied to the gate while grounding the source, substrate, and drain. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1710, 1720, 1730, and 1740 all converge towards a common convergence voltage of about 3.7 V after about 1 second of negative gate FN biasing to induce the charge balancing operation. FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate that, despite the different types of charge movement involved that changed the threshold voltages of the memory cells to different values, application of the bias that is sufficient to induce electron injection current and electron ejection current, and that balances the distribution of charge, returns the threshold voltage of the memory cells to their convergence voltages, while reducing trapped holes and electrons that would otherwise make the cell hard to erase and unreliable. Other embodiments apply a higher magnitude gate voltage to decrease time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or apply a lower magnitude gate voltage to increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage. FIG. 18 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, and shows the convergent behavior for memory cells with different channel lengths. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1810 and 1820 have a channel length of 0.38 μm, and the memory cells corresponding to traces 1830 and 1840 have a channel length of 0.50 μm. The threshold voltages of the memory cells of traces 1820 and 1840 are raised via channel hot electrons added to the charge trapping structure. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1820 is raised to about 5.2 V. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of trace 1840 is raised to about 5.6 V. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1810 and 1830 have not undergone any program and erase cycles. The graph illustrates the variation of the threshold voltages of the memory cells of traces 1810, 1820, 1830, and 1840 versus time as a negative voltage of −21 V is applied to the gate while grounding the source, substrate, and drain. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1830 and 1840 saturate towards a common convergence voltage of about 3.8 V. The memory cells corresponding to traces 1810 and 1820 saturate towards a common convergence voltage of about 3.5 V. FIG. 18 illustrates that memory cells with the same channel length saturate towards a common convergence voltage in response to the application of the bias that changes the distribution of charge. FIG. 18 illustrates that memory cells with different channel lengths saturate towards different convergence voltages in response to the application of the bias that changes the distribution of charge. However the difference in channel length is not a primary contributor to the convergence voltage, so that variations in channel length across an array have negligible effect on the target threshold voltage distribution in the array. The channel roll-off effect, illustrated for example at 1850, is responsible for memory cells with shorter channel lengths having lower threshold voltages and lower convergence voltages. Thus, scaling a memory cell's channel length to smaller dimensions will lower the threshold voltage and convergence voltage of the memory cell in response to the application of the bias that changes the distribution of charge. Similarly, scaling a memory cell's channel length to higher dimensions will raise the threshold voltage and convergence voltage of the memory cell in response to the application of the bias that changes the distribution of charge. Other embodiments apply a higher magnitude gate voltage to decrease time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or apply a lower magnitude gate voltage to increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage. Also, changes in the target convergence threshold can be made by selecting gate materials with different work finction, where higher work finction materials tend to lower the convergence threshold. Also, changes in the convergence threshold can be made by selecting the top oxide and bottom oxide materials to favor tunneling in one of the top and bottom oxides, where favoring tunneling in the top oxide tends to reduce the convergence threshold, and visa versa. FIGS. 19 and 20 together show the effectiveness of a bias that balances distribution of charge in maintaining threshold voltages that are achievable in a memory cell. FIG. 19 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles for a multi-bit memory cell with regular changes in the distribution of charge. The first bit is programmed, and in trace 1910 (solid dots) the first bit is read and in trace 1920 (hollow dots) the second bit is read. The second bit is programmed, and in trace 1930 (solid triangles) the first bit is read and in trace 1940 (hollow triangles) the second bit is read. In trace 1950 (solid squares) , the first bit is erased and read. In trace 1960 (hollow squares), the second bit is erased and read. When a bit is programmed, for 1 microsecond the gate voltage is 11.5 V, one of the drain voltage/source voltage is 5 V, the other of the drain voltage/source voltage is 0 V, and the substrate is −2.5 V. While programming, CHannel Initiated Secondary Electron (CHISEL) movement occurs into the charge trapping structure. When a bit is erased, for 1 millisecond the gate voltage is −1.8 V, one of the drain voltage/source voltage is 6 V, the other of the drain voltage/source voltage is 0 V, and the substrate is 0 V. While erasing, movement of hot holes occurs into the charge trapping structure. During the erase cycle, a negative gate bias that tends to balance the charge in the charge trapping layer is applied to the memory for a 50 milliseconds pulse with a gate voltage of −21 V and grounded source, drain, and substrate. As can be seen, the threshold voltages are maintained within a good distribution for about 100,000 P/E cycles. FIG. 20 is a graph of threshold voltage versus the number of program and erase cycles for a multi-bit memory cell, similar to FIG. 19. However, unlike FIG. 19, a negative gate FN bias that changes the distribution of charge is not applied to the memory cell during the erase cycle. As a result, interference from charge in the charge trapping structure increases over the number of program and erase cycles, increasing the threshold voltage over the number of program and erase cycles. The first bit is programmed, and in trace 2010 (solid dots) the first bit is read and in trace 2020 (hollow dots) the second bit is read. The second bit is programmed, and in trace 2030 (solid triangles) the first bit is read and in trace 2040 (hollow triangles) the second bit is read. In trace 2050 (solid squares) , the first bit is erased and read. In trace 2060 (hollow squares), the second bit is erased and read. In less than 10 program and erase cycles, the threshold voltage following both erase and program operations is significantly raised, and after 500 program and erase cycles, the threshold voltage of the memory cell following an erase operation without the charge balancing operation described herein, is raised by more than 1 V. FIGS. 19 and 20 together show that applying a bias that tends to balance the distribution of charge in the memory cell reduces or eliminates the interference with the threshold voltage achievable in the memory cell following both erase and program operations. Other embodiments apply a higher magnitude gate voltage to decrease time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or apply a lower magnitude gate voltage to increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage. Other embodiments increase or decrease the duration of applying the negative gate voltage, to change the degree to which the threshold voltage approaches the convergence voltage. FIG. 21 is a graph of change in threshold voltage versus retention time, and contrasts memory cells with and without regular negative gate pulses applied that tend to balance the distribution of charge. The memory cell of traces 2110, 2120, 2130, and 2140 are all subjected to 10,000 program and erase cycles. However, during the erase cycles of the memory cells of traces 2110 and 2120, collectively referred to as traces 2125, a negative gate pulse is applied that changes the distribution of charge in the memory cell. For the memory cells of traces 2130 and 2140, collectively referred to as traces 2145, a negative gate pulse is not applied to the memory cell. Because a larger change in threshold represents worse data retention, the graph shows that the operation to balance the distribution of charge improves data retention of the memory cell. During the retention test, a negative gate voltage of −7 V is applied to the gate of the memory cells of traces 2110 and 2130, and a negative gate voltage of −9 V is applied to the gate of the memory cells of traces 2120 and 2140. Due to increased voltage stress, between traces 2125, the memory cell of trace 2120 experiences worse retention than the memory cell of trace 2110; also, between traces 2145, the memory cell of trace 2140 experiences worse retention than the memory cell of trace 2130. FIG. 22 is a simplified diagram of a charge trapping memory cell with a hybrid bias erase procedure, that lowers the threshold voltage of the memory cell by a combination of hot hole injection current and E-field assisted electron injection and ejection current, and balances the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer. The substrate includes n+ doped regions 2250 and 2260, and a p-doped region 2270 in the substrate between the n+-dopes regions 2250 and 2260. The remainder of the memory cell includes an oxide structure 2240 on the substrate, a charge trapping structure 2230 on the oxide structure 2240, another oxide structure 2220 on the charge trapping structure 2230, and a gate 2210 on the oxide structure 2220. A potential of −21 V is placed on the gate 2210. A potential of 3 V is placed on the source 2250 and the drain 2260. The substrate 2270 is grounded. During this hybrid bias arrangement, multiple charge movements take place. In one charge movement, hot holes move from the source 2250 and the drain 2260 into the charge trapping structure 2230, thereby lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. In another charge movement, electrons 2233 move from the gate 2210 to the charge trapping structure 2230. In yet another charge movement, electrons 2273 move from the charge trapping structure 2230 to the source 2250, the substrate 2270, and the drain 2260. Both the movement of electrons 2233 from the gate 2210 to the charge trapping structure 2230 and the movement of electrons 2273 from the charge trapping structure 2230 to the source 2250, the substrate 2270, and the drain 2260 are instances of movement of electrons away from the gate. The potential voltages applied are varied as suited to a particular embodiment, considering dimension of the memory cell and the structure in the memory cell, the material utilized, the target threshold voltages and so on. As mentioned above the electron ejection current from the charge trapping layer to the substrate extends substantially across the length of the channel, and tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. The hot hole injection current from the substrate near the source and drain regions tends to increase the rate of change of the threshold of the cell, as compared to E-field assisted tunneling alone, so that a faster erase time is achieved. FIG. 23 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time, and compares memory cells with different hybrid biases. A negative gate charge balancing bias, with the source and drain at ground potential, is applied to the memory cell of trace 2310. A hybrid bias that simultaneously lowers the threshold voltage of the memory cell and tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer is applied to the memory cell of traces 2320, 2330, 2340, and 2350. For the memory cell of traces 2310, 2320, 2330, 2340, and 2350, a negative gate voltage of −21 V is applied to the gate and the substrate is grounded. In the memory cell of trace 2310, 0 V is applied to the source and drain. In the memory cell of trace 2320, 2.5 V is applied to the source and drain. In the memory cell of trace 2330, 3 V is applied to the source and drain. In the memory cell of trace 2340, 4 V is applied to the source and drain. In the memory cell of trace 2350, 5 V is applied to the source and drain. FIG. 23 shows that as greater voltages are applied to the source and drain, more holes move from the source and the drain into the charge trapping structure, lowering the threshold voltage more quickly. Thus the hybrid bias that induces hot hole injection current, electron injection current and electron ejection current in combination during the pulse can be used for a faster erase time using shorter erase pulses. Without the hot hole injection current, for example, a pulse on the order of 0.5 to 1.0 seconds is required to establish a threshold voltage convergence in the example cell of FIG. 23. With hot hole injection current, induced by 3 Volts applied symmetrically on the source and drain, the convergence occurs within about 1 to 50 milliseconds in the example cell of FIG. 23. Other embodiments apply a higher magnitude gate voltage to decrease time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage, or apply a lower magnitude gate voltage to increase the time required to saturate the threshold voltage to the convergence voltage. Other embodiments increase or decrease the duration of applying the negative gate voltage, to change the degree to which the threshold voltage approaches the convergence voltage. Other embodiments change the source and drain voltages to change the amount of time taken to lower the threshold voltage of the memory cell. FIGS. 24 and 25 illustrate representative processes for operating a charge trapping memory cell by changing, and tending to balance, the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer before and after lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. The representative process of FIG. 24 starts with a new cell 2410 that has not yet experienced any program and erase cycles. In 2420 and 2430, the memory cell is programmed and erased. In some embodiments, prior to the first program and erase cycle, an operation that tends to balance the charge distribution of the charge trapping layer is performed. In 2440, after the program and erase cycle, an operation that tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer is performed. Afterwards, the process repeats with another program and erase cycle. Thus, in the representative process of FIG. 24, an operation that tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer is performed after one program and erase cycle. In some embodiments, the operation that that tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer is performed after every program and erase cycle. The representative process of FIG. 23 is similar to that of FIG. 24. The representative process of FIG. 25 also starts with a new cell 2510 that has not yet experienced any program and erase cycles. However, the operation to change and tending to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer 2525 occurs between programming the memory cell 2520 and erasing the memory cell 2530, instead of after erasing the memory cell 2520. In some embodiments, prior to the first program and erase cycle, an operation to change and tending to balance the charge distribution of the charge trapping layer is performed. FIG. 26 illustrates a representative process for operating a charge trapping memory cell by applying a hybrid bias that simultaneously changes the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer while lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. The representative process of FIG. 26 also starts with a new cell 2610 that has not yet experienced any program and erase cycles. In 2620, the memory cell is programmed. In 2630, following the program operation, a hybrid bias is applied to the memory cell. The hybrid bias simultaneously lowers the threshold voltage of the memory cell and changes the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer. In some embodiments, prior to the first program and erase cycle, an operation to change the charge distribution of the charge trapping layer is performed. In some embodiments, parts of the representative processes of FIGS. 24, 25, and 26 are combined. In one embodiment, the distribution of charge in the memory cell is changed both prior to and after erasing the memory cell. In various embodiments, the hybrid bias is applied to the memory cell before or after erasing the memory cell. In yet another embodiment, the distribution of charge in the memory cell is changed both prior to and after applying the hybrid bias to the memory cell. A new erase method of charge trapping memory devices (such as NROM or SONOS devices) is proposed. The device is first “reset” by gate injection (−Vg) to an erase state. Programming can be done by many methods such as channel hot electrons (CHE), channel initiated secondary hot electron (CHISEL) injection, FN tunneling, pulse agitated substrate hot electron (PASHEI) or other procedures. Erase is carried out by band-to-band tunneling enhanced hot hole (BTBTHH) injection (such as typically used in NROM devices), negative FN tunneling as applied in SONOS devices, or otherwise, and applied as sector erase operation. During the sector erase operation, an additional channel erase operation (with negative gate voltage, positive substrate voltage, or a both) is applied, which channel erase operation tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. This channel erase method offers a self-convergent erase mechanism. It serves as a charge balancing method compensating for both the over-erase cell and for the hard-to-erase cell simultaneously. By means of this charge balancing technique, the distribution of the erase state target threshold voltage Vt can be tightened. Moreover, hole traps in the oxide or nitride can be neutralized by electrons ejected from the gate. Thus, the charge balancing method also reduces hot hole introduced damage to the memory cell. Therefore good endurance and reliability properties can be obtained by combining the charge balancing technology with the hot hole erase method. The charge balancing/erase operation can be applied in any time or arbitrary sequence during the sector erase operation to improve the erase performance. An alternative method is to turn on the junction bias slightly and introduce hot hole injection during channel erase, which means that the channel erase and hot hole erase happen simultaneously. The combination of hot hole erase and channel erase offers improved P/E window and reliability properties. The charge balancing/erase method described herein can be applied to NROM-like devices with bottom oxides thick enough to deter charge leakage. The charge balancing/erase characteristic shows a consistent trend with respect to various channel lengths which had only initial Vt difference due to the Vt roll-off effect. Since the negative gate FN channel tunneling used for the charge balancing operation is a one-dimensional tunneling mechanism, and substantially symmetrical across the channel, it does not depend on the size of lateral dimension of the cell. Thus, applying the charge balancing/erase method described herein, scalability in the critical dimensions and improved reliability and endurance are achieved for NROM-type devices. The technology is applied in combination with a program procedure, or other procedure adapted to establish a high threshold state in the memory cell, as illustrated in FIG. 27. The procedure includes re-fill operations, in which the cell is first biased to induce a high threshold state, and then a charge balancing pulse is applied tending to lower the threshold by causing ejection of electrons from shallow traps in the charge trapping structure, and then the charge trapping structure is “re-filled” with negative charge by a second pulse to induce electron injection into the charge trapping structure. In FIG. 27, a program procedure is initiated by a program command (block 2700). Heuristically at this point, an index n is set to zero for use in the program retry procedure, and an index m is set to zero for use in counting the refill procedure. The program command in some implementations corresponds with a byte operation typical for flash memory devices in the art. In response to the program command, a biasing procedure is instituted. In one embodiment, the first operation in the biasing procedure is to apply a bias arrangement that induces electron injection memory cells subject of the program operation (block 2701). For example, channel initiated secondary electron injection is induced in a first bias arrangement. This induces electron injection on one side of the charge trapping structure in the cells being programmed. After applying the electron injection bias arrangement, a state machine or other logic determines whether the program operation has been successful for each cell using a program verify operation. Thus, in the next step, the algorithm determines whether the memory cells passed the verify operation (block 2702). If the cell does not pass verify, then the index n is incremented (block 2703), and the algorithm determines whether the index has reached a pre-specified maximum number N of retries (block 2704). If the maximum number of retries has been executed without passing verify, then the procedure fails (block 2705). If the maximum number of retries has not been executed at block 2704, then the procedure returns to block 2701 to retry the electron injection bias arrangement. If at block 2702, the memory cell passes verify, then the algorithm determines whether the specified number of refill cycles has been executed by determining whether the index m has reached its maximum M (block 2706). If the index m is not equal to M, then a charge balancing pulse adapted for the refill algorithm, which causes electron ejection current favoring ejection of electrons in shallow traps first, and as described above with reference to FIG. 1B, is applied (block 2707). The charge balancing biasing operation includes a negative gate voltage pulse having a length less than about 10 milliseconds, and for example about 1 millisecond. Such a pulse tends to cause electrons in shallow energy traps to be ejected into the channel. Very little, if any, electron injection is induced because the cell has a relatively high concentration of negative charge during the re-fill cycle. After the charge balancing biasing operation, the algorithm increments the index m (block 2708), and returns two reapply the bias arrangement that induces electron injection at block 2701. If the memory cell has undergone the prespecified number of refill operations, then the algorithm is finished (block 2709). Embodiments of the technology include a charge balancing pulse as described with reference to FIG. 27 to be applied prior to any program and erase cycles on the device, or prior to a programming operation as described with reference to FIG. 27. Also, embodiments of the technology include executing the algorithm shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 11, and 24-26 described above including a re-fill procedure, such as that described with reference to FIG. 27, during the program operation. FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 are graphs showing data illustrating operation of the refill operation of FIG. 27, where the program bias arrangement induces channel initiated secondary electron CHISEL injection current. The data was generated by first performing a charge balancing pulse (gate voltage at −21 volts, with the drain, source and substrate at zero volts for about one second) on a NROM-like memory cell with a p-type polysilicon gate, to establish a threshold voltage of about 3.8 volts. Next, a number of refill cycles were applied. Each refill cycle included applying a bias arrangement causing CHISEL injection current to set the threshold of the memory cell to about 5.3 volts, followed by a short charge balancing pulse (gate voltage at −21 volts, with the drain, source and substrate at zero volts for about one (1) millisecond. FIG. 28 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time for five charge balancing pulses during the successive cycles of the refill operation. The threshold voltage after a first one millisecond charge balancing pulse on trace 2800 drops from about 5.3 volts to about 4.9 volts. In the next refill cycle on trace 2801, the threshold voltage after a second one millisecond charge balancing pulse drops from about 5.3 volts to about 5.1 volts. In the third refill cycle on trace 2802, the threshold voltage after a third one millisecond charge balancing pulse drops to about 5.3 volts to about 5.2 volts. In the fourth refill cycle on trace 2803, the threshold voltage drops after a fourth one millisecond charge balancing pulse to about 5.3 volts to about 5.22 volts. In the fifth refill cycle on trace 2804, the threshold voltage drops after a fifth one millisecond charge balancing pulse to about 5.3 volts to about 5.23 volts. FIG. 29 the graph of the same data shown in FIG. 28, illustrating the drop in threshold voltage for each is successive refill cycle. Thus, during a first refill cycle, the threshold voltage drops from about 5.3 volts to about 4.9 volts. In the second refill cycle, the threshold voltage drops to about 5.1 volts. By the fifth refill cycle, the threshold voltage change during the charge balancing pulse of the refill cycle begins to saturate because of the spectrum blue shift of the energy states of the trapped electrons, so that charge loss during the short charge balancing pulse decreases. FIG. 30 and FIG. 31 are graphs showing data illustrating operation of the refill operation of FIG. 27, where the program bias arrangement induces channel FN tunneling current with a positive gate voltage injection current. The data was generated by first performing a charge balancing pulse (gate voltage at −21 volts, with the drain, source and substrate at zero volts for about one second) on a NROM-like memory cell with a p-type polysilicon gate, to establish a threshold voltage of about 3.8 volts. Next, a number of refill cycles were applied. Each refill cycle included applying a bias arrangement causing channel FN tunneling current to set the threshold of the memory cell to about 5.3 volts, followed by a short charge balancing pulse (gate voltage at −21 volts, with the drain, source and substrate at zero volts for about four (4) milliseconds. FIG. 30 is a graph of threshold voltage versus time for five charge balancing pulses during the successive cycles of the refill operation. The threshold voltage after a first four millisecond charge balancing pulse on trace 2800 drops from about 5.3 volts to about 5.05 volts. In the next refill cycle on trace 2801, the threshold voltage after a second four millisecond charge balancing pulse drops from about 5.3 volts to about 5.16 volts. In the third refill cycle on trace 2802, the threshold voltage after a third four millisecond charge balancing pulse drops to about 5.3 volts to about 5.22 volts. In the fourth refill cycle on trace 2803, the threshold voltage drops after a fourth one millisecond charge balancing pulse to about 5.3 volts to about 5.22 volts. In the fifth refill cycle on trace 2804, the threshold voltage drops after a fifth one millisecond charge balancing pulse to about 5.3 volts to about 5.25 volts. FIG. 31 the graph of the same data shown in FIG. 31, illustrating the drop in threshold voltage for each is successive refill cycle. Thus, during a first refill cycle, the threshold voltage drops from about 5.3 volts to about 5.05 volts. In the second refill cycle, the threshold voltage drops to about 5.16 volts. By the fifth refill cycle, the threshold voltage change during the charge balancing pulse of the refill cycle begins to saturate because of the spectrum blue shift of the energy states of the trapped electrons, so that charge loss during the short charge balancing pulse decreases. FIG. 32 illustrates retention data for cells having the refill treatment and without the refill treatment. The data represents the performance of the device after experiencing 10,000 program and erase cycles, with the resulting hot hole damage. In a device without refill as illustrated on trace 3200, threshold loss exceeds 0.5 volts after baking time at about 150 degrees C., corresponds with about one million seconds of retention time. In a device with refill as illustrated on trace 3201, threshold loss is is less than 0.3 volts over the same baking time. FIG. 33 is a simplified energy level diagram for a charge trapping memory cell, which illustrates concepts related to the present technology. In that in the level diagram, a first region 3300 corresponds with the channel in the substrate. A second region 3301 corresponds with the bottom dielectric, typically comprising silicon dioxide. A third region 3302 corresponds with the charge trapping layer, typically comprising silicon nitride. A fourth region 3303 corresponds with the top dielectric, typically comprising silicon dioxide. A fifth region 3304 corresponds with the gate, comprising p-type polysilicon or other relatively high work finction material in embodiments of the present technology. As mentioned above, a relatively high work function material is used in the gate so that the injection barrier 3306 for an electron 3305 is higher than that for an n-type polysilicon gate with silicon dioxide top dielectric. The work function 3307 as illustrated in FIG. 33 corresponds with the amount of energy the to move an electron from the conduction band of the gate material to a free electron level. FIG. 33 also illustrates shallow and deep traps for electrons 3308 and 3309, respectively, in the charge trapping layer. A short charge balancing pulse as described above with reference to FIG. 27 tends to cause ejection of electrons 3308 in a shallow trap, before ejection of electrons 3309 in a deeper trap. Electrons 3309 in the deeper trap are more resistant to charge leakage and demonstrate better charge retention characteristics. For embodiments applying the refill operation, is preferred that the bottom oxide the greater than three nanometers thick to inhibit direct tunneling. Also, the materials for the top and bottom dielectrics can be other high dielectric constant materials, including for example Al2O3 and HfO2. Likewise, other materials can be utilized for the charge trapping structure. The negative charge balancing operation possesses a self-convergent threshold voltage property which maintains a stable distribution of threshold voltages over an array and over a large number of program and erase cycles. Furthermore, excellent reliability properties are achieved due to reduced hot hole damage in the bottom dielectric. While the present invention is disclosed by reference to the technology and examples detailed above, it is to be understood that these examples are intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense. It is contemplated that modifications and combinations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, which modifications and combinations will be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electrically programmable and erasable non-volatile memory, and more particularly to charge trapping memory with a bias arrangement, in addition to threshold voltage raising and lowering operations, that modifies the charge in the memory. 2. Description of Related Art Electrically programmable and erasable non-volatile memory technologies based on charge storage structures known as EEPROM and flash memory are used in a variety of modern applications. A number of memory cell structures are used for EEPROM and flash memory. As the dimensions of integrated circuits shrink, greater interest is arising for memory cell structures based on charge trapping dielectric layers, because of the scalability and simplicity of the manufacturing processes. Memory cell structures based on charge trapping dielectric layers include structures known by the industry names NROM, SONOS, and PHINES, for example. These memory cell structures store data by trapping charge in a charge trapping dielectric layer, such as silicon nitride. As negative charge is trapped, the threshold voltage of the memory cell increases. The threshold voltage of the memory cell is reduced by removing negative charge from the charge trapping layer. Conventional SONOS devices use ultra-thin bottom oxide, e.g. less than 3 nanometers, and a bias arrangement that causes direct tunneling for channel erase. Although the erase speed is fast using this technique, the charge retention is poor due to the charge leakage through ultra-thin bottom oxide. NROM devices use a relatively thick bottom oxide, e.g. greater than 3 nanometers, and typically about 5 to 9 nanometers, to prevent charge loss. Instead of direct tunneling, band-to-band tunneling induced hot hole injection BTBTHH can be used to erase the cell. However, the hot hole injection causes oxide damage, leading to charge loss in the high threshold cell and charge gain in the low threshold cell. Moreover, the erase time must be increased gradually during program and erase cycling due to the hard-to-erase accumulation of charge in the charge trapping structure. This accumulation of charge occurs because the hole injection point and electron injection point do not coincide with each other, and some electrons remain after the erase pulse. In addition, during the sector erase of an NROM flash memory device, the erase speed for each cell is different because of process variations (such as channel length variation). This difference in erase speed results in a large Vt distribution of the erase state, where some of the cells become hard to erase and some of them are over-erased. Thus the target threshold Vt window is closed after many program and erase cycles and poor endurance is observed. This phenomenon will become more serious when the technology keeps scaling down. In addition, charge trapping memory devices capture electrons in a charge trapping layer in both shallow and deep energy levels. Electrons trapped in shallow levels tend to de-trap faster than those electrons in deeper energy level traps. The shallow level electrons are a significant source of charge retention problems. In order to keep good charge retention, deeply trapped electrons are preferred. Thus, a need exists for a memory cell that can be programmed and erased many times, without suffering increasing the threshold voltage after the erase operation that renders the memory cell inoperable, and which demonstrates improved charge retention and reliability. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A method of operating a memory cell, and an architecture for an integrated circuit including such a memory cell, are provided having improved endurance and reliability. A charge balancing operation for charge trapping-type memory cells is described. This charge balancing operation includes a bias arrangement inducing E-field assisted electron ejection from the gate to the channel and/or direct tunneling of holes for embodiments with thin bottom dielectrics, balanced by E-field assisted electron injection from the gate to the charge trapping structure, including applying a negative gate voltage relative to the substrate (either by applying a −V G or a positive substrate voltage +V SUB , or a combination of −V G and +V SUB ), with ground or a low positive voltage applied to the source and drain. The voltage across from the gate to the substrate in the channel of the memory cell in order to accomplish the charge balancing operation of the present invention in practical time limits is higher than about −0.7 V/nanometer and in examples described below about −1.0 V/nanometer. Thus, for a memory cell having a gate electrode, a top oxide layer, a charge trapping layer and a bottom oxide layer over a channel, the gate to substrate bias for the charge balancing operation is equal to about the effective oxide thickness of the combination of the top dielectric, charge trapping dielectric and bottom dielectric in nanometers, times about −0.7 to −1.1 V/nanometer. During the charge balancing operation, gate injection and electron de-trapping could occur in a manner that tends to establish a dynamic balance or equilibrium state. The gate injected electrons can neutralize hole traps left after a hot hole erase. Therefore, the charge balancing operation offers a strong “electrical annealing” to minimize the damage induced from hot hole injection. Reliability tests also show that this charge balancing operation greatly reduces the charge loss after a large number of program and erase P/E cycles. A method according to the described technology, comprises lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement, raising the threshold voltage of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement, and applying to the gate of the memory cell a third bias arrangement, such as a charge balancing pulse, in association with one of the first and second bias arrangements. The third bias arrangement can be considered to cause a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons. If the gate has a negative voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the gate to the charge trapping structure (electron gate injection) and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the substrate (electron ejection to the channel). If the gate has a positive voltage relative to the substrate, the first movement of electrons is from the substrate to the charge trapping structure and the second movement of electrons is from the charge trapping structure to the gate. The rate of the first movement of electrons decreases as the threshold voltage increases, or increases as the threshold voltage decreases. The rate of the second movement of electrons increases as the threshold voltage increases, or decreases as the threshold voltage decreases. These movements of electrons cause the threshold voltage to converge toward a target threshold. The technology also includes a bias arrangement which tends to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping layer, when the threshold voltage nears the target threshold, substantially across the length of the channel of the memory cell, as opposed to concentrating the charge on one side of the channel or the other. Another aspect of the present invention provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to lower the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, logic to raise the threshold voltage via a second bias arrangement, and logic applying a third bias arrangement. The third bias arrangement causes a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons causing the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage via a first bias arrangement, and logic responding to a command to lower the threshold voltage by applying a second bias arrangement and a third bias arrangement. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement causes a first movement of electrons and a second movement of electrons causing the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to apply a first bias arrangement. The first bias arrangement causes a movement of holes, a first movement of electrons, and a second movement of electrons. In the movement of holes, holes move to the charge trapping structure, lowering the threshold voltage of the memory cell. Due to the movements of charge, the threshold voltage converges toward a convergence voltage. In some embodiments, the third bias arrangement removes holes from the charge trapping structure. For example, a movement of electrons into the charge trapping structure will result in the recombination of trapped holes with electrons moving to the charge trapping structure. In some embodiments, the charge balancing bias arrangement is applied to add a balanced charge to the charge trapping structure prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. For example, the addition of electrons raises the threshold voltage of the memory cell prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. In one embodiment, this raised threshold voltage prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage is lower than the minimum threshold voltage achievable via the first bias arrangement and second bias arrangement. In another embodiment, this raised threshold voltage prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage is lower than the program verify voltage and the erase verify voltage of the memory cell. Embodiments of the technology described herein include an operating method for memory cell comprising a charge trapping structure. The method includes lowering the threshold of the memory cell via a first bias arrangement in raising the threshold of the memory cell via a second bias arrangement. After an interval of time in which a plurality of threshold voltage raising and lowering cycles occurs or is likely to occur, a third bias arrangement is applied pending to balance the distribution of charge of the charge trapping structure. When applied at intervals, the charge balancing operation includes a relatively long pulse (such as one second in embodiments described below), so that the memory cells achieve equilibrium state, or nearly achieve equilibrium state. The interval of time between charge balancing operations that include applying the third bias arrangement, is determined in a variety of manners as suits the particular implementation. For example, interval can be determined using a timer, causing a charge balancing operation in regular periods of time. Alternatively, interval can be determined using a counter for program an erase cycles. Alternatively, the interval can be determined using other factors indicating the lapse of time during operation of the device, including power on and power off events in the like. Embodiments of the technology include a method of operating a memory cell that comprises applying a first procedure (typically erase) to establish a low threshold state including a first bias arrangement causing reduction in negative charge in the charge trapping structure, and a second bias arrangement tending to the induce balanced charge tunneling between the gate and the charge trapping structure and between the charge trapping structure in the channel. A second procedure (typically program) is used to establish a high threshold state in the memory cell, including a third bias arrangement that causes an increase in negative charge in the charge trapping structure. In embodiments applying a charge balancing pulse during a procedure for establishing a low threshold state, the charge balancing pulse may not be long enough to achieve equilibrium state, but rather long enough (50 to 100 milliseconds in embodiments described below) to cause some tightening in the threshold, and balancing of charge in the charge trapping structure. A charge balancing and erase technique described herein can be performed in any sequence, for example in a sequence that starts in response to an erase command that starts an erase operation, such as a sector erase. By applying the charge balancing operation as part of an erase procedure, the operation can be applied using shorter intervals of charge balancing pulses, which do not necessarily achieve the equilibrium state, but rather tend to balance the distribution of charge in the charge trapping structure. For example, a relatively short charge balancing pulse can be applied before the erase, where the charge balancing pulse will tend to cause greater electron ejection current due to the negative charge in the charge trapping structure prior to the hot hole injection, to tighten the erase state Vt distribution, making erase easier. Alternatively, a relatively short charge balancing pulse can be applied after the erase, where the charge balancing pulse will tend to cause greater electron injection because of the more positive charge in the charge balancing structure, to neutralize the hole traps and improve the charge retention. For NROM-like flash memory devices, sector erase is performed by hot hole erase procedures. In combination with the hot hole erase procedure, an additional charge balancing operation is applied in embodiments of the technology described. Since the charge balancing operation has self-convergent properties, it helps to raise the threshold voltage of the over-erased cell and decrease the threshold voltage of the hard-to-erase cell. Also, tightening of the distribution of the target threshold voltage for the low threshold state across an array of memory cells can be accomplished using the charge balancing operation. For SONOS-type memory cells, FN tunneling is used for erase procedures, in combination with the charge balancing pulse. An alternative method to combine the charge balancing and hot hole erase is to turn on the junction bias on the source and drain slightly during a negative gate voltage bias arrangement for charge balancing. In this situation, hot hole injection, gate injection and electron de-trapping happen simultaneously. This hybrid erase method also shows good endurance and better reliability properties than that of the conventional hot hole erase method. Smart erase algorithms are suggested by the present technology. The user can design a suitable sequence of charge balancing and erase to obtain good endurance and reliability. The charge balancing operation based on negative gate tunneling is used in combination with hot hole injection or other bias arrangements, to achieve better erase-state threshold voltage control, and acceptable erase speed. The charge balancing/hot hole erase can converge the threshold voltage for the over-erased cell and the hard-to-erase cell simultaneously. The charge balancing operation can serve as an electrical annealing step to neutralize hole traps, and thus greatly improve device reliability. The charge balancing method and erase method can be combined in any sequence during the erase operation, or they can be turned on simultaneously. Another method embodiment also applies multiple bias arrangements. Via a first bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is raised. In response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the second bias arrangement and the third bias arrangement are applied. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement comprises a charge balancing pulse, which causes the threshold voltage to converge toward a convergence voltage. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied after the second bias arrangement. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied before the second bias arrangement. In some embodiments, in response to a command to lower the threshold voltage, the third bias arrangement is applied both before and after the second bias arrangement. In yet other embodiments, the charge balancing third bias arrangement is applied at the same time as, and in combination with the second bias arrangement. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage (program) via a first bias arrangement, and logic responding to a command to lower the threshold voltage (erase) by applying a second bias arrangement and a third bias arrangement. Via the second bias arrangement, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is lowered. The third bias arrangement causes a balancing of charge movement so that the threshold voltage converges toward a target threshold. In some embodiments, the charge balancing bias arrangement is applied to add charge to the charge trapping structure prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. For example, the addition of electrons in a balanced distribution in the charge trapping structure of the cell raises the threshold voltage of the memory cell prior to any cycles of raising and lowering the threshold voltage. A programming algorithm according to embodiments of the technology includes a refill cycle to alter the electron trapping spectrum in the charge trapping structure of the memory devices. A refill cycle includes applying a bias arrangement to increase the negative charge in the charge trapping structure followed by a short charge balancing pulse tending to cause ejection electrons from shallow traps in the charge trapping structure, and repeating them bias arrangement to increase the negative charge in the charge trapping structure. One or more of the refill cycles is applied to increase the relative concentration of electrons in deeper traps in the charge trapping structure, and to maintain the high threshold state which is the target of the program operation. The shallow level electrons tend to de-trap faster than the deeper level electrons. After the charge balancing pulse, the threshold voltage drops a little, and a reprogram or “refill” of charge is applied to return the device to the original program verify threshold level. Repeated charge balance/refill processes result in a shift of the trapping spectrum towards deep level electrons. This phenomenon is called “spectrum blue shift”. The refill processes can greatly improve charge retention, even for devices strongly damaged by large numbers of program and erase cycles. Therefore, the refill process provides an effective operation to improve charge retention in charge trapping memory devices. Furthermore, with the refill method, thinner dielectric layers can be utilized for the bottom dielectric, charge trapping structure and top dielectric without charge loss. Thinner dielectric layers may help scale device sizes downward for charge trapping memory devices. Another embodiment provides an integrated circuit with a substrate, memory cells on the substrate, and controller circuitry coupled to the memory cells. Each memory cell has a threshold voltage and comprises a charge trapping structure, a gate, and source and drain regions in the substrate. The controller circuitry includes logic to raise the threshold voltage (program) via a refill procedure as described above. The target threshold of the charge balancing operation depends on a number of factors, including the relative amounts of charge tunneling from the gate to the charge trapping structure through the top dielectric, and from the charge trapping structure to the channel through the bottom dielectric. For a lower target threshold, injection current by electron tunneling from the gate to the charge trapping structure is reduced relative to ejection current by electron tunneling from the charge trapping structure to the channel. The reduction is achieved in embodiments of the technology by inhibiting tunneling in the top dielectric by using a gate material having a relatively high work function. Other aspects and advantages of the technology presented herein can be understood with reference to the figures, the detailed description and the claims, which follow. | 20040624 | 20061107 | 20051027 | 66087.0 | 0 | LE, TOAN K | OPERATION SCHEME WITH CHARGE BALANCING FOR CHARGE TRAPPING NON-VOLATILE MEMORY | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,823 | ACCEPTED | Method of controlling access to resources of a radiocommunication network and base station for implementing the method | A radio terminal is organized to send a first access signal then, when it receives a positive acknowledgement from a base station, a second access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station. At a base station, the first access signal sent by a radio terminal is received and the communication service requested by the terminal is detected therein. In conditional manner, depending on the detected communication service, a receive power of the first access signal is measured, the measured receive power is compared with a threshold, and the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal is inhibited, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. | 1. Method of controlling access of at least one radio terminal to resources of a radiocommunication network to implement a communication service, the radiocommunication network comprising at least one base station, the radio terminal being organized to send a first access signal then, when it receives a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal from a base station, a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station, the method comprising the following steps: /a/ receiving at a base station the first access signal sent by a radio terminal; /b/ detecting, from the first access signal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; and comprising at least some of the following steps, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected: /c/ measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /d/ comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /e/ inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. 2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the first access signal and the second access signal are respectively a preamble and a main portion of one and the same access signal. 3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the inhibition of the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal consists at least in the transmission of a negative acknowledgement to the radio terminal. 4. Method according to claim 1, wherein at least step /e/ is not executed if the detected communication service is an emergency call. 5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along a partition of a partitioned random access channel, the said partition depending on the requested communication service, in which each partition of the random access channel is characterized by a set of respective access parameters, such as a transmit sub-channel of the random access channel and a signature contained in the first access signal. 6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along a partition of the random access channel, based on a correspondence between at least the partitions of the random access channel and the requested communication service, the said correspondence being deduced from information broadcast by the base station. 7. Method according to claim 5, wherein the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along an identified partition of the random access channel, when the requested communication service is an emergency call. 8. Method according to claim 5, wherein detection of the requested communication service comprises a detection of the partition of the random access channel along which the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal. 9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the threshold with which the measured receive power is compared depends on the detected partition of the random access channel along which the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal. 10. Base station of a radiocommunication network, comprising means for receiving and positively acknowledging a first access signal from a radio terminal requesting a communication service, and means for receiving a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station, the base station also comprising: /a/ means for detecting, based on a first access signal received from a radio terminal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; /b/ means for measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /c/ means for comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /d/ means for inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold, at least some of the means /b/, /c/, /d/ being implemented, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected by the means /a/. 11. Base station according to claim 10, wherein the first access signal and the second access signal are respectively a preamble and a main portion of one and the same access signal. 12. Base station according to claim 10, wherein the means for inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal comprise means for transmitting a negative acknowledgement to the radio terminal. 13. Base station according to claim 10, wherein at least the means /d/ are not activated if the detected communication service is an emergency call. 14. Base station according to claim 10, wherein the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along a partition of a partitioned random access channel, the said partition depending on the requested communication service, in which each partition of the random access channel is characterized by a set of respective access parameters, such as a transmission sub-channel of the random access channel and a signature contained in the first access signal, and in which the means for receiving the first access signal comprise means for detecting the said partition of the partitioned random access channel along which the first access signal is sent. 15. Base station according to claim 14, comprising means of broadcasting information, in which the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along a partition of the random access channel, based on a correspondence between at least the partitions of the random access channel and the requested communication service, the said correspondence being deduced from the information broadcast by the base station. 16. Base station according to claim 14, wherein the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal along an identified partition of the random access channel, when the requested communication service is an emergency call. 17. Base station according to claim 14, wherein the means for detecting the requested communication service comprise means for detecting the partition of the random access channel along which the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal. 18. Base station according to claim 17, wherein the threshold used by the means for comparing the measured receive power with a threshold depends on the partition detected by the means for detecting the partition of the random access channel along which the first access signal is sent by the radio terminal. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to radiocommunications with mobiles, and more particularly the methods of controlling access by mobile terminals to resources of a radiocommunication network. Many radiocommunication systems use methods of controlling transmit power in order to reduce the level of interference between the various communications. This power control has a particular importance in spread spectrum systems using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In these systems, several terminals can share the same frequency at every moment, the separation of the channels on the radio interface resulting from the quasi-orthogonality of the spread codes respectively applied to the signals sent over those channels. In other terms, for a given channel, the contributions of the other channels are seen as noise. In particular, on the uplink, transmit power control limits the transmit power of the mobiles close to a base station to prevent the signals that they send masking the signals originating from more distant mobiles. In general, the power control methods use loop power control: the base station takes measurements on the signal received from a mobile (power, signal-to-interferer ratio (C/I), etc.), and transmits commands to increase or reduce power on the downlink in order to tend towards a given quality objective. These methods cannot be used before a radio link is established between the base station and the mobile. In particular, they do not allow idle mobiles to determine the level of power at which they must send any random access requests. For UMTS (“Universal Mobile Telecommunications System”) systems, the transmit loop power controls on the uplink are described in technical specification 3G TS 25.401, version 3.3.0, published in June 2000 by the 3GPP (“3rd Generation Partnership Project”), pages 20-21. For the power of the first signals sent by a mobile terminal to a base station, particularly for a new communication, these loop power controls are not operational, because the base station has not received the previous signal from the mobile terminal allowing it to take the required measurements. The mobile terminal then estimates the power of these first signals according to another procedure based on the attenuation of the signals sent by the base station and received by the mobile terminal. The base station broadcasts a beacon signal indicating the power at which it has sent it. The receipt of these beacon signals allows the idle mobile to determine the resources used by the base station with which the link is the best (cell selection) and to evaluate the attenuation of the signal from that station. From this it deduces an initial power for transmission of the radio signals to the selected base station, the power equalling the degree of attenuation. In certain circumstances, particularly when the mobile terminal is very close to the receive antenna of the base station, the result of this estimate may be a very low transmit power. Such is the case for example of a call from a maintenance agent working on the base station itself and using his radio terminal. Now a radio terminal, due to its construction, has a minimal radio transmit power below which it is not capable of transmitting. Technical specification 3G TS 25.101, version 3.6.0, published in March 2001 by the 3GPP, recommends a minimal transmit power by UMTS mobile terminals of −50 dBm (section 6.4.3, page 13). If the transmit power estimated for the random access request is below this minimal power, the mobile terminal sends the random access request with its minimal transmit power (see technical specification 3G TS 25.214, version 5.4.0, published by the 3GPP in March 2003, section 6.1). If this transmit power is clearly greater than the power estimated from the attenuation measurements, this transmission risks generating significant noise for the other radio signals received by the base station and therefore damaging the quality of transmission of the communications in progress to which these other signals belong. To limit this effect, WO 99/65158 proposes that, when a mobile terminal is too close to a base station, this base station transmits a “first command” to the said mobile terminal, making it enter a degraded operation mode, in order to prevent that terminal harming the communications of other mobile terminals. This “first command” may in particular be generated after an access request and be transmitted instead of the channel allocation. The effect of this command may be to inhibit or delay the establishment of a link between the mobile terminal and the base station in question. This solution inhibits the procedure of establishing a communication. This inhibition is performed systematically when the mobile terminal is considered too close to the base station, without consideration of the type of service envisaged. In particular, if the mobile terminal requests a specific communication service while being close to a base station, for example if it attempts to make an emergency call, this call risks being impossible due to it being inhibited during the establishment procedure. Now, for obvious reasons, it is desirable that certain communications such as emergency calls can be made in all circumstances. WO 02/098017 proposes to inhibit the transmission of network access signals by a mobile terminal when the difference between its minimal transmit power and the estimated initial transmit power exceeds a predefined threshold, that is to say when the mobile terminal is too close to a base station of the access network. This manner of proceeding can be used to deal easily with the problem of emergency calls since the terminal can itself override the inhibition of the access signals when it knows that it is in the process of requesting an emergency call. But since this solution is not standardized, it will in practice be applied only by a small proportion of the population of terminals in circulation. Now the inhibition of network access requests from a terminal too close to a base station essentially benefits the other terminals situated in the cell, which suffer less interference. This observation is of the type that restrains recourse to this type of precaution, despite its value for the network user community. An object of the present invention is to restrict these disadvantages in particular by avoiding systematically inhibiting all call attempts without distinction for a mobile terminal too close to a base station of an access network, and to do this without counting on the mobile terminal itself. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus the invention proposes a method of controlling access of at least one radio terminal to resources of a radiocommunication network to implement a communication service, the radiocommunication network comprising at least one base station. The.radio terminal is organized to send a first access signal then, when it receives a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal from a base station, a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station. The method comprises the following steps: /a/ receiving at a base station the first access signal sent by a radio terminal; /b/ detecting, from the first access signal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; and at least some of the following steps, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected: /c/ measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /d/ comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /e/ inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. Such a method thus makes it possible to restrict the access attempts of terminals too close to a base station to a single transmission of a signal of short duration, for example the preamble of an access signal. only the terminals sufficiently distant from the base station, and therefore not likely to generate interference harmful to other communications, may continue their access attempt by transmitting the second and main access signal to the network. Specifically, the receive power of the first access signal gives a pertinent indication of the distance between the radio terminal and the base station in question. In addition, the processing of the access signals differs depending on the communication service requested, so that the indication relating to the distance separating the radio terminal and the base station is not taken into account for certain types of calls. In particular, emergency calls may not be subject to a discrimination measure as a function of the distance. The distinction between the communication services may be made by using partitions of a random access channel, which may take the form for example of a subchannel, that is to say a time-related selection of the random access channel and/or a signature contained in the first access signal. The correspondence between partitions of the random access channel and communication services may advantageously be deduced from information broadcast by the base station. The invention also proposes a base station of a radiocommunication network, comprising means for receiving and positively acknowledging a first access signal from a radio terminal requesting a communication service, and means for receiving a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station. The base station also comprises: /a/ means for detecting, based on a first access signal received from a radio terminal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; /b/ means for measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /c/ means for comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /d/ means for inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. At least some of the means /b/, /c/, /d/ are implemented, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected by the means /a/. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 represents two mobile terminals connected to a base station of a radiocommunication system; FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial block diagrams of a base station and a mobile terminal respectively; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the frame structure employed for the RACH and AICH physical channels in the UMTS system in FDD (“Frequency Division Duplex”) mode; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating schematically the steps used in one embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention is described here in its application to the radio access network of a cellular system of the UMTS type. This access network, called UTRAN (“UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network”) uses the CDMA technique. It comprises radio network controllers 5 called RNC which, via an interface Iub, drive network nodes called “node B”. Each node B comprises one or more base stations 1 each serving one or more cells. These base stations communicate by radio with mobile terminals 2, 3 called UE (“User Equipment”) via an interface Uu (see technical specification 3G TS 25.401, version 3.3.0). The mobile terminals may be relatively far from the base station or extremely close such as the mobile terminal 3 shown in FIG. 1. Each UE 2, 3 may be in several states of connection with the UTRAN, managed by a radio resource control protocol (RRC) implemented at the RNC and at the UE (see technical specification 3G TS 25.331, version 3.9.0, published in December 2001 by the 3GPP, section 9). In some of these states, the UE is actively connected to the radiocommunication system, that is to say in particular that it can send to the base station radio signals relating to a communication in progress. In these states, the loop power controls of the transmit power by the UE are operational. When the UE is powered up and in a selected cell without having any communication in progress with the UTRAN, it is in an idle state. The processes of initial selection and reselection of the cell are described in technical specification 3G TS 25.304, version 3.6.0 published in March 2001 by the 3GPP, section 5.2. In this idle state, after having selected a cell, the UE receives system information sent over a broadcast channel (BCH) by the base station of the selected cell (see technical specification 3G TS 25.331, version 3.9.0, section 8.1.1). This system information includes, amongst other things: the power of transmission (“Primary CPICH DL TX power”, in dBm) by the base station of a beacon signal on a primary pilot channel called the CPICH (“Common Pilot Channel”) (see technical specification 3G TS 25.331, version 3.9.0). The UE is capable, by subtracting the receive power of the CPICH (CPICH_RSCP) from this transmit power, of estimating the attenuation experienced on the propagation channel; two parameters called “UL interference” and “Constant Value” involved in the computation of an initial power of transmission by the UE (see technical specification 3G TS 25.331, version 3.9.0). FIG. 2 illustrates schematically the transmit portion of the base station 1. The data of the CPICH (see technical specification 3G TS 25.211, version 3.3.0, published in June 2000 by the 3GPP, section 5.3.3.1) are produced by a module 11 and amplified according to the transmit power, “Primary CPICH DL TX power”, specified by the RNC. The module 12 inserts the control information to be broadcast over the BCH in the physical channel intended to receive it, called P-CCPCH (“Primary Common Control Physical Channel”, see technical specification 3G TS 25.211, version 3.3.0, section 5.3.3.2) and applies the corresponding codings. This control information, received from the RNC on the BCH transport channel, comprises in particular the abovementioned system information. In general, the CPICH has a “channelization” code equal to 1, such that it is added directly to the contributions of the other channels multiplied by their respective “channelization” codes cch,1, cch,2, . . . , cch,n. Amongst these other channels, there are the various dedicated channels 13 active in the cell. The summed signal delivered by the adder 14 is multiplied by the scrambling code cscr of the cell, applied to the multiplier 15. The output from this multiplier 15 is connected to the radio stage 16 of the station which generates the radio signal transmitted by the antenna 17. To initialize a communication, or more generally to transmit information to the UTRAN in idle mode, the UE transmits to the selected base station a random access request signal on a common channel called the PRACH (“Physical Random Access Channel”). This random access procedure is executed by the physical layer (see technical specification 3G TS 25.214, version 5.4.0, section 6), under the control of the medium access control layer MAC (see technical specification 3G TS 25.321, version 3.4.0, published in June 2000 by the 3GPP, section 11.2.2) and of the RRC layer. The instances of the MAC and RRC protocols executed in the UE are respectively illustrated by the modules 19 and 20 in FIG. 3. The module 20 processes the system information decoded on the CCPCH by the receive portion 21 of the UE based on the radio signal captured by the antenna 22 and processed by the radio stage 23. The receiver 21 also measures the receive power on the CPICH (parameter CPICH_RSCP according to technical specification 3G TS 25.215, version 3.3.0, published in June 2000 by the 3GPP, section 5.1.1), expressed in dBm. Prior to the transmission of the random access request, the RRC module 20 of the UE estimates a transmit power PI of this request (“Preamble_Initial_Power”), on the basis of the last measurement of the receive power CPICH_RSCP and of the transmit power of the base station on the CPICH as indicated in the broadcast system information. This estimate is made as indicated in technical specification 3G TS 25.331, version 3.9.0, section 8.5.7: P I = Preamble_Initial _Power = Primary CPICH DL TX power - CPICH_RSCP + UL interference + Constant Value The recommended accuracy for this determination is ±9 dB to ±12 dB (technical specification 3G TS 25.101, version 3.6.0, page 12). For a UE 3 very close to the base station 1, this calculated transmit power value PI may be for example of the order of −70 dBm. Because of the characteristics of the radio portion 23 of the UE, the latter can transmit properly formatted radio signals only beyond a determined minimal power Pmin (for example −50 dBm). When PI<Pmin, the transmission portion 24 of the UE transmits the random access request on the PRACH channel with the power Pmin. The random access procedure is described in greater. detail below. FIG. 4 gives a schematic representation of the structure used for the PRACH channel. The latter comprises a repeated pattern of two sets of access slots: the first comprising the access slots numbered from 0 to 7 and the second the access slots numbered from 8 to 14. The two successive sets of access slots have a total duration of 2×10 ms or 20 ms. Furthermore, RACH subchannels are defined amongst the 15 access slots of the PRACH channel, on a basis of 12 access slots. The subchannel RACH i, where i is an integer between 0 and 11, consists in the corresponding uplink access slot of index i, and every 12th access slot following this slot, that is to say the access slots of index i+12. k modulo 15, where k is an integer (see technical specification 3G TS 25.214, version 5.4.0, published by the 3GPP in March 2003, section 6.1). A random access request is made consisting of two distinct signals which may be seen as two portions of one and the same access signal: a preamble and an access message (main portion of the signal), the latter being substantially larger than the preamble and therefore a longer transmission duration than that of the preamble (10 ms or 20 ms). The preamble comprises 256 repetitions of a code called the signature and denoted Ps(n), where n is an integer between 0 and 15. The signatures Ps(n) are Hadamard codes of 16 chips in length. The formulation of these codes may be found in section 4.3.3 of technical specification TS 25.213, version 3.7.0, published in December 2001 by the 3GPP. A random access request is therefore made by transmitting a signal corresponding to the preamble on one subchannel i of the PRACH channel (out of the 12 possible subchannels), denoted sc(i), and by using a signature Ps(n) (out of the 16 possible signature codes). These access parameters may be the subject of one pair of parameters characteristic of random access, out of all the possible pairs: (sc(i); Ps(n)), where 0≦i≦11 and 0≦n≦15, where i designates an RACH subchannel number and n a preamble signature index. Such a pair may be considered as one partition out of all the partitions constituting the PRACH channel. Furthermore, access service classes or ASC are defined in the UMTS system. Each ASC class corresponds to a set of partitions of the PRACH channel, that is to say of pairs (sc(i); Ps(n)) as defined above, where i is between a minimal value and a maximal value, within the limits indicated above. A cross-check is possible between the partitions of the PRACH and ASC classes such that one and the same pair (sc(i); Ps(n)) may correspond to several distinct ASC classes. It is assumed hereafter that there is at least one set of at least one pair (sc(i); Ps(n)) where imin,θ≦i≦imax,θ and nmin,θ≦n≦nmax,θ, such that this set corresponds only with a single access service class, denoted ASC(θ). Any random access procedure on the physical layer is initiated at the request of the MAC layer. It can be made only if the physical layer has received from the RRM layer a set of available signatures and the RACH subchannels available for each ASC class. In addition, the UMTS system comprises access classes which can be used to distinguish types of calls. These access classes are described in detail in 3GPP specification TS 22.011, version V3.7.0, paragraph 4 (p. 11 and 12). Sixteen access classes, numbered from 0 to 15, are defined in the UMTS standard. The standard access classes (AC), numbered from 0 to 9, correspond to the standard calls and are allocated to all the subscribers in order to obtain a uniform random distribution. Each subscriber is therefore assigned a standard access class, which is stored in his subscriber identity module, called the SIM/USIM module (“Universal Subscriber Identity Module”), which may where necessary be a card that is inserted in the terminal. In addition to this standard access class, certain subscribers have one or more access classes from the five access classes numbered from 11 to 15. Access class number 10 is, for its part, reserved for emergency calls. Furthermore, there is a correspondence, specific to each cell, between the ASC classes and the AC access classes (see paragraph 8.5.13 of 3GPP specification TS 25.331, version V3.9.0 published in December 2001 by the 3GPP). In the UMTS system, a single ASC class may be placed in correspondence with the standard access classes, while the other AC access classes may be placed individually in correspondence with an ASC class. In the rest of the description, it will be assumed that the class ASC(θ) is placed only in correspondence with a given access class. In an advantageous embodiment, this AC access class will be access class 10, reserved for emergency calls. As mentioned above, when the UE is in the idle mode, after having selected a cell, it receives system information transmitted on the BCH transmission channel by the base station covering the selected cell. This system information comprises, in addition to the abovementioned parameters, uplink access control information and information relating to the random access procedure on the physical layer. The uplink access control information comprises the AC access classes for which random access is authorized. The information relating to the random access procedure on the physical layer identifies the access slots and the signatures that it is allowed to use. This system information also includes the correspondence between the AC access classes and ASC classes for the cell. Furthermore, the random access procedure on the physical layer allows for the transmission by the UTRAN of an indicator of acknowledgement (“AI—Acquisition Indicator”) of the RACH preamble signature, sent by a mobile terminal. This acknowledgement is transmitted over the downlink common physical channel AICH (“Acquisition Indicator Channel”). It has a structure similar to that of the RACH preamble, since it uses a spread factor equal to 256 and a 16 chip sequence signature. The acknowledgement of the random access may be positive or negative. In one embodiment, an acknowledgement on the AICH channel using a signature identical to the RACH preamble signature is positive, whereas an acknowledgement using a signature inverted relative to the RACH preamble signature is negative. The AICH channel is, like the RACH subchannels, structured according to a pattern comprising 15 successive time slots, repeated every 20 ms, as illustrated in FIG. 4. It is synchronized on a primary pilot channel P-CPICH (“Primary Common Pilot Channel”) on which each base station of the node B concerned transmits a beacon signal (see technical specification 3G TS 25.211, published by the 3GPP, version 3.9.0, section 7). The P-CPICH channel serves specifically as a reference in phase with other physical channels, like the AICH channel. It is distinguished by a unique standardized “channelization” code (see technical specification 3G TS 25.213 published by the 3GPP, version 3.9.0, section 5.2). The downlink transmission of the acknowledgement may be initiated only at the beginning of the AICH access slot offset by τp-a chips (τp-a being a number determined as a function of the length of the message that follows the preamble) relative to the beginning of the access slot used for the uplink transmission of the random access preamble. This offset is illustrated in FIG. 4: the random access preamble is transmitted in access slot number 5 of the current frame of the PRACH uplink channel, whereas the acknowledgement is transmitted in the same numbered access slot (5) in the current frame of the downlink AICH channel. The two consecutive transmissions, indicated by the cross-hatching in FIG. 4, are offset in time by τp-a chips. Before making a random access to the base station 1, a UE 2, 3 takes account of the system information broadcast by the network. By taking this information into account, it can determine and store the correspondence between AC access classes and ASC access service classes specific to each cell of the access network (see technical specification 3G TS 25.331 published by the 3GPP, version 3.9.0, sections 10.3.6.55 and 10.3.6.1). The mobile terminal in particular stores a correspondence between the AC access class 10 reserved for emergency calls and an ASC class. This correspondence can be updated in the memory of the terminal if modifications appear in the information broadcast by the network. The UE then selects an ASC class according to the authorized access class that it is using for the call. During a standard call, the ASC class thus selected will be that which corresponds to the standard access classes (AC access classes from 0 to 9). As previously indicated, one or more authorized subsets of pairs {(sc(i); Ps(n))/imin,k≦i≦imax,k and nmin,k≦n≦nmax,k} of the RACH set of resources will correspond to the class ASC(k) thus selected. The random access attempt by the UE will therefore use resources of that set. On receipt of the access request, on the resources thus defined, the base station 1 finds the AC access class used for the service to be implemented, by dint of the correspondences established between, on the one hand, the random access resources and the ASC classes and, on the other hand, the ASC classes and the access classes and, provided that at least some of the correspondences between the elements are one-to-one. During an emergency call, the emergency access class will be used and the class ASC(θ) will be selected by the UE 2, 3. The corresponding random access will not be able to be made without using the resources of the subset θ of pairs {(sc(i); Ps(n))/imin,θ≦i≦imax,θ and nmin,θ≦n≦nmax,θ}. The base station 1 will receive the random access request and will be capable of recognizing the use of the subset θ of resource pairs, hence the selection of the class ASC (θ) and consequently the use of the emergency calls access class. In another embodiment, the assignment of the classes and the correspondence between the access resources on the one hand and the access classes and the access service classes on the other hand can be made such that the use of the access resources may allow the non-equivocal definition of types of communication services other than emergency calls, for example voice calls, data transmissions, etc. Furthermore, when the base station 1 receives a random access request on a partition of the PRACH channel, it is capable of calculating, in conventional manner, the receive power of the received signal corresponding to the preamble transmitted by a UE. It then compares this transmit power with a threshold, predetermined where necessary, to determine whether the UE in question is or is not too close to the base station. Specifically, the access signal sent by the UE 3 close to the base station 1 will have a receive power close to the transmit power PI of that signal, as mentioned above, since signal attenuation will be low on the short path to be covered by the corresponding radio waves. On the other hand, a UE 2 further away from the base station 1 will see the transmit power PI of the signal carrying its RACH preamble greatly attenuated on receipt of the signal by the base station 1. Thus, an adequate adjustment of the power threshold can be used to dissociate with a greater or lesser degree of severity the mobile terminals considered to be too close to the base station. When the UE attempting to access the network is considered to be too close to the base station (for example the UE 2, relative to the base station 1), the latter then inhibits the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the preamble sent by the UE on the AICH channel. This inhibition may consist in the transmission of a negative acknowledgement on the appropriate AICH resources (as described above). Such an inhibition has the effect of stopping the random access procedure at this stage. The access message constituting the second, and larger, portion of the random access request will then not be sent by the UE in question, thus avoiding generating an interference prejudicial to the communications in progress, particularly with the said base station. The interference is specifically limited to the noise generated by the transmission of a preamble, which may be considered weak in comparison with that which would be generated by the transmission of the access message which is larger in size than the preamble. According to the invention and as illustrated in FIG. 5, a base station, after having detected an access request (step 30), first determines the communication service that the UE is requesting. As described above, this step may advantageously consist in determining whether the requested communication is a conventional call or an emergency call (step 40). If it is a conventional call, it is determined whether the UE having sent the random access preamble may be considered to be too close to the base station (step 60), for example based on the result of a comparison between the receive power of the signal carrying the preamble and a threshold, as indicated above. If it is in the affirmative, the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the preamble will be inhibited (step 70) for example according to the embodiment described above, whereas this transmission will take place if the UE is not considered to be too close to the base station (step 50). Such a choice is not open when the base station has detected that the access attempt concerned an emergency call, for example according to the embodiment described above. In this case specifically, there is no search to ascertain whether the UE is close to the base station in question, that is to say whether the associated access request is likely to generate interference, so that the emergency call can be established in all cases. Thus, a positive acknowledgement of the preamble will be transmitted to the UE attempting access, even though the latter is particularly close to the base station (step 50). A signal carrying the access request message following transmission of the preamble will then be transmitted by the UE to the base station and the access procedure will be carried out to completion, to allow the establishment of a communication link suitable to support the emergency call. In a variant of the embodiment, the step 60 for estimating the proximity of the UE to the base station is carried out irrespective of the type of call to be implemented. On the other hand, the use of this estimate to inhibit where appropriate an acknowledgement of the access request will not be made unless the call is not an emergency call. This may be achieved for example by fixing different thresholds depending on the partitions of the PRACH channel. Thus, a very high power threshold may be fixed for the partition corresponding to emergency calls, such that the receive power of the access request by the base station is always less than this threshold and therefore the UE is always considered to be far from the base station. On the other hand, a lower threshold may be used for the other partitions of the PRACH channel to allow distinctive processing of access procedures depending on whether they are made by UEs close to or far from the base station. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to radiocommunications with mobiles, and more particularly the methods of controlling access by mobile terminals to resources of a radiocommunication network. Many radiocommunication systems use methods of controlling transmit power in order to reduce the level of interference between the various communications. This power control has a particular importance in spread spectrum systems using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In these systems, several terminals can share the same frequency at every moment, the separation of the channels on the radio interface resulting from the quasi-orthogonality of the spread codes respectively applied to the signals sent over those channels. In other terms, for a given channel, the contributions of the other channels are seen as noise. In particular, on the uplink, transmit power control limits the transmit power of the mobiles close to a base station to prevent the signals that they send masking the signals originating from more distant mobiles. In general, the power control methods use loop power control: the base station takes measurements on the signal received from a mobile (power, signal-to-interferer ratio (C/I), etc.), and transmits commands to increase or reduce power on the downlink in order to tend towards a given quality objective. These methods cannot be used before a radio link is established between the base station and the mobile. In particular, they do not allow idle mobiles to determine the level of power at which they must send any random access requests. For UMTS (“Universal Mobile Telecommunications System”) systems, the transmit loop power controls on the uplink are described in technical specification 3G TS 25.401, version 3.3.0, published in June 2000 by the 3GPP (“3rd Generation Partnership Project”), pages 20-21. For the power of the first signals sent by a mobile terminal to a base station, particularly for a new communication, these loop power controls are not operational, because the base station has not received the previous signal from the mobile terminal allowing it to take the required measurements. The mobile terminal then estimates the power of these first signals according to another procedure based on the attenuation of the signals sent by the base station and received by the mobile terminal. The base station broadcasts a beacon signal indicating the power at which it has sent it. The receipt of these beacon signals allows the idle mobile to determine the resources used by the base station with which the link is the best (cell selection) and to evaluate the attenuation of the signal from that station. From this it deduces an initial power for transmission of the radio signals to the selected base station, the power equalling the degree of attenuation. In certain circumstances, particularly when the mobile terminal is very close to the receive antenna of the base station, the result of this estimate may be a very low transmit power. Such is the case for example of a call from a maintenance agent working on the base station itself and using his radio terminal. Now a radio terminal, due to its construction, has a minimal radio transmit power below which it is not capable of transmitting. Technical specification 3G TS 25.101, version 3.6.0, published in March 2001 by the 3GPP, recommends a minimal transmit power by UMTS mobile terminals of −50 dBm (section 6.4.3, page 13). If the transmit power estimated for the random access request is below this minimal power, the mobile terminal sends the random access request with its minimal transmit power (see technical specification 3G TS 25.214, version 5.4.0, published by the 3GPP in March 2003, section 6.1). If this transmit power is clearly greater than the power estimated from the attenuation measurements, this transmission risks generating significant noise for the other radio signals received by the base station and therefore damaging the quality of transmission of the communications in progress to which these other signals belong. To limit this effect, WO 99/65158 proposes that, when a mobile terminal is too close to a base station, this base station transmits a “first command” to the said mobile terminal, making it enter a degraded operation mode, in order to prevent that terminal harming the communications of other mobile terminals. This “first command” may in particular be generated after an access request and be transmitted instead of the channel allocation. The effect of this command may be to inhibit or delay the establishment of a link between the mobile terminal and the base station in question. This solution inhibits the procedure of establishing a communication. This inhibition is performed systematically when the mobile terminal is considered too close to the base station, without consideration of the type of service envisaged. In particular, if the mobile terminal requests a specific communication service while being close to a base station, for example if it attempts to make an emergency call, this call risks being impossible due to it being inhibited during the establishment procedure. Now, for obvious reasons, it is desirable that certain communications such as emergency calls can be made in all circumstances. WO 02/098017 proposes to inhibit the transmission of network access signals by a mobile terminal when the difference between its minimal transmit power and the estimated initial transmit power exceeds a predefined threshold, that is to say when the mobile terminal is too close to a base station of the access network. This manner of proceeding can be used to deal easily with the problem of emergency calls since the terminal can itself override the inhibition of the access signals when it knows that it is in the process of requesting an emergency call. But since this solution is not standardized, it will in practice be applied only by a small proportion of the population of terminals in circulation. Now the inhibition of network access requests from a terminal too close to a base station essentially benefits the other terminals situated in the cell, which suffer less interference. This observation is of the type that restrains recourse to this type of precaution, despite its value for the network user community. An object of the present invention is to restrict these disadvantages in particular by avoiding systematically inhibiting all call attempts without distinction for a mobile terminal too close to a base station of an access network, and to do this without counting on the mobile terminal itself. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Thus the invention proposes a method of controlling access of at least one radio terminal to resources of a radiocommunication network to implement a communication service, the radiocommunication network comprising at least one base station. The.radio terminal is organized to send a first access signal then, when it receives a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal from a base station, a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station. The method comprises the following steps: /a/ receiving at a base station the first access signal sent by a radio terminal; /b/ detecting, from the first access signal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; and at least some of the following steps, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected: /c/ measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /d/ comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /e/ inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. Such a method thus makes it possible to restrict the access attempts of terminals too close to a base station to a single transmission of a signal of short duration, for example the preamble of an access signal. only the terminals sufficiently distant from the base station, and therefore not likely to generate interference harmful to other communications, may continue their access attempt by transmitting the second and main access signal to the network. Specifically, the receive power of the first access signal gives a pertinent indication of the distance between the radio terminal and the base station in question. In addition, the processing of the access signals differs depending on the communication service requested, so that the indication relating to the distance separating the radio terminal and the base station is not taken into account for certain types of calls. In particular, emergency calls may not be subject to a discrimination measure as a function of the distance. The distinction between the communication services may be made by using partitions of a random access channel, which may take the form for example of a subchannel, that is to say a time-related selection of the random access channel and/or a signature contained in the first access signal. The correspondence between partitions of the random access channel and communication services may advantageously be deduced from information broadcast by the base station. The invention also proposes a base station of a radiocommunication network, comprising means for receiving and positively acknowledging a first access signal from a radio terminal requesting a communication service, and means for receiving a second access signal substantially longer than the said first access signal, resources of the communication network being allocated to the radio terminal after receipt of the said second access signal at the base station. The base station also comprises: /a/ means for detecting, based on a first access signal received from a radio terminal, a communication service requested by the radio terminal; /b/ means for measuring a receive power of the first access signal; /c/ means for comparing the measured receive power with a threshold; and /d/ means for inhibiting the transmission of a positive acknowledgement of the first access signal to the radio terminal, when the measured receive power is greater than the said threshold. At least some of the means /b/, /c/, /d/ are implemented, in conditional manner, according to the communication service detected by the means /a/. | 20040624 | 20100126 | 20050203 | 91842.0 | 0 | MILLS, DONALD L | METHOD OF CONTROLLING ACCESS TO RESOURCES OF A RADIOCOMMUNICATION NETWORK AND BASE STATION FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,824 | ACCEPTED | Bundt cake container | A container (10) for holding a bundt cake (12), which avoids an unsightly accumulation of sugar frosting around the central hole in the cake, and which provides strength for stacking containers with cakes therein on top of one another. The container includes a base (14) with a cake-supporting surface (30) and a central upward projection (32) for insertion into the central cake hole, and a cover (16) with a cover top (20) and with side walls (22) that have bottoms (24) that latch to the base. The central upward projection has a plurality of largely vertically extending grooves (40) that allow hot frosting to flow down to a recess (44) lying below the cake-supporting surface. The middle of the cover forms a downwardly-extending post (62) that engages the top of the center projection on the base, to support the cover, especially when containers holding cakes are stacked. The cover periphery has a raised rim portion (80) that fits into a corresponding circular recess space (104) in the lower surface of the base to further help in stacking. | 1. A container for holding a cake that has a central vertical hole, which includes a base with a cake-supporting surface, with a rim portion and with a central upward projection that projects into the cake hole, and a cover that has a cover top that lies over a cake on the base and that has cover side walls that extend around a cake on the base and a cover side bottom that holds to the rim portion of the base, wherein: said central upward projection has a peripheral surface with a plurality of largely vertical grooves, to carry away frosting. 2. The container described in claim 1 wherein: said central upward projection has a projection top surface; said cover top has a middle that forms a downwardly-extending post part that lies against said central upward projection top surface, at least when a middle of said cover top is depressed, whereby to transfer force on said cover top to said central projection on said base. 3. The container described in claim 2 wherein: said central upward projection top surface has a depression, and said post part has a lower end that fits into said depression, to thereby prevent the post from slipping sideward. 4. The container described in claim 1 wherein: said base is formed of a sheet of formed plastic, and wherein, said central upward projection has upper and lower portions, said lower portion has sides extending at a first angle of about 100 to the vertical to aid in forming the base, and said upper portion extends at an angle to vertical that is a plurality of degrees greater than said first angle. 5. The container described in claim 1 wherein: said base has an upwardly-opening recess lying below the level of said cake-supporting surface, and said base has a lower surface with a peripheral portion that is raised above said recess and that has radially inner and outer walls to form an annular receiving space; said cover top has a raised periphery that fits closely in said receiving space, whereby to facilitate stacking. 6. The container described in claim 1 wherein: said grooves occupy more than half of the periphery of the central upward projection. 7. The container described in claim 1 wherein: said plurality of lands have adjacent lower portions that are spaced apart by no more than about 90°. 8. A container for holding a cake that has a central vertical hole, comprising: a base which comprises a piece of plastic that has been formed with a cake-supporting surface, a rim portion, and a central upward projection for projecting into the hole in the cake, said projection having a top surface; a cover which comprises a piece of plastic that has been formed with a primarily horizontal cover top wall and with cover side walls that have a bottom that holds to said rim portion; said cover top wall is formed with a post part that projects downward to lie against said top surface of said projection at least when the cover top wall is pushed down. 9. The container described in claim 8 wherein: said post part is formed by a depression in an upper surface of said cover top wall, said depression extending downward by a distance of at least one centimeter. 10. The container described in claim 8 wherein: said projection has a top with a depression therein, and said post part has a lower end that fits into said depression. 11. The container described in claim 8 wherein: said projection has a periphery with a plurality of largely vertically-extending grooves. 12. The container described in claim 8 wherein: said projection has a lower portion extending along most of the height of the projection and which is tapered so its sides extend at a first taper angle from the vertical, and said projection has an upper part of a height of at least one centimeter which is tapered so its sides extend at a second taper angle to the vertical that is at least twice said first taper angle. 13. A container for holding a cake or other food article, which includes a base with a vertical axis and an upper surface that forms a supporting surface and with a rim portion, and a cover that has a top that lies over a food article on the base and that has side walls that extend around the supporting surface, the side walls having a bottom that holds to the rim portion of the base, wherein: said cover top has an annular raised top rim portion with radially inner and outer cover rim walls; said base has a lower surface with an upwardly-extending annular recess that receives said raised top rim portion, said annular recess having radially inner and outer locating walls that lie adjacent to said inner and outer cover rim walls to fix the radial position of the base of one of said containers that is stacked on the cover of another of said containers. 14. The container described in claim 13 wherein: said base upper surface includes a band-shaped region and said base has inner and outer largely vertical band end walls lying at radially inner and outer sides of said band-shaped region said inner band wall forming said inner locating wall; said base has a wall portion that forms an annular slightly depressed region (92) lying radially outward of said band-shaped region, said outer locating wall lying radially outward of said slightly depressed region; said wall portion that forms an annular slightly depressed region has a lower surface that abuts the rim portion of a cover where raised top rim portion lies in said upwardly-extending annular recess. 15. The container described in claim 13 wherein: said cover top has a middle that forms a downwardly-extending post part that lies against a location on said base, at least when the cover middle is depressed, whereby to transfer force applied to said cover top to said base. 16. The container described in claim 13 wherein: said base has an upward central projection having a height of a plurality of centimeters for projecting up into the hole of a bundt cake, and said post part has a post part lower end that bears against an upper end said central projection. 17. The container described in claim 16 wherein: said central projection has a top surface with a top surface recess therein, and said post part fits into said top surface recess. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A bundt cake has a hole in the middle, which enables more even heating during baking. The cake may be baked by placing it on a conveyor belt that carries it though an oven at perhaps 300° F. As the cake emerges from the oven and has cooled to perhaps 100° F. to 120° F., the cake is sprayed with a largely sugar frosting and placed on a base with a base central projection inserted though the central hole in the cake. The hot frosting that is still flowable when the cake is placed on the base, tends to accumulate at the intersection of the top of the cake hole and the top of the central projection of the base. This accumulation tends to detract from the appearance of the cake, and it would be desirable to avoid it. Containers that hold bundt cakes are typically constructed of vacuum formed thin plastic sheet. When the cakes are baked and placed into the containers, the containers are typically stacked on one another. During transport and display, other food containers which may or may not be bundt cake containers, may be stacked on the bundt cake container. A bundt cake container which could support considerable weight without buckling, would be of value. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a bundt cake container is provided that avoids unsightly accumulation of frosting at the cake central hole, and which strengthens the container to support other containers stacked thereon. The central projection on the base of the bundt cake container, is formed so its periphery has a plurality of largely vertical grooves. Melted frosting that tends to accumulate at the cake hole, flows down along the grooves and into a recess in the base. The cover that surround a cake on the base, includes a cover top and a cover side with a bottom that latches to the base. The cover top is formed with a downwardly projecting post at its center, which extends down to near the top of the central projection on the base. If a weight is placed on the cover top, as when another container is placed on the cover top, and the cover top begins to deflect downwardly, the weight is transferred from the cover top through the post to the central projection on the base. The central projection has a recess that receives the bottom of the post, to assure that the post does not slide sidewardly off the central projection. The periphery of the cover forms an upward projection, and the periphery of the base bottom surface form a circular recess that receives the cover peripheral projection, to better stabilize a stack of containers. The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a bundt cake container, with the cover being shown in phantom lines. FIG. 2 is an isometric view of only the base of the container of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the base of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the base of FIG. 3, and showing a portion of a cover lying over the base, and also showing in phantom lies a portion of a cover lying under the base. FIG. 5 is a partial isometric view of the base of a bundt cake container of another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a partial isometric view of the central projection on the base of a bundt cake container of another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the central projection of FIG. 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a bundt cake container 10 of the present invention which is designed to hold a bundt cake 12, which is a cake that has a vertical hole through its center. A typical bundt cake with an outside diameter of 20 centimeters (8 inches) has a hole of a diameter of about 7.5 centimeters (3 inches). The hole enables more even baking of the cake. The container includes a base 14 that supports the cake and a cover 16 that surrounds the cake. The cover includes a cover top 20 that lies over the cake and cover side walls 22 that surround the cake. A bottom 24 of the cover side walls is connected to a rim 26 of the base. As shown in FIG. 2, the base has a cake-supporting surface 30 and has a central upward projection 32 that extends upward by perhaps 5 centimeters above the cake-supporting surface 30 and that lies closely within the bundt cake hole. During production of the cake, after it is baked and still hot (e.g. 110° F.), a flavored sugar coating or similar coating is sprayed onto the cake. Any type of cake coating is herein referred to as frosting. With the cake placed on the base 14, the frosting tends to flow and accumulate at the top of its central hole. In the past, this resulted in an uneven circle of accumulated frosting that detracted from the appearance of the bundt cake. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, applicant constructs the central projection 32 with a plurality of largely vertically-extending grooves 40 in the outside of the projection. Frosting that tends to accumulate around the central hole of the cake, flows downward onto a tapered top portion 42 of the central projection, and into one of the grooves 40. The excess frosting flows down along the grooves and into a recess 44 that lies below the cake supporting surface 30. FIG. 4 shows that the base 14 and cover 16 are each constructed of vacuum formed sheet plastic. The central projection 32 has a moderately tapered top portion 42 which is shown tapered at an angle A to the vertical of about 45°. The lower portion 50 of the central projection is tapered to extend about 8° (4° to 15°) to the vertical to facilitate removal from the vacuum forming mold and to facilitate receiving the walls of the hole 52 in the bundt cake 12. The taper angle A of the portion 42 is at least twice the taper angle B of the lower portion. FIG. 1 shows that the cover 20 has a cover middle 60 that is downwardly deformed to form a post part 62. The post part extends by about 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) down below the surrounding part of the cover top. The post engages the top 64 of the central projection when the cover top middle 60 is depressed. Applicant prefers to form a recess 70 in the projection top that closely receives the lower end 72 of the post. This prevents the post from sliding sidewardly off the projection top when the cover top is pressed down. In practice, food containers filled with food may be stacked on one another. The post 62 that supports the middle of the sheet plastic top on the base central projection, transfers weight placed on the middle of the cover directly to the base to greatly strengthen a stack of container. Commonly, bundt containers containing cakes are stacked on one another. Applicant constructs the container to facilitate such stacking. The cover top is formed with a raised perimeter portion 80, or annular top rim portion, that is centered on the vertical axis 90. The rim portion has radially (with respect to axis 90) inner and outer corner rim walls 84, 86. As shown in FIG. 4, the base has an upwardly-opening recess bottom 82. A raised band portion or region 84 lies radially (with respect to axis 90) outside the recess 82. The base has largely vertical radially inner and outer band walls 100, 101. The band portion 84 and a slightly depressed portion 92 lie between primarily vertical inner and outer locating walls 100, 102 that defines an annular receiving space 104 between them. The raised portion 80 of a cover top lies in the receiving space, with radially inner and outer cover rim walls 86, 88 lying adjacent to the locating walls 100, 102. As a result, when many identical containers 10 are stacked on one another, portions of the stack cannot shift sidewardly. The annular receiving space 104 receives the raised perimeter portion 80 at any rotational position of a base on a cover, with the top of the raised perimeter portion lying against a lower surface 106 of the wall of the depressed portion 92. When a bundt cake is placed on the base 14, the periphery of the cake usually lies on the band portion 84. The circular inner and outer edges of the band portion help a person to center the cake on the base, when the cake is initially being laid down and the cake is obscuring the central projection. FIG. 5 illustrates a central projection 32A of another embodiment of the invention, wherein the projection has wide grooves 40A and only three primarily vertical lands 41A between the grooves, the lands having tapered upper ends. The lands form a peripheral surface 110A of the projection. Each land extends a plurality of degrees about the axis 90A to avoid cutting into the cake. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a central projection 32B of another embodiment of the invention, wherein the projection has two largely vertical lands 41 B between two grooves 40B. The lower end 110B of each land subtends an angle B of about 110°. The upper end 11 2B of each land is inclined by at least twice the taper angle A to help in initially centering the hole 52 in the bundt cake. The lands form the peripheral surface 110B of the central projection, which engages the cake. The land lower portions are spaced apart by an angle C of no more than about 90°, the lands in FIG. 7 being spaced by angles C of 78°. Thus the invention provides a bundt cake container that avoids the unsightly accumulation of frosting around the top of the cake central hole, and which strengthens the container when other containers are stacked thereon. The central projection on the base of the container, which projects into the hole at the center of the cake, is formed with a plurality of largely vertical grooves. The grooves could extend as part of a helix. The middle of the cover top is formed with a downwardly-extending post part that lies over the central projection on the base, and that bears against the projection when the cover top middle is depressed. The top of the central projection preferably has a depression that receives the lower end of the post part. The lower surface of the base peripheral portion forms an upwardly-extending space that receives a raised peripheral portion of the cover top to reliably stack identical containers on one another. Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A bundt cake has a hole in the middle, which enables more even heating during baking. The cake may be baked by placing it on a conveyor belt that carries it though an oven at perhaps 300° F. As the cake emerges from the oven and has cooled to perhaps 100° F. to 120° F., the cake is sprayed with a largely sugar frosting and placed on a base with a base central projection inserted though the central hole in the cake. The hot frosting that is still flowable when the cake is placed on the base, tends to accumulate at the intersection of the top of the cake hole and the top of the central projection of the base. This accumulation tends to detract from the appearance of the cake, and it would be desirable to avoid it. Containers that hold bundt cakes are typically constructed of vacuum formed thin plastic sheet. When the cakes are baked and placed into the containers, the containers are typically stacked on one another. During transport and display, other food containers which may or may not be bundt cake containers, may be stacked on the bundt cake container. A bundt cake container which could support considerable weight without buckling, would be of value. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a bundt cake container is provided that avoids unsightly accumulation of frosting at the cake central hole, and which strengthens the container to support other containers stacked thereon. The central projection on the base of the bundt cake container, is formed so its periphery has a plurality of largely vertical grooves. Melted frosting that tends to accumulate at the cake hole, flows down along the grooves and into a recess in the base. The cover that surround a cake on the base, includes a cover top and a cover side with a bottom that latches to the base. The cover top is formed with a downwardly projecting post at its center, which extends down to near the top of the central projection on the base. If a weight is placed on the cover top, as when another container is placed on the cover top, and the cover top begins to deflect downwardly, the weight is transferred from the cover top through the post to the central projection on the base. The central projection has a recess that receives the bottom of the post, to assure that the post does not slide sidewardly off the central projection. The periphery of the cover forms an upward projection, and the periphery of the base bottom surface form a circular recess that receives the cover peripheral projection, to better stabilize a stack of containers. The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. | 20040624 | 20070220 | 20051229 | 94941.0 | 0 | REYNOLDS, STEVEN ALAN | BUNDT CAKE CONTAINER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,875,933 | ACCEPTED | Floating solar pool heater | A soft, flexible, solar pool heater for floating on water generally comprises independently inflatable outer ring and central portion. When chamber and cavity are inflated, the cavity is with the top and bottom planes of the ring. The ring can be inflated with water for holding the heater in a pool in winds. Holes through the central portion permit egress of air from under the central portion when the heater is placed on water. Valves for chamber and cavity are located near one edge such that the heater may be deflated by rolling from an edge opposite the valves. Magnets on the ring condition water and attach to similar floating heaters to form rafts. | 1. A soft, flexible, solar pool heater for floating on liquid comprising: an inflatable outer ring defining a chamber for holding fluid; said ring including: a valve for controlling ingress and egress of fluid with said chamber; a radially outward side; a radially inward side; a top; and a bottom; and an inflatable central portion disposed centrally said ring including: an upper film; and a lower film joined to said upper film to define a cavity therebetween for holding gas; a periphery connected to said ring; and a valve for controlling ingress and egress of gas with said cavity; said cavity when inflated with gas for floating said heater on liquid such that said heater floats on the liquid; said chamber and said cavity being independently fillable. 2. The heater of claim 1: said top of said ring defining a top plane; said bottom of said ring defining a bottom plane; wherein, when chamber and said cavity are inflated with gas, said cavity is substantially entirely within the top and bottom planes. 3. (canceled) 4. The heater of claim 1 including: magnetic means on said radially outward side of said ring for magnetic attachment to a similar floating heater. 5. The heater of claim 1 including: magnet means on said ring adapted for contact with the liquid when said heater is floating for conditioning the liquid. 6. The heater of claim 1 including: magnet means on said radially outward side of said ring adapted for contact with the liquid when said heater is floating for conditioning the liquid and for magnetic attachment to a similar floating heater. 7. The heater of claim 1 including: air escape means through said central portion for egress of air from under said central portion when said heater is placed on liquid such that said lower film rests substantially on the liquid. 8. The heater of claim 1: said valves being located near one edge; said heater adapted for deflation by rolling from an edge opposite said valves. 9. In combination: a pool of liquid; and a plurality or soft, flexible, solar pool heaters floating thereon; each said heater comprising: an inflatable outer ring defining a chamber inflated with fluid; said ring including: a valve for controlling ingress and egress of fluid with said chamber; a radially outward side; a radially inward side; a top; and a bottom; wherein said chamber is at least partially inflated with liquid; an inflatable central portion disposed centrally said ring including: an upper film; and a lower film joined to said upper film to define a cavity therebetween inflated with gas such that said heater floats on said liquid; a periphery connected to said ring; and a valve for controlling ingress and egress of gas with said cavity; said chamber and said cavity being independently fillable, and magnet means on said radially outward side of said ring; wherein said plurality of floating heaters are attached to one another by said magnet means. 10. The combination of claim 9: said top of said ring defining a top plane; said bottom of said ring defining a bottom plane; wherein, when chamber and said cavity are inflated on the ground, said cavity is substantially entirely within the top and bottom planes. 11. The combination of claim 9: said magnet means adapted for contact with the liquid when said heater is floating for conditioning the liquid. 12. The combination of claim 9 including: air escape means through said central portion for egress of air from under said central portion when said heater is placed on liquid such that said lower film rests substantially on the liquid. 13. The combination of claim 9: said valves being located near one edge; said heater adapted for deflation by rolling from an edge opposite said valves. 14. In combination: a pool of liquid; and a soft, flexible, solar pool heater floating thereon comprising: an inflatable outer ring defining a chamber inflated with fluid; said ring including: a valve for controlling ingress and egress of fluid with said chamber; a radially outward side; a radially inward side; a top; and a bottom; wherein said chamber is at least partially inflated with liquid; and an inflatable central portion disposed centrally said ring including: an upper film; and a lower film joined to said upper film to define a cavity therebetween inflated with gas such that said heater floats on said liquid a periphery connected to said ring; and a valve for controlling ingress and egress of gas with said cavity; said chamber and said cavity being independently fillable. 15. The combination of claim 14: said top of said ring defining a top plane; said bottom of said ring defining a bottom plane; wherein, when chamber and said cavity are inflated on the ground, said cavity is substantially entirely within the top and bottom planes. 16. The combination of claim 14 including: magnet means on said ring for magnetic attachment to a similar floating heater. 17. The combination of claim 14 including: magnet means on said ring adapted for contact with the liquid when said heater is floating for conditioning the liquid. 18. The combination of claim 14 including: magnet means on said radially outward side of said ring adapted for contact with the liquid when said heater is floating for conditioning the liquid and for magnetic attachment to a similar floating heater. 19. The combination of claim 14 including: air escape means through said central portion for egress of air from under said central portion when said heater is placed on liquid such that said lower film rests substantially on the liquid. 20. The combination of claim 14: said valves being located near one edge; said heater adapted for deflation by rolling from an edge opposite said valves. 21. The combination of claim 9 wherein: said chamber and said cavity are independently fillable. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is desirable to cover pools, such as swimming pools, for various reasons, such as preventing evaporation and heat loss, and providing solar heating. Conventional pool covers have several shortcomings. Heavy covers are expensive. They are large and bulky and not easily used or stored. Pool covers of light material, such as of bubble pack type, typically cover an entire pool and project over the decking for anchoring the cover and preventing the cover from falling into the pool. Such covers are subject to winds that often lift them so as to dislocate or actually move the covers from the pool areas to other areas, e.g. neighbor's yard. Winds can pull such large light pool covers from under sand bags, and/or steel pipes as are commonly used. Further, any large cover can be dangerous for small children or animals, which can be trapped underneath. Smaller solar pool heaters of the floating type have been proposed, but none appear to be marketed. The ones proposed have several disadvantages. Many have hard or rigid parts that are dangerous should a person fall into the pool and that make them bulky and difficult to store. Some of the larger ones have large air chambers that would encourage convection and heat loss. The lighter ones would tend to fly away in the wind. In general, they are bulky to store, difficult to deploy, and difficult to retrieve and remove. Therefore, there it is desirable to have an improved floating pool heater that overcomes shortcomings in the prior art. Magnets and magnetic fields have been known to treat water. Examples of magnetic treatment devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,951,807 and 4,153,559 in the name of Charles H. Sanderson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,296 to Mark Sherman. The magnet is said to condition the water by altering various minerals suspended in the water and to reduce the amount of oxidizer, such as chlorine, required Therefore, it is further desirable that the improved floating pool heater incorporate magnets for conditioning the water, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a soft, flexible, solar pool heater for floating on water and it generally comprises an inflatable outer ring and an inflatable central portion. The ring defines a chamber for holding fluid, such as air or water. The central portion is disposed centrally the ring and includes a periphery connected to the ring and an upper film and a lower film joined to the upper film to define a cavity for inflation with air. When chamber and cavity are inflated, the cavity is within the top and bottom planes of the ring. The chamber and the cavity are independently inflatable such that the ring can be inflated with water for holding the heater in a pool in winds. Holes through the central portion permit egress of air from under the central portion when the heater is placed on water such that the lower film rests substantially on the water. Valves for chamber and cavity are located near one edge such that the heater may be deflated by rolling from an edge opposite the valves. Magnets on the ring condition water and attach to similar floating heaters to form rafts. The features and advantages of the invention will be readily understood when the detailed description thereof is read in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of the solar pool heater of the invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a plurality of solar pool heaters of FIG. 1 in use in a swimming pool. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of the solar pool heater 10 of the invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a plurality of solar pool heaters 10 of FIG. 1 in use floating on water 95 in a swimming pool 90. Heater 10 is soft and flexible so as to prevent no hazard should a person fall onto one either in pool 90 or outside of pool 90. Heater 10 generally comprises an outer ring 20 and central portion 50. A preferred embodiment of heater 10 is primarily constructed of upper film 14, such as upper film 14R of ring 20 and upper film 14C of central portion 50, and lower film 16, such as lower film 16R of ring 20 and lower film 16C of central portion 50. The film may be of thin plastic, such as of vinyl, bonded, such as by radio frequency bonding, at bonds 18 so as to form the general structure. Outer ring 20 includes upper film 14R and lower film 16R bonded at bonds 18R to define a chamber 22 that is inflatable or turgesible with a fluid, such as a gas, such as air, or a liquid, such as water, such as pool water, through a valve, such as valve 23. Valve 23 may be any conventional valve, such as a bore and a stopper, which can control ingress and egress of fluid to and from chamber 22. Outer ring 20 includes a radially outward side 30, a radially inward side 34, a top 36, and a bottom 38. Top 36 and bottom 38 of ring 20 generally define spaced parallel planes. Central portion 50 is disposed centrally of outer ring 20 and includes an upper film 14C, and a lower film 16C joined, such as around its periphery 59, to upper film 14C to define a cavity 52 therebetween for holding gas. Cavity 52 has an area in top view. Periphery 59 of central portion 50 is connected to ring 20, such as to radially inward side 34. Inflation and deflation means, such as valve 53, controls ingress and egress of gas, such as air, with cavity 52. When cavity 52 is inflated with air, heater 10 will float on water 95. Preferably, central portion 50 contains a single inflatable cavity 52 to facilitate inflation and deflation. Connection means, such as plurality of spot welds 60, connect upper film 14C and lower film 16C central of periphery 59 such that upper film 14C and lower film 16C of cavity 52 are held in proximity and preferably held, as seen in FIG. 3, within the planes defined by the top 36 and bottom 38 of ring 20, when chamber 22 and cavity 52 are inflated with air and heater 10 is placed on the ground. This ensures: that heater 10 lies properly on water 95; that films 14C, 16C are held in close proximity for superior solar heating properties; and that heaters 10 are stackable when inflated. Close spacing of films 14C, 16C decreases heat loss from convection. Many other connection means, such as webbing or weld lines, are possible. However, welds allow the use of just two films and spot welds 60 provide the most area for cavity 52 while still holding films 14C, 16C in close proximity. Spot welds 60 are disposed in a grid so as to shape upper film 14C into an array of convex surfaces; a convex surface being located between each four welds 60. Each convex surface acts as a lens for intensifying the solar heating effect on lower film 16C. Chamber 22 and cavity 52 are inflatable and deflatable independently of each other. Central portion 50 includes air escape means, such as a plurality of passages, such as through-holes 65 near periphery 59 and in the center of central portion 50, for allowing air to escape from below central portion 50 when heater 10 is deployed on water 95 and for allowing water on the top of central portion 50, such as from rain or from a decorative water fall, to drain. Holes 65 may be evenly spaced, such as every sixty degrees around the circumference of heater 10. Upon deployment, entrapped air under central portion 50 substantially escapes upward through holes 65 such that the center of central portion 50 sags slightly and central portion 50 is substantially in contact with water 95. Because of the flexibility of heater 10, at proper inflation, heater 10 will conform to waves in pool 90 so as to keep new air from entering under central portion. Magnetic means, such as a plurality of spaced magnets 40, are connected to radially outward side 30 of ring 20, for conditioning water 95 and for releasably joining to magnetic means of other heaters 10 to join a plurality of heaters 10 to form a raft 11, as seen in FIG. 4. Magnets 40 may be uniformly spaced, such as every sixty degrees. When heater 10 is floating, magnet 40 is in contact with water 95 and produces a magnetic field in water 95 for conditioning water 95. Magnets 40 may be bonded between upper and lower film 14, 16. Magnets 40 of floating heaters 10 tend to attach to magnets 40 of other similar floating heaters 10 to form rafts 11. Rafts 11 facilitate removable of heaters 10 from pool 90, because when one heater 10 near pool side 92 is grasped the other heaters 10 in its raft 11 will also be pulled to pool side 92 as the grasped heater 10 is pulled out. Floating heaters 10 in a raft 11 are easily separated by a person in pool 90 such that a person falling into pool 95 is not trapped under raft 11. Heaters 10 may help float a person who accidentally falls into pool 90. Heater 10 includes hanging means, such as hanger 45 attached to radially outward side 30 of ring 20, for hanging heater 10, such as on a peg on a wall, during storage. Hanger 45 may be constructed of bonded upper and lower film 14, 16 having a bore therethrough. As described above, chamber 22 of outer ring 20 and cavity 52 of central portion 50 can be made from just two films, upper film 14 and lower film 16 welded together. Vinyl is the preferred film, but other films could be used. Preferably, upper film 14 has high transmissivity of sunlight so light easily enters chamber 22 and cavity 52. Upper film 14 may be clear plastic, such as 0.006″ thick vinyl. Preferably, lower film 16 has high absorptivity of sunlight and is stronger, for puncture resistance. Lower film 16 may be 0.008″ thick vinyl of dark color, such as blue. Preferably, films 14, 16 are resistant to breakdown from ultraviolet light. Upper film 14 may be modified in manners known in the art which cause it to reflect downwardly much of the infrared energy impinging on its underside, thereby contributing to a “greenhouse” effect. Such reflectivity may be achieved by the use of films and coatings which provide unidirectional reflectivity. These films and coatings are well known in the art and are commonly applied to the windows of buildings to deter the entry of solar energy without preventing outward visibility. Mechanical, physical, molecular or chemical modifications of the film may also provide the appropriate reflectivity. Lower film 16 is preferably opaque, absorptive of solar energy and of relatively high thermal conductivity. Lower film 16 may be provided with a material which will enhance its capability of absorbing solar energy to produce heat. Absorption-enhancing materials are well known and include carbon black, aluminum, copper and metal oxides. Lower film 16 may be modified so that the heat generated by the incident solar energy will be transmitted readily through the thickness. A liquid, powder or film may be laminated to the surface of lower film 16, and/or metallic particles may be added to lower film 16 to increase its thermal conductivity. Coatings and mixtures of powdered metals and metal oxides, as well as threads, filaments, filings and compounds placed on and/or located within lower film 16 may improve its thermal conductivity. Preferably, lower film 16 has a density for light absorption of about fifty percent such that about fifty percent of the light energy heats the surface and about fifty percent passes through for deep water heating. This can be varied for specific use. A typical outside diameter for heater 10 is sixty inches, although other diameters could be used to better accommodate pools of various size and shape. The small amount of open water 96 between heaters 10 is desirable as a small amount of direct sunlight is necessary to prevent growth of undesirable alga such as mustard algae. To prevent heater 10 from blowing away in high wind, outer ring 20 is filled with water, or is at least partially filled depending on the wind conditions, using valve 23. The weight of the water in outer ring 20 holds heater 10 within pool. For temporary storage of heaters 10 during use of pool 90, heaters 10 may be stacked or may be hung by hangers 45. For long term storage and shipping, heaters 10 may be deflated by expelling air and water from chamber 22 and cavity 52 out valves 23, 53 respectively. Heater 10 is specifically designed for deflation by rolling from the edge opposite valves 23, 53. From the foregoing description, it is seen that the present invention provides an extremely simple, efficient, reliable, and passive floating solar pool heater which heats the pool during sunlight and reduces heat loss at other times. Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, various changes may be made in the form, composition, construction, and arrangement of the parts herein without sacrificing any of its advantages. For example, although heater 10 is shown as circular in top view, it could have other shapes. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>It is desirable to cover pools, such as swimming pools, for various reasons, such as preventing evaporation and heat loss, and providing solar heating. Conventional pool covers have several shortcomings. Heavy covers are expensive. They are large and bulky and not easily used or stored. Pool covers of light material, such as of bubble pack type, typically cover an entire pool and project over the decking for anchoring the cover and preventing the cover from falling into the pool. Such covers are subject to winds that often lift them so as to dislocate or actually move the covers from the pool areas to other areas, e.g. neighbor's yard. Winds can pull such large light pool covers from under sand bags, and/or steel pipes as are commonly used. Further, any large cover can be dangerous for small children or animals, which can be trapped underneath. Smaller solar pool heaters of the floating type have been proposed, but none appear to be marketed. The ones proposed have several disadvantages. Many have hard or rigid parts that are dangerous should a person fall into the pool and that make them bulky and difficult to store. Some of the larger ones have large air chambers that would encourage convection and heat loss. The lighter ones would tend to fly away in the wind. In general, they are bulky to store, difficult to deploy, and difficult to retrieve and remove. Therefore, there it is desirable to have an improved floating pool heater that overcomes shortcomings in the prior art. Magnets and magnetic fields have been known to treat water. Examples of magnetic treatment devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,951,807 and 4,153,559 in the name of Charles H. Sanderson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,296 to Mark Sherman. The magnet is said to condition the water by altering various minerals suspended in the water and to reduce the amount of oxidizer, such as chlorine, required Therefore, it is further desirable that the improved floating pool heater incorporate magnets for conditioning the water, | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention is a soft, flexible, solar pool heater for floating on water and it generally comprises an inflatable outer ring and an inflatable central portion. The ring defines a chamber for holding fluid, such as air or water. The central portion is disposed centrally the ring and includes a periphery connected to the ring and an upper film and a lower film joined to the upper film to define a cavity for inflation with air. When chamber and cavity are inflated, the cavity is within the top and bottom planes of the ring. The chamber and the cavity are independently inflatable such that the ring can be inflated with water for holding the heater in a pool in winds. Holes through the central portion permit egress of air from under the central portion when the heater is placed on water such that the lower film rests substantially on the water. Valves for chamber and cavity are located near one edge such that the heater may be deflated by rolling from an edge opposite the valves. Magnets on the ring condition water and attach to similar floating heaters to form rafts. The features and advantages of the invention will be readily understood when the detailed description thereof is read in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. | 20040624 | 20060822 | 20060112 | 60526.0 | F24J242 | 1 | COCKS, JOSIAH C | FLOATING SOLAR POOL HEATER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | F24J | 2,004 |
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10,876,079 | ACCEPTED | VOLTAGE DETECTION CIRCUIT | A voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source. A first transistor includes a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate. A second transistor includes a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate. A comparator includes a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal. A first resistor is coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain. A second resistor is coupled to the first power source. A third resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal. A fourth resistor is coupled between the second resistor and input terminal. A fifth resistor is coupled between the first source, and a second power source. A resistive device is coupled between the first source, and the first power source. | 1. A voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source, the voltage detection circuit comprising: a first MOS transistor comprising a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate; a second MOS transistor comprising a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate; a comparator comprising a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal; a first resistor coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain; a second resistor coupled to the first power source; a third resistor coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal; a fourth resistor coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal; a fifth resistor coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source; and a resistive device coupled between the connection point of the first source and the second source, and the first power source. 2. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the first MOS transistor and the second MOS transistor are NMOS transistors; the first power source is a high voltage source; and the second power source is a low voltage source. 3. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voltage difference across the first resistor is increased incrementally as temperature increases. 4. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resistive device is a sixth resistor. 5. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voltage difference across the first drain and the first source of the first MOS transistor is increased as temperature decreases. 6. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voltage difference across the second drain and the second source of the second MOS transistor is increased as temperature decreases. 7. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voltage difference across the fifth resistor is increased incrementally as temperature increases. 8. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voltage level of the connection point of the first source and the source is raised incrementally as temperature increases. 9. A voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source, the voltage detection circuit comprising: a first MOS transistor comprising a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate; a second MOS transistor comprising a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate; a comparator comprising a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal; a first resistor coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain; a second resistor coupled to the first power source; a third resistor coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal; a fourth resistor coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal; a fifth resistor coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source; and a positive temperature coefficient device coupled to the fifth resistor in parallel, wherein a current passing through the positive temperature coefficient device is increased incrementally as temperature increases. 10. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein: the first MOS transistor and the second MOS transistor are NMOS transistors; the first power source is a high voltage source; and the second power source is a low voltage source. 11. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the voltage difference across the first resistor is increased incrementally as temperature increases. 12. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the positive temperature coefficient device is a third MOS transistor comprising a third gate, a third source, and a third drain coupled to the third gate. 13. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the positive temperature coefficient device is an NMOS transistor. 14. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the positive temperature coefficient device is a diode. 15. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the voltage difference across the first drain and the first source of the first MOS transistor is decreased incrementally as temperature increases. 16. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the voltage difference across the second drain and the second source of the second MOS transistor is decreased incrementally as temperature increases. 17. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the voltage difference across the fifth resistor is increased incrementally as temperature increases. 18. The voltage detection circuit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the voltage level of the connection point of the first source and the source is raised incrementally as temperature increases. | BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates in general to a voltage detection circuit. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a voltage detection circuit for power-on detection with temperature compensation. FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of a conventional power-on detection circuit. The power-on detection circuit 100 comprises a voltage detection circuit 110 and a RC-filter 120. The voltage detection circuit 110 comprises a PMOS transistor MP1, NMOS transistors MN1, MN2, and a resistor R1. The NMOS transistor MN1 and PMOS MP1 transistor comprise a voltage reference circuit. The drain and gate of the PMOS transistor MP1 are both coupled to node A, to which the drain and gate of the NMOS transistor MN1 are both coupled. The node A is coupled to the gate of the NMOS transistor MN2. Resistor R1 is coupled between the drain of the NMOS transistor MN2 and the voltage source VCC. The PMOS transistors MP1 and the NMOS transistor MN1 from a voltage divider to generate a reference voltage at node A. The reference voltage is determined by threshold voltages Vthn1 and Vthp1 of the NMOS transistor MN1 and of the PMOS transistor MP1 respectively. The NMOS transistor MN2 is configured as a common-source with a passive load R1 for outputting the detecting result at node B. At power-on, voltage source VCC is increased from 0V. Thus, the voltage level of node A is lower than the threshold voltage Vthn2 of NMOS transistor MN2. Therefore, NMOS transistor MN2 is turned off, NMOS transistor MN3 is turned on, and output terminal OUT of inverter 130 is low. When voltage source VCC reaches a predetermined value causing the voltage level of node A exceed the threshold voltage Vthn2 of NMOS transistor MN2, NMOS transistor MN2 is turned on and NMOS transistor MN3 is turned off. Thus, output terminal OUT of inverter 130 is at high voltage after a RC delay period. When the process or temperature induce variations in the threshold voltage Vthn2 of the NMOS transistor MN2, the threshold voltage Vthn1 of the NMOS transistor MN1 varies correspondingly. Thus, the reference voltage corresponds to the threshold voltage Vthn1 of the NMOS transistor MN1. When the voltage VCC remains the same, the variation of the reference voltage compensates for the variation in the threshold voltage Vthn2 of the NMOS transistor MN2. Therefore, the voltage of node B remains constant without suffering from the variation of the threshold voltage Vthn. However, the voltage detection of the power-on detection circuit 100 is imprecise when the voltage source VCC is scaled down by the advance process. Due to the variation of threshold voltages Vthn1, Vthn2 and Vthp not scaled down with process, variations of the detected voltage are very large and voltage overhead may result. FIG. 2 shows another conventional power-on detection circuit. The power-on detection circuit comprises a voltage detection circuit 20 and a RC-filter 22. The gate of NMOS transistor M11 is connected to its drain. The gate of NMOS transistor M12 is connected to its drain at node B. The sources of NMOS transistors M11 and M12 are connected to ground. In addition, the aspect ratio of the NMOS transistor MN11 is N times larger than that of the NMOS transistor MN12. Thus, N numbers of NMOS transistors connected in parallel comprise the NMOS transistor MN11. Comparator 201 comprises a first input terminal connected to node A, a second input terminal connected to node B, and output terminal VOUT. The voltage level of node A is voltage VA, and that of node B is voltage VB. Comparator outputs low voltage when voltage VA is lower than voltage VB, and outputs high voltage when voltage VA exceeds voltage VB. Resistor R0 is connected between node A and the gate and drain of the NMOS transistor M11. Resistor R13 is connected to the power source VCC. Resistor R11 is connected between node A and resistor R13. Resistor R12 is connected between node B and resistor R13. During the power-on process, the voltage source VCC is initially increased from 0V, before reaching a predetermined voltage level Vrr, voltage VA is lower than the voltage VB, and the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at low level. Until the voltage source VCC rises to the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at high level margin. When the voltage source VCC reaches the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB. At this time, comparator 201 detects the voltage VA and VB, and its output terminal VOUT transitions from low level to high level. Subsequently, the voltage VA exceeds the voltage VB. Thus, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at high level margin. Thus, NMOS transistor M13 is turned on by the comparator 201, and output terminal OUT is at a high voltage after a RC delay period. Equation (1) describes the drain current ID of a MOS transistor. I D = μ n C d W L V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) · ( 1 - exp - V DS V T ) ≅ μ n C d W L V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) = A μ n V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) ( 1 ) where V T ≡ KT q ; ζ ≡ 1 + C d C OX ; A ∝ W L Let VGS−VTH=VOV, thus: VOV=ζVT[ln(ID)−ln(AμnVT2)] (2) According equation (2), VGS1 and VGS2 respectively of NMOS transistors M11 and M22 are: V GS1 = V OV1 + V TH ( 3 ) = ζ V T [ ln ( I D1 ) - ln ( A μ n V T 2 ) ] + V TH V GS2 = V OV2 + V TH ( 4 ) = ζ V T [ ln ( I D1 · m · R11 R12 ) - ln ( A μ n V T 2 ) ] + V TH As mentioned, the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB when the voltage source VCC reaches the predetermined voltage level Vrr. Thus, the voltage difference ΔVOV across resistor R0 is: V GS1 - V GS2 = V OV1 - V OV2 = Δ V OV = ζ V T ln ( m · R11 R12 ) ( 5 ) Thus, the voltage difference ΔVOV is increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, NMOS transistors M11 and M12 are biased in the sub-threshold region, such that the threshold voltage VTH NMOS transistors M11 and M12 are decreased incrementally as temperature increases, which are the voltage difference between the drain and the source of the NMOS transistors M11 and that of NMOS transistors M12 respectively. When the voltage VCC remains at Vrr and the variation of temperature, the variation of voltage difference ΔVOV compensates for the variation of the voltage difference between the drain and the source of the NMOS transistors M11 and M12. In addition, when the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB, the voltage level Vrr is: V rr = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( R11 + R0 ) + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R12 R11 ) R13 = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) [ ( R11 + R0 ) + ( 1 + R12 R11 ) R13 ] ( 6 ) According to equations (1) and (5), the voltage difference ΔVOV and current ID1 and ID2 are increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, VOV1 is increased with the increased current ID1. Thus, the first term (VOV1) and third term of equation (6) have a positive temperature coefficient (PTC), and the second term (VTH) of equation (6) has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) and a fixed factor. Thus, a adjustable voltage level Vrr with temperature compensation is unable obtained. SUMMARY One object, among others, of the present invention is thus to provide a voltage detection circuit, comprising the voltage level Vrr making voltage VA equal to voltage VB has a negative temperature coefficient turn with adjusted factor as shown in equation (7). Vrr=E(NTC)+F(PTC) (7) Thus, a desired voltage level Vrr with temperature compensation is obtained by changing the factors E and F. To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source. A first MOS transistor includes a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate. A second MOS transistor includes a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate. A comparator includes a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal. A first resistor is coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain. A second resistor is coupled to the first power source. A third resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal. A fourth resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal. A fifth resistor is coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source. A resistive device is coupled between the connection point of the first source and the second source, and the first power source. In addition, some embodiments of the present invention provide a voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source. A first MOS transistor includes a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate. A second MOS transistor includes a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate. A comparator includes a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal. A first resistor is coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain. A second resistor is coupled to the first power source. A third resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal. A fourth resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal. A fifth resistor is coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source. A positive temperature coefficient device is coupled to the fifth resistor in parallel. The current passing through the positive temperature coefficient device is increased incrementally as temperature increases. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various aspects of the present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description, given hereinbelow, and the accompanying drawings. The drawings and description are provided for purposes of illustration only and, thus, are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of a convention power-on detection circuit. FIG. 2 shows another conventional power-on detection circuit. FIG. 3 shows a voltage detection circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a voltage detection circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a diagram of detecting voltages versus temperature variations. FIG. 6 shows a diagram of detecting voltages in sub-1V versus temperature variations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION First Embodiment In the first embodiment, an electrical device is added to the voltage detection circuit to generate a current INTC with negative temperature coefficient (NTC). After the current INTC passes through a resistor Rb, a voltage difference across the resistor Rb with negative temperature coefficient (NTC) is obtained. FIG. 3 shows a voltage detection circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The gate of NMOS transistor M21 is connected to its drain. The gate of NMOS transistor M22 is connected to its drain at node B. The sources of NMOS transistors M21 and M22 are connected to node D. In addition, the aspect ratio of the NMOS transistor MN21 is N times larger than that of the NMOS transistor MN22. Thus, N number of NMOS transistors connected in parallel comprise the NMOS transistor MN21. Comparator 301 comprises a first input terminal connected to node A, a second input terminal connected to node B, and output terminal VOUT. The voltage level of node A is voltage VA, and that of node B is voltage VB. Comparator outputs (VOUT) low voltage when voltage VA is lower than voltage VB, and outputs high voltage when voltage VA exceeds voltage VB. Resistor R0 is connected between node A and the connection point C of the gate and the drain of the NMOS transistor M21. Resistor R23 is connected to the power source VCC. Resistor R21 is connected between node A and resistor R23. Resistor R22 is connected between node B and resistor R23. In addition, resistor Rb2 is connected between node D and ground. A negative temperature coefficient current IRb1 flows through resistor Rb2. When the voltage source VCC is initially increased from 0V, before reaching a predetermined voltage level Vrr, voltage VA is lower than the voltage VB, and the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 301 is at low level. Until the voltage source VCC rises to the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 301 is at high level margin. When the voltage source VCC just reaches the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB. At this time, comparator 301 detects the voltage VA and VB, and its output terminal VOUT transitions from low to high level. Subsequently, the voltage VA exceeds the voltage VB. Thus, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 301 is at high level margin. In addition, when the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB, the voltage level Vrr is: V rr = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( R21 + R0 ) + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R23 + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R b2 + V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( R21 + R0 ) + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R23 R b1 · R b2 = ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) V OV1 + ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) V TH + ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) ( Δ V OV R0 ) [ ( R21 + R0 ) + ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R23 ] + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R b2 = ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) V OV1 + ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) { ( 1 + R b2 R b1 ) [ ( R21 + R0 ) + ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R23 ] + ( 1 + R22 R21 ) R b2 } ( 8 ) Here, the voltage detection circuit of the first embodiment is designed to make the voltage level of node D increased incrementally as temperature increases. Thus, when temperature is increased, the voltage difference across resistor Rb1 is decreased, thus current IRb1 has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC). Thus, current IRb1 generates a voltage difference across resistor Rb2 with negative temperature coefficient. According to equations (1) and (8), the voltage difference ΔVOV and current ID1 and ID2 are increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, VOV1 is increased with the increased current ID1. Thus, the first term (VOV1) and third term of equation (8) have a positive temperature coefficient (PTC), and the second term (VTH) of equation (6) has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC). Here, the NTC term (VTH) of equation (8) is adjustable by changing resistors Rb1 and Rb2. Thus, a desired voltage level Vrr with temperature compensation is obtained. Second Embodiment In the second embodiment, an electrical device is added to the voltage detection circuit and is connected to resistor RC in parallel, generating a current IPTC with positive temperature coefficient (PTC). When temperature is increased, the current IPTC increases and a relative decreasing current through resistor RC is generated. FIG. 4 shows a voltage detection circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The gate of NMOS transistor M31 is connected to its drain. The gate of NMOS transistor M32 is connected to its drain at node B. The sources of NMOS transistors M31 and M32 are connected to node D. In addition, the aspect ratio of the NMOS transistor MN31 is N times larger than that of the NMOS transistor MN32. Thus, N number of NMOS transistors connected in parallel comprise the NMOS transistor MN31. Comparator 401 comprises a first input terminal connected to node A, a second input terminal connected to node B, and output terminal VOUT. The voltage level of node A is voltage VA, and that of node B is voltage VB. Comparator outputs low voltage level when voltage VA is lower than voltage VB, and outputs high voltage level when voltage VA exceeds voltage VB. Resistor R0 is connected between node A and the connection point C of the gate and the drain of the NMOS transistor M31. Resistor R33 is connected to the power source VCC. Resistor R31 is connected between node A and resistor R33. Resistor R32 is connected between node B and resistor R33. In addition, resistor RC is connected between node D and ground. A positive temperature coefficient current IPTC flows through NMOS transistor M33. When the voltage source VCC is initially increased from 0V, before reaching a predetermined voltage level Vrr, voltage VA is lower than the voltage VB, and the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 401 is at low level. Until the voltage source VCC rises to the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 401 is at high level margin. When the voltage source VCC just reaches the predetermined voltage level Vrr, the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB. At this time, comparator 401 detects the voltage VA and VB, and its output terminal VOUT has a transition from low level to high level. Subsequently, the voltage VA exceeds the voltage VB. Thus, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 401 is at high level margin. In addition, when the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB, the voltage level Vrr is: V rr = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( R31 + R0 ) + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R32 R31 ) R33 + [ ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R32 R31 ) - I PTC ] R c = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) [ ( R31 + R0 ) + ( 1 + R32 R31 ) ( R33 + R c ) ] - μ n C d W L V T 2 ( exp V GS3 - V TH ζ V T ) R c ( 9 ) Here, the voltage detection circuit of the second embodiment is designed to make the voltage level of node D increased incrementally as temperature increases. Thus, when temperature is increased, voltage difference across resistor RC is increased. In addition, the gate-to-source voltage VGS3 of NMOS transistor M33 is also increased. Thus, current IPTC is increased incrementally as temperature increases. Therefore, a relative part of decreasing current is generated, such as generates a part of voltage difference across resistor RC with negative temperature coefficient. According to equations (1) and (9), the voltage difference ΔVOV and current ID1 and ID2 are increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, VOV1 is increased with increased current ID1. Thus, the first term (VOV1) and third term of equation (9) have a positive temperature coefficient (PTC), and the second term (VTH) of equation (6) has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC). In addition, the fourth term of equation (9) also has a positive temperature coefficient (PTC). Thus, a desired voltage level Vrr with temperature compensation is obtained. FIG. 5 shows a diagram of detected voltages versus temperature variations. The temperature varies from −40° C. to 125° C. As shown in FIG. 5, the curve 500 and 600 represents the detected voltage Vrr of the voltage detection circuit shown in FIG. 2 and that of the embodiments of the present invention, respectively. The voltage detection circuit according to the embodiments of the present invention has a temperature coefficient much lower than that of the conventional voltage detection circuit. In addition, FIG. 6 shows a diagram of detect voltages in sub-1V versus temperature variations. As shown in FIG. 6, the voltage detection circuit according to the embodiments of the present invention are also temperature compensated when the detected voltage Vrr is lower than 1V. The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of this invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of this invention and its practical application to thereby enable those skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present disclosure relates in general to a voltage detection circuit. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a voltage detection circuit for power-on detection with temperature compensation. FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of a conventional power-on detection circuit. The power-on detection circuit 100 comprises a voltage detection circuit 110 and a RC-filter 120 . The voltage detection circuit 110 comprises a PMOS transistor MP 1 , NMOS transistors MN 1 , MN 2 , and a resistor R 1 . The NMOS transistor MN 1 and PMOS MP 1 transistor comprise a voltage reference circuit. The drain and gate of the PMOS transistor MP 1 are both coupled to node A, to which the drain and gate of the NMOS transistor MN 1 are both coupled. The node A is coupled to the gate of the NMOS transistor MN 2 . Resistor R 1 is coupled between the drain of the NMOS transistor MN 2 and the voltage source VCC. The PMOS transistors MP 1 and the NMOS transistor MN 1 from a voltage divider to generate a reference voltage at node A. The reference voltage is determined by threshold voltages Vthn 1 and Vthp 1 of the NMOS transistor MN 1 and of the PMOS transistor MP 1 respectively. The NMOS transistor MN 2 is configured as a common-source with a passive load R 1 for outputting the detecting result at node B. At power-on, voltage source VCC is increased from 0V. Thus, the voltage level of node A is lower than the threshold voltage Vthn 2 of NMOS transistor MN 2 . Therefore, NMOS transistor MN 2 is turned off, NMOS transistor MN 3 is turned on, and output terminal OUT of inverter 130 is low. When voltage source VCC reaches a predetermined value causing the voltage level of node A exceed the threshold voltage Vthn 2 of NMOS transistor MN 2 , NMOS transistor MN 2 is turned on and NMOS transistor MN 3 is turned off. Thus, output terminal OUT of inverter 130 is at high voltage after a RC delay period. When the process or temperature induce variations in the threshold voltage Vthn 2 of the NMOS transistor MN 2 , the threshold voltage Vthn 1 of the NMOS transistor MN 1 varies correspondingly. Thus, the reference voltage corresponds to the threshold voltage Vthn 1 of the NMOS transistor MN 1 . When the voltage VCC remains the same, the variation of the reference voltage compensates for the variation in the threshold voltage Vthn 2 of the NMOS transistor MN 2 . Therefore, the voltage of node B remains constant without suffering from the variation of the threshold voltage Vthn. However, the voltage detection of the power-on detection circuit 100 is imprecise when the voltage source VCC is scaled down by the advance process. Due to the variation of threshold voltages Vthn 1 , Vthn 2 and Vthp not scaled down with process, variations of the detected voltage are very large and voltage overhead may result. FIG. 2 shows another conventional power-on detection circuit. The power-on detection circuit comprises a voltage detection circuit 20 and a RC-filter 22 . The gate of NMOS transistor M 11 is connected to its drain. The gate of NMOS transistor M 12 is connected to its drain at node B. The sources of NMOS transistors M 11 and M 12 are connected to ground. In addition, the aspect ratio of the NMOS transistor MN 11 is N times larger than that of the NMOS transistor MN 12 . Thus, N numbers of NMOS transistors connected in parallel comprise the NMOS transistor MN 11 . Comparator 201 comprises a first input terminal connected to node A, a second input terminal connected to node B, and output terminal VOUT. The voltage level of node A is voltage VA, and that of node B is voltage VB. Comparator outputs low voltage when voltage VA is lower than voltage VB, and outputs high voltage when voltage VA exceeds voltage VB. Resistor R 0 is connected between node A and the gate and drain of the NMOS transistor M 11 . Resistor R 13 is connected to the power source VCC. Resistor R 11 is connected between node A and resistor R 13 . Resistor R 12 is connected between node B and resistor R 13 . During the power-on process, the voltage source VCC is initially increased from 0V, before reaching a predetermined voltage level V rr , voltage VA is lower than the voltage VB, and the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at low level. Until the voltage source VCC rises to the predetermined voltage level V rr , the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at high level margin. When the voltage source VCC reaches the predetermined voltage level V rr , the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB. At this time, comparator 201 detects the voltage VA and VB, and its output terminal VOUT transitions from low level to high level. Subsequently, the voltage VA exceeds the voltage VB. Thus, the output terminal VOUT of the comparator 201 is at high level margin. Thus, NMOS transistor M 13 is turned on by the comparator 201 , and output terminal OUT is at a high voltage after a RC delay period. Equation (1) describes the drain current I D of a MOS transistor. I D = μ n C d W L V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) · ( 1 - exp - V DS V T ) ≅ μ n C d W L V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) = A μ n V T 2 ( exp V GS - V TH ζ V T ) ( 1 ) where V T ≡ KT q ; ζ ≡ 1 + C d C OX ; A ∝ W L Let V GS −V TH =V OV , thus: in-line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="lead"? V OV =ζV T [ln( I D )−ln( Aμ n V T 2 )] (2) in-line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="tail"? According equation (2), V GS1 and V GS2 respectively of NMOS transistors M 11 and M 22 are: V GS1 = V OV1 + V TH ( 3 ) = ζ V T [ ln ( I D1 ) - ln ( A μ n V T 2 ) ] + V TH V GS2 = V OV2 + V TH ( 4 ) = ζ V T [ ln ( I D1 · m · R11 R12 ) - ln ( A μ n V T 2 ) ] + V TH As mentioned, the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB when the voltage source VCC reaches the predetermined voltage level V rr . Thus, the voltage difference ΔV OV across resistor R 0 is: V GS1 - V GS2 = V OV1 - V OV2 = Δ V OV = ζ V T ln ( m · R11 R12 ) ( 5 ) Thus, the voltage difference ΔV OV is increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, NMOS transistors M 11 and M 12 are biased in the sub-threshold region, such that the threshold voltage V TH NMOS transistors M 11 and M 12 are decreased incrementally as temperature increases, which are the voltage difference between the drain and the source of the NMOS transistors M 11 and that of NMOS transistors M 12 respectively. When the voltage VCC remains at V rr and the variation of temperature, the variation of voltage difference ΔV OV compensates for the variation of the voltage difference between the drain and the source of the NMOS transistors M 11 and M 12 . In addition, when the voltage VA is equal to voltage VB, the voltage level V rr is: V rr = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( R11 + R0 ) + ( Δ V OV R0 ) ( 1 + R12 R11 ) R13 = V OV1 + V TH + ( Δ V OV R0 ) [ ( R11 + R0 ) + ( 1 + R12 R11 ) R13 ] ( 6 ) According to equations (1) and (5), the voltage difference ΔV OV and current I D1 and I D2 are increased incrementally as temperature increases. In addition, V OV1 is increased with the increased current I D1 . Thus, the first term (V OV1 ) and third term of equation (6) have a positive temperature coefficient (PTC), and the second term (V TH ) of equation (6) has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) and a fixed factor. Thus, a adjustable voltage level V rr with temperature compensation is unable obtained. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>One object, among others, of the present invention is thus to provide a voltage detection circuit, comprising the voltage level V rr making voltage VA equal to voltage VB has a negative temperature coefficient turn with adjusted factor as shown in equation (7). in-line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="lead"? Vrr=E ( NTC )+ F ( PTC ) (7) in-line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="tail"? Thus, a desired voltage level V rr with temperature compensation is obtained by changing the factors E and F. To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source. A first MOS transistor includes a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate. A second MOS transistor includes a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate. A comparator includes a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal. A first resistor is coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain. A second resistor is coupled to the first power source. A third resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal. A fourth resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal. A fifth resistor is coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source. A resistive device is coupled between the connection point of the first source and the second source, and the first power source. In addition, some embodiments of the present invention provide a voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage level of a first power source. A first MOS transistor includes a first gate, a first source, and a first drain coupled to the first gate. A second MOS transistor includes a second gate, a second source, and a second drain coupled to the second gate. A comparator includes a first input terminal, a second input terminal coupled to the second drain, and an output terminal. A first resistor is coupled between the first input terminal and the first drain. A second resistor is coupled to the first power source. A third resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the first input terminal. A fourth resistor is coupled between the second resistor and the second input terminal. A fifth resistor is coupled between a connection point of the first source and the second source, and a second power source. A positive temperature coefficient device is coupled to the fifth resistor in parallel. The current passing through the positive temperature coefficient device is increased incrementally as temperature increases. | 20040624 | 20060404 | 20051229 | 61909.0 | 0 | HILTUNEN, THOMAS J | VOLTAGE DETECTION CIRCUIT | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,263 | ACCEPTED | Fish pump | An improved liquid pump for transporting live fish or other products in an induced flow has secondary line with one end to be placed in a pool of liquid containing fish or other products. The other end of the line is connected to a housing having an internal pump chamber. A primary intake has one end connected to a reservoir of liquid and the other end connected to the housing concentrically about the secondary line. As liquid flows through the primary intake into the pump chamber and out the outlet, the Coanda effect results in a low pressure area in the pump chamber. The liquid in the secondary line is induced to fill the low pressure area. By shaping and directing the primary intake and the secondary intake within the pump chamber a more efficient pump is produced. | 1. A pump for transporting liquid by induced flow, said pump comprising a housing having a primary intake for primary flow, a secondary intake for induced flow, an internal pump chamber for intermixing said primary flow and said secondary flow, and an outlet for discharge, said primary intake and said secondary intake terminating in said pump chamber, an orifice forming said primary flow path circumferentially with respect to said induced flow path, said primary flow and said induced flow intermixing in said pump chamber, said orifice including a circumferential gap between said primary intake and said housing directing said primary flow into said pump chamber at an acute angle to an axis defined by said induced flow, said secondary intake having an internal surface and an external surface, said orifice including flutes formed in said external surface of said secondary intake, an enlarged mouth extending a distance within said internal surface of said secondary intake, said mouth having a constant diameter forming said secondary flow with a constant diameter whereby reduced swirl formation is achieved subsequent to intermixing of said primary flow and said secondary flow. 2. The pump according to claim 1 wherein said housing includes a plenum between said housing and said secondary intake, said primary intake connected to said plenum near one end, said orifice forming an opening in the other end of said plenum. 3. A pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms comprising a casing connected to an outlet, said casing including a secondary intake having an internal diameter at one end extending into said casing, said one end of said secondary intake terminating in a mouth, a primary intake having a first outer diameter, said mouth having a second larger outer diameter, said second larger outer diameter tapering to said internal diameter, said outlet having a conical internal surface, said conical internal surface of said outlet parallel with said tapering outer diameter whereby liquid flow through said primary intake forms a low pressure area at said mouth and induces flow through said secondary intake. 4. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein said second larger outer diameter tapers to said internal diameter at an angle of about 20 degrees to about 50 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the secondary intake. 5. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein said second larger diameter is spaced from said outlet approximately 0.2 inches. 6. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 3 including flutes formed in said outer diameter of said mouth, said flutes formed as depressions spaced approximately 36 degrees about the circumference of said mouth. 7. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein said marine organisms are live fish of approximately 20 pounds and said lifting includes a head of approximately 15 feet. 8. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein said flow ratio is between approximately 0.300 to 0.750. 9. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein a ratio of the inlet diameter to the diameter of primary water orifice injection is less than 1.2. 10. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 3 including a diverging exit nozzle having an exit diameter of 1.2-2 times the pump bore diameter. 11. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 3 wherein said mouth includes a constant internal diameter. 12. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 4 wherein said angle is less than 3.5 times the pump diameter expressed in inches. 13. A pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms comprising a casing connected to an outlet, said casing including a secondary intake having an internal diameter and one end extending into said casing, said secondary intake including an elongated mouth, said secondary intake having a first outer diameter, said mouth having a second larger outer diameter with having flutes formed in said outer diameter of said secondary inlet, said second larger outer diameter tapering to said larger internal diameter, an orifice having a conical internal surface, said conical internal surface of said orifice parallel with said tapering outer diameter of said secondary intake providing a flow ratio between 0.300 to 0.750 percent of the induced flow per the primary flow, whereby liquid flow through said primary intake forms a low pressure area at said orifice and induces flow through said secondary intake wherein secondary water is introduced approximately parallel to the primary water flow. 14. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein said second larger outer diameter tapers to said internal diameter at an angle less than 3.5 times the pump diameter expressed in inches. 15. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 14 wherein said second larger outer diameter tapers to said internal diameter at an angle of about 20 degrees to about 50 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the secondary intake. 16. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein said orifice is circumferential and approximately 0.1 inch to about 0.5 inch in width. 17. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein said flutes are further defined as depressions spaced approximately 36 degrees about the circumference of said mouth. 18. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein said marine organisms are live fish of approximately 20 pounds and said lifting includes a head of approximately 15 feet. 19. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein the ratio of the inlet diameter to the diameter of primary water orifice injection is 1 to 1.2 or less. 20. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 13 wherein the exit diameter of the diverging exit orifice is no more than twice the pump bore diameter. 21. A pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms comprising a casing connected to an outlet, said casing including a secondary intake having an internal diameter and one end extending into said casing, said one end of said secondary intake terminating in a constant internal diameter mouth, an orifice surrounding said mouth, said mouth having a first outer diameter, said orifice having a second larger outer diameter with flutes formed in said outer diameter of said mouth, said flutes formed as depressions spaced approximately 36 degrees about the circumference of said mouth, said second larger outer diameter tapering to said internal diameter, said outlet having a conical internal surface, said conical internal surface of said outlet parallel with said tapering outer diameter of said secondary intake wherein the ratio of the inlet diameter to the diameter of primary water orifice injunction is 1 to 1.2 or less, whereby liquid flow through said primary intake forms a low pressure area at said orifice and induces flow through said secondary intake. 22. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 21 wherein said second larger outer diameter tapers to said internal diameter at an angle of about 20 degrees to about 50 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the secondary intake, the exit diameter of the diverging exit orifice is no more than twice the pump bore diameter 23. The pump for lifting a liquid containing marine organisms according to claim 21 wherein said orifice is between 0.1 inches to about 0.4 inches about said outlet. 24. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 21 wherein said marine organisms are live fish of approximately 20 pounds and said lifting includes a head of approximately 8 feet. 25. The pump for lifting marine organisms according to claim 21 wherein said flow ratio is between approximately 0.300 to 0.750. 26. A pump for transferring fish food pellets to underwater fish cage, said pump comprising a casing connected to an outlet having a flexible tube sized to extend from said pump to an underwater fish cage, said casing including a secondary intake having a means for receiving pellet food and internal diameter at one end extending into said casing, said one end of said secondary intake terminating in a mouth, said primary intake having a first outer diameter, said mouth having a second larger outer diameter, said second larger outer diameter tapering to said internal diameter, said outlet having a conical internal surface, said conical internal surface of said outlet parallel with said tapering outer diameter whereby liquid flow through said primary intake forms a low pressure area at said mouth and induces the draw of food pellets through said secondary intake for transfer to the fish cage. 27. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 26 wherein said secondary intake includes perforations sized to allow flooded suction to said pump and prevent lost of food pellets. 28. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 27 wherein said perforations are positioned below the water surface. 29. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 26 wherein said second larger outer diameter tapers to said internal diameter at an angle of about 20 degrees to about 50 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the secondary intake. 30. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 26 wherein said second larger diameter is spaced from said outlet approximately 0.2 inches. 31. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 26 including flutes formed in said outer diameter of said mouth, said flutes formed as depressions spaced approximately 36 degrees about the circumference of said mouth. 32. The pump for transferring fish food according to claim 26 wherein a ratio of the inlet diameter to the diameter of primary water orifice injection is less than 1.2. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the fishing industry and, more particularly, to fish pumps capable of moving a liquid containing fish or other fragile organisms. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the fishing industry, including the aquaculture industry, and the food industry, as a whole, a primary objective is to move large numbers of products without damage from the source to the marketplace. Fish present a particular problem due to their strength yet fragile structure. The movement of fish, whether from fish nets or retention areas, is most desirable if the fish is not injured during the transfer. For instance, in commercial fishing the use of a fishing net to pull fish into a boat can result in injury or death to the fish. If the fish are transferred directly from the fishing net into a holding tank on the fishing boat by use of a fish pump, the fish can be transferred without injury thereby delaying the processing time. Current fish pumps have limited size capacity and transporting larger fish can result in severe damage to the fish. Unfortunately even when the current fish pumps are used within a capacity range, the pump designs can lead to excessive stress upon the fish due to wall impact where pressurized water meets the fish laden water. If the fish is injured, a loss of blood can occur which not only affects the well being of the fish but if the fish is about to be harvested, the blood loss has a direct correlation on the amount of income obtained in a sale of the fish since fisherman are paid by the pound and the loss of blood is a loss of weight. Transferring the catch from fishing trawlers to the processing docks and harvesting the contents of a growing tank at an aqua-farm require efficient handling of large volumes of water containing live fish or marine organisms. While fishing and aqua-culture are specific examples, there are other industries that move products using liquids as carriers. In using a Coanda effect pump to transport live fish, the mobility of fish is lessened in reference to the direction of travel because of the flow into the pump. Since the natural tendency of a fish is move against a current so the fish typically enter such a pump swimming into the suction flow thereby entering a secondary intake line tail first. The suction flow in the secondary intake line results from the hydraulic forces of the mixing liquids in the pump chamber creating an induced flow. As the primary flow and induced flow intermix through the pump, the energy becomes uniform in the outlet flow. The problem with such conventional pumps is the sudden turbulence or swirl due to the differential energy in the circumferential primary flow and the inner column of induced flow. Large active fish can be severely injured at this junction wherein scales and fins can be torn off or side wall impact so severe that the fish can killed. When the fish enters tail first, it can do little to prevent impacting of the walls of the pump as it passes through. Also, when the fish encounters the water swirl formed at the point of water mixing, the forward motion through the pump with deceleration then acceleration results in the likely impact against the wall of the pump. Such a pump has inherent efficiency due the shear collision effect between the primary liquid injected through the Coanda inlet and the secondary liquid carrying the fish but also from the suction effect created by the action of the primary liquid on the Coanda surface. In such a pump, a first segment upstream of the Coanda surface diverges from its inlet end and terminates at its outlet end immediately before the point of injection of the primary liquid from the Coanda orifice. The inside diameter of the outlet end of the first segment is larger than the inside diameter of the second segment downstream of and smoothly merging with the Coanda surface. A second segment converges downstream from the Coanda orifice and, thereafter, diverges from the minimum inside diameter location. In the prior art, the first segment diverged abruptly from its inlet end to the outlet end located adjacent the primary liquid injection point through the orifice. The Coanda surface converged to a first inside diameter which was located downstream from the first segment. The inside diameter downstream from the first segment was smaller than the inside diameter of the outlet end of the first segment. For that reason, a fish traveling from the first segment would impact with the converging Coanda surface, thereby causing fish damage or fish kill. Further in the area of the Coanda orifice, there is a low pressure or “suction” zone created by the primary liquid injection which impairs momentum to the secondary liquid flow. However, since the first segment diverged, at the point of primary fluid injection there was a reduced velocity in the first segment due to the increased cross section. This reduced velocity and increased area allowed the secondary fluid to be pulled through the second segment by the Coanda effect around the perimeter of the second segment only and an undesirable no flow or reverse flow condition was allowed to exist in the center or core of the second segment. Under some conditions, the core effect would extend into the inlet end of the first section. When such core effect took place, the no flow or reverse flow core would be able to reverse and re-enter the second segment around the perimeter of the second segment due to the Coanda effect. This would satisfy the low pressure area created by the primary fluid injection over the Coanda surface allowing a loss of secondary fluid flow and unacceptable turbulence in the area of primary injection. Still another known problem of the prior art Coanda effect pumps was created by the divergence of the second segment from the minimum throat diameter at the Coanda surface to the downstream end of the second segment. This divergence created a larger cross section in the second segment downstream of the Coanda surface and would not permit the effective transfer of the primary fluid momentum throughout the entire cross section of the second segment. This allowed a core of unaffected secondary fluid to exist in the center of the second segment and, under extreme conditions, to extend upstream into the first segment. Such a core resulted in unnecessary turbulence and loss of efficiency. Yet a further problem with the previous pump related to the liquid injection through the Coanda orifice from the plenum which contained the primary liquid used for injection through the orifice. As the distance from the bottom of the pump increased, the primary liquid would not flow directly radially inwardly after leaving the peripheral injection orifice but, rather, would curve downwardly when viewed from the end. This decreased the Coanda effect and, hence, the efficiency of the pump. The patent to Breckner et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,946 addressed a number of the prior art pump problems by disclosing an improvement of earlier designs to address the reverse flow in the low pressure area created by the Coanda effect. Another problem addressed by the patent was excessive turbulence in the boundary layer between the primary flow and the secondary column. As a solution to these stated problems, the Breckner et al device adds fins or vanes in the flow path of the primary flow to increase uniformity in the primary flow by the Coanda surface. The angle of the convergence of the primary flow and the secondary flow is increased to reduce the area of transition between the primary flow and the secondary flow. However, the reduction of the transition area increases the turbulence and acceleration. The secondary flow path is designed for transferring fish of about 1-10 pounds and 8 inches in diameter. Although larger sizes are disclosed as possible, the loss of water uniformity occurs at the Coanda surface and fish over 8 inches in diameter as again subjected to injury or death. Using conventional designs, in order to increase either the size of the product transported or height to be lifted (head) or both, more energy must be added to the primary flow. To increase the size of the reciprocating or centrifugal pump is very expensive and the effects of the greater pressures and velocities of the liquid, in the Coanda effect pump, may cause more trauma to the product. The '946 pump is limited in efficiency to pump diameters of 8 inches or less. Nagata, U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,553, discloses a jet pump for transporting a liquid utilizing a primary flow and a secondary flow. The primary flow originates from an annular orifice with notches in the periphery. A further problem, solved by the instant invention, is an ability to feed fish raised in a floating cage. A common method of raising fish on a fish farm is the use of a floating cage placed in a river, lake, ocean or the like open water. A major concern with floating cages is change in the water conditions, in particulary, changes that occur due to high winds or a storm. Should a breach of the cage occur, the entire stock of fish may escape. Currently, the fish raised on a farm can be fed by hand or automatic feeders. One can appreciate that the difficulty in feeding is raised when fish food is placed on the surface of the water with the reliance of gravity to feed the fish. When high winds or a storm occurs, wave action can result in a breach of the structure leading to a loss of fish. One known prior art method of addressing rough waters is to use underwater fish cages so as to avoid surface waves. However, feeding of the fish becomes difficult since feeding must now address the body of water above the cage which may include a current. A known device to overcome food drift is the use of gravity tubes which are very slow and require a boat or barge to be positioned directly over the cage. Another way of feeding fish held in an underwater cage is by use of a pump. However, typical food for farm fish is in a pellet form which is damaged by most pumps. Damaging of the fish pellets results in smaller size matter which may not be detected by the fish before floating away. What is needed in the art is an efficient liquid pump that can safely transport larger fish over a greater head yet minimize turbulence and swirl to reduce fish stress and damage. What is further needed in the art is an efficient liquid transfer pump capable of transferring fish food beneath the surface of a body of water. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention is directed toward an improved Coanda effect pump for transporting liquid and associated product by induced flow. The pump has a housing with a primary intake for primary flow, a secondary intake for induced flow, an internal pump chamber for intermixing said primary flow and said secondary flow, and an outlet for discharge. The primary intake and said secondary intake are constructed and arranged so as to terminate in a orifice within the housing. The orifice allows the primary flow to be circumferential with the induced flow with both primary flow and induced flow exiting said orifice into a pump chamber. The orifice includes a circumferential gap between the primary intake and the housing directing the primary flow into the pump chamber at an acute angle to the axis of the induced flow. The secondary intake has an internal surface and an external surface with the orifice having flutes formed in the external surface of the secondary intake. An enlarged mouth extends a distance within the internal surface of said secondary intake. The mouth has a constant diameter for forming the secondary flow whereby the primary flow and the secondary flow intermix in the pump chamber with minimal swirl to inhibit damage to the product passing through the pump. Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide a Coanda effect pump which creates a high speed boundary layer with a means for then breaking up the boundary layer to increase the efficiency of intermixing of the primary flow and the induced flow. Still another objective of the invention is to teach the use of orifice serration and a discharge nozzle, wherein Coanda pumps with small gaps can be configured to have higher efficiencies than large gaps, allowing very high induced flows from a primary pump at low flows. It is another objective of this invention to provide a transition zone in the pump chamber and a discharge velocity that does not injure live fish providing a pump system that is more efficient with smaller gaps. It is yet another objective of this invention to teach the reduction of the angle of convergence between the primary flow and the induced flow thereby reducing the turbulence and swirl in the flow. A further objective of this invention is to teach disrupting the boundary layer between the primary flow and induced flow to more quickly intermix with the induced flow. A further objective of this invention is to teach a fish friendly Coanda effect pump having an 8 inch or larger diameter. The pump made efficient by reducing or eliminating the back flow and swirl created in high lifts. Another objective of the invention is to provide a highly efficient pump that can move large diameter fish including salmon as well as high volume of smaller items such as herring and mussels. Another use for the invention is to provide a highly efficient pump capable of transferring fish food with minimal or no breakage of the food to an underwater cage. Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a side view of the pump of this invention with a discharge nozzle; FIG. 2 is an internal side view, partially in phantom lines, of the pump of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspective, partially in section, of the pump of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the orifice; FIG. 5 depicts a pictorial view of an alternative se embodiment wherein the pump of this invention is used feed underwater fish farms. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The Coanda effect pump 10, illustrated in FIG. 1, is constructed with two intakes, a primary intake for the primary liquid flow and a secondary intake for the induced liquid flow, a pump chamber, and one outlet for the discharge or work product. The primary liquid flow 60 is created by a source of power, such as a centrifugal pump (not shown) moving a large volume of liquid, connected to the primary intake. The source liquid for the primary flow 60 may be held in a reservoir (not shown) fed by a separate source of clean liquid, part of a closed system in which the discharge is filtered or otherwise cleaned and returned to the reservoir, or from a source of unlimited make-up water such as an ocean, lake, or river. The source liquid is of suitable consistency to pass through the power pump without interruption and develop a steady flow. The preferred liquid is water. The induced liquid flow 70 is a reaction flow created by the low pressure area existing in the pump chamber and is drawn into the pump through the secondary intake 11. The secondary intake for the induced flow is connected to a line (not shown) that can be introduced into a body of liquid containing the fish or product to be transported. This line may be flexible for maneuverability. The primary liquid, the secondary liquid and the articles are discharged through the outlet 12 of the pump chamber. The outlet 12 is connected to the nozzle 80 which is formed in a bell shape with the mouth approximately twice the diameter of the outlet 12. The nozzle 80 may be connected to a line for directing the discharge to perforated collecting bins (not shown) which separate the product from the carrier liquid. The nozzle 80 may be removably connected to outlet 12 or formed integrally therewith. The velocity of the discharge flow must be slow enough to prevent trauma to the product during the collection. This velocity is directly related to the power of the primary flow and the degree of intermixing with the induced flow. Now with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the primary intake 13 is part of the outer casing 30 of the pump. The primary liquid flow 60 from the power pump enters the intake 13 and fills the plenum 31. Secondary intake 11 is connected to the outer casing 30 and extends through the plenum 31. The outlet 12 is illustrated as being attached to the outer casing 30 by bolts 40 extending through a flange 41 screwed into the outer casing 30, though alternative fastener means may be used. The outer casing 30 terminates in a flange 37 which includes a seal ring 38 in a seal groove 39. As illustrated, the primary intake, secondary intake, and plenum of the Coanda effect pump are a one piece design however, the elements may be separately made and joined together by welds, bolts, adhesives or autologous bonding. The outer casing and the outlet form the housing of the pump. The plenum 31 is the space between the inner wall 25 of the outer casing and the outer wall 33 of the intake 11. The closed bottom 32 of the plenum is formed by the outer casing 30 and the secondary intake. The plenum acts as a pressure and flow regulator for the primary flow 60 to insure a uniform flow of primary fluid through the orifice 17 into the pump chamber 50. The orifice 17 forms the opening connecting the plenum and the pump chamber 50. The side walls of the orifice determine the angle of the primary flow 60 into the pump chamber 50. The side walls of the orifice are shaped by the inner wall 35 of the outlet 12 and the outer end 19 of the secondary intake 11. However, the primary flow 60 is also affected by the shoulder 15 on the secondary intake 11 within the plenum 31. The inner wall 34 of the secondary intake 11 has an area of increased diameter adjacent the opening 18. The enlarged mouth 21 of the intake 11 reduces pressure immediately before the induced flow is ejected into the pump chamber. This change may also reduce the integrity of the boundary layer of the induced flow. The serrations or flutes 20 on the outer end 19 of the secondary intake 11 disrupt the cross section of the primary flow into the pump chamber 50. The crennelated cross section is thought to reduce the symmetry of the boundary layer and provide more surface area for mixing of the primary flow with the induced flow. In a preferred embodiment, the flutes are approximately 0.25 in. deep and 0.25 in. in radius and uniformly spaced about the circumference of the intake. The flutes may range from as little as 18 degrees apart to the preferred embodiment of about 36 degrees apart. A diverging and then parallel or converging diameter prior to the primary water injunction articulated to introduce the secondary or suction water as close to parallel flow to primary water as possible. The ratio of the inlet diameter to the diameter of the primary water orifice injunction is 1 to 1.2 or less. FIG. 4 further depict the serrations or flutes 20 on the outer end 19 of the secondary intake which disrupt the cross section of the primary flow into the pump chamber. The crennelated cross section reduces the symmetry of the boundary layer and provides more surface area for mixing of the primary flow with the induced flow. As previously stated, in a preferred embodiment, the flutes are approximately 0.25 in. deep and 0.25 in. in radius and uniformly spaced about 36 degrees about the circumference of the intake. The diverging exit nozzle 80 shown in FIG. 1 provides a discharge feature wherein the internal volume is increased thereby reducing pressure. The following table illustrates the properties of the pump of this invention, based on an 8 inch I.D. Coanda effect pump: Gap Gap Pressure Flow ratio angle deg. in. PSI A* B* C* D* 43 0.4 12 .362 0.4 43 0.3 22 .508 .532 .528 .543 43 0.2 18 .560 .60 .570 .596 35 0.4 18 .440 .470 35 0.3 24 .528 .552 35 0.2 26 .592 .622 .623 .640 25 0.4 20 .457 .471 25 0.3 24 .582 .60 25 0.2 26 .651 .674 .707 .739 The flow ratio is the amount of induced flow per primary flow expressed as a percentage. A = Coanda effect pump of the prior art; B = Coanda effect pump of the prior art using a discharge orifice of the instant invention. C = Coanda effect pump of the instant invention having a serration feature; D = Coanda effect pump of the instant invention having a the discharge orifice, serration feature, and using a discharge nozzle. EXAMPLE 1 A pump of the prior art having a gap injection angle of 43 degrees and 0.4 inches has a flow ratio of 0.362. The addition of a discharge nozzle increase the flow ratio to 0.4. If the gap injection angle of 43 degrees is maintained but the gap reduced to 0.3 inches, the efficiency allows a flow ratio of 0.508. The addition of the discharge orifice of this invention increases the flow ratio to 0.532. If the flutes are present on the orifice, but no discharge nozzle, the efficiency is raised from 0.508 to 0.528. If the discharge nozzle is included with the orifice flutes, then the efficiency is raised from 0.508 to 0.543. If the gap injection angle of 43 degrees is maintained but the gap angle reduced to 0.2 inches, the efficiency allows a flow ratio of 0.560. The addition of a discharge orifice increases the flow ratio to 0.600. If the flutes are present on the orifice, but no discharge nozzle, the flow ratio is raised from 0.560 to 0.570. If the discharge nozzle is included with the orifice flutes, then the flow ratio is raised from 0.560 to 0.596. EXAMPLE 2 A pump of the prior art having a gap injection angle of 35 degrees and 0.4 inches has a flow ratio of 0.440. The addition of a discharge orifice increases the flow ratio to 0.470. If the gap injection angle of 35 degrees is maintained but the gap angle reduced to 0.2 inches, the efficiency allows a flow ratio of 0.592. The addition of a discharge orifice increases the flow ratio to 0.622. If the flutes are present on the orifice, but no discharge nozzle, the flow ratio is raised from 0.592 to 0.623. If the discharge nozzle is included with the orifice flutes, then the flow ratio is raised from 0.592 to 0.640. EXAMPLE 3 A pump of the prior art having a gap injection angle of 25 degrees and 0.4 inches has a flow ratio of 0.457. The addition of a discharge orifice increases the flow ratio to 0.471. If the gap injection angle of 25 degrees is maintained but the gap angle reduced to 0.2 inches, the efficiency allows a flow ratio of 0.651. The addition of a discharge nozzle increases the flow ratio to 0.674. If the flutes are present on the orifice, but no discharge nozzle, the flow ratio is raised from 0.651 to 0.707. If the discharge nozzle is included with the orifice flutes, then the flow ratio is raised from 0.651 to 0.739. The test performed evidences that the prior art pump having a 43 degree angle and 0.4 inch gap can have the flow ratio increased from 0.362 to 0.739 by use of a 25 degree angle with a 0.2 inch gap wherein the orifice is fluted and a discharge nozzle is added to the pump. Coanda pumps with small gaps can be configured to have higher efficiencies than with large gaps. Thus, the pump system can be most efficient with smaller gaps and angle which further allows increased product protection of the items transferred. The inner and outer walls of the shaped gap, the flutes and the mouth combine to form the orifice 18. The angle and cross section of the primary flow relative to the axis and surface tension of the induced flow determine the characteristics of the combined flow in the transition zone of the pump chamber. These features shape the low pressure area, provide for gradual acceleration and reduce the intermixing swirl thereby increasing efficiency of the pump. The exit diameter of the diverging exit orifice is no more than twice the pump bore diameter. The injection angle can be expressed in degrees that is less than 3.5 times the pump diameter expressed in inches. The internal diameter of the secondary intake 11 is such that articles, such as live fish weighting up to 20 pounds, may be raised to a head over 15 feet without damage. Similarly, the efficiency of the instant pump allows high volume transfer of smaller items such as mussel without damage. High volume transfer is critical to those in a transfer position where time is of the essence. For instance, the transfer of fish from a fishing boat to a hauling boat are commonly performed while at sea which allows the fishing boat to empty its storage area to permit an extended fishing expedition. The time spent in transferring of the fish results in a lost profit since the fishing boat crew is idled during the transfer. Further to this example, the fishing opportunities must be realized when the fish are available, thus, assuring the quick return of the fishing boat to its designated function is a requirement to realize profits. The pump of the instant invention can be further used to move fish feed pellets to an underwater fish cage without causing breakage of the feed pellets. Referring now to FIG. 5, the coanda effect pump system for transferring of the fish pellets is illustrated. A vessel 100 is shown floating on a body of water 102. The vessel is used to carry fish food over a fish cage wherein a centrifugal pump 104 or the like is used for pulling of a primary water supply from the body of water through intake 106. The primary water supply is transfered to the coanda effect pump 108. A secondary inlet to the pump 108 includes a finely perforated pipe 110 that will allow water to fill the pump but not allow for loss of feed pellets. A funnel shaped receiver 110 can be used for insertion of feed pellets into the pipe 110 wherein suction will draw the pellets into the secondary suction of the pump 108. It should be noted that the fish food can be inserted into the pipe 110 by the use of a shovel, or automatically transferred into the pipe 110 by use of an auger or other metering device. The output of the feeder is coupled to a flexible feed tube 114 and the distal end 116 of the tube 114 available for positioning near the fish in need of food. The tube 114 may include a header and valve arrangement, not shown, to direct delivery of the food to multiple or alternate cages. In this embodiment, the coanda effect pump 108 is placed beneath the water which, together with the feeder pipe 110, removes entrapped air from the fish pellets. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. Any techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In the fishing industry, including the aquaculture industry, and the food industry, as a whole, a primary objective is to move large numbers of products without damage from the source to the marketplace. Fish present a particular problem due to their strength yet fragile structure. The movement of fish, whether from fish nets or retention areas, is most desirable if the fish is not injured during the transfer. For instance, in commercial fishing the use of a fishing net to pull fish into a boat can result in injury or death to the fish. If the fish are transferred directly from the fishing net into a holding tank on the fishing boat by use of a fish pump, the fish can be transferred without injury thereby delaying the processing time. Current fish pumps have limited size capacity and transporting larger fish can result in severe damage to the fish. Unfortunately even when the current fish pumps are used within a capacity range, the pump designs can lead to excessive stress upon the fish due to wall impact where pressurized water meets the fish laden water. If the fish is injured, a loss of blood can occur which not only affects the well being of the fish but if the fish is about to be harvested, the blood loss has a direct correlation on the amount of income obtained in a sale of the fish since fisherman are paid by the pound and the loss of blood is a loss of weight. Transferring the catch from fishing trawlers to the processing docks and harvesting the contents of a growing tank at an aqua-farm require efficient handling of large volumes of water containing live fish or marine organisms. While fishing and aqua-culture are specific examples, there are other industries that move products using liquids as carriers. In using a Coanda effect pump to transport live fish, the mobility of fish is lessened in reference to the direction of travel because of the flow into the pump. Since the natural tendency of a fish is move against a current so the fish typically enter such a pump swimming into the suction flow thereby entering a secondary intake line tail first. The suction flow in the secondary intake line results from the hydraulic forces of the mixing liquids in the pump chamber creating an induced flow. As the primary flow and induced flow intermix through the pump, the energy becomes uniform in the outlet flow. The problem with such conventional pumps is the sudden turbulence or swirl due to the differential energy in the circumferential primary flow and the inner column of induced flow. Large active fish can be severely injured at this junction wherein scales and fins can be torn off or side wall impact so severe that the fish can killed. When the fish enters tail first, it can do little to prevent impacting of the walls of the pump as it passes through. Also, when the fish encounters the water swirl formed at the point of water mixing, the forward motion through the pump with deceleration then acceleration results in the likely impact against the wall of the pump. Such a pump has inherent efficiency due the shear collision effect between the primary liquid injected through the Coanda inlet and the secondary liquid carrying the fish but also from the suction effect created by the action of the primary liquid on the Coanda surface. In such a pump, a first segment upstream of the Coanda surface diverges from its inlet end and terminates at its outlet end immediately before the point of injection of the primary liquid from the Coanda orifice. The inside diameter of the outlet end of the first segment is larger than the inside diameter of the second segment downstream of and smoothly merging with the Coanda surface. A second segment converges downstream from the Coanda orifice and, thereafter, diverges from the minimum inside diameter location. In the prior art, the first segment diverged abruptly from its inlet end to the outlet end located adjacent the primary liquid injection point through the orifice. The Coanda surface converged to a first inside diameter which was located downstream from the first segment. The inside diameter downstream from the first segment was smaller than the inside diameter of the outlet end of the first segment. For that reason, a fish traveling from the first segment would impact with the converging Coanda surface, thereby causing fish damage or fish kill. Further in the area of the Coanda orifice, there is a low pressure or “suction” zone created by the primary liquid injection which impairs momentum to the secondary liquid flow. However, since the first segment diverged, at the point of primary fluid injection there was a reduced velocity in the first segment due to the increased cross section. This reduced velocity and increased area allowed the secondary fluid to be pulled through the second segment by the Coanda effect around the perimeter of the second segment only and an undesirable no flow or reverse flow condition was allowed to exist in the center or core of the second segment. Under some conditions, the core effect would extend into the inlet end of the first section. When such core effect took place, the no flow or reverse flow core would be able to reverse and re-enter the second segment around the perimeter of the second segment due to the Coanda effect. This would satisfy the low pressure area created by the primary fluid injection over the Coanda surface allowing a loss of secondary fluid flow and unacceptable turbulence in the area of primary injection. Still another known problem of the prior art Coanda effect pumps was created by the divergence of the second segment from the minimum throat diameter at the Coanda surface to the downstream end of the second segment. This divergence created a larger cross section in the second segment downstream of the Coanda surface and would not permit the effective transfer of the primary fluid momentum throughout the entire cross section of the second segment. This allowed a core of unaffected secondary fluid to exist in the center of the second segment and, under extreme conditions, to extend upstream into the first segment. Such a core resulted in unnecessary turbulence and loss of efficiency. Yet a further problem with the previous pump related to the liquid injection through the Coanda orifice from the plenum which contained the primary liquid used for injection through the orifice. As the distance from the bottom of the pump increased, the primary liquid would not flow directly radially inwardly after leaving the peripheral injection orifice but, rather, would curve downwardly when viewed from the end. This decreased the Coanda effect and, hence, the efficiency of the pump. The patent to Breckner et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,946 addressed a number of the prior art pump problems by disclosing an improvement of earlier designs to address the reverse flow in the low pressure area created by the Coanda effect. Another problem addressed by the patent was excessive turbulence in the boundary layer between the primary flow and the secondary column. As a solution to these stated problems, the Breckner et al device adds fins or vanes in the flow path of the primary flow to increase uniformity in the primary flow by the Coanda surface. The angle of the convergence of the primary flow and the secondary flow is increased to reduce the area of transition between the primary flow and the secondary flow. However, the reduction of the transition area increases the turbulence and acceleration. The secondary flow path is designed for transferring fish of about 1-10 pounds and 8 inches in diameter. Although larger sizes are disclosed as possible, the loss of water uniformity occurs at the Coanda surface and fish over 8 inches in diameter as again subjected to injury or death. Using conventional designs, in order to increase either the size of the product transported or height to be lifted (head) or both, more energy must be added to the primary flow. To increase the size of the reciprocating or centrifugal pump is very expensive and the effects of the greater pressures and velocities of the liquid, in the Coanda effect pump, may cause more trauma to the product. The '946 pump is limited in efficiency to pump diameters of 8 inches or less. Nagata, U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,553, discloses a jet pump for transporting a liquid utilizing a primary flow and a secondary flow. The primary flow originates from an annular orifice with notches in the periphery. A further problem, solved by the instant invention, is an ability to feed fish raised in a floating cage. A common method of raising fish on a fish farm is the use of a floating cage placed in a river, lake, ocean or the like open water. A major concern with floating cages is change in the water conditions, in particulary, changes that occur due to high winds or a storm. Should a breach of the cage occur, the entire stock of fish may escape. Currently, the fish raised on a farm can be fed by hand or automatic feeders. One can appreciate that the difficulty in feeding is raised when fish food is placed on the surface of the water with the reliance of gravity to feed the fish. When high winds or a storm occurs, wave action can result in a breach of the structure leading to a loss of fish. One known prior art method of addressing rough waters is to use underwater fish cages so as to avoid surface waves. However, feeding of the fish becomes difficult since feeding must now address the body of water above the cage which may include a current. A known device to overcome food drift is the use of gravity tubes which are very slow and require a boat or barge to be positioned directly over the cage. Another way of feeding fish held in an underwater cage is by use of a pump. However, typical food for farm fish is in a pellet form which is damaged by most pumps. Damaging of the fish pellets results in smaller size matter which may not be detected by the fish before floating away. What is needed in the art is an efficient liquid pump that can safely transport larger fish over a greater head yet minimize turbulence and swirl to reduce fish stress and damage. What is further needed in the art is an efficient liquid transfer pump capable of transferring fish food beneath the surface of a body of water. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed toward an improved Coanda effect pump for transporting liquid and associated product by induced flow. The pump has a housing with a primary intake for primary flow, a secondary intake for induced flow, an internal pump chamber for intermixing said primary flow and said secondary flow, and an outlet for discharge. The primary intake and said secondary intake are constructed and arranged so as to terminate in a orifice within the housing. The orifice allows the primary flow to be circumferential with the induced flow with both primary flow and induced flow exiting said orifice into a pump chamber. The orifice includes a circumferential gap between the primary intake and the housing directing the primary flow into the pump chamber at an acute angle to the axis of the induced flow. The secondary intake has an internal surface and an external surface with the orifice having flutes formed in the external surface of the secondary intake. An enlarged mouth extends a distance within the internal surface of said secondary intake. The mouth has a constant diameter for forming the secondary flow whereby the primary flow and the secondary flow intermix in the pump chamber with minimal swirl to inhibit damage to the product passing through the pump. Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide a Coanda effect pump which creates a high speed boundary layer with a means for then breaking up the boundary layer to increase the efficiency of intermixing of the primary flow and the induced flow. Still another objective of the invention is to teach the use of orifice serration and a discharge nozzle, wherein Coanda pumps with small gaps can be configured to have higher efficiencies than large gaps, allowing very high induced flows from a primary pump at low flows. It is another objective of this invention to provide a transition zone in the pump chamber and a discharge velocity that does not injure live fish providing a pump system that is more efficient with smaller gaps. It is yet another objective of this invention to teach the reduction of the angle of convergence between the primary flow and the induced flow thereby reducing the turbulence and swirl in the flow. A further objective of this invention is to teach disrupting the boundary layer between the primary flow and induced flow to more quickly intermix with the induced flow. A further objective of this invention is to teach a fish friendly Coanda effect pump having an 8 inch or larger diameter. The pump made efficient by reducing or eliminating the back flow and swirl created in high lifts. Another objective of the invention is to provide a highly efficient pump that can move large diameter fish including salmon as well as high volume of smaller items such as herring and mussels. Another use for the invention is to provide a highly efficient pump capable of transferring fish food with minimal or no breakage of the food to an underwater cage. Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. | 20040624 | 20081209 | 20051229 | 76415.0 | 0 | STIMPERT, PHILIP EARL | FISH PUMP | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,291 | ACCEPTED | Coated articles and multi-layer coatings | Articles are disclosed wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited on a surface thereof. The coating layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. Methods of using the coatings, and the substrates coated therewith, are also disclosed. | 1. An article comprising a surface, wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited on at least a portion of the surface, and wherein the layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising (i) color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of 10%; and (ii) a film-forming resin. 2. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles have an average primary particle size of less than 150 nanometers. 3. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.3 millimeters. 4. The article of claim 3, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.2 millimeters. 5. The article of claim 4, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.1 millimeters. 6. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 5%. 7. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 1%. 8. The article of claim 5, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 0.5%. 9. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles comprise a mixture of particles of at least two or more colors. 10. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles comprise organic pigments. 11. The article of claim 10, wherein the organic pigments are selected from the group consisting of perylenes, quinacridones, phthalocyanines, isoindolines, dioxazines (that is, triphenedioxazines), 1,4-diketopyrrolopyrroles, anthrapyrimidines, anthanthrones, flavanthrones, indanthrones, perinones, pyranthrones, thioindigos, 4,4′-diamino-1,1′-dianthraquinonyl, azo compounds, substituted derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof. 12. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer has a percent opacity of no more than 90 percent at a dry film thickness of one (1) mil. 13. The article of claim 12, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer has a percent opacity of no more than 50 percent at a dry film thickness of one (1) mil. 14. The article of claim 1, wherein the protective coating composition further comprises (iii) an optical-effect pigment. 15. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited over a reflective surface comprising a reflective material having a total reflectance of at least 30%. 16. The article of claim 15, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited over a reflective surface comprising a reflective material having a total reflectance of at least 40%. 17. The article of claim 15, wherein the reflective material comprises the surface of the article. 18. The article of claim 17, wherein the surface comprises polished aluminum, cold roll steel, chrome-plated metal, or vacuum deposited metal on plastic. 19. The article of claim 15, wherein the reflective material is a basecoat layer deposited from a coating composition. 20. The article of claim 1, wherein the film-forming resin comprises at least one reactive functional group containing polymer and at least one curing agent having functional groups reactive with the functional group of the polymer. 21. The article of claim 20, wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic polymers, polyester polymers, polyurethane polymers, and polyether polymers. 22. The article of claim 21, wherein the polymer comprises reactive functional groups selected from the group consisting of epoxy groups, carboxylic acid groups, hydroxyl groups, isocyanate groups, amide groups, carbamate groups, carboxylate groups and mixtures thereof. 23. The article of claim 1, wherein the color-imparting particles are stably dispersed in an aqueous medium. 24. A multi-layer coating comprising: a) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from a protective coating composition comprising (i) color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10%; and (ii) a film-forming resin; b) a clearcoat layer deposited over at least a portion of the color-imparting non-hiding layer. 25. A substrate coated with the multi-layer coating of claim 24. 26. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles have an average primary particle size of less than 150 nanometers. 27. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.3 millimeters. 28. The multi-layer coating of claim 27, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.2 millimeters. 29. The multi-layer coating of claim 28, wherein the color-imparting particles are produced by milling color-imparting particles with milling media having a particle size of 0.1 millimeters. 30. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 5%. 31. The multi-layer coating of claim 30, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 1%. 32. The multi-layer coating of claim 31, wherein the color-imparting particles have a maximum haze of 0.5%. 33. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles comprise a mixture of particles of at least two or more colors. 34. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles comprise organic pigments. 35. The multi-layer coating of claim 34, wherein the organic pigments are selected from the group consisting of perylenes, quinacridones, phthalocyanines, isoindolines, dioxazines (that is, triphenedioxazines), 1,4-diketopyrrolopyrroles, anthrapyrimidines, anthanthrones, flavanthrones, indanthrones, perinones, pyranthrones, thioindigos, 4,4′-diamino-1,1′-dianthraquinonyl, azo compounds, substituted derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof. 36. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer has a percent opacity of no more than 90 percent at a dry film thickness of one (1) mil. 37. The multi-layer coating of claim 36, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer has a percent opacity of no more than 50 percent at a dry film thickness of one (1) mil. 38. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from the protective coating composition further comprises an optical-effect pigment. 39. A reflective material having deposited thereon the multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the reflective material has a total reflectance of at least 30%. 40. A reflective material having deposited thereon the multi-layer coating of claim 39, wherein the reflective material has a total reflectance of at least 40%. 41. The multi-layer coating of claim 39, wherein the reflective material comprises the surface of the article. 42. The multi-layer coating of claim 41, wherein the surface comprises polished aluminum, cold roll steel, chrome-plated metal, or vacuum deposited metal on plastic. 43. The multi-layer coating of claim 39, wherein the reflective material is a basecoat layer deposited from a coating composition. 44. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the film-forming resin comprises at least one reactive functional group containing polymer and at least one curing agent having functional groups reactive with the functional group of the polymer. 45. The multi-layer coating of claim 44, wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic polymers, polyester polymers, polyurethane polymers, and polyether polymers. 46. The multi-layer coating of claim 44, wherein the polymer comprises reactive functional groups selected from the group consisting of epoxy groups, carboxylic acid groups, hydroxyl groups, isocyanate groups, amide groups, carbamate groups, carboxylate groups and mixtures thereof. 47. The multi-layer coating of claim 24, wherein the color-imparting particles are stably dispersed in an aqueous medium. 48. A multi-layer coating system comprising: a) a basecoat layer deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder and a pigment; b) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited over at least a portion of the basecoat layer, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising (i) color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10%; and (ii) a film-forming resin; and c) a clearcoat layer deposited over at least a portion of the color-imparting non-hiding layer, wherein the clearcoat layer is deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder. 49. A substrate coated with the multi-layer coating system of claim 48. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. ______ and ______, filed concurrently herewith. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to articles having a surface, wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited on at least a portion of the surface. The coating layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having low haze (high transparency) and a film-forming resin. The present invention is also directed to multi-layer coatings that include such color-imparting layers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION “Color-plus-clear” coating systems involving the application of a colored pigmented basecoat to a substrate followed by application of a clear topcoat over the basecoat have become increasingly popular as original finishes for a number of consumer products including, for example, cars and floor coverings such as ceramic tiles and wood flooring. The base-plus-clear coating systems can have outstanding appearance properties, including gloss and distinctness of image. “Tricoat” coating systems are used in certain coating applications. Such systems can achieve a deep transparent color effect as compared with the two-step base-plus-clear coating systems described above. Tricoat systems include an additional color-imparting non-hiding layer deposited between the basecoat layer and clear topcoat layer. A standard tricoat process involves the application of a first stage pigmented basecoat, with or without a reflective component, such as metallic and/or micaeous interference flakes, followed by the application of a second stage color-imparting non-hiding coating layer and then a clear topcoat. One purpose of the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer in certain tricoat systems can be to provide color depth and richness to the basecoat layer, which is sometimes known as the “candied” effect. For example, in certain applications, an organic red non-hiding coating layer may be applied over a red metallic basecoat layer to enhance the red color depth and richness of the red metallic basecoat. In some tricoat systems, a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer provides a contrasting color effect over the basecoat layer because of the combination of colors applied. For example, in certain applications, an organic red non-hiding layer may be applied over a silver metallic basecoat layer to provide a red metallic appearance. In another example, an organic yellow non-hiding layer may be applied over a red metallic basecoat layer to provide an orange metallic appearance. In some cases, such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers are applied over a basecoat layer as described above but without application of an additional clearcoat layer. In these instances, the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer typically provides properties similar to a traditional clearcoat. In other cases, these color-imparting non-hiding coating layers may be applied as a single coating layer directly to a substrate with no basecoat or clearcoat layer present. Again, such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers typically provide both color and protection to the substrate. Historically, dyes have been used to achieve a transparent coloration in such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers. In such applications, dyes are considered organic colorants that are completely soluble within the coating medium and which do not scatter light in the solvated state. Dyes, however, often possess poorer fastness than pigments when exposed to ambient light and weathering conditions. Dyes often possess poorer color persistencies than pigments due to their tendency to migrate to the surface of the coating. In certain dyes, heavy metals are incorporated to impart coloration and, in turn, enhance the fastness properties of the dyes. Many heavy metals, however, are considered toxic and, as a result, there are obvious health and safety concerns with their use. Additionally, dyes may migrate to the surface of the coating layer, which can lead to loss of color. Thus, there is a need in the coatings art for coated articles having deposited thereon a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer that can have transparency and color comparable to that of a similar coating layer containing dyes and color persistence properties similar to conventionally pigmented coatings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one, respect, the present invention is directed to articles comprising a surface, wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from a protective coating composition is deposited on at least a portion of the surface. The protective coating composition comprises color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. In another respect, the present invention is directed to multi-layer coatings. The multi-layer coatings of the present invention comprise: (a) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin; and (b) a clearcoat layer deposited over the color-imparting non-hiding layer. In still another respect, the present invention is directed to a multi-layer coating system comprising: (a) a basecoat layer deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder and a pigment; (b) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited over at least a portion of the basecoat layer; and (c) a clearcoat layer deposited over at least a portion of the color-imparting non-hiding layer. The color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. The clearcoat layer is deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder. Methods for using these compositions are also within the scope of invention, as are substrates coated according to these methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a graph of particle size versus difference in refractive index for colorant particles suspended in a resinous binder. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Other than in the operating examples, or where otherwise indicated, all numbers, numerical parameters and/or ranges expressing, for example, quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties to be obtained by the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical values, however, inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements. Also, it should be understood that any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. For example, a range of “1 to 10” is intended to include all sub-ranges between (and including) the recited minimum value of 1 and the recited maximum value of 10, that is, having a minimum value equal to or greater than 1 and a maximum value of equal to or less than 10. Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to articles comprising a surface, wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited on at least a portion of the surface, and wherein the layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprises color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. As used herein, the term “non-hiding coating layer” refers to a coating layer wherein, when deposited onto a surface, the surface beneath the coating layer is visible. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the surface beneath the non-hiding coating layer is visible when the non-hiding layer is applied at a typical dry film thickness known in the art of automotive refinish coatings, such as 0.5 to 5.0 mils (12.7 to 127 microns). One way to assess non-hiding is by measurement of opacity. As used herein, “opacity” refers to the degree to which a material obscures a substrate. “Percent opacity” refers herein to the ratio of the reflectance of a dry coating film over a black substrate of 5% or less reflectance, to the reflectance of the same coating film, equivalently applied and dried, over a substrate of 85% reflectance. The percent opacity of a dry coating film will depend on the dry film thickness of the coating and the concentration of color-imparting particles. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer has a percent opacity of no more than 90 percent, such as no more than 50 percent, at a dry film thickness of one (1) mil (about 25 microns). As used herein, the term “protective coating composition” refers to a composition that, when deposited onto a surface, provides protection of that surface from degradation due to surrounding environmental conditions in order to retain the integrity of that surface, unlike inks. Non-limiting examples of degradation due to environmental conditions include oxidation and light degradation. In addition, a protective coating composition normally possesses mechanical properties such as scratch and mar resistance. Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to an article having a surface, wherein a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles is deposited on at least a portion of the surface. As used herein, the term “color-imparting particles” refers to particles having little or no solubility in the protective coating composition and which impart color to the composition. Non-limiting examples of such color-imparting particles include pigments that impart a color such as red, green, yellow, and blue, among others. Suitable pigment compositions that may make up the color-imparting particles and which may be used in the present invention include, without limitation, azo (monoazo, disazo, β-naphthol, naphthol AS, salt type (azo pigment lakes), benzimidazolone, disazo condensation, azo metal complex, (isoindolinone, isoindoline) and polycyclic (phthalocyanine, quinacridone, perylene, perinone, diketopyrrolo pyrrole, thioindigo, anthraquinone (indanthrone, anthrapyrimidine, flavanthrone, pyranthrone, anthanthrone, dioxazine, triarylcarbonium, quinophthalone) pigments, and mixtures thereof. In the present invention, the color-imparting particles present in the protective coating composition have a maximum haze of 10%, such as a maximum haze of 5%, or a maximum haze of 1%, or, in yet other embodiments, a maximum haze of 0.5%. As used herein, “haze” refers to a measurement of the transparency of a material and is defined by ASTM D1003. The haze values for the color-imparting particles described herein can be determined by first having the color-imparting particles dispersed in a liquid (such as water, organic solvent, or a dispersant, as described herein) and then measuring these dispersions diluted in a solvent, for example, butyl acetate, using a Byk-Gardner TCS (The Color Sphere) instrument having a 500 micron cell path length. Because the % haze of a liquid sample is concentration dependent, we specify herein the % haze at a transmittance of about 15% to about 20% at the wavelength of maximum absorbance. As generally shown in FIG. 1, an acceptable haze may be achieved for relatively large particles when the difference in refractive index between the particles and the surrounding medium is low. Conversely, for smaller particles, greater refractive index differences between the particle and the surrounding medium may provide an acceptable haze. Generally, to achieve the desired haze (minimal scattering) of no more than 10%, the color-imparting particles have an average primary particle size of no more than 150 nanometers. Therefore, in certain embodiments, the color-imparting particles present in the protective coating composition have such a primary particle size. Such particles may, for example, be prepared by milling bulk pigments with milling media having a particle size of about 0.3 millimeters, such as about 0.2 millimeters, or, in some cases, about 0.1 millimeters. In certain embodiments of the present invention, pigment particles are milled to nanoparticulate sizes in a high energy mill in an organic solvent system, such as butyl acetate, using a dispersant, such as Solsperse® 32,500 or Solsperse® 32,000 both available from The Lubrizol Corporation of Wickliffe, Ohio or in water using a dispersant, such as Solsperse® 27,000 available from The Lubrizol Corporation with an optional polymeric grinding resin. Other suitable methods of producing the color-imparting particles of the present invention include crystallization, precipitation, gas phase condensation, and chemical attrition (i.e., partial dissolution). It should be noted that any known method for producing the color-imparting particles could be employed, provided that re-agglomeration of the color-imparting particles is minimized or avoided altogether. Average primary particle size measurement can be obtained with a Philips CM12 transmission electron microscope (TEM) at 100 kV, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. In certain embodiments, the color-imparting particles may be present in the protective coating composition in an amount of at least 0.01 weight percent up to 50 weight percent based on weight of total solids in the protective coating composition._The amount of the color-imparting particles present in the protective coating of the present invention can range between any combinations of the recited values, inclusive of the recited values. In certain embodiments, the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer comprises color-imparting particles of one color or, in other embodiments; such a layer comprises a mixture of particles of at least two or more colors. The protective coating composition used in the present invention includes a film-forming resin. As used herein, “film-forming” refers to resins that can form a self-supporting continuous film on at least a horizontal surface of a substrate upon removal of any solvents or carriers present in the composition or upon curing at ambient or elevated temperature. Conventional film-forming resins that may be used in such protective coating compositions include those typically used in automotive OEM coating compositions, automotive refinish coating compositions, industrial coating compositions, architectural coating compositions, powder coating compositions, coil coating compositions, and aerospace coating compositions, among others. Suitable resins include, for example, those formed from the reaction of a polymer having at least one type of reactive functional group and a curing agent having functional groups reactive with the functional group(s) of the polymer. As used herein, the term “polymer” is meant to encompass oligomers, and includes without limitation both homopolymers and copolymers. The polymers can be, for example, acrylic, polyester, polyurethane or polyether, polyvinyl, cellulosic, acrylate, silicon-based polymers, co-polymers thereof, and mixtures thereof, and can contain functional groups such as epoxy, carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, isocyanate, amide, carbamate and carboxylate groups. The acrylic polymers, if used, are typically copolymers of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid or hydroxyalkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate or hydroxypropyl acrylate with one or more other polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomers such as alkyl esters of acrylic acid including methyl methacrylate and 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate, and vinyl aromatic compounds such as styrene, alpha-methyl styrene and vinyl toluene. The ratio of reactants and reaction conditions are selected to result in an acrylic polymer with pendant hydroxyl or carboxylic acid functionality. Besides acrylic polymers, the protective coating compositions used in the present invention can contain a polyester polymer or oligomer, including those containing free terminal hydroxyl and/or carboxyl groups. Such polymers may be prepared in a known manner by condensation of polyhydric alcohols and polycarboxylic acids. Suitable polyhydric alcohols include ethylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, trimethylol propane and pentaerythritol. Suitable polycarboxylic acids include adipic acid, 1,4-cyclohexyl dicarboxylic acid and hexahydrophthalic acid. Besides the polycarboxylic acids mentioned above, functional equivalents of the acids such as anhydrides where they exist or lower alkyl esters of the acids such as the methyl esters may be used. Also, small amounts of monocarboxylic acids such as stearic acid may be used. Hydroxyl-containing polyester oligomers can be prepared by reacting an anhydride of a dicarboxylic acid such as hexahydrophthalic anhydride with a diol such as neopentyl glycol in a 1:2 molar ratio. Where it is desired to enhance air-drying, suitable drying oil fatty acids may be used and include those derived from linseed oil, soya bean oil, tall oil, dehydrated castor oil or tung oil. Polyurethane polymers containing terminal isocyanate or hydroxyl groups may also be used. The polyurethane polyols or NCO-terminated polyurethanes which can be used include those prepared by reacting polyols including polymeric polyols with polyisocyanates. The polyurea-containing terminal isocyanate or primary or secondary amine groups which can be used include those prepared by reacting polyamines including polymeric polyamines with polyisocyanates. The hydroxyl/isocyanate or amine/isocyanate equivalent ratio is adjusted and reaction conditions selected to obtain the desired terminal group. Examples of suitable polyisocyanates include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,729 at column 5, line 26 to column 6, line 28, hereby incorporated by reference. Examples of suitable polyols include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,729 at column 7, line 52 to column 10, line 35, hereby incorporated by reference. Examples of suitable polyamines include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,729 at column 6, line 61 to column 7, line 32 and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,854 at column 3, lines 13 to 50, both hereby incorporated by reference. As previously mentioned, a silicon-based polymer can also be used. As used herein, by “silicon-based polymers” is meant a polymer comprising one or more —SiO— units in the backbone. Such silicon-based polymers can include hybrid polymers, such as those comprising organic polymeric blocks with one or more —SiO— units in the backbone. As mentioned earlier, certain protective coating compositions used in the present invention can include a film-forming resin that is formed from the use of a curing agent. Curing agents suitable for use in the protective coating compositions used in the present invention can include aminoplast resins and phenoplast resins and mixtures thereof, as curing agents for OH, COOH, amide, and carbamate functional group containing materials. Examples of aminoplast and phenoplast resins suitable as curing agents in curable compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,351 at col. 5, line 22 to col. 6, line 25, hereby incorporated by reference. Also suitable are polyisocyanates and blocked polyisocyanates as curing agents for OH and primary and/or secondary amino group-containing materials. Examples of polyisocyanates and blocked isocyanates suitable for use as curing agents in curable compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,045 at col. 5, lines 16 to 38; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,802 at col. 3, lines 48 to 60, both hereby incorporated by reference. Anhydrides as curing agents for OH and primary and/or secondary amino group containing materials are well known in the art. Examples of anhydrides suitable for use as curing agents in the protective coating compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,746 at col. 10, lines 16 to 50; and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,790 at col. 3, lines 41 to 57, both hereby incorporated by reference. Polyepoxides as curing agents for COOH functional group containing materials are well known in the art. Examples of polyepoxides suitable for use as curing agents in the protective coating compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,811 at col. 5, lines 33 to 58, hereby incorporated by reference. Polyacids as curing agents for epoxy functional group containing materials are well known in the art. Examples of polyacids suitable for use as curing agents in the protective coating compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,811 at col. 6, line 45 to col. 9, line 54, hereby incorporated by reference. Polyols, that is, material having an average of two or more hydroxyl groups per molecule, can be used as curing agents for NCO functional group containing materials and anhydrides and esters and are well known in the art. Examples of said polyols include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,729 at col. 7, line 52 to col. 8, line 9; col. 8, line 29 to col. 9, line 66; and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,315 at col. 2, line 64 to col. 3, line 33, both hereby incorporated by reference. Polyamines can also be used as curing agents for NCO functional group containing materials and for carbonates and unhindered esters and are well known in the art. Examples of polyamines suitable for use as in the protective coating compositions that may be used in the present invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,729 at col. 6, line 61 to col. 7, line 26, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,854 at column 3, lines 13 to 50, hereby incorporated by reference. When desired, appropriate mixtures of curing agents may be used. Moreover, the protective coating compositions used in the present invention can be formulated as a one-component composition where a curing agent such as an aminoplast resin and/or a blocked isocyanate compound such as those described above is admixed with other composition components. The one-component composition can be storage stable as formulated. Alternatively, such compositions can be formulated as a two-component composition where, for example, a polyisocyanate curing agent such as those described above can be added to a pre-formed admixture of the other composition components just prior to application. The pre-formed admixture can comprise curing agents for example, aminoplast resins and/or blocked isocyanate compounds such as those described above. In certain embodiments, the film-forming resin is generally present in the protective coating composition in an amount greater than about 30 weight percent, such as greater than about 40 weight percent, and less than 90 weight percent, with weight percent being based on the total solid weight of the composition. For example, the weight percent of resin can be between 30 and 90 weight percent. When a curing agent is used, it is generally present in an amount of up to 70 weight percent, typically between 10 and 70 weight percent; this weight percent is also based on the total solid weight of the coating composition. The protective coating compositions used in the present invention can be formed from film-forming resins that are liquid, that is, waterborne or solventborne systems. Suitable diluents include organic solvents, water, and/or water/organic solvent mixtures. Organic solvents in which the protective coating compositions may be dispersed include, for example, alcohols, ketones, aromatic hydrocarbons, glycol ethers, esters or mixtures thereof. The diluent is generally present in amounts ranging from 5 to 80 weight percent based on total weight of the composition, such as 30 to 50 percent. The protective coating compositions used in the present invention can also comprise optional ingredients such as those well known in the art of formulating surface coatings. Such optional ingredients can comprise, for example, surface active agents, flow control agents, thixotropic agents, fillers, anti-gassing agents, organic co-solvents, catalysts, antioxidants, light stabilizers, UV absorbers and other customary auxiliaries. Any such additives known in the art can be used, absent compatibility problems, so long as the resulting coating layer deposited from the composition is non-hiding as described above. Nonlimiting examples of these materials are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,679; 4,403,003; 4,147,769; and 5,071,904, which patents are incorporated herein by reference. In certain cases, each of the optional ingredients can be present in amounts as low as 0.01 weight percent and as high as 20.0 weight percent. Usually the total amount of optional ingredients will range from 0.01 to 25 weight percent, based on total weight of the composition. In certain embodiments, the protective coating composition may further comprise an optical-effect pigment. As used herein, the term “optical effect pigment” refers to pigments used to modify the optical characteristics of the coating layer. Non-limiting examples of suitable optical-effect pigments include mica-based pigments, borosilicate-based pigments, bismuth oxychloride crystals, aluminum-based pigments, liquid crystal flakes, or combinations thereof. The amount of suchoptical effect pigment present in the protective coating composition is not particularly limited, so long as the resulting coating layer deposited from the composition is non-hiding as described above. Moreover, in certain embodiments, the color-imparting non-hiding layer is deposited on a reflective surface. For example, in certain embodiments, the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited over a surface comprising a reflective material having a total reflectance of at least 30%, such as at least 40%. “Total reflectance” refers herein to the ratio of reflected light from an object relative to the incident light that impinges on the object in the visible spectrum integrating over all viewing angles. “Visible spectrum” refers herein to that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between wavelengths 400 and 700 nanometers. “Viewing angle” refers herein to the angle between the viewing ray and a normal to the surface at the point of incidence. The reflectance values described herein are determined using the Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-3600d with the procedure described in the Examples section. In certain embodiments, the reflective material comprises a substrate such as, for example, polished aluminum, cold roll steel, chrome-plated metal, or vacuum deposited metal on plastic, among others. In other embodiments, the reflective material may comprise a previously coated surface which may, for example, comprise a basecoat layer deposited from a coating composition, such as for example a silver metallic basecoat layer, a colored metallic basecoat layer, or a white basecoat layer, among others. Such basecoat layers may be deposited from a base-coat film-forming composition that may, for example, include any of the previously described film-forming resins used in the protective coating composition described earlier. For example, the film-forming composition of the basecoat may comprise a resinous binder and one or more pigments to act as the colorant. Useful resinous binders are acrylic polymers, polyesters, including alkyds and polyurethanes, such as any of those discussed in detail above. The resinous binders for the basecoat may, for example, comprise organic solvent-based materials or water-based coating compositions. As noted, the basecoat composition can-contain pigments as colorants. Suitable pigments for the basecoat composition include, for example, metallic pigments, which include aluminum flake, copper or bronze flake and metal oxide coated mica; non-metallic color pigments, such as titanium dioxide, iron oxide, chromium oxide, lead chromate, and carbon black; as well as organic pigments, such as, for example, phthalocyanine blue and phthalocyanine green. Optional ingredients suitable for inclusion in the basecoat composition include those, which are well known in the art of formulating surface coatings, such as those materials described earlier. The solids content of the basecoat composition often generally ranges from 15 to 60 weight percent, or 20 to 50 weight percent. The basecoat composition can be applied to a substrate by any conventional coating technique such as brushing, spraying, dipping or flowing, among others. The usual spray techniques and equipment for air spraying, airless spraying and electrostatic spraying in either manual or automatic methods can be used. During application of the basecoat to the substrate, the film thickness of the basecoat formed on the substrate often ranges from 0.1 to 5 mils (2.5 to 127 micrometers), or 0.1 to 2 mils (2.5 to 50.8 micrometers). After forming a film of the basecoat on the substrate, the basecoat can be cured or alternatively given a drying step in which solvent is driven out of the basecoat film by heating or an air drying period before application of subsequent coating compositions. Suitable drying conditions will depend on the particular basecoat composition, and one the ambient humidity if the composition is water-borne, but often, a drying time of from 1 to 15 minutes at a temperature of 75° to 200° F. (21° to 93° C.) will be adequate. Referring once again to the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer, the color-imparting particles included in the protective coating composition from which such a layer is deposited may, in certain embodiments, be stably dispersed in an aqueous medium. In these embodiments, such a protective coating composition may be prepared by (a) providing the color-imparting particles described above, (b) admixing the color-imparting particles with (1) one or more polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomers; or (2) a mixture of one or more polymerizable unsaturated monomers with one or more polymers; or (3) one or more polymers, to form an admixture; (c) subjecting the admixture to high stress shear conditions in the presence of an aqueous medium to particularize the admixture into microparticles; and (d) optionally, polymerizing said ethylenically unsaturated monomers under free radical polymerization conditions. In certain embodiments, the color-imparting particles are present in such aqueous dispersions in an amount of at least 0.1 weight percent, or at least 5 weight percent, or at least 10 weight percent, based on weight of total solids present in the dispersion. Also, the color-imparting particles can be present in such aqueous dispersions in an amount of up to 50 weight percent, or up to 40 weight percent, or up to 35 weight percent, based on weight of total solids present in the dispersion. The amount of the color-imparting particles present in such aqueous dispersions can range between any combinations of the recited values, inclusive of the recited values. In certain embodiments, the aqueous dispersion is prepared by admixing, optionally in the presence of an aqueous medium, the color-imparting particles with (1) one or more polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomers; and/or (2) a mixture of one or more polymerizable unsaturated monomers with one or more polymers; and/or (3) one or more polymers, to form an admixture. The admixture then is subjected to high shear stress conditions (described in detail below) in the presence of an aqueous medium to particularize the admixture into microparticles. If present, the ethylenically unsaturated monomers then can be polymerized under free radical conditions as described below. In such aqueous dispersions, the aqueous medium in which the color-imparting particles are dispersed generally is exclusively water. However, for some monomer and/or polymer systems, it can be desirable to also include a minor amount of inert organic solvent that can assist in lowering the viscosity of the polymer to be dispersed. In certain embodiments, the amount of organic solvent present in the aqueous dispersion is less than 20 weight percent, such as less than 10 weight percent, or, in some embodiments, less than 5 weight percent, or less than 2 weight percent based on total weight of the dispersion. For example, if the organic phase has a Brookfield viscosity greater than 1000 centipoise at 25° C. or a W Gardner Holdt viscosity, some solvent can be used. Examples of suitable solvents that can be incorporated include, but are not limited to, propylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylene glycol monohexyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, n-butanol, benzyl alcohol, and mineral spirits. When included, the polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomers can include any of the ethylenically unsaturated monomers, including vinyl monomers known in the art. Non-limiting examples of useful ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid functional group-containing monomers include (meth)acrylic acid, beta-carboxyethyl acrylate, acryloxypropionic acid, crotonic acid, fumaric acid, monoalkyl esters of fumaric acid, maleic acid, monoalkyl esters of maleic acid, itaconic acid, monoalkyl esters of itaconic acid and mixtures thereof. As used herein, “(meth)acrylic” and terms derived therefrom are intended to include both acrylic and methacrylic. Non-limiting examples of other useful ethylenically unsaturated monomers free of carboxylic acid functional groups include alkyl esters of (meth)acrylic acids, for example, ethyl (meth)acrylate, methyl (meth)acrylate, butyl (meth)acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth)acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate, hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate, hydroxy butyl (meth)acrylate, isobornyl (meth)acrylate, lauryl (meth)acrylate, and ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate; vinyl aromatics such as styrene and vinyl toluene; (meth)acrylamides such as N-butoxymethyl acrylamide; acrylonitriles; dialkyl esters of maleic and fumaric acids; vinyl and vinylidene halides; vinyl acetate; vinyl ethers; allyl ethers; allyl alcohols; derivatives thereof and mixtures thereof. The ethylenically unsaturated monomers can include ethylenically unsaturated, beta-hydroxy ester functional monomers, such as those derived from the reaction of an ethylenically unsaturated acid functional monomer, such as a monocarboxylic acid, for example, acrylic acid, and an epoxy compound which does not participate in the free radical initiated polymerization with the unsaturated acid monomer. Examples of such epoxy compounds are glycidyl ethers and esters. Suitable glycidyl ethers include glycidyl ethers of alcohols and phenols such as butyl glycidyl ether, octyl glycidyl ether, phenyl glycidyl ether and the like. Suitable epoxy compounds include those having the following structure (I): where R is a hydrocarbon radical containing from 4 to 26 carbon atoms. Suitable glycidyl esters include those that are commercially available from Shell Chemical Company under the tradename CARDURA E and from Exxon Chemical Company under the tradename GLYDEXX-10. Alternatively, the beta-hydroxy ester functional monomers can be prepared from an ethylenically unsaturated, epoxy functional monomer, for example glycidyl (meth)acrylate and allyl glycidyl ether, and a saturated carboxylic acid, such as a saturated monocarboxylic acid, for example isostearic acid. As previously mentioned, the color-imparting particles also can be admixed with one or more polymers. Suitable polymers include, without limitation, those previously described with respect to the film-forming resins discussed earlier. Other useful polymers can include polyamides, such as acrylamide, methacrylamide, N-alkylacrylamides and N-alkylmethacrylamides. Polyethers can also be used to prepare the aqueous dispersion of color-imparting particles that may be used in certain embodiments of the present invention. Examples of suitable polyether polymers can include, for example polyether polyols such as polyalkylene ether polyols having the following structural formulas (II) or (III): wherein the substituent R is hydrogen or a lower alkyl group containing from 1 to 5 carbon atoms including mixed substituents, and n has a value typically ranging from 2 to 6 and m has a value ranging from 8 to 100 or higher. Exemplary polyalkylene ether polyols include poly(oxytetramethylene) glycols, poly(oxytetraethylene) glycols, poly(oxy-1,2-propylene) glycols, and poly(oxy-1,2-butylene) glycols. Also useful are polyether polyols formed from oxyalkylation of various polyols, for example, glycols such as ethylene glycol, 1,6-hexanediol, Bisphenol A, and the like, or other higher polyols such as trimethylolpropane, pentaerythritol, and the like. Polyols of higher functionality which can be utilized as indicated can be made, for instance, by oxyalkylation of compounds such as sucrose or sorbitol. One commonly utilized oxyalkylation method is reaction of a polyol with an alkylene oxide, for example, propylene or ethylene oxide, in the presence of an acidic or basic catalyst. Specific examples of polyethers include those sold under the names TERATHANE and TERACOL, available from E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc. Suitable methods for homo- and co-polymerizing ethylenically unsaturated monomers and/or other addition polymerizable monomers and preformed polymers are well known to those skilled in the art of polymer synthesis and further discussion thereof is not believed to be necessary in view of the present disclosure. For example, polymerization of the ethylenically unsaturated monomers can be carried out in bulk, in aqueous or organic solvent solution such as benzene or n-hexane, in emulsion, or in aqueous dispersion. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 1 (1963) at page 305. The polymerization can be effected by means of a suitable initiator system, including free radical initiators such as benzoyl peroxide or azobisisobutyronitrile, anionic initiation and organometallic initiation. Molecular weight can be controlled by choice of solvent or polymerization medium, concentration of initiator or monomer, temperature, and the use of chain transfer agents. If additional information is needed, such polymerization methods are disclosed in Kirk-Othmer, Vol. 1 at pages 203-205, 259-297 and 305-307. Generally, the polymers which are useful in the preparation of the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles that may be present in the protective coating composition used in the present invention can have a weight average molecular weight (Mw) ranging from 1000 to 20,000, or 1500 to 15,000, or 2000 to 12,000 as determined by gel permeation chromatography using a polystyrene standard. The polymers suitable for use in the preparation of such aqueous dispersions of color-imparting particles can be either thermosettable or thermoplastic. The polymers useful in the preparation of the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles can also include one or materials typically referred to as crosslinking agents. Suitable crosslinking agents include those discussed earlier, such as polyisocyanates and aminoplast resins, among others. In certain embodiments, the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles is prepared by admixing the color-imparting particles with a mixture of one or more of the polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomers described above, and one or more of the polymers described above. Likewise, if desired, mixtures of the above polyisocyanates and aminoplast resins can be used, as well as mixtures of either one or both of these materials with the one or more polymers and/or the one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers described above. In certain embodiments, the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprises composite microparticles having a first phase comprising the one or more monomers and/or the one or more polymers previously described (and, if used, organic solvent), and a second phase comprising the color-imparting particles. As used herein, the term “composite microparticle” means a combination of two or more differing materials. The particles formed from composite materials generally have a hardness at their surface that is different from the hardness of the internal portions of the particle beneath its surface. More specifically, the surface of the particle can be modified in any manner well known in the art, including, but not limited to, chemically or physically changing its surface characteristics using techniques known in the art. For example, a particle can be formed from a primary material that is coated, clad or encapsulated with one or more secondary materials to form a composite particle that has a softer surface. Alternatively, particles formed from composite materials can be formed from a primary material that is coated, clad or encapsulated with a different form of the primary material. For more information on particles useful in the present invention, see G. Wypych, Handbook of Fillers, 2nd Ed. (1999) at pages 15-202, which are specifically incorporated by reference herein. The one or more monomers and/or one or more polymers can be present in the aqueous dispersion in an amount of at least 10 weight percent, such as at least 20 weight percent, or, in some embodiments, at least 30 weight percent based on total weight of solids present in the dispersion. Also, the one or more monomers and/or one or more polymers can be present in the dispersion in an amount of up to 80 weight percent, such as up to 70 weight percent, or, in some embodiments, up to 60 weight percent, based on total weight of solids present in the dispersion. The amount of the one or more monomers and/or one or more polymers present in the dispersion can range between any combinations of these values inclusive of the recited ranges. As previously discussed, known methods for preparing composite color-imparting particles conventionally employ emulsion polymerization techniques whereby monomers are polymerized in the presence of a nanosized particles and/or color-imparting particles to form a stable dispersion of composite microparticles. Such monomers can generally comprise relatively high levels of hydrophilic monomers, for example carboxylic acid group-containing monomers, as well as relatively high levels of hydrophilic surfactants or dispersants. The hydrophilic nature of such dispersions, if included in a coating composition, may adversely affect humidity resistance or may impart undesirable water sensitivity. The aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles of the present invention can minimize or eliminate altogether the aforementioned negative effects because the binder system (i.e. polymer and surfactant, if any) typically has an acid value of less than or equal to 40 mg KOH/gram binder system, or less than or equal to 30 mg KOH/gram of binder system, or less than or equal to 20 mg KOH/gram of binder system. In certain embodiments, the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles is prepared, after the color-imparting particles are admixed with the one or more polymerizable monomers and/or the one or more polymers as discussed above, by subjecting the admixture to high stress shear conditions in the presence of an aqueous medium to particularize the admixture into microparticles. The high stress shear can be accomplished by any of the high stress shear techniques well known in the art. As used herein, the term “high stress shear conditions” is meant to include not only high stress techniques, such as by the liquid-liquid impingement techniques discussed in detail below, but also high speed shearing by mechanical means. It should be understood that, if desired, any mode of applying stress to the admixture can be utilized so long as sufficient stress is applied to achieve particularization of the admixture and the requisite particle size distribution. The admixture can be subjected to the appropriate stress by use of a MICROFLUIDIZER® emulsifier which is available from Microfluidics Corporation in Newton, Mass. The MICROFLUIDIZER® high-pressure impingement emulsifier is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,254, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The device consists of a high-pressure (up to about 1.4×105 kPa (20,000 psi)) pump and an interaction chamber in which emulsification takes place. The pump forces the admixture, typically in aqueous medium, into the chamber where it is split into at least two streams which pass at very high velocity through at least two slits and collide, resulting in the formation of small particles, i.e., the admixture is “particularized”. Generally, the pre-emulsion admixture is passed through the emulsifier at a pressure of between about 3.5×104 and about 1×105 kPa (5,000 and 15,000 psi). Multiple passes can result in smaller average particle size and a narrower range for the particle size distribution. When using the aforesaid MICROFLUIDIZER® emulsifier, stress is applied by liquid-liquid impingement as has been described. As mentioned above, other modes of applying stress to the pre-emulsification admixture can be utilized so long as sufficient stress is applied to achieve the requisite particle size distribution. For example, one alternative manner of applying stress would be the use of ultrasonic energy. Stress is described as force per unit area. Although the precise mechanism by which the MICROFLUIDIZER® emulsifier stresses the pre-emulsification admixture to particularize it is not thoroughly understood, it is theorized that stress is exerted in-more than one manner. It is believed that one manner in which stress is exerted is by shear, that is, the force is such that one layer or plane moves parallel to an adjacent, parallel plane. Stress can also be exerted from all sides as a bulk, compression stress. In this instance stress could be exerted without any shear. A further manner of producing intense stress is by cavitation. Cavitation occurs when the pressure within a liquid is reduced enough to cause vaporization. The formation and collapse of the vapor bubbles occurs violently over a short time period and produces intense stress. Although not intending to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that both shear and cavitation contribute to producing the stress which particulates the pre-emulsification mixture. As discussed above, in various embodiments of the present invention, the color-imparting particles can be admixed either with one or more pblymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomers, or with one or more polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomers and one or more polymers. If any of these methods is employed, the polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomers (and polymers if used) are blended with the color-imparting particles and an aqueous medium to form a pre-emulsion admixture. The pre-emulsion admixture is then subjected to high stress conditions as described above to particularize the admixture thereby forming microparticles. The polymerizable species within each particle are subsequently polymerized (i.e. the polymer is formed in situ, typically under suitable free-radical polymerization conditions as described below) under conditions sufficient to produce composite microparticles (each having a first organic or polymeric phase, and a second color-imparting particle phase) which are stably dispersed in the aqueous medium. In some cases, a surfactant or dispersant can be present to stabilize the dispersion. The surfactant usually is present when the organic component referred to above is mixed into the aqueous medium prior to formation of the microparticles. Alternatively, the surfactant can be introduced into the medium at a point just after the microparticles have been formed. Anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants are suitable for use in preparation of such aqueous dispersions. Other materials well known to those skilled in the art are also suitable for use herein. Generally, both ionic and non-ionic surfactants are used together and the amount of surfactant can range from about 1 percent to 10 percent, typically less than 2 percent based on total solids present in the aqueous dispersion. It should be understood that, the amount of surfactant necessary to produce a stable dispersion of microparticles often can be minimized by the use of other ingredients that facilitate stability of the dispersion. For example, a polymer containing acid functionality that can be neutralized with an amine to form a water-dispersible polymer can be used to disperse other ingredients including the color-imparting particles. In order to conduct the polymerization of the ethylenically unsaturated monomers in the presence of the color-imparting particles (and the polymer, if used), a free radical initiator typically is present. Both water-soluble and oil soluble initiators can be used. Examples of water-soluble initiators include ammonium peroxydisulfate, potassium peroxydisulfate and hydrogen peroxide. Examples of oil soluble initiators include t-butyl hydroperoxide, dilauryl peroxide and 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile). Generally, the reaction is carried out at a temperature ranging from 20° to 80° C. The polymerization can be carried out in either a batch or a continuous process. The length of time necessary to carry out the polymerization can range from 10 minutes to 6 hours, provided that the time is sufficient to form a polymer in situ from the one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers. Once the microparticles have been formed and the polymerization process, if any, is complete, the resultant product is a stable dispersion of microparticles in an aqueous medium which can contain some organic solvent. Some or all of the organic solvent can be removed via reduced pressure distillation at a temperature of less than 40° C. By “stable dispersion” is meant that the microparticles neither settle nor coagulate nor flocculate upon standing. In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to an article having a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited thereon, wherein the coating layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising an aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10%, where the aqueous dispersion of microparticles is prepared by any of the above-described methods. It should be understood that the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles may be the primary film-forming component of such coating compositions, or, alternatively, such compositions may also can include a resinous binder system comprising one or more film-forming polymers which may or may not include reactive functional groups, and/or, if appropriate, a curing agent having functional groups reactive with those of the film-forming polymer. As previously mentioned, the one or more polymers, or the one or more polymers formed in situ via polymerization of the one or more monomers used in the preparation of the microparticles may contain reactive functional groups. Such polymers having reactive groups are available for reaction, with a crosslinking agent, for example, with an aminoplast or polyisocyanate included in the organic phase of the microparticle, or for reaction with any of the crosslinking, i.e., curing agents (described above) included in the coating composition. It should be understood that the amount of the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles present in the protective coating compositions can vary widely depending upon a variety of factors, e.g., the final color desired, the curing method to be used, desired coating performance properties, etc. For example, the aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles can be present in the coating composition in an amount as low as 0.05 weight percent (e.g., when used as a pigment tint paste), and as high as 100 weight percent (e.g., when used as the coating composition itself). In certain embodiments, the stable aqueous dispersion of microparticles comprising color-imparting particles may be prepared by (a) providing the color-imparting particles described above; (b) admixing in the presence of organic solvent (described below) the color-imparting particles with one or more solventborne, water-dispersible polymers; (c) subjecting the admixture to high stress shear conditions, such as any of the high stress shear methods described above, in the presence of aqueous medium, as described above, to form composite microparticles dispersed in the aqueous medium. The composite microparticles have a first phase comprising the one or more solventborne, water-dispersible polymers and, optionally, the organic solvent, and a second phase comprising the color-imparting particles. Non-limiting examples of suitable organic solvents can include glycol ethers, such as butyl carbitol, propylene glycolmonobutyl ether, ethylene glycolmonobutyl; alcohols, such as butanol, a-ethylhexanol, tridecylalchol; ketones, such as methyl isobutyl ketone, methylpropyl ketone; esters, such as butyl acetate; aromatic hydrocarbons, such as xylene and toluene; and aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as heptane. The one or more solventborne, water-dispersible polymers suitable for use in the embodiments described immediately above, are any of a variety of polymers that are dispersible, soluble, or emulsifiable in aqueous medium, such polymers can comprise any of a variety of hydrophilic groups, e.g., hydroxyl groups, amino groups, carboxylic acid groups, or mixtures of such hydrophilic groups. Such hydrophilic groups can be present on the polymer in an amount sufficient to render the polymer dispersible, soluble, or emulsifiable in aqueous media. The polymers can be rendered dispersible in aqueous media either by virtue of being sufficiently hydrophilic, or by neutralization or solubilization with an acid or base to facilitate dispersion. The protective coating compositions used in the present invention may be used to form a single color-imparting non-hiding layer; or, in certain embodiments, the protective coating compositions may form a layer of a multi-layered system, which includes a clearcoat layer deposited over the color-imparting non-hiding layer. As a result, the present invention is also directed to multi-layer coatings comprising (a) a color-imparting non-hiding layer deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin; and (b) a clearcoat layer deposited over the color-imparting non-hiding layer. The clearcoat layer may be deposited from a composition that comprises any of the film-forming resins described above and can be applied over the color-imparting non-hiding layer to impart additional depth and/or protective properties to the surface underneath. The resinous binders for the basecoat can be organic solvent-based materials or water-based coating compositions. Optional ingredients suitable for inclusion in the clearcoat composition include those which are well known in the art of formulating surface coatings, such as those materials described earlier. The clearcoat composition can be applied to a substrate by any conventional coating technique such as brushing, spraying, dipping or flowing, among others. The present invention is also directed to a multi-layer coating system comprising (a) a basecoat layer deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder and pigment; (b) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited over at least a portion of the basecoat layer, wherein the color-imparting non-hiding layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising (i) color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10%; and (ii) a film-forming resin; and (c) a clearcoat layer deposited over at least a portion of the color-imparting non-hiding layer, wherein the clearcoat layer is deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder. As would be understood by one skilled in the art, coating film thickness and curing temperatures and conditions for the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer will depend upon the type of coating layer to be formed, i.e., a single layer or as a layer of a multi-layered system; as well as the coating composition itself, i.e., whether thermosetting or thermoplastic, whether ambient or thermally curable, and, if thermosetting, the type of curing reaction required. The protective coating compositions from which the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited can be applied by any conventional method such as wiping, brushing, dipping, flow coating, roll coating, conventional and electrostatic spraying. Spray techniques are most often used. Typically, film thickness for cured coatings is at least 0.1 mils and can range between 0.5 and 5 mils. After application, such protective coating compositions may be cured. Several coating compositions can be cured at ambient temperature, such as those having a polyisocyanate or polyanhydride curing agent, or they can be cured at minimally elevated temperatures to hasten the cure. An example would be forced air curing in a down draft booth at about 40° C. to 60° C., which is common in the automotive refinish industry. The ambient temperature curable compositions are usually prepared as a two (2) package system (“2K”) in which the ambient curing agent (“crosslinker pack”) is kept separate from the film-forming resin (“resin pack”) containing the reactive functional group. The packages are combined shortly before application. Thermally curable coating compositions such as those using, blocked isocyanate, aminoplast, phenoplast, polyepoxide or polyacid curing agent can be prepared as a one-package system (“1K”). These compositions are cured at elevated temperatures, typically for 1 to 30 minutes at about 250° F. to about 450° F. (121° C. to 232° C.) with temperature primarily dependent upon the type of substrate used. Dwell time (i.e., time that the coated substrate is exposed to elevated temperature for curing) is dependent upon the cure temperatures used as well as wet film thickness of the applied coating composition. For example, coated automotive elastomeric parts require a long dwell time at a lower cure temperature (e.g., 30 minutes at 250° F. (121° C.)), while coated aluminum beverage containers require a very short dwell time at a very high cure temperature (e.g., 1 minute at 375° F. (191° C.)). 1K systems can also be cured by exposure to actinic radiation, such as UV light or electron beam. Illustrating the invention are the following examples that are not to be considered as limiting the invention to their details. All parts and percentages in the examples, as well as throughout the specification, are by weight unless otherwise indicated. EXAMPLES Examples 1 to 4 describe the preparation of color imparting particles having a maximum haze of 10%. Example 1 Chromothal® Yellow 8GN (available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation, Tarrytown, N.Y.) was milled and dispersed on an Advantis® mill (available from Draiswerke, Inc., Mahwah, N.J.). Table 1 sets forth the components and milling conditions to produce the dispersions of color-imparting particles. For analysis, the final dispersion of color-imparting particles was diluted with n-butyl acetate. Table 2 lists the properties of the final dispersion of color-imparting particles. The average primary particle size was obtained with a Philips CM12 transmission electron microscope (TEM) at 100 kV. The % haze was measured with a Byk-Gardner TCS (The Color Sphere) instrument having a 500 micron cell path length. Example 2 A cyan pigment of Heliogen® Blue L 7081 D (available from BASF Corporation, Mount Oliver, N.J.) was milled and dispersed and then analyzed as in Example 1. See Tables 1 and 2. Example 3 A green pigment of Monolite® Green 860/Monastrol Green 6Y (available from Avecia) was milled and dispersed and analyzed as in Example 1. See Tables 1 and 2. Example 4 A red pigment of Irgazin® Red 379 (available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation) was milled and dispersed and analyzed as in Example 1. See Tables 1 and 2. TABLE 1 % of mill base (by weight) Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Pigment 8.17 13.24 9.34 9.52 Solsperse ® 50001 0 2.07 0.89 0 Solsperse ® 220002 0 0 0 0.94 Zonyl ® FSO3 0.12 0 0 0 Solsperse ® 325004 0 29.94 41.12 26.35 Dispersant5 10.73 0 0 0 Acrylic Grind polymer6 30.20 0 0 0 n-butyl acetate 37.60 48.86 36.60 37.10 Dowanol PM acetate7 13.23 5.89 12.05 0 Mill residence time 185 55 103 25 (min.) Media Size (mm) 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1Commercially available from the Lubrizol Corporation, Wickliffe, Ohio. 2Commercially available from the Lubrizol Corporation, Wickliffe, Ohio. 3Commercially available from E.I. DuPont DeNemours, Inc., Wilmington, Delaware. 4Commercially available from the Lubrizol Corporation, Wickliffe, Ohio. 5A quaternary ammonium group containing polymer prepared as generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,666 B, by atom transfer radical polymerization techniques from the following monomers on a weight basis: 4.7% glycidyl methacrylate, 20.3% benzylmethacrylate, 14.1% butylmethacrylate, 52.3% 2-ethylhexylmethacrylate and 7.1% of hydroxypropyl methacrylate. # The polymer has an M(n) of 9505 and an M(w) of 15,445 as determined by gel permeation chromatography using a polystyrene standard. 6An acrylic polymer iminated with propylene imine prepared by solution polymerization techniques from the following monomers on a weight basis: 29.32% styrene, 19.55% 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, 19.04% butyl methacrylate, 9.77% 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 1.86% methacrylic acid, and 0.59% acrylic acid. 7Commercially available from Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Michigan. TABLE 2 Properties Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 TEM primary 100 30 20 40 particle size (nm) % Haze8 9.18 0.13 0.33 0.25 % Total Solids 31.42 38.43 24.9 27.49 (by weight)9 % Pigment 8.92 9.73 8.75 13.05 (by weight) 8Percent haze at a transmittance of about 17.5% at the wavelength of maximum absorbance. 9The dispersions of color-imparting particles were adjusted to attain these final % solids and % pigment values. Examples 5 through 8 Examples 5 through 8 describe the preparation of protective coating compositions comprising the color-imparting particles of Examples 1 through 4 as shown in Table 3. All compositions were prepared by mixing the components by weight in the order of addition shown by Table 3. The “Color Pack” was co-blended with the “Crosslinker Pack” just prior to substrate application. Additional DT885 Reducer was added for viscosity adjustment. TABLE 3 Example 5 6 7 8 “Color Pack” Example 1 8.49 — — — Example 2 — 6.66 — — Example 3 — — 10.08 — Example 4 — — — 11.61 DCU204210 58.80 58.36 58.39 58.20 DT88511 13.40 13.30 13.30 13.26 “Crosslinker Pack” DCX 6112 16.63 16.51 16.52 16.46 “Reducer Pack” DT885 2.67 5.16 1.71 0.47 10DCU2042 Fast Dry Clearcoat, commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA. 11DT885 Reducer, commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA. 12DCX 61 High Solids Hardener, commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA. Comparative Examples 9 through 12 Comparative Examples 9 through 12 were prepared using the components as shown in Table 4. In the comparative examples, each pigment dispersion from Examples 5 through 8 was replaced by a corresponding high-performance dye. For example, in Comparative Example 9, the yellow pigment dispersion of Example 5 was a yellow dye solution. Pigment and weight solids were held constant in all of Examples 5 through 12. All Comparative Examples were prepared by mixing the components by weight in the order of addition shown by Table 4. The “Color Pack” was co-blended with the “Crosslinker Pack” just prior to substrate application. Additional DT885 Reducer was added for viscosity adjustment if necessary. TABLE 4 Comparative Examples 9 10 11 12 “Color Pack” DMX 21013 5.42 — — — DMX 21614 — 7.43 — — DMX 21715 — — 5.59 — DMX 21216 — — — 5.59 DCU2042 60.48 60.42 60.47 60.47 DT885 13.78 13.77 13.78 13.78 “Crosslinker Pack” DCX 61 17.11 17.09 17.11 17.11 “Reducer Pack” DT885 3.21 1.29 3.05 3.05 13A yellow dye solution commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. 14A blue dye commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. f 15A green dye solution commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. 16A red dye solution commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. Test Substrates Percent opacity of Examples 5 through 12 were determined by drawing down each example with a 48 gauge, wire drawdown rod (available from Paul N. Gardner Co. Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla.) over Leneta paper Form 1B (available from The Leneta Company, N.J.) and measuring the percent opacity using the Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-3600d according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Initial measurements were taken for dry film thickness using the Fisherscope MMS (Multi-measuring System) instrument. Dry film thickness was determined by drawing down each example with the same 48 gauge wire drawdown rod over colled roll steel. The appropriate probe was chosen to measure the dry film thickness of each coating. All drawdowns of Examples 5 through 12 were cured at ambient conditions for 24 hours. The percent opactiy for each example can be found in Table 5 at a specific dry film thickness. TABLE 5 Example DFT (mils) Percent Opacity Comparative Example 9 1.08 12.87 Example 5 1.10 8.15 Comparative Example 1.16 48.74 12 Example 8 1.07 49.32 Comparative Example 1.02 34.25 11 Example 7 1.00 18.68 Comparative Example 1.00 21.19 10 Example 6 0.98 36.70 Color was measured using the Minolta Spectrophotomer CM3600-d with the CIELAB model of color space. D65 daylight source and 10° degree angle were chosen. Initial color readings (prior to QUV testing) were taken on each coated panel. These coated panels were prepared by drawing down each example with a 24 gauge, wire drawdown rod (available from Paul N. Gardner Co. Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla.) over aluminum substrate with millfinish 3105 (commercially available from ACT Laboratories, Inc.). Initial measurements were taken for dry film thickness on the panels was measured using the Fisherscope MMS (Multi-measuring System) instrument. The appropriate probe was chosen to measure the dry film thickness of each coating. The coated panels were then tested in accelerated weathering conditions using the QUV/se Accelerated Weather Tester available from Q-Panel Lab Products, 800 Cantebury Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44145. The light source used for all panels was provided by UVB-313 nanometer bulbs. The irradiance value was set at 0.48 watts/meter2/nanometer at calibration wavelength. All panels were subject to an alternating test cycle of eight (8) hours light exposure at 70° C. followed by four (4) hours condensation exposure at 50° C. The panels were exposed to these cyclic conditions for 750 hours. After 750 hours, the panels were removed from the QUV cabinet and color measurements were taken on each of them to generate a color difference (ΔE*ab) value. These results are shown in Table 6. The examples are grouped according to the corresponding comparative example (containing dyes) for each pigment type. TABLE 6 Dry Film ΔE*ab after 750 hours Example Thickness (mils) QUV testing Comparative 0.52 4.13 Example 9 Example 5 0.84 2.85 Comparative 0.56 6.25 Example 12 Example 8 0.51 0.71 Comparative 0.49 30.04 Example 11 Example 7 0.50 7.27 Comparative 0.53 32.65 Example 10 Example 6 0.55 2.92 Examples 13 to 16 Examples 13 to 16 were prepared in the following manner. The compositions of Examples 6 and 7 were hand spray applied onto 4×12 inch panels prepared as follows. The 4×12 inch panels were type APR2471 1 (cold roll steel; ED5000 ecoat; GPX primer) available from ACT Laboratories, Inc. First, a primer layer was hand spray applied to the APR24711 panels. The primer was DP40LF/DP401LF epoxy primer commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. The blend ratio of the primer was 2 to 1 by volume per the technical data sheet instructions. All spray and dry requirements were followed as stipulated by the technical data sheet. The compositions of Example 6 and 7 were then applied. Next, in Examples 13 and 15, a basecoat layer was hand spray applied over the DP40L /401LF primer. The white basecoat was Global D751, commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc. The white basecoat was blended with D871 Reducer and DX57 Basecoat Activator (both available from PPG Industries, Inc.) and applied and cured as per the instructions on the technical data sheet. Next, a clearcoat layer was applied over Examples 6 and 7 such that Examples 6 and 7 without a clearcoat layer could be compared to Examples 6 and 7 with a clearcoat layer. The clearcoat was prepared by mixing DCU2042 (clearcoat commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc.) with DCX61 (crosslinker package commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc.) and reduced with DT885 (Reducer package commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc.) at a volumetric ratio of 4 to 1 to 1. The clearcoat layer was applied and allowed to cure at ambient conditions for 7 days prior to testing. Initial color was measured as described above, then the coated panels were subjected to QUV testing as indicated above. After 1000 hours, the panels were removed from the QUV cabinet and color measurements were taken on each to generate ΔE values. These results are shown in Table 7. TABLE 7 D751 White DCU2042 Clearcoat ΔE*ab after 1000 Example Basecoat Layer hours QUV testing Example 13 Yes Yes 1.32 Example 14 Yes No 2.67 Example 15 Yes Yes 0.21 Example 16 Yes No 0.83 Example 17A This example describes the preparation of a polyurethane/urea dispersant which was subsequently used to the form the respective aqueous dispersion of Example 18 below. The polyurethane/urea dispersant was prepared from a batch of the following mixture of ingredients in the ratios indicated: Ingredients Equivalents Weight (grams) Charge I N-methyl pyrrolidinone 269.8 Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) 0.70 91.1 Dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA) 3.50 234.7 Triphenyl phosphite 2.2 Dibutyltin dilaurate 2.2 Butylated hydroxytoluene 2.2 Charge II Poly (butylene oxide)17 1.40 700.0 Charge III Methylene bis(4- 8.40 1100.4 cyclohexylisocyanate) Charge IV Butyl methacrylate 481.8 Charge V Butyl acrylate 642.5 Charge VI Deionized water 4263.3 Dimethylethanolamine 1.40 124.7 Diethanolamine 0.70 73.6 Ethylenediamine 1.40 42.1 17Poly (butylene oxide) having a number average molecular weight of 1000. Charge I was stirred in the flask at a temperature of 100° C. until all solids were dissolved. Charge II was added and the mixture was reheated to 70° C. Charge II was added over a 15 minute period. Charge IV was added and the resulting mixture was held at 90° C. for 3 hours. Charge V was added. Charge VI was stirred in a separate flask and heated to 70° C. The reaction product of Charges I, II, III, IV, and V was added to Charge VI and the resulting mixture was cooled to room temperature. The final product was a white emulsion with an acid value of 15.2, a Brookfield viscosity of 800 centipoise (spindle #3 at 60 rpm), a pH of 7.4, and a nonvolatile content of 28.4% as measured at 110° C. for one hour. Example 17B This example describes the preparation of an acrylic dispersant which was subsequently used to form the respective pigment dispersion of Example 17C. The acrylic dispersant was prepared from a batch of the following mixture of ingredients in the ratios indicated: Ingredients Weight (grams) Charge I Magnesol 20.0 Toluene 120.0 Charge II 2,2′-dipyridyl 7.5 Copper (0) powder 6.1 Charge III Para-toluenesulfonyl chloride 30.4 Charge IV Benzylmethacrylate 169.2 Glycidyl isopropyl ether 20.0 Charge V MPEG (550) MA 888.3 Toluene 250.0 Charge I was mixed in a 2 liter flask with air-stirrer, thermocouple and azeotropic distillation set-up. Charge I was heated to reflux and water was azeotroped off. Charge I was then cooled and put under a nitrogen blanket. Charges II and III were added in order while maintaining a nitrogen blanket. Charge IV was added to an addition funnel and sparged with nitrogen for 15 minutes prior to addition. Charge IV was added to the reaction flask and the mixture was heated carefully to 70 ° C. When the solids reached 60.7%, Charge V was charged to an addition funnel and sparged with nitrogen for 15 minutes. Charge V was added to the reaction over 30 minutes while maintaining a 70° C. reaction temperature. The reaction was heated for 6 hours and then cooled and stirred overnight under a nitrogen blanket. The reaction mixture was thinned with 500 g of toluene and then filtered through a cake of magnesol to remove the residual catalyst. Solvent was removed under vacuum yielding a resin at 98.4% solids. The number average molecular weight (Mn) was 7469. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) was 9212. Mw/Mn was 1.2. Example 17C This example describes the preparation of a nano-sized PB 15:3 phthalocyanine blue pigment dispersion which was subsequently used to form the aqueous dispersion of Example 18. The pigment dispersion was prepared from a batch of the following mixture of ingredients in the ratios indicated: Weight Ingredients (grams) Deionized water 2077.4 Acrylic dispersant of Example 17B 1360.8 Dimethylethanolamine 10.2 PB 15:3 pigment18 2358.7 18PB 15:3, phthalocyanine blue pigment, commercially available from BASF Corp. The ingredients were ground in an Advantis V15 Drais mill containing 0.3 mm YTZ grinding media. The mixture was milled at 1650 rpm for a total residence time of 218 minutes. The progress of the milling was monitored by measuring the visible spectra of samples and observing the decrease in absorbance at a wavelength of 400 nanometers. During the course of the milling 4535.9 g of water and 544.3 g propylene glycol monobutyl ether was added to make a final mixture with a nonvolatile content of 24.4% as measured at 110° C. for one hour. The particle size was 139 nanometers as measured using a Horiba Model LA 900 laser diffraction particle size instrument, which uses a helium-neon laser with a wavenlength of 633 nanometers to measure the size of the particles and assumes the particles have a spherical shape, i.e., the “particle size” refers to the smallest sphere that will completely enclose the particle. The percent haze was 1.0% and measured as described in Example 1. Example 18 This example describes the preparation of an aqueous dispersion of microparticles which contains nano-sized PB 15:3 phthalocyanine blue pigment. The dispersion was prepared from the following ingredients: Weight Ingredients (grams) Charge I Polyurethane/urea of Example 17A 578.6 PB 15:3 phthalocyanine blue pigment dispersion of 432.0 Example 17C Propylene glycol monobutyl ether 90.0 Butyl acrylate 57.0 Charge II Deionized water 40.0 Charge III Sodium metabisulfite 0.6 Ferrous ammonium sulfate 0.01 Deionized water 10.0 Charge IV 70% t-butyl hydroperoxide 0.6 Deionized water 10.0 A pre-emulsion was made by stirring Charge I with a cowles blade in a stainless steel beaker. The pre-emulsion was passed twice through a Microfluidizer© M110T at 8000 psi and transferred to a fourneck round bottom flask equipped with an overhead stirrer, condenser, electronic temperature probe, and a nitrogen atmosphere. Charge II was used to rinse the Microfluidizer© and added to the flask. The temperature of the microemulsion was adjusted to 30° C. The polymerization was initiated by adding Charge III followed by a 30 minute addition of Charge IV. The temperature of the reaction increased to 43° C. The final pH of the latex was 7.0, the nonvolatile content was 32.6%, and the Brookfield viscosity was 56 cps (spindle #2, 60 rpm). Example 19 Example 18 was used to prepare the following protective coating composition designated as Example 19. All components were added by weight under mild agitation in the order shown by Table 8. TABLE 8 Component (by weight) Weight Solids Blue aqueous 93.47 26.15 dispersion of Example 18. Diisopropyl amine 0.43 — Aquaflow NLS210 1.15 0.13 Solution19 Baysilone 373920 0.23 0.17 Water Reducible 6.96 2.61 Polyurethane21 Deionized Water 22.00 — 19Aquaflow NLS 210 rheology modifier, commercially available from Hercules, Inc. was used to prepare the following pre-solution: Deionized water; Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether; Aquaflow NLS 210 at 20/5/20 weight ratio respectively. 20Baysilone 3739, polyether-modified methyl polysiloxane commercially available from Bayer Corporation. 21Water-reducible polyurethane resin formed from adipic acid dihydrazide, dimethylol propionic acid, poly (tetramethylene ether) glycol, isophorone diisocyanate (3.0/6.1/68.2/22.7 weight ratio) at 37.5% solids in dimethylethanol amine, methyl ethyl ketone, and deionized water (2.6/0.8/96.6 weight ratio). Example 19 was evaluated against Comparative Example 20, Envirobase T412 Transparent Blue Basecoat (commercially available from PPG Industries, Inc.). Both examples were spray applied over primed electrocoated 4×12 inch panels available as APR 43741 from ACT Laboratories, Inc. of Hillsdale, Mich. The panels were wet sanded with P600 grit sand paper, washed with water, and dried. The blue basecoat compositions were hand-spray applied over the prepared panels using a DeVilbiss GTI HVLP gravity feed spray gun equipped with a 413 needle, 1.2 air nozzle, and No. 2000 air cap. Air pressure at the base of the gun was 28 lbs/inch2 (2 kg/cm3). Envirobase T412 Transparent Blue Basecoat (Comparative Example 20) was prepared for spray application as the respective product data sheet instructed. Example 19 was sprayed with no additional modifications. Each example was applied in two coats with an approximate 5 minute flash between coats at about 70° F. (21° C.) temperature and about 68% relative humidity. The coating was allowed to ambient flash about 30 minutes prior to clearcoat application. The clearcoat was hand-spray applied using the same spray gun as was used for the blue basecoats. The clearcoat was Concept® DCU2055 Clear available from PPG Industries, Inc. The clearcoat was mixed with DCX61 High Solids Hardener (PPG Industries, Inc.) and D871 Medium Thinner (PPG Industries, Inc.) at a volumetric ratio of 3:1:0.5. The clearcoat was applied in two coats with a 10 minute ambient flash between the coats at about 70° F. (21° C.) temperature and about 40% relative humidity. A dry film thickness of about 1.50-1.90 mils was achieved. The panels were allowed to ambient cure in a horizontal position for 7 days prior to testing. The panels were tested for dry film thickness, initial 20 degree gloss, initial adhesion as well as 20 degree gloss and adhesion after 10 days humidity testing. Dry film thickness was measured using the Fisherscope MMS (Multi-measuring System) instrument. The appropriate probe was chosen to measure the dry film thickness of each coating. The value is reported in Table 9 in mils. Both examples were sprayed over a black and white hiding chart (available from The Lenata Company), but neither example provided hide to that chart. The chart could be seen. The 20 degree gloss was measured using a BYK Gardner micro-TRI-gloss instrument. Adhesion of the cured coating to the substrate was measured by cutting two sets of six (6) parallel lines through the cured coating to the substrate surface using a cutting edge. First, six parallel lines were cut spaced two (2) millimeters apart with the aid of a spacing template. Each line was approximately two (2) inches in length. Then, a second set of six (6) parallel lines was cut perpendicular to the first set. Each line was also approximately two (2) inches in length. The result was a grid of 25 squares. A piece of 3M Tape #898 (approximately 3 inches long) was placed over the scribed grid and firmly smoothed to ensure good contact. Within ninety (90) seconds of tape application, the tape was rapidly pulled off in one continuous motion. The pulling action was directed toward the test performer while keeping the tape as close as possible to a 60-degree angle. The reported value represents the percentage of film remaining on the substrate. Therefore, one hundred (100) means no failure. Humidity resistance was evaluated by exposing test panels to an environment with a relative humidity of 95% to 100% and a temperature of 40° C. (104° F.). The panels were kept in this environment for ten (10) days and then removed for testing. All tests are performed within one hour from the time the test had ended. Results from the above tests can be seen in Table 9. TABLE 9 Post Initial Humidity Post Dry Film 20 Initial 20 Humidity Ex- Thickness (mils) degree Adhesion degree Adhesion ample # BC CC gloss (%) gloss (%) Com- 0.34 1.50-1.90 89 100 88 50 parative Ex- ample 20 Ex- 1.00 1.50-1.90 88 100 81 75 ample 19 Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>“Color-plus-clear” coating systems involving the application of a colored pigmented basecoat to a substrate followed by application of a clear topcoat over the basecoat have become increasingly popular as original finishes for a number of consumer products including, for example, cars and floor coverings such as ceramic tiles and wood flooring. The base-plus-clear coating systems can have outstanding appearance properties, including gloss and distinctness of image. “Tricoat” coating systems are used in certain coating applications. Such systems can achieve a deep transparent color effect as compared with the two-step base-plus-clear coating systems described above. Tricoat systems include an additional color-imparting non-hiding layer deposited between the basecoat layer and clear topcoat layer. A standard tricoat process involves the application of a first stage pigmented basecoat, with or without a reflective component, such as metallic and/or micaeous interference flakes, followed by the application of a second stage color-imparting non-hiding coating layer and then a clear topcoat. One purpose of the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer in certain tricoat systems can be to provide color depth and richness to the basecoat layer, which is sometimes known as the “candied” effect. For example, in certain applications, an organic red non-hiding coating layer may be applied over a red metallic basecoat layer to enhance the red color depth and richness of the red metallic basecoat. In some tricoat systems, a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer provides a contrasting color effect over the basecoat layer because of the combination of colors applied. For example, in certain applications, an organic red non-hiding layer may be applied over a silver metallic basecoat layer to provide a red metallic appearance. In another example, an organic yellow non-hiding layer may be applied over a red metallic basecoat layer to provide an orange metallic appearance. In some cases, such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers are applied over a basecoat layer as described above but without application of an additional clearcoat layer. In these instances, the color-imparting non-hiding coating layer typically provides properties similar to a traditional clearcoat. In other cases, these color-imparting non-hiding coating layers may be applied as a single coating layer directly to a substrate with no basecoat or clearcoat layer present. Again, such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers typically provide both color and protection to the substrate. Historically, dyes have been used to achieve a transparent coloration in such color-imparting non-hiding coating layers. In such applications, dyes are considered organic colorants that are completely soluble within the coating medium and which do not scatter light in the solvated state. Dyes, however, often possess poorer fastness than pigments when exposed to ambient light and weathering conditions. Dyes often possess poorer color persistencies than pigments due to their tendency to migrate to the surface of the coating. In certain dyes, heavy metals are incorporated to impart coloration and, in turn, enhance the fastness properties of the dyes. Many heavy metals, however, are considered toxic and, as a result, there are obvious health and safety concerns with their use. Additionally, dyes may migrate to the surface of the coating layer, which can lead to loss of color. Thus, there is a need in the coatings art for coated articles having deposited thereon a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer that can have transparency and color comparable to that of a similar coating layer containing dyes and color persistence properties similar to conventionally pigmented coatings. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In one, respect, the present invention is directed to articles comprising a surface, wherein a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from a protective coating composition is deposited on at least a portion of the surface. The protective coating composition comprises color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. In another respect, the present invention is directed to multi-layer coatings. The multi-layer coatings of the present invention comprise: (a) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin; and (b) a clearcoat layer deposited over the color-imparting non-hiding layer. In still another respect, the present invention is directed to a multi-layer coating system comprising: (a) a basecoat layer deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder and a pigment; (b) a color-imparting non-hiding coating layer deposited over at least a portion of the basecoat layer; and (c) a clearcoat layer deposited over at least a portion of the color-imparting non-hiding layer. The color-imparting non-hiding coating layer is deposited from a protective coating composition comprising color-imparting particles having a maximum haze of about 10% and a film-forming resin. The clearcoat layer is deposited from a film-forming composition comprising a resinous binder. Methods for using these compositions are also within the scope of invention, as are substrates coated according to these methods. | 20040624 | 20110719 | 20051229 | 68302.0 | 1 | JACKSON, MONIQUE R | COATED ARTICLES AND MULTI-LAYER COATINGS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,295 | ACCEPTED | System and method for failover | A node 1 and a node 2 are in a mutual failover relationship and share information used in failover through a shared LU. Of filesystems FS1A, FS1B that are mounted at the node 1, the actions of level 1 are allocated to FS1A and the actions of level 2 are allocated to FS1B. The level 1 filesystem FS1A is taken over to the node 2 simultaneously with commencement of failover. The level 2 filesystem FS1B is taken over to the node 2 when an access request for FS1B is generated after commencement of failover. In this way, business services with high availability can be restarted at an early stage. | 1. A failover cluster system in which a plurality of computers are connected and, in a prescribed case, failover object resources of a failover source computer are taken over by a failover target computer, comprising a control section that is capable of taking over said failover object resources in stepwise fashion. 2. The failover cluster system according to claim 1 wherein said control section is capable of taking over said failover object resources in stepwise fashion in accordance with a priority ranking set for said failover object resource. 3. The failover cluster system according to claim 2 wherein said control section sets up said priority ranking beforehand for the failover object resources, based on the state of use of said failover object resources. 4. The failover cluster system according to claim 3 wherein each of said computers employs a shared memory device to share takeover information relating to takeover of said failover object resources and said control section can thus take over said failover object resources in stepwise fashion in accordance with said priority ranking, by referring to the takeover information of said shared memory device. 5. The failover cluster system according to claim 4 wherein said takeover information is constituted by associating information for specifying said failover object resources with takeover processing actions set for said failover object resources in accordance with said priority ranking. 6. The failover cluster system according to claim 5 wherein said priority ranking includes a first ranking whereby takeover processing is immediately executed and a second ranking whereby takeover processing is executed when an access request for said failover object resources is generated. 7. The failover cluster system according to claim 6 wherein said priority ranking further includes a third ranking whereby takeover processing of said failover object resources is executed if said failover target computer is in a prescribed low-load condition. 8. The failover cluster system according to claim 6 wherein said priority ranking further includes a fourth ranking whereby takeover processing is not executed. 9. The failover cluster system according to claim 6 wherein said failover object resources are filesystems and said priority rankings are respectively set beforehand for each of these filesystems. 10. A method of failover of a failover cluster system constituted by connecting a plurality of computers between which a mutual failover relationship has been established, comprising the steps of: monitoring the state of use of a failover object resource; setting a priority ranking of said failover object resource in accordance with said state of use; storing on a shared disk shared by each said computer takeover information constituted by associating information for specifying said failover object resource with a takeover processing action set for said failover object resource in accordance with said priority ranking; determining whether or not a failover execution condition has been established; and taking over said failover object resource of a failover source computer in stepwise fashion onto a failover target computer in accordance with said priority ranking, by referring to said takeover information stored on said shared disk, if it is determined that said failover execution condition has been established. 11. A failover cluster system comprising a failover source computer, a failover target computer connected with this failover source computer and a shared disk shared by said failover source computer and said failover target computer, wherein, in said failover source computer, there is provided a priority ranking determination processing section that classifies filesystems constituting the failover objects into one of a first category, second category or third category in accordance with the state of use of these respective filesystems and that stores in said shared disk the correspondence relationship of these respective filesystems and said respective categories and, in said failover target computer, there are provided a failover processing section that executes immediate mounting for the filesystems belonging to said first category and an access request acceptance processing section that, if an access request is generated in respect of a filesystem belonging to said second category, executes mounting for the filesystem belonging to said second category but does not execute mounting in respect of a filesystem belonging to said third category irrespective of whether or not there is a request for access. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application relates to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-70057 filed on Mar. 12, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for failover. 2. Description of the Related Art In a cluster system, a plurality of computers (also called nodes) are loosely coupled to constitute a single cluster. Known types of cluster systems include for example load distributed systems and failover systems. In a failover cluster system, the system is provided with redundancy by using a plurality of computers. In the failover system, continuity of the business application service in regard to client computers is ensured by arranging that when one computer stops, its task is taken over by another computer. The one computer and the other computer are connected using a communication circuit (interconnection) such as a LAN and stoppage of a remote computer is monitored by “heartbeat” communication exchanged therewith. Heartbeat communication is a technique of mutually monitoring for cessation of function by communication of prescribed signals at prescribed intervals between a plurality of computers. While heartbeat communication is being performed, the remote computer is deemed to be operating normally and failover (takeover of business services) is not performed. Contrariwise, if heartbeat communication is interrupted, it is concluded that the system of the remote computer is down and the business application services that were provided by the remote computer are taken over by the failover target computer. From the point of view of the client computer that is using the business application service, the entire failover cluster appears as a single computer. The client computer is therefore not aware of which computer the business application service is being provided by even when processing is changed over from the live computer to the standby computer. However, if failover is executed without giving any consideration to the operating condition of the failover target computer, the computer that takes over the business application service may itself become overloaded, resulting for example in a drop in response. In this connection, a technique is known whereby it may be arranged for the priority of the business application service to be altered in accordance with the operating condition of the failover target computer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H. 11-353292). In the technique disclosed in this reference, transfer from the failover source to the failover target is arranged to be performed after first conducting an overall estimate of the total resources of the failover objects. The time taken to restart the business application service at the failover target computer therefore increases as the resources of the failover objects increase. For example, when taking over a failover system, it is necessary to unmount the failing system at the failover source and to mount the failing system at the failover target. When performing unmounting or mounting, it is necessary to maintain the consistency of the data set by for example reflecting the data on the cache to the disk and reproducing the memory condition of the data in accordance with the update history file. The time required before the business application service can be restarted therefore increases as the number of filesystems to be transferred from the failover source to the failover target increases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby the time required until restarting provision of the business service can be reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby the time required until restarting provision of the business service can be reduced without loss of convenience, by arranging to transfer resources of higher frequency of use first, and to transfer resources of lower frequency of use later. An object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby failover can be performed efficiently by dynamically altering the ranking of takeover processing in accordance with the state of use of the resources. Further objects of the present invention will become clear from the following description of embodiments. In order to solve the above problems, in a failover cluster system according to the present invention, a plurality of computers are connected and, in a prescribed case, failover object resources of a failover source computer are taken over by a failover target computer and there is provided a control section that is capable of taking over failover object resources in stepwise fashion. One example of failover object resources is a filesystem. The control section is capable of taking over a failover object resource in stepwise fashion in accordance with a priority ranking set for the failover object resource. Stepwise takeover of a resource means performing takeover processing in units of each resource such that for example a given filesystem is moved first and another filesystem is moved afterwards. The control section may set up a priority ranking beforehand for the failover object resources, based on the state of use of the failover object resources. Also, the computers may employ a shared memory device to share takeover information relating to takeover of failover object resources. The failover object resources can then be taken over in stepwise fashion in accordance with the priority ranking, by referring to the takeover information of the shared memory device. The takeover information can be constituted by associating information for specifying failover object resources with takeover processing actions set for the failover object resources in accordance with the priority ranking. Also, the priority ranking may include a first ranking whereby takeover processing is immediately executed and a second ranking whereby takeover processing is executed when an access request for a failover object resource is generated. Furthermore, the priority ranking may further include a third ranking in accordance with which takeover processing of a failover object resource is executed if the failover target computer is in a prescribed low-load condition. In addition, the priority ranking may further include a fourth ranking in accordance with which takeover processing is not executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the overall layout of the failover system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 shows the constitution of various tables, (a) being a category determination table, (b) being a failover action definition table and (c) being a filesystem action allocation list, respectively; FIG. 4 is a flow chart of access request reception processing; FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing part of the priority ranking determination processing; FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a further part of the priority ranking determination processing; FIG. 7 shows the constitution of various types of information, (a) being information associating a shared host number with each filesystem, (b) being information associating access frequency with each filesystem and (c) being an access log, respectively; FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing processing for generating filesystem-access frequency information; FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing category determination processing; FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing failover processing; FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing takeover processing when the failover target is in a low-load condition; FIG. 12 is a diagram showing schematically an example of failback; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing schematically a further example of failback; FIG. 14 relates to a second embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram showing schematically the case where a cluster is constituted by three or more nodes; FIG. 15 is a flow chart of failover processing; and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing how failback occurs when a plurality of nodes are simultaneously down in a cluster constituted by three or more nodes. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 16. In a failover system according to the present invention, for example as shown in the diagram of the invention of FIG. 1(a), the nodes 1, 2 mutually constitute failover objects and are mutually monitored by performing heartbeat communication. The nodes 1, 2 share various types of information used in failover, by means of a shared LU (logical unit). Each of the nodes 1, 2 is capable of using a respective filesystem and is capable of providing a respective business application service. However, in FIG. 1, for convenience, only the filesystems FS1A, FS1B of the node 1 are shown. As shown in FIG. 1(b), if a fault of some kind of occurs at a given time-point, as a result of which 1 the system of the node 1 is down, heartbeat communication between the nodes 1 and 2 is interrupted. On detecting that the system of the node 1 is down from the interruption of the heartbeat communication, the node 2 executes failover. A plurality of filesystems FS1A, FS1B are mounted at the node 1. It will be assumed that this plurality of filesystems FS1A, FS1B constitute the failover objects. In this embodiment, stepwise transfer is enabled in accordance with the state of use of the filesystems, instead of transferring the filesystems to the failover target node 2 as a result of a single overall evaluation of all of the filesystems FS1A, FS1B. That is, first of all, at the start of failover, FS1A, whose priority ranking is set to be high, is immediately mounted at the node 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 1(c), FS1B, whose priority ranking is set to be low, is mounted at the node 2, after waiting for generation of an access request to this FS1B. In this way, in this embodiment, the filesystems FS1A, FS1B constituting the failover objects, are transferred in stepwise fashion to the failover target node 2 from the failover source node 1 in accordance with the state of use of the filesystems. Since this state of use of the filesystems may vary in various ways, the degree of priority that specifies the order in which transfer is to be performed is altered dynamically. In this embodiment, the resource FS1A, which is of a higher degree of priority, is transferred immediately, and the resource FS1B, which is of a low degree of priority, is transferred when required. Consequently, the business application services using FS1A which are of high frequency of use can rapidly be restarted, improving convenience of use for the user. Although details will be described later, various modified examples exist regarding the method of resource categorization and the details of the takeover operation. This embodiment discloses a method of failover of a failover system constituted by connecting a plurality of computers between which a mutual failover relationship has been established. This method comprises: a step of monitoring the state of use of a failover object resource; a step of setting a priority ranking of the failover object resource in accordance with the state of use; a step of storing on a shared disk shared by each computer takeover information constituted by associating information for specifying the failover object resource with a takeover processing action set for the failover object resource in accordance with the priority ranking; a step of determining whether or not a failover execution condition has been established; and a step of, if it is determined that the failover execution condition has been established, taking over the failover object resource of a failover source computer in stepwise fashion onto a failover target computer in accordance with the priority ranking, by referring to the takeover information stored on the shared disk. In more detail, a failover system according to this embodiment comprises a failover source computer, a failover target computer connected with this failover source computer and a shared disk shared by the failover source computer and the failover target computer. Also, in the failover source computer, there is provided a priority ranking determination processing section that classifies the filesystems constituting the failover objects into one of a first category, second category or third category in accordance with the state of use of these respective filesystems and that stores in the shared disk the correspondence relationship of these respective filesystems and respective categories and, in the failover target computer, there are provided a failover processing section that executes immediate mounting of filesystems belonging to the first category and an access request acceptance processing section that, if an access request is generated in respect of a filesystem belonging to the second category, executes mounting of the filesystem belonging to the second category but does not execute mounting in respect of a filesystem belonging to the third category irrespective of whether or not there is a request for access. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of an entire failover system according to this embodiment. This failover system comprises a plurality of nodes 1, 2 mutually constituting failover objects, as will be respectively described, and a shared disk 4 that is shared by the nodes 1, 2. The nodes 1 and 2 are respectively constructed as for example computer systems (server machines) comprising computer resources such as a CPU, memory, and interface circuitry. For example, the nodes 1 and 2 may be respectively constituted as NAS (network attached storage) specialized for a file-sharing service. Or the nodes 1, 2 may be constituted as file servers on which a file-sharing program is installed on an ordinary OS (operating system). The node 1 and the node 2 are connected with a single or a plurality of host devices 5 through a communication network CN 1 providing respective services. Also, the node 1 and the node 2 are mutually connected through another communication network CN 2. In addition, the node 1 and the node 2 are respectively connected with a shared LU 4 through a communication network CN 3. The communication networks CN 1, CN 2 may be constituted for example by LANs (local area networks). The communication network CN 3 may be constituted for example by a SAN (storage area network). There is no restriction to the above example and various communication networks and protocols may be suitably selected. The node 1 comprises a file-sharing function 11 and a failover function 12. Also, the node 1 is capable of utilizing a plurality of filesystems FS1A to FS1C. The node 1 provides various types of business application service (hereinbelow referred to as business services) using these filesystems FS1A to FS1C. As will be described, the filesystems FS1A to FS1C constitute the failover object resources and it is possible for their priority rankings to be respectively different. The file-sharing function 11 comprises access request acceptance processing 111 and priority ranking determination processing 112. Although this will be described in more detail later, the access request acceptance processing 111 performs for example processing of access requests from the host devices 5 and management of access logs. The priority ranking determination processing 112 determines the categories to which the filesystems FS1A to FS1C are affiliated in accordance with for example the state of access from the host devices 5 and sets the priority ranking on failover accordingly. The failover function 12 comprises failover processing 121 and heartbeat monitoring processing 122. Although this will be described in more detail later, the failover processing 121 is started up in response to a notification from the heartbeat monitoring processing 122 and restarts the business service after taking over the filesystem from the node of the failover source. The heartbeat monitoring processing 122 monitors whether or not heartbeat communication is being periodically executed between the nodes. For example, if heartbeat communication is interrupted for more than a prescribed time, the heartbeat monitoring processing 122 concludes that the system of the remote node 2 is down and starts up the failover processing 121. Like the node 1, the node 2 also comprises a file-sharing function 21 and failover function 22. The file-sharing function 21 comprises access request acceptance processing 211 and priority ranking determination processing 212. The failover function 22 comprises failover processing 221 and heartbeat monitoring processing 222. Identical functions are respectively realized at the node 2 and the node 1. Also, the node 2 is capable of utilizing a plurality of filesystems FS2A to FS2C. The node 2 provides business services to the host device 5 using the filesystems FS2A to FS2C. In this embodiment, the node 1 and the node 2 are in a mutually equivalent relationship and are respectively capable of providing business services independently. Thus, if the system of the node 1 goes down or undergoes a planned stoppage, the business service provided by the node 1 is taken over by the node 2. Contrariwise, if the system of the node 2 goes down or undergoes a planned stoppage, the business service provided by the node 2 is taken over by the node 1. It should be noted that there is no restriction to this and if for example the node 1 is employed as a live server, the node 2 could be arranged to be employed as a standby server. The filesystems FS1A to FS1C and FS2A to FS2C employed at the nodes 1 and 2 are respectively prepared for each type of OS of the host devices 5. Also, even in the case of filesystems employed with the same OS, when used by another user, different filesystems may be presented. Each filesystem is provided for example on a logical volume (LU) A logical volume is constructed for example on a physical storage region such as a hard disk drive or a semiconductor memory device. A logical volume where a filesystem is provided may be provided by a large capacity storage system such as for example a disk array subsystem. The shared LU 4 is shared with the node 1 and the node 2 and stores the takeover information of the node 1 and the takeover information of the node 2. The takeover information of the node 1 is the information required for the node 2 to take over the business services of the node 1. The takeover information of the node 2 is the information required for the node 1 to take over the business services of the node 2. Further details of the takeover information are given with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the takeover information employed during failover. In this embodiment, the filesystems are not all are treated equally on failover; rather, they are classified into a plurality of categories in accordance with for example their state of use. FIG. 3(a) shows a category determination table T1 that is employed for categorizing the various filesystems. The category determination table T1 shown in FIG. 3(a) serves to indicate the method of determining the categories to which the respective filesystems belong; it is not essential that it should exist as a table that is utilizable by the computer. In this embodiment, the respective filesystems are classified into a total of six categories by inspecting two indices. One index is the number H of host devices 5 that share this filesystem. The other index is the frequency L with which this filesystem is accessed. The number of shared hosts H may be for example classified into three classifications. The first classification is the case where the filesystem in question is utilized by n or more host devices 5. The second classification is the case where this filesystem is utilized by at least 2 but less than n host devices 5 (2≦H<n). The third classification is the case where this filesystem is utilized by only a single host device 5 (H=1). n is the threshold value for classification based on the number H of shared hosts. The access frequency L may be for example classified into two classifications. The first classification is where the access frequency L to the filesystem is greater than m (m<L). The second classification is the case where the access frequency L to the filesystem is no more than m (L≦m). m is the threshold value for classification based on the frequency L of access. The first threshold value n that is employed in classification of the number H of shared hosts and the second threshold value m that is employed in classification of the access frequency L could be set manually by for example the system administrator or could be set by an automatically performed calculation. The categories shown in FIG. 3(a) are designated by numerals indicating the respective classification of the number H of shared hosts with numerals indicating the respective classifications of the access frequency L appended. For example, in the case where the number of shared hosts is 1 (H=1) and the access frequency L is less than m (L≦m), the classification of the number of shared hosts is classification 3 and the classification of the access frequency is classification 2, so the category is represented as “category 32”. Also, if for example the number H of shared hosts is n or more (n≦H) and the access frequency L is greater than m (m<L), the classification of the number of shared hosts is classification 1 and the classification of the access frequency is classification 1, so this is expressed as “category 11”. The number of host devices 5 utilized for file access and the access frequency to these filesystems tend to increase going from the top left to the bottom right in FIG. 3(a). Filesystems belonging to “category 32” are filesystems whose state of use is the least active and filesystems belonging to “category 11” are filesystems whose state of use is most active. Filesystems belonging to the other categories i.e. “category 12”, “category 22”, “category 21” and “category 31” are filesystems that are positioned in an intermediate state of use, according to the index of either the number of shared hosts H or the access frequency L. Accordingly, in this embodiment, as will be described below, the six categories are summarized as three groups and respectively different takeover processing actions (levels) are set for each group. Thus, the categories to which the filesystems belong are dynamically changed in accordance with the latest state of use, so that takeover processing action can be performed in accordance with the latest state of use. It should be noted that there is no restriction to the filesystem category divisions of the above example. For example, the categories could be divided either solely in accordance with the access frequency L or solely in accordance with the number of shared hosts H. Also, rather than using a single threshold value, a plurality of threshold values could be employed so as to achieve a finer division of the categories. Furthermore, the grouping of the respective categories is not restricted to the above example and the categories could be summarized into two groups or four or more groups, for example. FIG. 3(b) is a diagram showing an example of a failover action definition table T2. In this example, the following three levels are provided as takeover processing actions on failover. According to the first level, when failover is started, the filesystems are mounted at the failover target node. According to the second level, when failover is started, mounting is not performed, but mounting is performed at the failover target node when an access request to this filesystem is generated. According to the third level, even if failover is started, the filesystem is not mounted at the failover target node. Filesystems belonging to “category 11” are most actively used and are therefore given level 1. Since the state of use of a filesystem belonging to “category 32” is the least active, filesystems belonging to this “category 32” are given level 3. Filesystems belonging to the other category are in an intermediate state of use and are therefore given level 2. Level 1 is a mode in which a filesystem is mounted from the failover source node simultaneously with starting of failover and is remounted on the failover target node; it may therefore be termed “immediate mounting mode”. However, remounting of the filesystem simultaneously with starting of failover means that an immediate attempt at mounting onto the failover target node is made by commencement of failover. Prescribed processing is required for example for maintaining data consistency when unmounting or mounting a filesystem and time is therefore required corresponding to the amount of this prescribed processing. Level 2 is the mode in which mounting to the failover target node is performed when a request to access the filesystem in question is generated and may for example be termed the “on-demand mounting mode”. Essentially, a filesystem belonging to level 2 is transferred from the failover source to the failover target on generation of an access request. However, as will be described, even though no access request has been generated, the filesystem may still be moved to the failover target node if the failover target node is in a prescribed low-load condition. Since this mode is executed after waiting for the failover target node to reach a low-load condition, it may be termed the “delayed mounting mode”. Level 3 is a mode in which even when failover has been started, the filesystem cannot be transferred to the failover target node from the failover source node and even if an access request to the filesystem is generated, the filesystem is not mounted at the failover target node. Level 3 is a mode in which mounting is not performed on failover and, if the failover source node is restored and a failback request is issued, the filesystem is remounted at the failover source node. This may therefore be termed for example the “non-mounting mode”. The failover action definition table T2 shown in FIG. 3(b) may or may not be stored in the shared LU 4. FIG. 3(c) is a diagram showing an example of a filesystem action allocation list T3. The file action allocation list (hereinbelow abbreviated to action allocation list) T3 specifies takeover processing actions on failover, for each filesystem. For example, in the illustrated example, the actions of level 1 are allocated to the filesystem FS1A and the actions of level 2 are allocated to the filesystem FS1B. The actions of level 3 are allocated to the filesystem FS1C. If failover is started on occurrence of a fault at the node 1, the filesystem FS1A to which the actions of level 1 are allocated is immediately transferred from the node 1 to the node 2. Immediately after commencement of failover, the only filesystem that has been transferred from the node 1 to the node 2 is FS1A. Consequently, business services using FS1A can immediately be provided by the node 2 merely by mounting the filesystem FS1A only. Of the filesystems FS1B, FS1C that remain mounted on the node 1, the filesystem FS1B to which the actions of the level 2 are allocated is transferred from the node 1 to the node 2 if an access request is generated from a host device 5. Commencement of transfer of the filesystem FS1B is therefore delayed by the time from the starting time point of failover until the request to access the filesystem FS1B is generated. However, compared with the case where all of the business services are restarted after transfer all of the filesystems FS1A to FS1C to the node 2, partial restarting of the required business services after transfer only the filesystem FS1B improves the response of the cluster system as a whole. The filesystem FS1C to which the actions of level 3 have been allocated is not transferred from the node 1 to the node 2 even when failover has started. If a request is made to access the filesystem FS1C by a host device 5, an error is returned to the host device 5. If the node 1 recovers and a failback request is issued from the node 1 to the node 2, the failing system FS1C is remounted at the node 1. In this embodiment, the filesystem FS1C, whose state of use is the least active and which has little need to be transferred to the failback target is left as it is without being transferred on failover. Unnecessary mounting at the node 2 can therefore be eliminated and the business services that utilize the other filesystems FS1A, FS1B can therefore be restarted sooner to that extent. Also, on failback, unmounting processing of the filesystem FS1C does not need to be performed and to this extent failback can be completed more rapidly. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an outline of the processing that is executed by the access request acceptance processes 111, 211. In the following description, an example is given in which the node 1 is the failover source and the node 2 is the failover target. There is no difference in regard to the content of processing when the node 1 is the failover target and the node 2 is the failover source, so further description of this case may be dispensed with. The node 2 monitors (S1) whether or not an access request from a host device 5 has been generated. If an access request from a host device 5 is detected (S1: YES), the node 2 identifies (S2). whether or not this request preceded the occurrence of failover. If the access request preceded the occurrence of failover (S2: YES) i.e. in the case of an access request in the normal condition, information relating to this access request is stored in the access log (S3). The access log may be saved in for example a local LU or local memory of the node 2 or may be saved in the shared LU 4. An example of an access log is shown in FIG. 7(c). In this access log T6, the access time (year/month/day/hour/minutes/seconds) and the name of the access filesystem are associated and recorded. The node 2 then performs processing in accordance with the excess request from the host device 5 (S4). For example, if updating of a file is requested by the host device 5, the new file is received from the host device and written in the prescribed filesystem. Also, if for example reading from a file is requested from a host device 5, the node 2 reads the requested file from the prescribed filesystem and transmits it to the host device 5. Prior to occurrence of failover, the access request acceptance processes 111, 211 of the nodes 1 and 2 repeat the processing of the respective steps S1 to S4 and respectively update the access logs of access to the filesystems FS1A to FS1C and FS2A to FS2C. The access frequency of each of the filesystems can be respectively found from these access logs. On the other hand, if there is an access request from a host device 5 after occurrence of failover from the node 1 to the node 2 (S2: NO), the node 2 refers to the action allocation list, specifying the filesystem that is the object of access. The node 2 thereby ascertains (S5) the level of the takeover processing action that is allocated to the filesystem that is the object of access. Next, the node 2 identifies (S6) whether or not the actions of level 2 are allocated to the filesystem that is the object of access. If the actions of level 2 are allocated to this filesystem (S6: YES), the node 2 identifies (S7) whether or not the “mounted” flag is in the OFF condition. The “mounted” flag constitutes information indicating the condition that the filesystem is already mounted. If the filesystem is mounted, the mounted flag is in the ON condition; if the filesystem is not yet mounted, the mounted flag is in the OFF condition. If a filesystem to which the actions of level 2 have been allocated is not yet mounted (S7: YES), the node 2 unmounts the target filesystem from the node 1 and mounts it at node 2 (S8). The node 2 then sets the mounted flag to the ON condition (S9). If the actions of level 2 are not allocated to the filesystem whose access is requested by the host device 5 (S6: NO), the node 2 ascertains whether or not the actions allocated to this filesystem are those of level 3 (S10). A filesystem in respect of which the actions of level 3 are set is not mounted at the node 2, which is the failover target, but, if the node 1, which is the failover source node, is restored, is remounted at the node 1. Consequently, if the actions of level 3 are set for the filesystem that is the object of access (S10: YES), the node 2 performs error processing (S11). The host device 5 to which an error was returned from the node 2 then for example attempts re-access after a certain time. If, at this time point, the recovery of node 1 has been completed, the service is then provided through node 1. If neither the actions of level 2 nor the actions of level 3 have been allocated to the filesystem whose access was requested from a host device 5 (S10: NO), the actions of level 1 are set for this filesystem. Since a level 1 filesystem is mounted on the node 2 substantially simultaneously with the commencement of failover, it can be used immediately. The node 2 then stores the access information in the access log (S12) and processes the access request (S13) from the host device 5. Likewise, in the case of a level 2 filesystem also, if a filesystem is already mounted at the node 2 (S7: NO), the node 2 is capable of immediately utilizing this filesystem. It therefore updates the access log (S12) and processes the access request (S13). An outline of the actions in access request acceptance processing as described above is as given below:— (1) Normal Condition Prior to Occurrence of Failover: The frequency of use of the updated filesystem is stored in the access log and the access request is processed. (2) Case where a Level 1 Filesystem is Accessed after Occurrence of Failover: Processing identical with that of the normal condition (1) is performed, since the level 1 filesystem is mounted with priority over the other filesystem. (3) Case where a Level 2 Filesystem is Accessed after Occurrence of Failover: If this filesystem is not mounted, it is mounted; if it is already mounted, processing identical to that in the normal condition (1) is performed. (4) Case where a Level 3 Filesystem is Accessed after Occurrence of Failover: This filesystem cannot be utilized from any of the nodes, so an error is returned to the host device 5. Next, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an outline of the processing performed by the priority ranking determination processes 112, 212. This processing is batch processing that is executed periodically at the nodes 1 and 2 irrespective of whether or not failover has occurred. The nodes 1 and 2 determine whether or not respective prescribed times have elapsed (S21). If a prescribed time has elapsed (S21: YES), the nodes 1 and 2 read and acquire (S22) the respective access logs T6. The nodes 1 and 2 may perform this processing in a synchronized fashion or the nodes 1 and 2 may perform this processing respectively according to independent cycles. The nodes 1 and 2 calculate (S23) the access frequency L of each filesystem by using the access log T6. Also, the nodes 1 and 2 calculate (S24) the number H of host devices 5 that share each filesystem, for example using their own environmental information. After calculating the number H of shared hosts and the access frequency L to each filesystem, the nodes 1 and 2 call the action allocation list updating processing (S25). It should be noted that these number H of shared hosts and access frequency L may be for example respectively calculated as average values over a prescribed period. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the updating processing of the action allocation list that is respectively executed by the priority ranking determination processes 112, 212. This processing is commenced by being called at S25 in FIG. 5. First of all, the nodes 1 and 2 respectively acquire (S31) the access frequency threshold value m and the threshold value n for the number of shared hosts that are input from the user (for example system administrator). Each of the nodes 1 and 2 respectively reads the number H of shared hosts calculated in S24 above and generates (S32) filesystem shared hosts number information (hereinbelow referred to as FS-H information) that is used for managing the shared hosts number H of the filesystem. FIG. 7(a) shows an outline of the FS-H information T4. The FS-H information T4 lists for each filesystem the number H of host devices 5 that respectively share each filesystem. Next, each of the nodes 1 and 2 respectively reads the access frequency L calculated in S23 above, and generates (S33) filesystem access frequency information (hereinbelow referred to as FS-L information) for managing the access frequency L of each filesystem. As shown in FIG. 7(b), the FS-L information T5 lists for each filesystem the access frequency L in respect of each filesystem. The method of generating the FS-L information T5 is described later. The nodes 1 and 2 respectively determine (S34) the categories to which each filesystem is to belong, in accordance with the threshold values m, n that are input by the user and in accordance with the FS-H information T4 and FS-L information T5. The details of the category determination processing will be described later. Next, the nodes 1, 2 generate or update (S36) the action allocation list T3 using the actions on failover that are set for each category and the categories to which each of the filesystems belong, by referring (S35) to the failover action definition table T2. This action allocation list T3 is stored at a prescribed location on the shared LU 4 and is shared by all of the nodes 1, 2 that constitute the cluster. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the FS-L information generating processing that is executed by the priority ranking determination processes 112, 212. First of all, the nodes 1 and 2 respectively read (S41) information corresponding to a single record from the respective access logs T6, and determine (S42) whether or not reading of the access log T6 has reached the last entry (EOF). If the last entry of the access log T6 has not yet been reached (S42: NO), the nodes 1 and 2 detect the name of the filesystem from information corresponding to one record and count (S43) the number of times of access of each filesystem. For example, if the record that is read indicates access of FS1A, the counter variable for counting the access frequency of FS1A is incremented by 1. The nodes 1 and 2 detect the access time from the record that has thus been read and update the earliest access time of each filesystem (S44). Also, the nodes 1 and 2 update (S45) the latest access time of each of the filesystems using the access time. That is, if the access time of the record that has been read indicates a time prior to the earliest access time, the earliest access time is updated. In the same way, if the access time of the record that has been read indicates a time that is later than the last access time, the last access time is updated. By repeating this operation for the entire access log T6, the earliest access time and the latest access time recorded in the access log T6 can be respectively detected. In other words, the recording period of the access log T6 can be found. If the processing of S43 to S45 has been performed in respect of all of the records of the access log T6 (S42: YES), the nodes 1 and 2 calculate the access frequency L for each of the filesystems and output a single record to the FS-L information T5 (S46). S46 is repeated (S47) until output to the FS-L information T5 has been completed in respect of all of the filesystems. The access frequency L can then be found for example by dividing the total number ΣL of accesses to the filesystem by the time from the earliest access time Told to the latest access time Tnew (L=ΣL/(Tnew−Told). FIG. 9 shows the category determination processing for the various filesystems that is executed by the priority ranking determination processes 112, 212 of the nodes 1 and 2. This processing corresponds to S34 in FIG. 6. The nodes 1 and 2 read the information of a single record (S51) from the FS-L information T5 and determine whether or not the last entry of the FS-L information T5 has been reached (S52). The following processing is repeated until the affiliation categories have been determined for all of the filesystems stored in the FS-L information T5. The nodes 1 and 2 then read information corresponding to a single record (S53) from the FS-H information T4. It will be assumed that the FS-H information T4 and FS-L information T5 has been sorted in accordance with the respective filesystem names and that the number of records of both of these is the same. Consequently, the record that is read from the FS-L information T5 and the record that is read from the FS-H information T4 both indicate the properties (access frequency L and shared hosts number H) relating to the same filesystem. Hereinbelow, as described above in connection with the category determination table T1, each filesystem is categorized into a single category of one of six categories in accordance with two indices, namely, the shared host number H and access frequency L. If the number H of shared hosts relating to the filesystem is equal to or more than the threshold value n (H≧n) and the access frequency L is greater than m (L>m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 11 (S54: YES, S55). If the number H of shared hosts of the filesystem is equal to or more than the threshold value n (H≧n) and the access frequency L is less than or equal to m (L≦m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 12 (S56: YES, S57). If the number H of shared hosts of the filesystem is two or more and less than n (2≦H<n) and the access frequency L is greater than m (L>m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 21 (S58: YES, S59). If the number H of shared hosts of the filesystem is two or more and less than n (2≦H<n) and the access frequency L is less than or equal to m (L≦m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 22 (S60: YES, S61). If the number H of shared hosts of a filesystem y is one (H=1) and the access frequency L is greater than m (L>m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 31 (S62: YES, S63). If the number H of shared hosts of a filesystem y is one (H=1) and the access frequency L is no more than m (L≦m), the filesystem is determined to be in category 32 (S64: YES, S65). As described above, the priority ranking determination processes 112, 212 respectively detect the state of use of each filesystem (access frequency L and shared hosts number H) and categorize the filesystems into one of a plurality of prepared categories in accordance with the state of use of each filesystem. The priority ranking determination processes 112, 212 then respectively confer a level specifying the actions on failover of each filesystem in accordance with the categories of the filesystems. These processes are respectively executed at the nodes 1 and 2 and the action allocation lists T3 respectively generated at the nodes 1 and 2 are stored in the shared LU 4. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the processing that is executed by the failover processes 121, 221. An example will be described in which the failover target is taken to be the node 2, but the same would apply in the case where the node 1 is the failover target. The failover process 221 of the node 2 is executed in response to notification from the heartbeat monitoring process 222. For example, if a fault such as circuit disconnection or system-down occurs at the node 1, the heartbeat communication is interrupted and cessation of this heartbeat communication is detected by the heartbeat monitoring process 222. If the heartbeat communication is stopped for more than a prescribed time, the heartbeat monitoring process 222 determines that the node 1 has stopped and starts up the failover process 221. The failover target node 2 first of all performs takeover of the IP address (S71). In this way, the host devices 5 can utilize the business service simply by connecting to the IP address as previously. From a host device 5, the entire cluster appears as a single server. The host devices 5 do not recognize that the current server has changed as a result of implementation of failover within the cluster. After takeover of the IP address has been completed, the node 2 accesses the shared LU 4, refers to the action allocation list T3 generated by the node 1 and reads information corresponding to one record (S72). The following processing is repeated until the last entry of the action allocation list T3 is reached (S73: NO). That is, the node 2 determines whether or not the actions of level 1 are associated with the filesystems registered in the action allocation list T3 (S74). In the case of a filesystem for which level 1 is set (S74: YES), the node 2 immediately starts mounting of this filesystem (S75). For the filesystems that are read from the action allocation list T3, if another level (level 2 or level 3) other than level 1 is set (S74: NO), the next record is read without taking any action (S72). Then, after inspecting all of the filesystems (S73: YES) that have been registered in the action allocation list T3, a monitoring process of low-load condition mounting is started up (S76). This monitoring process is described later. As described above, in failover processing, the actions of level 1 i.e. mounting on execution of failover of only those filesystems for which immediate mounting has been specified are performed beforehand but mounting processing at the commencement of failover is not performed in respect of filesystems that have been assigned a level other than this. It therefore suffices, on commencement of failover, for example to unmount from the node 1 only those filesystems for which level 1 was set and to mount these at the node 2; the business services that utilize the level 1 filesystems can thus be restarted rapidly. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the processing for mounting when there is a low-load condition at the failover target. This processing corresponds to S76 in FIG. 10. As described below, this processing comprises two portions. One of these is processing (S81 to S85) whereby level 2 filesystems that have not yet been mounted are detected and registered in a waiting queue; this may be termed “detection processing of resources awaiting mounting”. The other portion (S86 to S93) is processing to mount at the failover target node filesystems that were registered in the waiting queue, when the failover target node has reached a prescribed low-load condition; this may be termed “transfer processing during low load”. The node 2, which is the failover target, reads (S81) information corresponding to one record from the action allocation list T3. The node 2 determines (S82) whether or not the level 2 actions are set in respect of the filesystem that is specified in the record that has thus been read. In the case of a level 2 filesystem (S82: YES), the node 2 determines (S83) whether or not the “mounted” flag is in the OFF condition. If a filesystem that has been assigned to level 2 has not yet been mounted at the node 2 (S83: YES), the node 2 registers this filesystem in the mounting waiting list (S84). The node 2 then repeats (S85) the processing of S81 to S84 until inspection of all of the filesystems registered in the action allocation list T3 has been completed. In this way, all of the level 2 filesystems in respect of which no access request has yet been generated after commencement of failover are detected and added to the mounting waiting list. After all of the level 2 filesystems that have not been mounted had been detected, the node 2 for example waits for a prescribed time (S86) of the order of a few minutes to a few tens of minutes. After the prescribed time has elapsed (S86: YES), the node 2 acquires the current CPU utilization rate (S87). The node 2 determines (S88) whether or not the current CPU utilization rate is less than a prescribed pre-set value. This prescribed value can be set manually by the system administrator or may be automatically set for example in accordance with other environmental information. If the CPU utilization rate is equal to or more than the prescribed value (S88: NO), the node 2 returns again to S86 and waits for the prescribed time. On the other hand, if the CPU utilization rate is lower than the prescribed value (S88: YES), the node 2 is in a low-load condition, which is a condition in which no effect on response performance of the existing business services may be expected to be produced by the processing accompanying filesystem transfer, such as unmounting processing or mounting processing. Thereupon, the node 2 acquires (S89) the name of a filesystem that is registered in the mounting waiting list and mounts (S90) this filesystem at the node 2. The node 2 then sets (S91) the mounted flag in the ON condition in respect of this mounted filesystem. Also, the node 2 deletes (S92) the name of this filesystem that has thus been mounted from the mounting waiting list. The node 2 repeats (S93) the processing of S86 to S92 until the mounting waiting list is empty. It should be noted that if the node 1 recovers and a failback request is issued before the mounting waiting list becomes empty, and the mounting waiting list is deleted. In this way, with this processing, a filesystem that has been allocated to level 2 is transferred to the failback target if the failback target node is in a low-load condition, even before any access request is generated. A level 2 filesystem is therefore taken over from the node 1 to the node 2 in two cases. The first case is that access is generated to the level 2 filesystem (on-demand mounting) and the other case is the case where the failover target node is in a prescribed low-load condition (low-load mounting). In this embodiment, on-demand mounting and low-load mounting can be respectively independently executed. When an access request is generated to a level 2 filesystem, even if the failover target node is not in a low-load condition, takeover processing is commenced. In this way, takeover of a level 2 filesystem is made possible by a plurality of methods, so the probability that an access request to the level 2 filesystem can be processed at an early stage is increased. The index for detecting the low-load condition is not restricted to the CPU utilization rate. For example, the number of input/output requests per unit time (IOPS) or the rate of use of cache memory may be employed and a decision can be made by combining a plurality of indices. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are diagrams showing schematically how failover is executed in stepwise fashion according to this embodiment. For convenience in description, only the filesystems at the node 1 are shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. FIG. 12 will now be referred to. Three filesystems FS1A to FS1C are provided at the node 1. In FIG. 12, the filesystem FS1A is set as level 1 and the filesystems FS1B, FS1C are respectively set as level 2. If a fault occurs at a time point T1, when failover is commenced, takeover processing from the node 1 to the node 2 is started in respect of the level 1 filesystem FS1A. Takeover processing from the node 1 to the node 2 is not performed in respect of the other filesystems FS1B and FS1C. The node 2 mounts only the level 1 filesystem FS1A at the node 2 and restarts the business service that utilizes the filesystem FS1A. If, at a time-point T2, there is an access request to the filesystem FS1B, the node 2 unmounts the filesystems FS1B from the node 1 and mounts the filesystems FS1B at the node 2. If, at the time-point T3, the node 2 is in a low-load condition, the node 2 commences takeover processing of the filesystem FS1C that was left on the node 1. Consequently, even if no access request is made to the filesystem FS1C after commencement of failover, if the node 2 is in a prescribed low-load condition, the level 2 filesystem FS1C is taken over from the node 1 to the node 2. If therefore, after the time-point T3, an access request to the filesystem FS1C is generated, since mounting processing has already been completed, the access request can be processed rapidly. If at the time-point T4 the node 1 has recovered from a fault, the node 1 may request failback in respect of the node 2. When the node 2 receives the failback request, it unmounts the filesystems FS1A to FS1C that were taken over from the node 1 so that these can be returned to the node 1. If failback is performed, all of the filesystems FS1A to FS1C that were taken over from the node 1 may be simultaneously returned to the node 1, or they may be returned in stepwise fashion with priority ranking in substantially the same way as in the case of failover. Specifically, it may be arranged that the filesystem FS1A, which has a high priority ranking, is returned to the node 1 first and the remaining filesystems FS1B, FS1C are returned in stepwise fashion for example when an access request is generated or when the node 1 is in a prescribed low-load condition or after lapse of a prescribed time. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the actions on failover in another case. In FIG. 13, level 1 is set for the filesystem FS1A, level 2 is set for the filesystem FS1B and level 3 is set for the filesystem FS1C, respectively. That is, the level which is set for the filesystem FS1C is different in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. If a fault occurs in the node 1 at a time point T1, when failover is commenced, the level 1 filesystem FS1A is taken over from the node 1 to the node 2. If, at a time-point T2, an access request to the level 2 filesystem FS1B is generated, the filesystem FS1B is taken over from the node 1 to the node 2. Level 3 actions are set for the filesystem FS1C. Consequently, takeover processing to the node 2 is not performed in the case of the filesystem FS1C. If access to the filesystem FS1C is requested from a host device 5 during the failover period, an error is returned to the host device 5. If, at the time-point T4, the node 1 has recovered and issues a failback request, the node 2 returns the filesystems FS1A, FS1B that were taken over from the node 1 to the node 1. The filesystem FS1C is remounted at the node 1. Takeover processing of the level 3 filesystem FS1C is not performed during failover but the level 3 system FS1C is remounted during failback. There is therefore no need to perform takeover processing of the filesystem FS1C during failover. Also, there is no need to perform processing for unmounting the filesystem FS1C from the node 2 during failback. Thanks to the construction as described above in this embodiment, the following effects are obtained. In this embodiment, the construction is such that, when failover is performed, takeover to the failover target node can be performed in stepwise fashion rather than performing takeover of all of the filesystems of the failover object en masse. By performing partial takeover processing in stepwise fashion, the time required to restart the business services can be reduced. Freedom of use is therefore improved, since the business services provided by the failover source can be restarted in a partial and stepwise fashion. The present embodiment was constructed so as to make possible stepwise takeover of filesystems in accordance with a priority ranking set for the filesystems that are the object of failover. Takeover can therefore be performed first to a failover target node of filesystems which have the highest degree of priority. In this way, restarting can be effected in prioritized fashion starting from business services that have a high degree of importance, postponing the restarting of business services of a low degree of importance until later. The time required for restarting of business services of a high degree of priority can therefore be shortened. In this embodiment, a construction was adopted in which a priority ranking was set in accordance with the state of use of the filesystem and the filesystems were transferred in accordance with their priority ranking. Takeover processing can therefore be formed starting for example from filesystems that are objects to frequent access and that are utilized by a large number of host devices 5, thereby making it possible to restart business services of a high degree of priority at an early stage. In this embodiment, a construction is adopted wherein the takeover information such as the action allocation list is stored in a shared LU 4 and this takeover information is shared by the nodes 1 and 2. The nodes 1 and 2 can therefore execute failover in stepwise fashion simply by accessing the shared LU 4. Since the takeover information is stored in centralized fashion on a shared LU 4, the construction can be simplified. For example, instead of a shared LU 4, a method may be considered in which the takeover information is copied between each node. If the takeover information of the node 1 is copied to the node 2 and the takeover information of the node 2 is copied to the node 1, the construction becomes complicated and synchronization of the takeover information becomes difficult. However, it should be noted that a construction in which the takeover information is copied between the nodes is included in the scope of the present invention. In this embodiment, a construction was adopted in which takeover actions of a plurality of types were prepared for the level 1 in which takeover processing is executed immediately on commencement of failover and level 2, in which takeover processing is not performed on commencement of failover but takeover processing is performed when an access request is generated. Takeover processing of filesystems of higher degree of priority can therefore be executed first by for example allocating the actions of level 2 to filesystems whose state of use is comparatively inactive and allocating the actions of level 1 to filesystems whose state of use is active. Also, takeover processing can be performed as required of filesystems of relatively low degree of priority. As a result, the response of the overall failover system can be improved. In this embodiment, a construction was adopted in which a low-load mounting mode was provided, in which filesystem takeover is effected in cases where the failover target node is in a prescribed low-load condition. Takeover processing can therefore be completed at an earlier stage than in the case where takeover processing is executed irrespective of the load condition of the failover target node, thereby improving response. Also, in this embodiment, in the case of a level 2 filesystem in respect of which takeover processing is commenced triggered by generation of an access request, even if no access request is in fact generated, the construction is such that takeover processing is still executed when the failover target node reaches a prescribed low-load condition. Transfer of the level 2 filesystem to the failover target node can therefore be effected at an earlier stage, making it possible to process an access request rapidly when an access request in respect of this level 2 filesystem is generated. In this embodiment, a construction was adopted in which level 3 takeover actions, according to which takeover processing is not executed, are prepared even in cases where failover has been commenced. Since the actions of level 3 are allocated to filesystems of low degree of utilization, there is therefore no need to perform the various processes accompanying failover such as unmounting processing or mounting processing in respect of these filesystems, so takeover processing of other filesystems of higher degree of utilization can be completed at an earlier stage. Also, unmounting processing at the failback target node is unnecessary in the event of failback, making it possible to complete failback at an earlier stage. Embodiment 2 A second embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 14 to FIG. 16. This embodiment corresponds to a modified example of the first embodiment. The characteristic feature of this embodiment is that the present invention is applied in the case where a cluster is constituted of three or more servers. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing this embodiment schematically. As shown in FIG. 14(a), this failback cluster system is constructed including a total of three nodes, namely, node 1, node 2 and node 3. The nodes 1 to 3 share for example information that is employed in failover, through a common LU 4A. The node 1 monitors the node 2, the node 2 monitors the node 3 and the node 3 monitors the node 1, respectively. In the failover management table T7, the name of the monitoring target server and the condition of this monitoring target server are associated, for each server. This management table T7 is stored in a shared LU 4A and is shared by the nodes 1 to 3. Also, each of the nodes 1 to 3 respectively monitors the state of use of the respective filesystems and one of the sets of actions of levels 1 to 3 is allocated to these filesystems in accordance with such state of use. The action allocation list generated at each of the nodes 1 to 3 is stored in the shared LU 4. As shown in FIG. 14(b), when the system at the node 1 goes down as a result of a fault, the node 3 takes over the business service that is provided at the node 1. The state of the node 3 is altered from “operating” to “performing takeover”. The state of the node 1 is altered from “operating” to “down”. Also, accompanying the system-down of the node 1, the monitoring targets of the nodes 2 and nodes 3 are respectively altered. The node 2 and the node 3 now mutually monitor each other. As shown in FIG. 14(c), if the system of the node 2 also goes down prior to recovery of the node 1, the business services that was provided by the node 2 is taken over by the node 3. The result is therefore that the node 3 takes over all of the business services that were respectively provided by both the node 1 and the node 2. In the case where a failover cluster is constituted by three or more nodes, as shown in FIG. 14, it is necessary to give consideration to the probabilities that faults will occur in the respective plurality of nodes. Failover processing of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 15. The failover target node starts failover processing in response to detection of system-down as a result of interruption of heartbeat communication. The failover target node then takes over (S101) the IP address of the failover source node and updates (S102) the condition of the failover management table T7. Next, the node reads (S103) the information of one record from the action allocation list and determines (S104) whether or not the last entry of the action allocation list has been reached. The node then makes a decision (S105), in respect of all of the filesystems listed in the action allocation list, as to whether or not the actions of level 1 are set. If the actions of level 1 are set (S105: YES), the node then performs takeover processing (S106) of such filesystems. When the node has completed takeover processing of all of the filesystems to which the actions of level 1 have been allocated (S104: YES), the node then ascertains whether the condition of the monitoring target node is “performing takeover” or whether the heartbeat communication between the node that is being monitored by the monitoring target node and itself is interrupted. For example, if this failover processing is being executed by the node 3, its monitoring target node is the node 1 and the monitoring target of this monitoring target node is the node 2. In S107, the node 3 determines whether or not the condition of the node 1, which is its monitoring target, is “performing takeover”. If the condition of the monitoring target node is “performing takeover”, the system of the node 1 has gone down right in the middle of takeover of the business services of the node 2 by the node 1. Consequently, in this case, the node 3 must take over not only the business services that were provided by the node 1 but also the business services that were provided by node 2. Also, in the above example, the node 3 ascertains whether or not the heartbeat communication between the monitoring target node i.e. the monitoring target (node 2) of the node 1 and itself is interrupted. This envisions the case where the systems of the node 2 and the node 1 go down substantially simultaneously. In this case also, it is necessary for the node 3 to take over the business services provided by the node 2 in addition to the business services provided by the node 1. Accordingly, if the system of the monitoring target node goes down during takeover processing, or if the system of the monitoring target node and the system of the node that was being monitored by the monitoring target node both go down substantially simultaneously (S107: YES), the identity of the node that was being monitored by the monitoring target node on system-down may be acquired (S108) by referring to the management table T7. In the above example, the node 3 ascertains that the monitoring target of the node 1 was the node 2. Thus, the failback target node (in the above example, node 3) acquires (S109) the action allocation list T3 relating to the monitoring target of the monitoring target node from the shared LU 4A. This failback target node mounts the filesystems registered in this action allocation list T3 at the failback target node itself, in accordance with their levels (S110). In the above example, the node 3, which is the only node that is working of the three nodes, acquires the action allocation list T3 of the node 2, which is the monitoring target of the monitoring target node and performs takeover of the file servers registered in this action allocation list T3. In this case, the node 3 does not take over all of the filesystems of the node 2 at once but rather, as described in the first embodiment, takes over in prioritized fashion only those filesystems in respect of which the actions of level 1 have been set. The node that has taken over the level 1 filesystems updates (S111) the monitoring target of the failover management table T7 and starts up (S112) the monitoring process for mounting under low-load conditions. It should be noted that if it is not the case that the systems of a plurality of nodes in the cluster are simultaneously down (S107: NO), the processing of S108 to S111 is skipped and processing returns to S112. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing schematically an outline of failover processing according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16(a), the node 1 comprises three filesystems, namely, FS1A to FS1C and the node 2 comprises a single filesystem, namely, FS2A. The level 1 actions are respectively set for the filesystems FS1A, FS2A. Also, in a reversal of the example shown in FIG. 14, in FIG. 16, the monitoring target of the node 3 is set as the node 2, the monitoring target of the node 2 is set as the node 1 and the monitoring target of the node 1 is set as the node 3. As shown in FIG. 16(b), when occurrence of a fault in the node 1 causes the system of the node 1 to go down, the node 2, which is the failover target of the node 1, takes over the level 1 filesystem FS1A from the node 1. As shown in FIG. 16(c), if the system at the node 2 also goes down due to occurrence of a fault prior to recovery of the node 1, the node 3, which is the failover target of the node 2, takes over from the node 2 both of the filesystems FS1A, FS2A in respect of which level 1 actions are set. If the system of the node 2 has gone down during takeover from the node 1, the node 3 takes over the filesystem FS2A from the node 2 and takes over the filesystem FS1A from the node 1. As described above, the present invention can be effectively applied even in cases comprising three or more nodes, the same effects as in the case of the first embodiment being obtained. It should be noted that the present invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above. A person skilled in the art may make various additions and modifications and the like within the scope of the present invention. For example, it is not necessary to adopt all of levels 1 to 3 and arrangements could be adopted employing a plurality of levels, for example only level 1 and level 2 or only level 1 and level 3 or only level 2 and level 3. Also, although the mode in which takeover processing is executed only in the case of a low-load condition was described as being a case employed in association with level 2 filesystems, an arrangement could be adopted in which this level in which takeover processing is executed in low-load condition is independently set up as a separate level from level 2. In this case, takeover processing of filesystems in respect of which the level has been set in which takeover processing is performed under low-load conditions is performed for example only in the case of a prescribed low-load condition of the failover target node, irrespective of whether or not there is an access request from a host device. Also, although filesystems were taken as an example of a failover object resource, the present invention is not restricted to this and could be applied for example to other resources such as application programs that utilize a filesystem. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for failover. 2. Description of the Related Art In a cluster system, a plurality of computers (also called nodes) are loosely coupled to constitute a single cluster. Known types of cluster systems include for example load distributed systems and failover systems. In a failover cluster system, the system is provided with redundancy by using a plurality of computers. In the failover system, continuity of the business application service in regard to client computers is ensured by arranging that when one computer stops, its task is taken over by another computer. The one computer and the other computer are connected using a communication circuit (interconnection) such as a LAN and stoppage of a remote computer is monitored by “heartbeat” communication exchanged therewith. Heartbeat communication is a technique of mutually monitoring for cessation of function by communication of prescribed signals at prescribed intervals between a plurality of computers. While heartbeat communication is being performed, the remote computer is deemed to be operating normally and failover (takeover of business services) is not performed. Contrariwise, if heartbeat communication is interrupted, it is concluded that the system of the remote computer is down and the business application services that were provided by the remote computer are taken over by the failover target computer. From the point of view of the client computer that is using the business application service, the entire failover cluster appears as a single computer. The client computer is therefore not aware of which computer the business application service is being provided by even when processing is changed over from the live computer to the standby computer. However, if failover is executed without giving any consideration to the operating condition of the failover target computer, the computer that takes over the business application service may itself become overloaded, resulting for example in a drop in response. In this connection, a technique is known whereby it may be arranged for the priority of the business application service to be altered in accordance with the operating condition of the failover target computer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H. 11-353292). In the technique disclosed in this reference, transfer from the failover source to the failover target is arranged to be performed after first conducting an overall estimate of the total resources of the failover objects. The time taken to restart the business application service at the failover target computer therefore increases as the resources of the failover objects increase. For example, when taking over a failover system, it is necessary to unmount the failing system at the failover source and to mount the failing system at the failover target. When performing unmounting or mounting, it is necessary to maintain the consistency of the data set by for example reflecting the data on the cache to the disk and reproducing the memory condition of the data in accordance with the update history file. The time required before the business application service can be restarted therefore increases as the number of filesystems to be transferred from the failover source to the failover target increases. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby the time required until restarting provision of the business service can be reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby the time required until restarting provision of the business service can be reduced without loss of convenience, by arranging to transfer resources of higher frequency of use first, and to transfer resources of lower frequency of use later. An object of the present invention is to provide a failover cluster system and a failover method whereby failover can be performed efficiently by dynamically altering the ranking of takeover processing in accordance with the state of use of the resources. Further objects of the present invention will become clear from the following description of embodiments. In order to solve the above problems, in a failover cluster system according to the present invention, a plurality of computers are connected and, in a prescribed case, failover object resources of a failover source computer are taken over by a failover target computer and there is provided a control section that is capable of taking over failover object resources in stepwise fashion. One example of failover object resources is a filesystem. The control section is capable of taking over a failover object resource in stepwise fashion in accordance with a priority ranking set for the failover object resource. Stepwise takeover of a resource means performing takeover processing in units of each resource such that for example a given filesystem is moved first and another filesystem is moved afterwards. The control section may set up a priority ranking beforehand for the failover object resources, based on the state of use of the failover object resources. Also, the computers may employ a shared memory device to share takeover information relating to takeover of failover object resources. The failover object resources can then be taken over in stepwise fashion in accordance with the priority ranking, by referring to the takeover information of the shared memory device. The takeover information can be constituted by associating information for specifying failover object resources with takeover processing actions set for the failover object resources in accordance with the priority ranking. Also, the priority ranking may include a first ranking whereby takeover processing is immediately executed and a second ranking whereby takeover processing is executed when an access request for a failover object resource is generated. Furthermore, the priority ranking may further include a third ranking in accordance with which takeover processing of a failover object resource is executed if the failover target computer is in a prescribed low-load condition. In addition, the priority ranking may further include a fourth ranking in accordance with which takeover processing is not executed. | 20040623 | 20060530 | 20050915 | 94837.0 | 0 | MASKULINSKI, MICHAEL C | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FAILOVER | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,343 | ACCEPTED | Selection methods | A rational method for obtaining a novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest comprising selecting hosts or replicators which encode said novel molecules based upon cell or replicator growth caused by the desired interaction of the novel molecule and a selection molecule expressed by said host. | 1-164. (canceled) 165. A method for selecting a virus expressing a molecule having an activity of interest comprising: a) growing a population of viruses in a high selection pressure strain of bacteria where said activity of interest confers a growth advantage; b) expanding the virus population produced in step (a) by growing said population in a low selection pressure strain of bacteria; c) cycling the virus population produced in step (b) through steps (a) and (b) one or more times. 166. The method of claim 165 further comprising exposing said population of viruses to mutagenizing conditions. 167. The method of claim 166, wherein exposure to said mutagenizing conditions occurs prior to growth in said high selection pressure strain. 168. The method of claim 166, wherein exposure to said mutagenizing conditions occurs after growth in said high selection pressure strain. 169. The method of claim 165, wherein the virus is a lytic virus. 170. The method of claim 165, wherein periodic addition of bacteria occurs during step a. 171. The method of claim 165, wherein periodic addition of bacteria occurs during step b. 172. The method of claim 165, wherein periodic addition of bacteria occurs during steps a and b. | TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates broadly to rational methods using recombinant genetic techniques and selection to isolate, create or direct the evolution of genes which express novel molecules having a desired interaction with substrates of interest. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for isolating, creating or evolving novel molecules including organic, inorganic and biomolecules such as proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, oligonucleotides, lipids and polysaccharides for use as reactants, catalysts, enzymatic cofactors, repressors, enhancers, hormones and binders for a wide variety of substrates in industrial and therapeutic products. Even more specifically, the invention relates to methods wherein host cells and/or viruses, which express a modulated growth factor for the host or for the virus functionally associated with a substrate of interest or analog thereof, and multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of putative novel molecules which may interact with the substrate of interest or analog to alter the activity of the growth factor, are subjected to selection conditions or evolutionary selection conditions to select for hosts or viruses, or mutations thereof carrying the gene which expresses the novel molecule of interest. The methods of the invention can be used to rationally create molecules having a wide range of interesting properties including catalysts, e.g., proteases, binding peptides, enzymatic cofactors, enhancers, repressors, and hormones, among others, for a variety of industrial, research or therapeutic uses. Several publications are referenced in this application by Arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citation for these references are found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The references more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains as well as certain aspects of the invention itself. 1. Background of the Invention In general, there are three ways in which a molecule with novel properties may be obtained. A first method, e.g., protein engineering, relies on known properties of a general type of molecule and upon theoretical models which attempt to define the conformation of molecules most likely to have the desired properties. No models have proved general enough or exact enough to reproducibly design appropriate molecules. A second method is screening. Screening requires that multiple permutations of molecules be tested for a given property. The current status of screening technology and the vast number of different permutations limits the usefulness of this technique. For example, a peptide sequence of twenty amino acids has 2020 different permutations. To screen bacteria producing different permutations of peptides of significant length, billions upon billions of petri dishes, each on the order of a thousand colonies, would be needed. To screen such large populations to find those few members, if any, which have the desired characteristics is extremely inefficient. Screening techniques are not adequate for the realistic performance of such tasks. A third method employs natural selection in specific non-generalizable ways. For example, if a unicellular organism is missing an enzyme in a critical metabolic pathway, one can try to select for a molecule with the same function as that lost by the mutant. This technique is limited, however, by the reactions that are encoded in the genome of the organism and that may be complemented within the cell. Moreover, for each different complementation experiment, a new mutant strain is needed. 2. The Prior Art Methods for selecting organisms are well known in the art. These methods include growing host cells in the absence of an essential nutrient, on organic compounds which cannot be utilized by parental strains or in the presence of toxic analogs in order to select for organisms which, for example, express molecules essential for cell growth. Such techniques are primitive because growth in the absence of an essential nutrient does not permit the researcher to rationally design procedures for the selection of molecules for any specific type of reaction or for any particular targeted region within the substrate. Selection pressure based on growth in the absence of an essential nutrient is crude in that no rationally defined selection pressure through which a growth advantage or disadvantage is conferred is imposed and therefore hosts may be selected which achieve survival by expressing molecules having a range of functions. This limits the usefulness of such methods since it reduces the ability of the hosts to isolate or create molecules with specific desired capabilities. For example, growth on organic compounds which cannot be utilized by parental strains is limited because the hosts are selected only on the basis of their capability of utilizing the organic compound. Use of the organic compound may be accomplished through any of a number of different reactions. There is no rational method to isolate, create or direct the evolution of a molecule capable of a specific reaction with a targeted region within a specific substrate. Dube et al., Biochemistry, Vol. 28, No. 14, Jul. 11, 1989, disclose the remodeling of genes coding for β-lactamase, by replacing DNA at the active site with random nucleotide sequences. The oligonucleotide replacement preserves certain codons critical for activity but contains base pairs of chemically synthesized random sequences that code for more than a million amino acid substitutions. A population of E. coli were infected with plasmids containing these random inserts and the populations were incubated in the presence of carbenicillin and certain related analogs of carbenicillin. Seven new active-site mutants that rendered the E. coli host resistant to carbenicillin were selected, each containing multinucleotide substitutions that code for different amino acids. Each of the mutants exhibited a temperature-sensitive, β-lactamase activity. Dube et al. is thus limited to enhancing the already known function of a class of enzymes. A process for producing novel molecules and DNA and RNA sequences through recombinant techniques and selection is disclosed in Kauffman et al., U.K., Patent Application No. GB 2183661A, filed Jun. 17, 1985. Mutated genes are introduced into host cells, the modified hosts are grown so that the mutated genes are cloned, thereby promoting production of the proteins expressed by said genes, the modified host cells are screened and/or selected so as to identify the strains of host cells producing novel proteins with a desired property, and the identified strains are grown so as to produce a novel molecule having the desired property. The techniques taught in Kauffman et al. like those in Dube et al. are limited to methods for modifying the known function of certain classes of molecules. Schatz et al., Cell, Vol. 53, pp. 107-115 (1988) describe a method for the identification of a fibroblast cell line capable of expressing a gene which encodes an enzyme having known recombinase activity. The method is based upon a process of somatic recombination in which widely separated gene segments are ligated together to form a complete variable region (the variable region being assembled from V (variable), J (joining) and in some cases D (diversity) gene segments in an ordered and highly regulated fashion). Gene transfer is used to stably confer on a fibroblast the ability to carry out V(D)J rearrangements. Retrovirus-based DNA recombination substrates that comprise a library of genes, some of which encode the recombinase gene, i.e., the gene which expresses the enzyme(s) which play a role in V(D)J recombination, were transfected into host cells which contain a gene expressing a growth factor flanked by the recombinase recognition sequences. Initially, the gene expressing the growth factor was not transcribed or translated. However, transcription and translation of the growth factor was activated when recombinase activity was expressed through the interaction of recombinase with the recombinase recognition sequences. Bock et al., Nature, Vol. 355, pp. 564-567 (1992), report efforts to select DNA molecules with novel functions. Aptamers, stochastically generated oligonucleotides capable of binding specific molecular targets, were selected in cell-free selection procedures. Single-stranded DNA can be screened for aptamers that bind human thrombin, a protein with no known nucleic acid-binding function. These processes, which actually constitute cell-free screening procedures, include the screening and the amplification of some members of a sub-population. The other members are discarded. Curtiss, PCT Application No. WO89/03427, discloses methods and techniques for expressing recombinant genes in host cells. Curtiss discloses genetically engineered host cells which express desired gene products because they are maintained in a genetically stable population. The genetically engineered cells are characterized by: (1) the lack of a gene encoding an enzyme essential for cell wall growth, i.e., the inability to catalyze a step in the biosynthesis of an essential cell wall structural component; (2) a first recombinant gene encoding an enzyme which is the functional replacement of the enzyme essential for cell wall growth; and, (3) a second recombinant gene encoding a desired polypeptide which is physically linked to the first recombinant gene. Loss of the first recombinant gene causes the cells to lyse when the cells are in an environment where a product expressed by the first recombinant gene is absent, and where the cells are grown in an environment such that the absence of the first recombinant gene causes the cells to lyse. Baum et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., (USA), Vol. 87, pp. 10023-10027 (1990), relates to a method for monitoring cleavage interactions by a variety of proteases. A fusion construct is created by inserting a protease cleavage site e.g., decapeptide human immunodeficiency virus (“HIV”) protease recognition sequence, into specific locations of β-galactosidase in E. coli. Those construct genes, which retain their enzymic activity despite insertion of the cleavage site, are subcloned into plasmids which encode wild type and mutant HIV protease, respectively. The fusion construct was found to be cleaved by wild type HIV protease and not mutant HIV protease in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Upon cleavage by HIV protease, the altered β-galactosidase is inactivated. The cleavage reaction is inhibited by pepstatin A, a known inhibitor of HIV protease. An analogous construct was developed using a polio protease cleavage site, which was cleaved by polio protease. Paoletti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,330, disclose methods for modifying the genome of vaccinia virus in order to produce vaccinia mutants, particularly by the introduction into the vaccinia genome of exogenous DNA. DNA sequences and unmodified and genetically modified microorganisms involved as intermediates are disclosed as are methods for infecting cells and host animals with the vaccinia mutants in order to amplify the exogenous DNA and proteins encoded by the exogenous DNA. This reference is representative of art-known recombinant techniques used to modify both viruses and host cell microorganisms. Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,898, relates to the use of recombinant DNA techniques to make analogs of toxin molecules and to the use of such molecules to treat medical disorders. The toxin molecules can be linked to any specific-binding ligand, whether or not it is a peptide, at a position which is predeterminedly the same for every toxin molecule. Anderson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,035, disclose a method for delivery and transfer of genetic information by packaging a hybrid DNA-protein complex into a viral vector, and then transferring this genetic information from the hybrid virus into susceptible microorganisms. An organism having a function or capability desired to be transferred is selected and the DNA thereof is isolated/purified and cleaved to separate the exogenous genes controlling the function desired to be transferred or cloned. These exogenous genes are inserted into the DNA of a virus. The resulting hybrid DNA-protein is introduced into a cell-free in vitro medium, along with a source of viral capsid precursor structure, i.e., proheads, and required accessory viral structural and packaging proteins in order to assemble an infectious hybrid virus encapsidating the hybrid DNA. The viral capsid precursor structure, and accessory viral structural and packaging proteins, are produced by infecting capable microorganisms with a first viral mutant capable of producing capsid precursor structures without producing at least one packaging protein and infecting compatible microorganisms with a second viral mutant capable of producing accessory viral structural and packaging proteins without producing capsid precursor structures. These infected cells are then mixed and lysed to provide the source of virus components for in vitro packaging for hybrid DNA-protein. The hybrid virus is then used to infect microorganisms compatible with the virus to program the infected cells to serially reproduce the desired function of the exogenous genes and the genes themselves as nucleic acids. Dulbecco, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,002, discloses a method for incorporating DNA fragments into the DNA gene of a virus. The DNA fragments encode for proteins which have specific medical or commercial use. Small segments of an original protein exhibiting desired functions are identified and a DNA fragment, having a nucleotide base sequence encoding that segment of the protein, is isolated/purified from an organism or synthesized chemically. The isolated/purified DNA fragment is inserted into the DNA genome of the virus so that the inserted DNA fragment expresses itself as the foreign segment of a surface viral protein and so that neither the function of the protein segment nor the function of any viral protein critical for viral replication is impaired. None of the prior art methods offers a rational approach employing selection procedures to the isolation, creation, or creation by directed evolution of novel molecules having a specific function with respect to a chosen substrate of interest. The screening methods are inherently inefficient, wasteful and time consuming. The primitive methods of selection disclosed in the art do not permit the creation, for example, of molecules having high specificity, either as a binder or as catalyst, for a particular recognition sequence. They produce limited numbers of molecules with limited properties. Moreover, none of the prior art references teach methods which are universal in their applicability. There are no prior art methods for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of genes which express different molecules each having a rationally designed activity with respect to a substrate of interest. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is thus a primary object of the invention to create novel molecules, capable of interacting with substrates of interest. It is a related object of the invention to create novel molecules for use as reactants, catalysts, enzymatic cofactors, repressors, enhancers, hormones and binders for substrates, while avoiding the time, effort and failure relatively associated with prior art protein engineering, screening and selection methods. It is still a further object of the invention to harness the power of selection processes and recombinant genetic techniques to produce molecules not heretofore known and having new functions or improved known functions with respect to a wide array of substrates of interest. It is still a further and related object of this invention to isolate the genes which express novel molecules from existing gene pools by matching the interactive specificity of these novel molecules to the substrates of interest for which they are specific. It is still a further and related object of this invention to create novel molecules for interaction with the substrate of interest by rational design of selection based methods which employ specific expressible molecules incorporating the recognition sequences of the substrate of interest. It is still a further and related object of this invention to harness the rapid replication of cellular and viral genomes in the selection of genes which express novel molecules of interest. It is still another object of this invention to control and direct evolutionary pressures on cellular and viral systems so as to create and evolve genes which express novel molecules of interest having heretofore unknown physical and/or chemical interactions with substrates of interest. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is broadly in rational methods for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule capable of desired interaction with a substrate of interest. The method involves selecting hosts, or replicators in hosts, which encode novel molecules based upon cell or replicator growth caused by the desired interaction of the novel molecule and a selection molecule expressed by the host. The method is performed by expressing multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules in a population of host cells containing a cell growth factor and/or a replicator (e.g., a virus) growth factor, and a substrate of interest or analog thereof functionally associated with said growth factor, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for those hosts or those replicators which express a novel molecule which interacts with the substrate of interest or analog to alter the activity of the growth factor. The invention is also in the modified host cells for use in the invention, in the modified replicators, in certain selection molecules used in carrying out the methods, in the genes and novel molecules produced by the methods of the invention and in systems and kits useful for practicing the invention. Selection for Host Methods The isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest may be performed by the steps of expressing in a population of host cells multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of putative novel molecules, and adding or expressing a cell growth factor, a substrate of interest or analog thereof having a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, and optionally a growth factor modulation moiety, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for those hosts containing genes capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence to alter the activity of the growth factor. The order of expression of the putative novel molecules and the order of expression and/or addition of the growth factor, substrate of interest or analog thereof and modulation moiety relative to one another and to the expression of the putative novel molecules, and the timing of the selection process with respect to any of such steps is a matter of choice. In some embodiments it may be advantageous to impose selection conditions on a population of hosts or replicators prior to modifying the host or replicators to express growth factors, recognition sequences or modulation moieties, or selection molecules incorporating same, so as to develop a desired host or replicator strain for subsequent selection. The method may be performed by introducing a homogeneous population of genes which may express multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a heterogeneous population of genes which may express a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules or molecules with evolutionary potential into a population of host cells whose genome has been artificially altered to express a cell growth factor and a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, imposing selection conditions, e.g., cultivating or incubating the population of host cells under selection conditions to select for those hosts containing genes capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the sequence to alter the activity of the growth factor and isolating/purifying the gene of interest from the selected cell population. The gene of interest may then be used to express additional quantities of the novel molecule. The growth factor and recognition sequence may be present as individual molecules or groups of molecules, or, may be associated together in molecules which incorporate both of them. The host cells, e.g., E. coli, may be modified by exogenous addition of the growth factor and/or recognition sequence, or, the growth factor and/or recognition sequence may be expressed by the host. By imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells it is possible to select for those hosts containing genes, or mutations thereof, capable of expressing a novel molecule which has the desired interaction with the recognition sequence and which thereby affects the activity of the growth factor. Selection for Replicator Methods The isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest may also be performed by expressing multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or multiplicity of different putative novel molecules encoded by a replicator, e.g., a virus, in a population of host cells which contain or express a growth factor for the replicator, a substrate of interest or analog thereof which incorporates a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, and optionally a growth factor modulation moiety, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for the replicator, e.g., virus, capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence so as to alter the activity of the growth factor. These methods may be performed, for example, by introducing a replicator, e.g., a virus, into a population of host cells whose genome has been artificially altered to express a growth factor for the virus and a recognition sequence representing the substrate of interest which is functionally associated with the growth factor, cultivating or incubating that population of host cells to select for the viruses capable of expressing the novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence so as to alter the activity of the growth factor, and isolating/purifying the gene of interest. As in the host methods, the order of expression and/or addition of the several components of the process and the order of expression and/or addition relative to imposition of selection conditions is a matter of choice. In such methods, a homogeneous population of viruses which expresses multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a heterogeneous population of viruses containing a multiplicity of mutant genes, each of which may express a different putative novel molecule, is introduced into a population of modified host cells which contain a functionally down-modulated growth factor necessary for the growth and/or replication of the viruses and a recognition sequence as described above. Those viruses which express novel molecules which interact with the recognition sequence and thereby up-modulate the activity of the growth factor will replicate within the host. Those viruses which express novel molecules which do not have the desired interaction will not be replicated. The host cells can then be incubated or cultivated under selection conditions to select for the population of the viruses which express the novel molecules of interest. In a preferred method, the genome of the host cells are artificially altered to express a molecule or molecules which include the growth factor and the recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor. The population of cells is then infected by a replicator, e.g., a virus, whose genome is capable of expressing multiple copies of a molecule or a multiplicity of different molecules which may interact with the selection molecule expressed by the recombinant genome of the host cell. Those novel molecules which interact with the recognition sequence so as to alter the function of the growth factor will confer a selective growth advantage on the virus which expresses the novel molecule of choice. The population of host cells can then be cultivated or incubated to create an amplified population of the desired virus. As in host selection, the genome of the host cells are artificially altered to express a growth factor and a recognition sequence, as individual molecules or as physical or chemical associations or combinations thereof. The recognition sequence represents the substrate of interest and is functionally associated with the replicator growth factor. Desirably the genome is modified by recombinant methods to express a selection molecule e.g., a fusion or deletion protein, which includes both the growth factor and the recognition sequence. The growth factor and recognition sequence may be associated with a selection moiety which modulates the activity of the growth factor. The selection moiety may be an individual molecule(s) or may be part of a selection molecule(s), e.g., fusion or deletion protein, which also includes the growth factor and the recognition sequence. The novel molecule to be obtained may act through a cascade of events, i.e., it may interact with the recognition sequence to cause the desired effect or that interaction may start a cascade of events with any number of intermediate steps which ultimately affects the activity of the growth factor. Each molecule in the cascade can be a natural or engineered substrate within the host cell or an exogenously supplied substrate or can be, itself, a novel molecule. The host selection and replicator selection methods of the invention can be used to create a wide range of novel molecules, e.g., novel proteases capable of a desired interaction with a protease recognition sequence. Molecules other than proteases can be produced, e.g., enzymes capable of site specific glycosylation (or phosphorylation, etc.) around an important cellular protein for growth which is particularly sensitive to glycosylation (or phosphorylation, etc.) and is permissive to the insertion of recognition sequences. The universal selection method links the formation of virtually any product to the growth of a cell. For example, in the reaction A+B→C (catalyzed by X), linking the production of C to the growth ability of a cell, even though C may have no effect on the growth of the cell directly or indirectly, one can select for that member of a population of putative novel molecules which is capable of catalyzing the reaction (whatever the reaction type may be) or is capable of acting as a substrate or is capable of acting as the product C itself—in short—capable of acting in any way so as to contribute to the production of C. The invention offers significant advantages over the prior art techniques. It offers an inherent efficiency increase over screening and places the burdens on the experimental system rather than on the experimenters. In selection, the environmental conditions determine which members of a population are viable. By properly defining the selection procedures and conditions, those clones with the desired properties can be obtained from a huge population. The selection procedures of the invention have the advantage that they may be used to obtain a vast array of novel molecules each of which is highly specific for a given recognition sequence and interaction. In contrast, the primitive selection methods of the prior art are crude and empirical. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Definitions Certain terms used herein are defined as follows. The term “isolation” means bringing forth a gene which exists in nature from an existing gene pool. The term “creation” means bringing forth a gene not found in nature which encodes a novel molecule. The terms “directed evolution” and “creation by directed evolution” mean bringing forth a gene not found in nature which encodes a novel molecule by mutating genes under rationally designed selection conditions and pressures. The term “novel molecules of new function” embraces any molecule having a previously unknown structure and/or sequence and/or physical/chemical properties and having a previously unknown or unrealized reaction type, e.g., phosphorylation, proteolysis, binding, etc., and/or specificity. The term “functionally enhanced novel molecule” embraces molecules having a previously unknown structure and/or sequence and/or physical/chemical properties whose function, i.e., combination of reaction type, e.g., phosphorylation, proteolysis, binding, etc. and specificity is known or realized, but which differ in their degree of known function. The term “novel molecule” includes any molecule having a previously unknown structure and/or sequence and/or physical/chemical properties or a novel molecule of new function or a functionally enhanced novel molecule and includes organic, inorganic and biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, oligonucleotides, sugars, lipids, peptides and any substituted or modified versions thereof. The terms “putative novel molecule”, “putative functionally enhanced novel molecule” or “putative novel molecule of new function” mean any molecule, known or otherwise, which one skilled in the art considers to be a candidate for isolation, creation or directed evolution according to the methods of the invention. The term “substrate of interest” includes any naturally occurring molecule or synthetic molecule, whether known or unknown, upon which a chemical and/or physical interaction is desired. The substrate of interest may comprise organic or inorganic molecules or biomolecules, e.g., proteins, oligonucleotides, lipids and polysaccharides. Substrates of interest include, for example, compounds which are known substrates for enzymatic action, peptides, polypeptides and proteins of various descriptions, which are to be reacted, cleaved, linked, modified or substituted, or bound by a novel molecule. The term “analog of the substrate of interest” means a molecule or a portion thereof which contains a recognition sequence which renders it a functional analog of the substrate of interest. The term “gene” is used in its broadest commonly understood meaning and includes any nucleic acid, e.g., oligonucleotides (DNA, RNA, etc.) capable of expression and further includes combinations or sets of genes. The term “genome” refers to the entire complement of genes capable of being expressed, including chromosomal genes, plasmids, transposons and viral DNA. The term “expression” has its generally understood scientific meaning and includes replication of oligonucleotides, transcription, translation and reverse transcription. The term “expression by the host” means expression by any part of the host genome. The terms “interaction” and “capable of interaction” broadly encompass any intermolecular and/or intramolecular operations including chemical reactions, catalysis or physical binding. The novel molecules sought to be created by the methods of the invention may be capable of reaction with the recognition sequence in any kind of reaction including, for example, isomerizations, additions, substitutions, syntheses and fragmentations, etc. Other “interactions” of interest may include (de)phosphorylation, (de)glycosylation, (de)hydroxylation, (de)adenylation, (de)acylation, (de)acetylation and stereo-isomerization. Such reactions may be limited to interactions between the novel molecules and the recognition sequence or may include the addition or deletion of atoms or molecules from the novel molecule and/or recognition sequence, respectively, and/or from the host cell or medium, respectively. Interactions may also include catalyses in which the novel molecule acts catalytically on the recognition sequence to effect, inter alia, proteolysis, esterolysis, hydrolysis, stereoisomerization, or to effect any of the reactions referred to above. The term interaction also includes binding interactions, e.g., as between antibodies and antigens or binding induced allosteric effects. The term “host cell” includes a living organism which is unicellular, multicellular, procaryotic or eucaryotic, e.g., yeast, COS cells, CHO cells or hybridoma cells. The term “growth factor” as used herein is a molecule(s) which confers a growth advantage or disadvantage upon a host cell or upon a replicator. Typical growth factors include nutrients, enzymes necessary for metabolism of nutrients, and binding and structural proteins, and proteins involved in replication, metabolism, formation and maintenance of essential structural components, or cellular and subcellular growth. The term “recognition sequence” is used in its most universal chemical sense and means any chemical atom(s), bond(s), molecule(s), submolecular group(s), combination of any of the foregoing, or any physical or electrical state or configuration thereof, e.g., an amino acid sequence. The recognition sequence may be a discrete molecule or may be a submolecular portion of a complex molecule which includes the growth factor and/or the selection moiety. It is essential that the recognition sequence has some functional interaction either directly or indirectly, with the growth factor and/or the selection moiety such that when the desired interaction of the novel molecule and the recognition sequence takes place, the function of the growth factor will be affected and has an impact (positive or negative) on cell or replicator growth. The function and/or the structure of the selection moiety and/or the recognition sequence may be combined and the function and/or structure of the recognition sequence and the growth factor may also be combined. As further described below, fusion or deletion proteins are particularly useful in the selection methods of the invention and represent an embodiment in which all three functions are combined in a single molecule. Modifications to the recognition sequence enable selection of multiple novel molecules. For example, a large protein that is a substrate of interest may be able to tolerate insertion or replacement of a stretch of amino acids without losing its function, (29). It is possible to insert in such a protein a variety of different potential proteolytic recognition sequences in order to obtain multiple proteases of desired specificity. It is also essential that the recognition sequence represent the substrate of interest. For example, the recognition sequence may be an amino acid sequence from a protein for which no known or satisfactory proteolytic enzyme exists. Incorporating that amino acid sequence or certain analogs thereof as recognition sequences in the methods of the invention, will lead to the creation of novel molecules having specificity and/or high turnover for the proteolysis of that amino acid sequence. The term “selection moiety” or “modulation moiety” refers to any molecule which, in physical or chemical association with a growth factor, either directly or indirectly, either increases or decreases the function of that growth factor. The selection moiety may be for example a bulky protein which, because of steric hindrance and conformational changes, inactivates or functionally impairs the action of an enzyme necessary for cell or viral growth. The terms “selection molecule” or “universal selection molecule” refer to a molecule which incorporates a growth factor and a recognition sequence and optionally a modulation moiety. The term “artificial selection molecule” means a contrived selection molecule containing a recognition sequence which is not an inherent part of a natural or synthetic growth factor. The term “replicator” refers to subcellular entities capable of replication, e.g., plasmids, viruses, bacteriophage, self-replicating oligonucleotides such as RNA molecules which have recognition sequences for a replicase(s), mycoplasma, etc. Replicator expression refers to expression directed by a replicator through the use of host and/or replicator components. The terms “selection”, “selection conditions” and “selection pressure” refer to generally known as well as novel procedures for growing a population of host cells in the absence of an essential nutrient, on compounds which cannot be utilized by parental strains, in the presence of toxins, in various peculiar environmental conditions, e.g., temperature, light, pH, or in the presence of mixed cultures, as may cause some but not all members of the population to survive and replicate. A “nucleotide” is one of the five bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine and uracil, plus a sugar, deoxyribose or ribose, plus a phosphate. An “oligonucleotide” is a sequence formed of at least two nucleotides, and a “polynucleotide” is a long oligonucleotide and may be either RNA or DNA with or without modified bases. While the term oligonucleotide is generally used in the art to denote smaller nucleic acid chains, and “polynucleotide” is generally used in the art to denote larger nucleic acid chains including DNA or RNA chromosomes or fragments thereof, the use of one or the other term herein is not a limitation or description of size unless expressly stated to be. The term “nucleic acid” refers to a polynucleotide of any length, including DNA or RNA genomes or fragments thereof, with or without modified bases as described above. The term “isolation/purification” refers to techniques for isolating, purifying or extracting, as these terms are conventionally used, to describe methods for recovering a gene or a molecule from a cell and/or replicator and/or a medium. The term “mutagenesis” refers to techniques for the creation of heterogeneous population of genes, e.g., by irradiation, chemical treatment, low fidelity replication, etc. IN THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic representations of a host-selection method embodiment of the invention for the creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule. FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are schematic representations of a viral replicator embodiment of the invention for the creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule. FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic representations of a further embodiment of the invention for the creation or directed evolution of a novel hydroxylase based upon a binding interaction. FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic representations of a cell-free embodiment of the invention. With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, reference numeral 10 refers to a host cell (E. coli) having chromosome 12. The cell is engineered, as described elsewhere, to be a deletion mutant, 14, lacking the ability to express an essential growth factor. E. coil deletion mutant 14 is further engineered as shown at reference numeral 16 to encode a selection molecule which incorporates the essential growth factor for the host cell in a down-modulated form and a recognition sequence. Reference numeral 18 refers to a plasmid which is engineered as shown at reference numeral 20 to encode T7 bacteriophage origin of replication and low fidelity T7 replication machinery. Plasmid 20 is further engineered to encode a heterogeneous population of genes which express putative novel molecules. The so engineered plasmid is shown at reference numeral 22. Plasmid 22 is introduced into transformed deletion mutant host 16 and cultivated in a suitable environment in a nutrient-rich, non-limiting medium as shown at reference numeral 24. Plasmids which express a novel molecule having the desired functional interaction with a selection molecule expressed by deletion mutant host 16 are shown at reference numeral 26. Incubation in the nutrient-rich, non-limiting medium in incubator 24 results in the growth of a population of host cells 16 containing plasmids 22 and plasmid 26. The population of transformed host cells are shown at reference numeral 30. The population of incubated host cells is then selected in a chemostat in nutrient-limiting medium. This confers a growth advantage upon those transformed host cells 16 harboring plasmids 26 which encode novel molecules having the desired function of interacting with the selection molecule and up-modulating the growth factor. The selected population of host cells is shown at reference numeral 32. As can be seen, those cells which harbor a plasmid which encodes a novel molecule having the desired function have had a preferential growth advantage. The plasmids 26 are then isolated/purified from the selected population of cells 32. The novel molecule genes are cloned, sequenced and functionally characterized. Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, reference numeral 50 refers to a plasmid carrying functional T7 bacteriophage genes. Plasmids 50 are introduced into E. coli host cell 52 having chromosome 54. The transformed host is shown at reference numeral 56. Wild type T7 bacteriophage, is shown at reference numeral 58. A population, 60, of deletion mutant bacteriophage which do not encode a growth factor essential for replicator growth or replication, are engineered to encode putative novel molecules. The heterogeneous population of T7 deletion mutants is introduced into transformed host cell 56 which complements the function of the T7 deletion mutants and a population of those deletion mutants are incubated. The population of deletion mutants is shown at reference numeral 62. The one T7 mutant within the population which carries the gene which expresses a novel molecule which is capable of the desired interaction is shown at reference numeral 64. Reference numeral 66 refers to a plasmid carrying the genes which express a selection molecule containing the growth factor deleted from phage 60 and 64, a recognition sequence and a modulation moiety. Plasmid 66 is introduced into E. coli host cell 68 containing chromosome 70 thereby forming a second population of transformed E. coli hosts as shown at reference numeral 72. The T7 deletion mutant population grown up in the first population of transformed host cells which complement their deletions, are then allowed to infect cells in the second population which expresses the selection molecules. The infection step is shown at reference numeral 74 and the incubation of the infected second population of host cells is shown at reference numeral 76. Viral replication occurs only in those host cells in which the novel molecule of desired function is expressed. The process can be carried out batchwise or additional amounts of mutant T7 bacteriophage can be added to the second population of transformed host cells in a continuous fashion, as shown, until cell lysis is monitored. The lysis of a cell in the incubated second population of transformed host cells is shown at reference numeral 78. As can be seen the population of T7 deletion mutants 64 which encodes the novel molecule of desired function has been substantially amplified as shown at reference numeral 80. The viral population expressing the desired novel molecule expands and infects other cells upon cell lysis. No new T7 is added to the culture. The expansion and infection of other cells is shown at reference numeral 82. The multiple infections give rise to more virions which carry the desired novel molecule as well as those that do not carry the novel molecule. This is shown at reference numeral 84. The selected and amplified viral population encoding the novel molecule of desired function shown at reference numeral 86 is isolated/purified from the cultivated host cells and then grown up on cells at low dilution which express the selection molecule. This separates out single viral clones carrying the genes which encode the novel molecule with desired function. This isolation/purification is shown at reference numeral 88. With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the method depicted there is creation or directed evolution of a site-specific hydroxylase for the substrate represented by the formula R, i.e., a hydroxylase which can convert R to R—OH. Reference numeral 110 refers to a host cell (E. coli) having cell wall 112, periplasmic space 114, cytoplasm 116 and bacterial chromosome 118. Cell 110 contains substrate R in its periplasmic space as well as an antibody specific to the compound R—OH identified by reference numeral 120 to which is bound a modulated growth factor 122. Also in periplasmic space 114 is a protease 124 which is specific for the bound conformation of antibody 122. The population of host cells 110 is transformed with plasmids which encode a heterogeneous population of hydroxylases which is replicated with low fidelity replication machinery. The step of infection is shown generally at reference numeral 126. The infected host cells, shown at reference numeral 128 contain multiple plasmids 130 in cytoplasm 116. These plasmids express a heterogeneous population of hydroxylases into periplasmic space 114. Those hydroxylases having the desired site-specific hydroxylase activity with respect to substrate R are shown at reference numeral 132 and non-desired hydroxylases are shown at reference numeral 134. The population of transformed host cells are then incubated under selection conditions to select for and/or direct the evolution of the desired hydroxylase. This step is shown generally at reference numeral 136. The selected population of transformed host cells contains the hydroxylated substrate R, i.e., the compound R—OH as shown at reference numeral 138. In turn, antibody 120 binds the compound R—OH as shown at reference numeral 140. Protease 124, which is specific for the bound conformation of antibody 140, cleaves the modulated growth factor 122 from antibody 140 leaving the cleaved antibody 142 and the up-modulated growth factor 144 which confers a growth advantage on transformed host cell 128. The selected population of transformed host cells 128 is then cultivated and the DNA isolated/purified. The DNA for the desired hydroxylase is cloned and the desired hydroxylase expressed and characterized. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The preferred embodiments of the invention are further described below with respect to the several particular features of the invention. I. The Selection Molecule and its Component Parts Selection molecules are used to direct selection pressure so as to obtain a desired gene. Selection molecules include growth factors and recognition sequences, and optionally modulation moieties. Some are capable of being used to select multiple different novel genes by utilizing the recognition sequence in a cassette-like fashion. Once a rational configuration of the desired components is established, steps are taken to prevent the mutation of the selection molecule. This provides a constant target for the population of novel molecules and serves to direct the selection or evolutionary process. A. The Growth Factor Growth factors are any factors capable of conferring a growth advantage or disadvantage upon a cell or replicator. Growth factors include nutrients such as carbon sources, nitrogen sources, energy sources, phosphate sources, inorganic ions, nucleic acids, amino acids, etc.; toxins such as antibiotics, inhibitors of enzymes critical for replication, detergents, etc.; enzymes which are essential for cell or replicator growth or which confer an advantage or disadvantage upon cellular growth, such as polymerases, ligases, topoisomerases, enzymes catalyzing reactions in the biosynthesis of proteins, etc.; molecules whose function is not catalytic but rather is structural or based on the binding capabilities of the molecule, such as actin, lipids, nucleosomes, receptors, hormones, cyclic AMP, etc.; and coenzymes or cofactors such as water, inorganic ions, NADPH, coenzyme A, etc. B. The Recognition Sequence The recognition sequence is a molecule or a portion of a molecule which interacts with the novel molecule. As such, recognition sequences may be a variety of different structures such as a sequence of amino acids or nucleic acids. This sequence may represent a unique sequence or it may represent a class of related sequences. The recognition sequence may also be a particular conformation or class of conformations of various molecules, e.g., a particular three dimensional structure of a protein, inorganic molecule, lipid, oligosaccharide, etc. In addition the recognition sequence may be an analog of any of the foregoing. In addition, depending upon the selection system, the potential recognition sequences may be limited to a very specific region, conformation, sequence, etc., or may be a broad set of potential recognition sequences. For example, by using specific, multiple, redundant sequences in common to a plurality of selection molecules, with which the desired novel molecule may interact so as to modulate growth, the true recognition sequence is limited to that specific sequence common to all of the selection molecules. On the other hand, by using only one selection molecule or by using multiple selection molecules with large regions common to all, the potential recognition sequence may be a variety of regions, conformations, sequences, etc., within the one selection molecule or within the large regions common to multiple selection molecules. Recognition sequences thus may be highly specific to a region, conformation, sequence, etc., or be specific to a broader, yet defined set of regions, conformations, sequences, etc. C. The Modulation Moiety Central to the invention is the concept of modulation of the activity of the growth factor. There are many ways to modulate biological activity and nature has provided a number of precedents. Modulation of activity may be carried out through mechanisms as complicated and intricate as allosteric induced quaternary change to simple presence/absence, e.g., expression/degradation, systems. Indeed, the repression/activation of expression of many biological molecules is itself mediated by molecules whose activities are capable of being modulated through a variety of mechanisms. A table of chemical modifications to bacterial proteins appears in (2), p. 73. As is noted in the table, some modifications are involved in proper assembly and other modifications are not, but in either case such modifications are capable of causing modulation of function. In some instances modulation of functional usefulness may be mediated simply through the proper/improper localization of the molecule. Molecules may function to provide a growth advantage or disadvantage only if they are targeted to a particular location. For example, starch is a macromolecule which is typically not taken up by bacteria, so it is necessary to secrete enzymes responsible for its degradation, e.g., amylases, so that it may be converted into useable energy forms. Thus, production and retention of amylases within the bacteria down-modulates its functional usefulness when the bacteria is grown in a starch limiting media. It is only when the amylases are excreted that they are capable of conferring a growth advantage to the bacteria. The inherent enzymatic capabilities of the amylase may be the same inside or outside of the bacteria, but its functional usefulness is drastically down-modulated when it is targeted intra-cellularly relative to being targeted extra-cellularly. Localization targeting of proteins carried out through cleavage of signal peptides is one way in which modulation of functional usefulness through molecular targeting is used within the invention. In this case, selection for a specific endoprotease catalytic activity is selected. The functional usefulness of enzymes may also be modulated by altering their capability of catalyzing a reaction. Such a modulation may be carried out by differential localization (i.e., permissive local environment vs. non-permissive), but this need not be the mechanism. Illustrative examples of modulated molecules are zymogens, formation/disassociation of multi-subunit functional complexes, RNA virus poly-protein chains, allosteric interactions, general steric hindrance (covalent and non-covalent) and a variety of chemical modifications such as phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, adenylation, and uridenylation ((2), p. 73, 315). Zymogens are examples of naturally occurring protein fusions which cause modulation of enzymatic activity. Zymogens are one class of proteins which are converted into their active state through limited proteolysis ((3) p. 54). Nature has developed a mechanism of down-modulating the activity of certain enzymes, such as trypsin, by expressing these enzymes with additional “leader” peptide sequences at their amino termini. With the extra peptide sequence the enzyme is in the inactive zymogen state. Upon cleavage of this sequence the zymogen is converted to its enzymatically active state. The overall reaction rates of the zymogen are “about 105-106 times lower than those of the corresponding enzyme” ((3) p. 54). It is therefore possible to down-modulate the function of certain enzymes simply by the addition of a peptide sequence to one of its termini. For example, this property may be used within the invention to select for endoproteases with desired characteristics. The formation or disassociation of multi-subunit enzymes is another way through which modulation may occur. Different mechanisms may be responsible for the modulation of activity upon formation or disassociation of multi-subunit enzymes. Two mechanisms are illustrative. Tryptophan synthetase is composed of two different subunits, alpha and beta, in an alpha-beta-alpha-beta tetramer. The tetramer can disassociate into two alpha subunits and a beta-beta subunit each of which exhibit catalytic activity, however, the independent subunits are substantially less efficient than the tetrameric holoenzyme. The efficiency increase of the holoenzyme is thought to be due in part to the formation of a tunnel between the alpha and beta active sites (4). Through the determination of the three dimensional crystal structure of this enzyme it appears that the tunnel prevents the loss of the intermediate product of the alpha catalyzed reaction to the solvent by channelling it directly to the beta subunit active site thus increasing efficiency. Modulation of activity upon formation of the holoenzyme for aspartate transcarbamoylase occurs through a different mechanism. In the aspartate transcarbamoylase holoenzyme the active sites are formed at the interface of catalytic subunits. In both aspartate transcarbamoylase and tryptophan synthetase the proper specific interaction of different subunits is critical for efficient activity of the holoenzyme. Therefore, sterically hindering the proper specific subunit interactions will down-modulate the catalytic activity. Such complexes could be used within the invention for the selection of a variety of molecules. Other examples of mechanisms through which modulation of function may occur are RNA virus poly-proteins, allosteric effects, and general covalent and non-covalent steric hindrance. The HIV virus is a well studied example of an RNA virus which expresses non-functional poly-protein constructs. In the HIV virus “the gag, pol, and env poly-proteins are processed to yield, respectively, the viral structural proteins p17, p24, and p15—reverse transcriptase and integrase—and the two envelope proteins gp41 and gp120” (5). The proper cleavage of the poly-proteins is crucial for replication of the virus, and virions carrying inactive mutant HIV protease are non-infectious (5). This is another example of the fusion of proteins down-modulating their activity. Thus, it is possible to construct recombinant viruses which require sequence dependent endoproteases for proper replication. Certain enzyme inhibitors afford good examples of functional down-modulation through covalent steric hindrance or modification. Suicide substrates which irreversibly bind to the active site of an enzyme at a catalytically important amino acid in the active site are examples of covalent modifications which sterically block the enzymatic active site. An example of a suicide substrate is TPCK for chymotrypsin (6). This type of modulation may be used in embodiments of the invention to select for compounds capable of covalently binding to catalytically active sites or cleaving moieties from a non-active catalytic site thereby converting it into a catalytically active one. There are also examples of non-covalent steric hindrance including many repressor molecules. Lambda repressor is of interest since it simultaneously down-modulates the expression of other phage genes such as cro while up-modulating its own expression. It accomplishes this by non-covalently binding to DNA sequences and sterically hindering the interaction of these sequences with RNA polymerase thereby preventing RNA polymerase from transcribing towards the cro genes while simultaneously stimulating the RNA polymerase to transcribe in the opposite direction. Thus the repressor molecules are capable of sterically hindering and thus down-modulating the function of the DNA sequences by preventing particular DNA-RNA polymerase interactions. The selection of non-covalent binding compounds offers possibilities and advantages because binding molecules can be created based on their ability to modify the activities of various substrates of interest. Allosteric effects are another way through which modulation is carried out in some biological systems. Aspartate transcarbamoylase is a well characterized allosteric enzyme. Interacting with the catalytic subunits are regulatory domains. Upon binding to CTP or UTP the regulatory subunits are capable of inducing a quaternary structural change in the holoenzyme causing down-modulation of catalytic activity. In contrast, binding of ATP to the regulatory subunits is capable of causing up-modulation of catalytic activity (7). Using methods of the invention, molecules are selected which are capable of binding and causing modulatory quaternary or tertiary changes. In addition, a variety of chemical modifications, e.g., phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, adenylation, and uridenylation may be carried out so as to modulate function. It is known that modifications such as these play important roles in the regulation of many important cellular components. Reference ((2) p. 73) lists different bacterial enzymes which undergo such modifications. In addition, many proteins which are implicated in human disease also undergo such chemical modifications. For example, many oncogenes have been found to be modified by phosphorylation or to modify other proteins through phosphorylation or dephosphorylation. The ability to select for molecules based on their capability of altering the activity of a growth factor, e.g., by phosphorylation, is of importance. D. Preferred Selection Molecules (1) Fusion or Deletion Molecules Fusion proteins which incorporate the growth factor, the selection moiety and the recognition sequence are preferred selection molecules. Fusions may be between virtually any molecules, and may include the fusion of two molecules or multiple molecules. Fusions may include, protein-protein fusions and protein-biomolecule fusions. The molecule may be a biological or chemical molecule or an ion. Sugars, nucleotides, nucleosides, fatty acids, small organic molecules and metal ions, e.g., Mg, and various derivatives and precursors of the foregoing may be considered. Other fusions may include protein-nucleic acid, protein-ribonucleic acid, protein-lipid, protein-oligosaccharide, nucleic acid-small molecule, small molecule-protein-lipid, nucleic acid-small molecule-lipid, among others. If a protease is the molecule to be obtained a fusion construct of a metabolically important enzyme, i.e., the growth factor, with the desired peptide recognition sequence and with a bulky protein, i.e., the modulation moiety, may be made. Because of the steric hindrance and/or conformational changes caused by the peptide recognition sequence in conjunction with the bulky protein, the metabolically important enzyme is inactivated or functionally impaired. However, in the presence of the protease to be obtained the recognition sequence is cleaved and the enzyme's function is up-modulated. The subunit embodiment and the alpha-beta type complementation embodiment are further variations of fusion constructs. The subunit embodiment exploits the complex multi-subunit nature of certain molecules. In some instances molecules are non-functional as monomers, but gain function in multi-subunit complexes comprising homogeneous or heterogeneous groups of molecules. One may fuse another molecule to any number of different subunits. Due to the often delicate and complex interactions of the subunits within the active multi-subunit form, modulation in function induced by constructing the fusion is likely to be quite strong. The alpha-beta type complementation embodiment is conceptually similar. It is known that certain functional molecules may be fragmented and that the fragments alone do not function. The fragments may, however, re-associate and regain function. If the fragments are incorporated into fusions, these associations are prevented and accordingly these fusions are useful in the methods of the invention. A ‘reverse’ subunit embodiment may also be used to create the fusion construct. In this case, the multi-subunit complexes lack function and the subunits themselves are functional. For example, by using a protein whose function is impaired by the addition of an extra sequence at one of its termini, it is possible to create a multi-subunit string of such proteins which are non-functional. By properly designing a linker sequence between the proteins, proteases of desired specificity can be obtained. Under stringent selection conditions very slight advantages in the efficient use of resources can cause differential selection. If one member of the host cell population produces superfluous proteins, thus drawing on the amino acid pool unnecessarily, its growth will be disadvantaged. The reverse subunit methods may be efficient because wasted protein synthesis in the host cells producing the novel protease is eliminated since each subunit portion of the reverse subunit fusion molecule is utilized. These fusion proteins may take on many different configurations and may be active or inactive, up-modulated or down-modulated. They may have protein groups or other groups such as phosphates or methyl groups added or deleted internally or at both termini. For example, protein sequences may be added to one or both or the termini or internally to a protein growth factor to modulate its function up or down and/or confer upon the selection molecule a particular desired recognition sequence. A multiplicity of different groups may be added. For example a multi-protein fusion which consists of a large sterically hindering modulatory group linked to a recognition sequence linked to a growth factor linked to a recognition sequence linked to a large sterically hindering modulatory group may be used. Alternatively, deletions may be utilized to construct modulated growth factors. For example, a protein growth factor which has a region whose presence is important to the proper function of the growth factor, may be used in a truncated or deleted form lacking this region, as a modulated growth factor. In another example a protein which is phosphorylated in its active form may be utilized in its unphosphorylated state as a modulated growth factor. In both cases normal molecules may be selected which introduce moiety(s) to the modulated growth factor. (2) Allosteric Platforms Selection molecules used to obtain novel molecules based on their binding capabilities may be designed in a multitude of ways. A simple binding based selection molecule may have its function modulated based on the binding of the novel molecule to a recognition sequence on the selection molecule. For example, a novel molecule may bind and or sterically inhibit the active site of an enzyme based selection molecule. A selection molecule which when bound undergoes a conformational change may be referred to as an allosteric platform. The function of the growth factor may be modulated in an allosteric fashion. Thus, if the recognition sequence becomes bound either covalently or non-covalently, the function of the growth moiety is altered. The binding domain on the recognition sequence can be varied to accommodate the selection of a wide array of different ligands. The allosteric platform can be one molecule or many molecules, and can be used with any of the methods of the invention. By way of example, one portion of the allosteric platform may serve as a receptor for binding a novel molecule and another portion may serve to link the allosteric platform to a growth factor. Upon binding of a novel molecule to the first portion, an allosteric change in the growth factor will result in up-modulations or down-modulations in function. The change in function can then be used to obtain the novel molecule by methods described elsewhere. The novel molecule to be obtained need not actually bind the selection molecule nor is it necessary that the function of the novel molecule to be selected be binding. By way of example, a binding based selection molecule may be used to select for a novel molecule with virtually any catalytic activity. By having the binding based selection molecule recognize the product of the reaction catalyzed by the desired novel molecule, that novel molecule may be selected without itself interacting with the selection molecule. II. Selection Methods A. In General The selection techniques used in the isolation, creation and directed evolution methods of the invention may be any of those heretofore employed in the art or may involve novel environments, conditions, procedures and selection pressures. Efforts should be made to limit the mutations of the genes which express the growth factor, the recognition sequence, the modulation moiety or the selection molecule so that a gene which encodes a novel molecule specific to the original and desired recognition sequence is obtained. This is true in isolation, creation and directed evolution methods of the invention. In directed evolution it is desirable to mutate the genes having the evolutionary potential to encode novel molecules by exposure to external influences such as radiation or mutagenizing chemicals, or by the imposition of rationally designed selection conditions which impose an evolutionary direction on the putative novel molecule population. These methods are more fully described elsewhere. Negative or positive selection methods may be employed. In positive selection, those members of the host or replicator population with the desired function have a selectable growth advantage. In negative selection, the reverse is true. Those members of the host or replicator population with the desired function have a selectable growth disadvantage. In negative selection, the gene of interest expresses a molecule which interacts with the selection molecule or recognition sequence to inhibit growth. Compounds, e.g., certain antibiotics can be administered to the population that kill or otherwise compromise members of the population if they are capable of growing. These techniques can be repeated in known cyclical fashion to enrich for the desired, non-growing members of the population. It is important that selection conditions be directed at the specific selection characteristic of interest and it is important that the selection procedure be optimized. For example, it may be beneficial to apply selection pressure in a cyclical fashion, cycling between high and low selection pressure or to use different conditions to select for the same characteristic. Different selection molecules and selection methods are used in different circumstances. For example, in gene isolation methods where it is thought that the gene which encodes the novel molecule having the desired properties exists within an existing gene pool, one time selection or repeated one time selection (batch selection) is appropriate to achieve isolation. In such circumstances it is desirable to use a growth factor that is absolutely essential for growth and which substantially or completely loses its function (maximal modulation of function) when incorporated in the selection construct. Since the desired novel molecule or a novel molecule very closely related to it, is thought to exist in the existing heterogeneous population and since only one or a very small number of related clones is selected, very stringent selection pressure is applied to the system. Many generation selection techniques are used where the desired novel molecule is not thought to exist in the population and needs to be evolved. In certain instances, it is desirable to use a growth factor which is absolutely essential for growth, but whose function is only partly modulated, or a growth factor that is not absolutely essential, but which confers a growth advantage and can be fully modulated. This allows growth while the gene which expresses the novel molecule is evolved and then as molecules are produced with properties closely related to those of the desired novel molecule, a selective growth advantage is conferred. These differences in the stringency of selection pressure through alternate selection molecule design for different novel molecule starting populations, are also created by altering environmental conditions. For example, using the same selection molecule, different levels of selection pressure are created simply by altering media, temperature, pH, etc. In some such examples, the effect of environmental conditions complements the selection molecule function and by changing these environmental conditions, differential selection pressures are established. An alternative method, through which the selection molecules are used as the ‘rheostat’ of selection, includes altering the expression levels of the selection molecules. Simply increasing the expression levels of the selection molecules through an inducible promoter, may increase background in certain cases and thus decrease the selection pressure. Two important techniques of the invention common to isolation, creation and directed evolution embodiments, are control of host cell mutations, and use of redundant selection molecules. (1) Limitation of Undesired Mutations It is important to control host cell mutations which affect the fidelity of expression of the growth factor and/or recognition sequence and/or modulation moiety and/or a selection molecule in order to maintain a constant target for interaction with a novel molecule. It is also important to limit background mutations, e.g., mutations in DNA within the entire selection system which may complicate selection for the desired novel molecule. Non-useful mutations of the genes which express the selection molecule or components thereof include those that confer the function of the growth factor through means other than the desired interaction of the novel molecules, e.g., proteolytic cleavage by a novel protease. Such mutations also include, among others, mutations of the growth factor portion of the fusion which negate the effects of the bulky group, mutations of the bulky group such that it becomes ineffective to modulate the function of the growth factor, transposition or recombination of the gene coding sequence for the growth factor which allows for the expression of an undesirably modulated growth factor, mutations (point mutations and insertions) that create promoters in front of the growth factor, development of the capability of post-translational or post-transcriptional modifications of the selection molecule so as to separate the component parts in a non-usable way thereby liberating the growth factor, and mutations that create alternate pathways or mutant molecules which carry out the same function as the growth factor. Important considerations are the number and rate of specific mutations and the number and rate of gross mutations leading to specific insertions or deletions which give rise to non-useful species compared with the number of and rate specific and gross mutations necessary to generate a desired novel molecule. In directed evolution it is important that the number of specific mutations necessary to generate a gene which expresses a useful novel molecule be as low as possible and that the mutation rate be reasonably high relative to the number of mutations and the rate of mutation which give rise to non-useful mutants. If the probability of generating a non-useful gene mutation is 100 times that of generating a useful gene mutation, it is still possible, by running the experiment 100 times, to obtain a gene which expresses a useful novel molecule. This, however, is far from ideal. For some genes, deletion rates may be as high as 10−4 This is dependent, among other considerations, on the particular gene sequence and surrounding sequences and the resulting secondary structure. The potential high probability of deletion mutations requires careful design to prevent occurrences giving rise to non-useful mutants. These occurrences may be minimized by proper selection of the gene sequence and secondary structure (both within the construct and locally) or by Rec A− and similar mutations which can reduce homologous recombination frequencies 1000 fold. In addition high fidelity anti-mutator replication machinery may be used to reduce the frequency of mutation. It is known that certain polymerases may be mutated so they replicate with higher fidelity than the wild type polymerase. Such polymerases could be used so as to reduce the error rate during replication. Mutations may also be controlled by keeping the number of replications low or alternatively, if the cell cycle is arrested, to prevent further replication. By segregating the genes which encode the selection molecule in certain embodiments it becomes simple to evolutionarily reset the selection molecules. For example, if the selection molecules are encoded in a host cell and the novel molecules are encoded by a replicator, it is possible to allow the selection procedure to evolve the genes encoded in the replicators. This evolved population may then be used in a selection procedure with a fresh population of host cells from an original starting culture. The components of the selection system encoded by the host cell for which mutations are undesirable are evolutionarily reset while the evolutionary progress of the novel molecule population is maintained and allowed to continue in a static selection environment. (2) Use of Multiple Redundant Selection Molecules Another method to enhance the selection of genes which express novel molecules over non-desirable mutants is through simultaneous use of multiple redundant selection molecules. In such systems a single non-desired mutant does not cause non-desirable selections because of the presence of the other selection molecules. Expression of the proper novel molecule affects all of the selection molecules and allows a useful selection to take place. For example, a series of different protein-protein-protein fusions is produced, each with the same proteolytic cleavage site and different but essential growth factors. A mutation liberating one growth factor from its fusion and altering its function, will not cause a non-desirable selection or will result in marginal selection since the other selection molecules are not affected. If a novel molecule with the appropriate proteolytic properties is produced, each of the proteolytic cleavage sites is cut and each of the growth factors is liberated from its respective fusion and selection occurs. The level of redundancy is also used to modulate selection pressure. Through different levels of redundancy, it is possible to change the total number of cleavages necessary for the production of a given species. For example, if seven different growth factors are complexed in seven different redundant selection molecules, more cleavages are necessary than if just three of those seven components were used. Even more important is the type of component. For example, some components in the replication process of bacteriophage are catalytic and need relatively few total copies to accomplish their task. Other components are non-catalytic and require many more cleavages. Examples of such components are head and tail proteins, structural proteins involved in the function of virions. If the head and tail proteins are complexed in a selection molecule, huge numbers of cleavages would be necessary since each protein of the assembled viral coat would have to be cleaved. This type of selection construct would place a higher burden on the novel molecules because higher turnover would be necessary to produce significant quantities of viral progeny. Two important aspects of the invention common to the creation and in particular to the directed evolution embodiments are segregation of the genes which encode the selection molecules and which encode the putative novel molecules and effecting controlled mutation of the latter, and using several evolutionary starting points for the genes which express putative novel molecules. (3) Segregation of the Genes which Encode the Selection Molecule and which Encode the Putative Novel Molecules and Effecting Controlled Mutation of the Genes which Encode Putative Novel Molecules It is desirable to bias the selection methods by segregating, e.g., in time or space or by different recognition sequences, the genes which encode putative novel molecules and the selection molecule, respectively, in such a way as to allow each to be replicated by different replication systems which have different mutation rates. This allows the gene pool for potential novel molecules to develop or evolve at an increased rate. The stability of the selection molecule is maintained while allowing the genes which may encode novel molecules to evolve. The genes which encode putative novel molecules may initially consist of one gene to be mutated and evolved into a gene which expresses a novel molecule with the desired function, or, a population of genes can be mutated and evolved so as to obtain a gene which expresses a molecule with the desired function. The starting molecular population may or may not be structurally or otherwise related to the novel molecule ultimately sought. The methods of the invention may be carried out by using low fidelity replication machinery and by using different types of coding materials and by employing various process conditions which control the mutation rates. Sequence repair mechanisms which differentially affect the genes which express putative novel molecules and selection molecules or their components can also be used. Applying different environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, pH, ion and substrate concentration effects, etc., can also be used to achieve these objectives. The controlled mutation rate may also be created by using certain coding materials, e.g., known ‘hot spots’ within chromosomes where mutation rates are higher than in other locations. Physically separate coding sequences with distinct mutation rates and/or distinct replication machinery likewise, are used. These include, among others, host chromosomal DNA, plasmid DNA (circular or self replicating short sequence), viruses (both DNA and RNA), short self replicating RNA sequences or plasmids and mitochondrial DNA. These and other coding sequences can be used in any combination to code for the selection molecules and the putative novel molecules. These different coding vehicles can be replicated at different mutation rates by using different replication machinery with different specific origins of replication. Another way in which differential mutation rates may be created is through replication timing and turnover. If, for instance, replication occurs at a faster rate for the sequence encoding the novel molecule than for the selection molecule, both using replication machinery of the same fidelity, the novel molecule population will develop higher numbers of mutations. In addition, timing of the synthesis of different components to different replication machineries may be used to create different mutation rates. For example, it is known that the E. coli chromosome is replicated in a controlled fashion and certain proteins such as DnaA are needed to initiate replication. Therefore, it may be possible to have a system in which two DNA polymerases, with different mutation rates, are controlled by inducible or cyclically activated promoters. The synthesis of the polymerases and the DnaA type proteins can be timed so that a high fidelity polymerase replicates the selection molecule on the host chromosome, for example, and a low fidelity polymerase replicates the novel molecule on a viral chromosome. In certain embodiments such a system may have identical origins of replication. (4) Number of Evolutionary Starting Points and Mutation of Gene Populations Several different methods may be used to develop a population of genes which express novel molecules. No evolutionary starting points, one evolutionary starting point or multiple evolutionary starting points may be used. Selection systems designed with no evolutionary starting points may be used to select for the desired gene of interest based simply on the selection molecules introduced into the host. Such methods select for naturally occurring genes within the components of the selection system, e.g., genes from the host cell or replicator. In this method, one draws upon the evolutionary potential inherent within the host or replicator rather than introducing specific molecule(s) to be used as evolutionary starting points. Another method using no evolutionary starting point comprises introducing a population of molecules which are wholly or partially stochastically generated and are thus previously unknown. In this case the evolutionary potential of these stochastically generated molecules is exploited in the production of genes which express a novel molecule. Two examples of methods which employ one evolutionary starting point are where a foreign gene is chosen and introduced into the host or replicator based on the evolutionary potential of that gene, and where a gene is chosen together with members of the gene's sub-species, e.g., closely related variants thereof. Lastly, multiple evolutionary starting points may be utilized. In this case multiple genes are chosen based on their evolutionary potential. The genes may be mutagenized so as to diversify its sub-species. This allows for the creation of a novel gene population which is heterogeneous but is, at the same time, a highly focused rationally designed population based on desired evolutionary potentials. By way of example, in the development of a catalyst with a particular reaction type and specificity, one chooses evolutionary starting points which are most likely to have the highest evolutionary potential of giving rise to the desired catalyst. One chooses genes which express molecules which already possess characteristics similar to those of the desired catalyst, e.g., molecule(s) with similar specificity for recognition sequences to that of the desired catalyst. Alternatively, one chooses a molecule(s) of the same or similar reaction type (e.g., proteolysis, hydroxylation, etc.) as that of the desired catalyst. By making rational choices of the types of evolutionary starting points a greater evolutionary potential for the gene population and therefore shorter evolutionary distance to reach the desired gene is achieved, i.e., less mutations are required to arrive at the desired gene. Suitable evolutionary starting points are enzymes, antibodies, catalytic antibodies, T-cell receptors and MHC molecules. Different methods of mutation exist and may be used alone or in conjunction with one another. One method is the use of mutagenizing compounds or conditions such as chemical mutagens or UV irradiation. Alternatively, site directed mutagenesis techniques may be used. Methods of site directed mutagenesis are described in (1). Other methods to increase the number of mutations within the population include the use of low fidelity replication machinery and high rates of replication. In another technique, short stochastic sequences of DNA can be introduced around the coding region of the active site of an enzyme and the population subjected to chemical and/or UV irradiation. This population may then be replicated by low fidelity replication machinery at a high frequency to rapidly create a highly heterogeneous population. In another example, the new molecules are coded on a viral genome and a large population of such viruses is subjected to a mutagen(s) or to mutagenizing conditions, including, but not limited to, in vitro chemical mutagenesis, site directed mutagenesis, recombination, transposition, UV or light induced mutation, PCR mediated mutation, stochastically generated mutation (as described in U.K. Specification No. GB 2183661A) low-fidelity replication and high replication frequency. The viral population then codes for a multiplicity of different new molecules. In another example, a non-lytic phage, e.g., M13, encoding the new molecule is allowed to replicate with a low fidelity polymerase, while DnaA is not produced. Expression of the low fidelity polymerase is turned off and expression of a high fidelity polymerase and DnaA is turned on and the E. coli chromosome encoding the fusion is replicated as well. This process is repeated in a cyclical fashion so as to continually promote a higher mutation rate in the novel molecule population. (5) Other Methods for Control of Selection Pressure to Promote Directed Evolution It is also beneficial to cycle the genes encoding the novel molecule population between high and low selection conditions or even between selection conditions and permissive conditions to promote evolution of the genes. For example, modified viruses are incubated cyclically between two strains of E. coli, a high selection pressure strain, and a low selection pressure strain, so that if marginal growth occurs in the high selection pressure strain through the production of a low specificity or low turnover novel molecule, the population is expanded in the low selection pressure strain, mutagenized and then again subjected to high selection pressure. This cycle is repeated to help promote the evolution of the novel molecule population towards the desired specificity. Depending on the stability of the high selection pressure strain and the mutation rate of the selection molecules, a continuous or semi-continuous system is developed. In a continuous system, modified viruses are continuously produced in the low selection pressure strain. Free virions are collected, mutagenized and a portion reintroduced into the low selection pressure incubation chamber so as to increase the heterogeneity of the novel molecule population beyond the level of what might arise through low fidelity replication alone. The remainder is incubated with the high selection pressure strain. The low selection pressure strain incubation chamber is reinoculated with fresh bacteria periodically or the conditions are controlled to be such that the replication rate of that strain relative to that of the virus is sufficient to maintain the bacterial population. In certain embodiments in which growth factors essential for the replication of the virus are down-modulated, the high selection pressure bacteria in a continuous system will not need to be replenished until a novel molecule with some degree of the desired specificity is produced. This is because the infection of a modified virus with a gene which encodes a novel molecule not having the ability to cleave the selection molecule is abortive. It is only when the selection constructs are cleaved and function is regained in the virus replication machinery that infection progresses through the lytic cycle. Once a novel molecule with some capabilities of the desired molecule is produced, viral growth is promoted. Selection is continued toward the desired specificity, reaction type and turnover rate by continuously adding fresh high selection pressure bacteria to the incubation chamber. The high selection pressure bacteria added is grown directly from aliquots of the original high selection pressure bacteria so that the bacterial population is evolutionarily reset. Alternatively, selection methods may use non-lytic phage. For directed evolution, the novel molecule population is based on the sequence for a molecule, e.g., protease that has characteristics most similar to those of the desired novel molecule, e.g., activity, specificity, turnover, etc. Since in certain embodiments the gene population encoding the novel molecule may be derived from a single source, mutagenesis and low fidelity replication is important in developing a suitably heterogeneous population. In addition, selection pressure may be adjustable and/or cyclical to aid in the evolution of genes which encode the desired novel molecule. Other important techniques for promoting directed evolution are increasing the heterogeneity of the novel molecule population by increasing the total number of replications of genes encoding the population and use of mutator low-fidelity polymerases. By way of example, the evolutionary starting point for the novel molecule may be a particular protease which recognizes a specific sequence which is not deleterious to the system. However, in certain embodiments it is advantageous to have multiple novel molecule starting points. Thus, several different proteases, of the same or different families, may be initially encoded in the modified viruses. If multiple novel molecule starting points are used, then starting points which are close to the desired catalytic activity or specificity, or both, may be incorporated. B. Host Selection Methods (1) Positive Selection Positive cellular selection may occur in a variety of ways. In one example a cellular growth factor which confers a growth advantage to the cell is functionally down-modulated. The down-modulated cellular growth factor is complexed in a selection molecule so that upon production of the desired novel molecule the growth factor is functionally up-modulated. Thus selection of the desired novel molecule occurs through positive cellular selection. Alternatively, a toxin is incorporated into a selection molecule so that its function is maintained or up-modulated. The functionally maintained or up-modulated toxin is complexed in a selection molecule so that upon production of the desired novel molecule the growth factor is functionally down-modulated. Selection of the desired novel molecule again occurs through positive cellular selection. Such positive cellular growth selection techniques may be carried out in a variety of different apparatuses including chemostats, turbidostats, in simple incubation chambers with appropriate media and under correct conditions, etc. (2) Negative Selection Negative cellular selection may occur in a variety of ways. A cellular growth factor which confers a growth advantage on the cell has its function maintained or up-modulated when complexed in a selection molecule. Upon production of the desired novel molecule and the interaction of same with the selection molecule, the growth factor is functionally down-modulated. Thus selection of the desired novel molecule occurs through negative cellular selection. In another example, a toxin is incorporated into a selection molecule so that its function is down-modulated. Upon production of the desired novel molecule, however, the toxin is functionally up-modulated. Again, selection of the desired novel molecule occurs through negative cellular selection. Negative cellular selection is carried out using methods such as growth in the presence of a molecule such as an antibiotic which preferentially kills growing cells. By cyclically passing the cells from antibiotic containing media to non-antibiotic containing growth media, cells which are incapable of growing may be selected. C. Replicator Selection Methods (1) Positive Replicator Selection In embodiments of the invention which exploit positive selection for replicators, e.g., viruses, the gene to be isolated, created or evolved and its gene pool or its mutations. are encoded within the population of replicators. The viral population is allowed to infect host cells. Those virus particles with the gene which expresses the novel molecule are given a preferential growth advantage (lytic pathway) or integration advantage (lysogenic pathway). If viral replication is the selectable characteristic, a selection molecule may be made using essential proteins involved in viral replication which are functionally down-modulated in the selection molecule. A gene which encodes a novel molecule is then obtained based on its interaction with a recognition sequence and the resultant up-modulation of the growth factor and consequent viral replication. Positive viral selection offers a number of inherent advantages. Viruses are highly efficient carriers of vast numbers of coding sequences and provide a convenient way to physically segregate coding material. In addition, because some viruses encode their own replication machineries and origins of replication, high and low fidelity replication systems may operate simultaneously (one for the virus and one for the host) Viruses also replicate at rates faster than bacteria. This allows for large differentials in the number of replications per unit time between the host and the virus which may cause a difference in the total number of mutations. It is therefore possible to promote positive selection and variability, i.e., high mutation rate in the population encoding the novel molecule, and homogeneity, i.e., low mutation rate in the population encoding the selection molecules, thereby minimizing selection of non-useful mutants. A method of the invention which exploits viral positive selection and host cell negative selection may be performed by creating a modified bacteriophage which encodes the novel molecule and a first modified strain of E. coli which encodes the selection molecule. The modified phage does not encode all of the necessary components for its replication. Those replication components not encoded in the modified phage are encoded in the first modified E. coli strain in selection molecules which modulate their function. The modified phage encoding the putative novel molecules are produced in a second modified strain of E. coli before selection with first strain. A modified bacteriophage, lacking a crucial component(s) for its replication will not replicate in a typical host cell and therefore the second strain, which encodes and produces the component(s) lacking in the modified phage is created to produce a large population of modified phage for selection with the first strain Selection pressure may be placed on the viruses in a continuous or semi-continuous flow cell culture or alternatively standard viral assays may be performed. If the conditions and/or the dilutions are correct, cell negative selection may also be used. In this case the viruses which carry the gene which expresses the molecule to be isolated, created or evolved have a selective advantage within the host cells which may confer a selective disadvantage on the host cell. The methods described for negative selection can then be used to select for the infected cells. (2) Negative Replicator Selection with Host Positive Selection Selection of the gene of interest may be carried out by negative selection for replicator growth and/or replication and/or positive selection for host cell growth. Lytic viruses may be used with host cells which encode a viral growth factor which confers a growth advantage on the virus when complexed in a selection molecule but which confers a selective disadvantage upon the virus when the desired novel molecule is expressed and interacts with the selection molecule to release the growth factor. Such a selection molecule can be an enzyme essential to viral replication with a recognition sequence inserted within the enzyme which does not down-modulate the activity of the enzyme. Upon interaction with the desired novel molecule and cleavage of the recognition sequence the viral replication enzyme becomes functionally down-modulated. The viruses are negatively selected and the host cells undergo positive selection. D. Multiple-Replicator Methods Multiple replicators may also be used within the same host, i.e. the different components of the selection method may be encoded by different populations of replicators. For example different replicators may encode one or more of: the putative novel molecule population, the recognition sequence, the modulation moiety, the selection molecule, etc. Different viruses and plasmids may be used in conjunction with one another to create a heterogeneous population of genes which encode novel molecules. Such methods for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest comprises expressing in one or more populations of replicators within a population of host cells multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of putative novel molecules, a growth factor for one or more of said populations of replicators which express said novel molecules, and a substrate of interest or analog thereof functionally associated with said growth factor, and, optionally, a modulation moiety for said replicator growth factor, and imposing selection conditions, e.g., incubating the population of host cells under selection conditions, to select for replicators which express a novel molecule which interacts with said analog to alter the activity of said growth factor. The order of expression of the several components is a matter of choice as is the relative timing of expression and the imposition of selection conditions. It is also possible, as in other embodiments of the invention to exogenously add one or more of said growth factor, recognition sequence or modulation moiety. E. Disease Cell Based Selection Selection methods may also be carried out directly in disease state cells. For example, cancer cells may be used as hosts which encode a selection molecule which in turn permits selection for novel molecules which retard cancer cell growth. By way of illustration, a cancerous cell which improperly phosphorylates an important cellular enzyme in cell cycle control thus giving rise to the cancerous phenotype may be used as a host. Selection may be carried out for novel molecules which are capable of reverting the cancerous phenotype. The novel molecules thus selected may then be assayed in normal cells of the same type as the cancerous cells for toxicity or deleterious side effects. The methods of the invention may be used within disease state cells so as to select for molecules which revert the disease state to normal phenotypes. F. Selection Based on the Recognition of the Products Formed Through the Interaction of a Novel Molecule Antibodies (or fragments thereof) are capable of exquisite specificity and are capable of resolving very slight differences in molecular structure, allowing them to recognize virtually any molecule specifically. Other binding molecules include T-cell receptors, MHC molecules and lectins. The ability of antibodies to bind to virtually any antigen in an exquisitely specific manner has been well documented and can be used to advantage in carrying out the methods of the invention, e.g., for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of a site specific hydroxylase for the conversion of a drug RH to ROH (8). An advantageous method is described in FIG. 3 and is further described below. It is first necessary to obtain small amounts of the desired product or an analog of this product through isolation/purification or chemical synthesis so that monoclonal antibodies specific for, in this example, the hydroxylated drug ROH, can be produced through protocols such as those in (9). The antibody can then be expressed in its functional conformation in E. coli by extension of the techniques of (10), (11), and (12). This recombinant antibody is further developed as described later to link its binding of ROH to cellular growth. An important attribute of some classes of antibodies is that the constant region of the antibody undergoes conformational change upon binding. This conformational change is evident, for example, in the IgM class of antibodies. Frank et al., in their chapter on complement in (13) state “binding [of antigen] facilitates a conformational change in the antibody”. Such conformational changes are further described in (14), (15), and sub-referenced in (15), are (16) and (17). In addition it is known that conformational changes may contribute to antibody binding (18). These conformational changes can be used to link product formation and subsequent antibody binding to growth modulation. This tie in to growth rate modulation may be elaborated in a variety of different ways. A protein whose function is highly modulated based on the conformation of the attached constant region (i.e., bound or unbound) may be used. Or, in a preferred example, the tie in to cellular growth is through the attachment of a protein whose function is modulated based on whether or not it is covalently attached to the constant region. Such a protein might be a protein which is active only in a multi-subunit holoenzyme, or a peptide sequence which is active only when not sterically hindered, or a sequence which is active in areas not accessible to a large antibody. An example is the multi-subunit aspartate transcarbamoylase, an essential gene for pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis. This enzyme is composed of twelve polypeptide chains and its catalytic activity is modulated by conformational change (19). Enzymes such as aspartate transcarbamoylase, which are highly complex and whose catalytic activity is highly sensitive to conformation are good candidates since their function can be modulated when their subunits are complexed to a large antibody molecule. In addition, in aspartate transcarbamoylase an active site is formed at the interface of two subunits. Methods for the ligation of the aspartate transcarbamoylase subunit genes to the recombinant antibody constant regions are referenced in Example I. To obtain the novel molecule capable of producing the desired specifically hydroxylated drug ROH, cell selection in pyrimidine nucleotide limiting conditions is carried out in a host strain which requires aspartate transcarbamoylase function for efficient growth and is deficient for non-specific proteases. Cleavage of the aspartate transcarbamoylase from the antibody constant region occurs when the antibody binds ROH. This is accomplished through the use of a protease specific for the conformation of the antibody constant region when the antibody is bound to its antigen. The specific protease is developed using techniques of the invention. The aspartate transcarbamoylase is cleaved from the selection molecule and allowed to form its active multi-subunit form when the antibody is bound to its antigen, i.e., the drug, ROH, catalyzed by the desired hydroxylase. The conformational change induced by binding may be approached in different ways. The close packing of antibodies upon cross-linking through antigen grouping or linking can also give rise to conformational changes. One might target closely packed antibodies' quaternary or tertiary structure. In a related method in which close packing of antibodies would not normally occur dummy antibodies may be used which bind to epitopes other than the desired one but which are spatially close to the desired epitope. Thus, upon binding of antibodies to the desired epitope antibody close packing conformational changes will occur. Embodiments of the invention based on the recognition of products formed through the interaction of a novel molecule include the selection of novel kinases, phosphatases and methylases or a molecule capable of uridenylation, adenylation, hydroxylation or glycosylation, among others. G. Control of the Activity Level of Novel Molecules by Control of the Expression Levels of Putative Novel Molecules Novel molecule selection pressure can be controlled by setting the level of expression of the putative novel molecules. If an enzyme of desired function is to be developed, one may use the level of expression of the putative novel molecules to direct the desired turnover rate of the novel molecule. If high turnover rate is to be selected, the expression of putative novel molecules is controlled at a low level. Alternatively, if low turnover rate is desired, the expression of putative novel molecules is controlled at a high level. Even more specifically, if high turnover rate is desired, a selection molecule may be used which ensures that a high number of novel molecule reaction events, relative to the number of novel molecules present in the system at any one time (considering also their rate of synthesis and rate of degradation) are required per unit time to confer selectability. Thus, selection pressure may be exerted by appropriately setting the number of putative novel molecules present at any given time. H. Selection of Certain Proteases The host cell or replicator selection methods of the invention can be carried out to isolate, create or direct the evolution of novel proteases which are capable of cleaving certain substrates of therapeutic interest. Examples of such recognition sequences are epitopes of influenza haemagglutinin. The following sequences, among others can be incorporated in a selection molecule. Site A amino acids 140-146, Lys-Arg-Gly-Pro-Gly-Ser-Gly or Lys-Arg-Gly-Pro-Asp-Ser-Gly or Lys-Arg-Gly-Pro-Asp-Asn-Gly, or Site B amino acids 187-196 Thr-Asp-Gln-Glu-Gln-Thr-Ser-Leu-Tyr-Val or Thr-Asn-Gln-Glu-Gln-Thr-Ser-Leu-Tyr-Val or Thr-Asn-Lys-Glu-Gln-Thr-Asn-Leu-Tyr-Val, or Site C amino acids 273-279 Pro-Ile-Asp-Thr-Cys-Ile-Ser or Pro-Ile-Gly-Thr-Cys-Ile-Ser or Pro-Ile-Asp-Thr-Cys-Ser-Ser, or amino acids 52-54 Cys-Asn-Asn or Cys-Asp-Asn or Cys-Asn-Lys Other examples of such recognition sequences are the following sites of HIV gp120 (a) variable region 3, amino acids 271-295 N-N-T-R-K-S-I-R-I-Q-R-G-P-G-R-A-F-V-T-I-G-K-I-G-N (b) conserved domain 4, amino acids 392-402 Q-F-I-N-M-W-Q-E-V-G-K (c) conserved domain 5, amino acids 452-474 E-L-Y-K-Y-K-V-V-K-I-E-P-L-G-V-A-P-T-K-A-K-R-R Proteases to variants of such sequences can be produced. Alternatively, redundant selection molecules with the same basic conformation of such sequences can be used to select for proteases which are generally specific to their overall conformation. I. Use of Combinations of Recognition Sequences and Genes which Express Putative Novel Molecules Combinations of recognition sequences and genes which express putative novel molecules may be used. Two different recognition sequences can be used in each of two redundant sets of selection molecules together with genes which express two putative novel molecule populations which are differentiated by their evolutionary starting points. A novel molecule is obtained from the first population which reacts with one of the recognition sequences, and a novel molecule is obtained from the other population which reacts with the other recognition sequence. In anther example a selection molecule which incorporates two closely related recognition sequences, A and A′ is used. Interaction with both of the recognition sequences by the desired novel molecule is required to confer some degree of selectability. Selection may be carried out for reactivity to both recognition sequences simultaneously. This may occur by selection of one molecule with broad specificity for A and A′, or of two molecules, one with specificity for A and the other for A′. In either case reactivity to both A and A′ is simultaneously selected. In a similar method, multiple selection molecules may be used in which one set of selection molecules contain A and another contains A′ in multiple redundant selection molecules. J. Cell-Free Methods The invention may also be carried out in cell-free methods. A preferred embodiment of a cell-free method is disclosed in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, reference numeral 200 identifies DNA which encodes multiple copies of putative novel molecules or a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules. DNA 200 is subjected to mutagenesis thereby forming a heterogeneous population of DNA encoding a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules 202. Population 202 is transcribed and translated to express a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules 204. Reference numeral 206 identifies a novel molecule of interest within that population. Reference numeral 208 refers to DNA which encodes a selection molecule which includes actin as a growth modulation moiety and a recognition sequence which is or represents the substrate of interest. DNA population 208 is transcribed and translated to express a population of selection molecules 210. The population 204 of putative novel molecules is then incubated with the population of selection molecules 210 in an incubator 212. Incubation of the putative novel molecules and the selection molecules results in enzymatic cleavage of the recognition site within the selection molecules by the desired novel molecule 206 thereby releasing actin monomer 214 from the selection molecule. After that reaction has gone to completion, DNase 216 is added to the reaction mixture and the mixture is incubated in incubator 218 for a time sufficient to permit the liberated actin, if any, to inhibit the DNase. An excess of the incubated mixture from incubator 212 is used with respect to DNase 216, to ensure that all of the DNase is inhibited. The actin monomers inhibit the DNase as shown at reference numeral 220. Then, after the actin has been inhibited, the heterogeneous population of mutated DNA encoding a population of different putative novel molecules 202 is added to the incubated mixture of the multiplicity of different putative novel molecules, the actin-based selection molecule and Dnase and that mixture is further incubated in incubator 218. The presence of the desired novel molecule is assayed by the presence of non-degraded DNA. The DNA may be isolated/purified, partitioned, expressed and re-assayed for the desired functions of the novel molecule. In a preferred method, the isolated/purified DNA is amplified, e.g., by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the amplified DNA subjected to one or more repetitions of the method to select for the desired DNA. The invention is further described in the following examples. EXAMPLE I Creation of Novel Protease(s) for a Decapeptide Sequence from HIV gp120 Through the Use of Artificial Zymogens and Viral Positive Selection Example I describes a method to create endopeptidase(s) specific for a decapeptide recognition sequence from gp120. The method uses gene fusions which encode protein based selection molecules. Novel proteases encoded in a viral population cleave the decapeptide recognition sequence thereby releasing proteins necessary for viral replication. This example is representative of viral positive selection. A simplified representation is set forth in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. E. coli B, a host strain for bacteriophage T7, is transformed by the introduction of a plasmid so as to complement T7 deletion mutants. Two different deletion mutant T7 strains are made and so two corresponding E. coli complementary transformants are produced as listed below: 1) E. coli Transformant 1 (ET1) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the inducible expression of T7 genes gp1 (RNA polymerase), gp 4 (primase/helicase), and mutant gp 5 (DNA polymerase) with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. This transformed host, upon induced expression of these genes, allows for the growth of a T7 deletion mutant (T7A) for genes gp 1, 4, and 5. 2) E. coli Transformant 2 (ET2) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the inducible expression of T7 genes gp1, gp 4, mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity, and in addition gene 10A (major head protein), 13 (internal virion protein), and 18 (DNA maturation protein). This transformed host upon induced expression of these genes allows for the growth of a T7 deletion mutant (T7B) for genes 1, 4, 5, 10A, 13, and 18. In addition two E. coli Selection Transformants (EST1 and EST2) are produced. These transformed cell lines differ from ET1 and ET2 in that the T7 genes encoded in these cells are complexed as gene fusions. In addition, these strains are selected for protease deficiency (e.g., strains such as lon, hfl, or htpR) (1) and (20). These two transformants are described below: 1) E. coli Selection Transformant 1 (EST1) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the expression of T7 genes gp1, gp 4, and mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity all of whose sequences have modulation moieties (virion structural coat proteins from T4) fused to both their amino and carboxy termini as outlined in the table below connected through a gp120 protease recognition sequence. 2) E. coli Selection Transformant 2 (EST2) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the inducible expression of T7 genes gp1, gp 4, mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity, and in addition genes 10A (major head protein), 13 (internal virion protein), and 18 (DNA maturation protein), all of whose sequences have modulation moieties (virion structural coat proteins from T4) fused to both their amino and carboxy termini as outlined in the table below connected through a gp120 protease recognition sequence. amino terminal carboxy terminal T7 gene T4 gene T4 gene 1 7 20 4 27 23 5 14 15 10A 18 12 13 17 24 18 3 hoc The complete sequence of T7 is elucidated in (21). Using the information from the T7 sequence, primers are chemically synthesized for the PCR mediated amplification of the genes to be inserted into the plasmids. Example PCR primers for each gene are listed below with the numbers corresponding to the T7 DNA sequence given in (21), gene Primer A Primer B 1 3171-3185 5806-5820 4 11565-11579 13249-13263 5 14353-14367 16451-16465 10A 22966-22980 23987-24001 13 27306-27320 27706-27720 18 36552-36566 36805-36819 PCR amplification of each of these genes is carried out through standard techniques' such as those described in (1). T7 wild type phage and their DNA which are used as a template are isolated/purified by the following method as described by (22) and (23). The T7 genes once amplified, are ligated into plasmid vectors with inducible promoters such as p-KK177-3, a vector which utilizes the tac promoter. The tac promoter is turned off in E. coli strains which express high levels of the lac repressor. The promoter is induced through the addition of isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside (IPTG) to a final concentration of 1 mM. p-KK177-3 as well as the tac promoter are discussed in (1). Ligation of the T7 genes amplified by PCR into a plasmid containing an inducible promoter such as p-KK177-3 can be carried out through standard ligation techniques described in (1). The recombinant plasmids are then used to transform an E. coli B strain, which expresses high levels of the lac repressor, through techniques such as electrotransformation or by using calcium chloride. Protocols for these techniques are described in (1). Gene fusions are commonly used in molecular biology and a variety of different methods for the construction of β-galactosidase fusion proteins have been described in (24). These methods or the methods described in (1) referred to earlier are used to form a properly ligated selection molecule composed of a T7 gene with a T4 structural coat protein gene attached to both the amino and carboxy termini so that the reading frames are maintained throughout the construct. Thus each of the T7 genes in EST1 and EST2 are encoded without stop codons prematurely terminating the fusion protein or inserted or deleted bases shifting the reading frame. The T4 DNA sequences may be located and isolated/purified using the T4 genome map reproduced in (25). The needed genes are then PCR amplified for use in ligation procedures as was described for the T7 genes previously. DNA molecules encoding the fusions may then in turn be ligated into pKK177-3 plasmid DNA under the control of the tac promoter. The protease recognition sequence is a decapeptide around Trp 397 of the fourth constant region of gp120 of the HIV virus. This amino acid is very important for the binding of gp120 to CD4 as mutants of gp120 at this position abrogate CD4 binding. From the sequence of gp120 from (26), a desired proteolytic recognition sequence can be determined such as FINMWQEVGK (Phenylalanine-Isoleucine-Asparagine-Methionine-Tryptophan-Glutamine-Glutamic acid-Valine-Glycine-Lysine). The nucleotide encoding sequence is obtained from (27) in which the nucleotide sequences from five different HIV clones are described each of which has Trp 397. There are at least four different methods which can be used to generate the T7 deletion mutants. These methods include using specific restriction enzymes if appropriate, creating unique restriction sites by oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis, deletion by oligonucleotide-mediated “loop-out” mutagenesis, and the generation of systematic deletions. These techniques are outlined in (1). The T7 viral genome is obtained as described previously in (22) and (23). The T7 deletion mutant genomes are then properly packaged into virions in vitro following the protocols of (28). The initial population of novel molecules is based on several known proteases. This allows for several different evolutionary starting points from which the desired novel molecule can arise. The proteases are HIV protease, polio3C protease, and subtilisin BPN′. The sequences for these proteases have been introduced into E. coli and expressed as functional enzymes or enzymes with functional potential in zymogen state (29) and (30). To generate a large and heterogeneous putative novel molecule population, each protease gene is subjected to site directed mutagenesis as well as in vitro chemical mutagenesis. Methods for site directed mutagenesis are given in (1). Methods for in vitro chemical mutagenesis are also given in (1). The mutagenized novel molecules are then ligated to a promoter such as bacteriophage lambda PR or PL promoters (for use in hosts which do not express lambda repressor to down-regulate novel molecule production) or a T7 promoter through methods discussed earlier. The promoter/novel molecule population is then ligated into the T7A deletion mutant population grown in ET1 host cells following the procedures above. Once this procedure is complete a heterogeneous T7A deletion mutant population is produced which is highly heterogeneous by virtue of the fact that it encodes a heterogeneous mutagenized pool of novel molecules. This population is referred to below as T7A/novel molecule. The T7A/novel molecule population is then grown up on ET1 host cells and transferred to EST1 host cells. The EST1 host cells for the T7A/novel molecule population are kept in stationary non-replicating growth phase. Only those T7A/novel molecule virions which are capable of producing a novel molecule which restores gp1, gp 4 and gp 5 function by cleaving the gp120 decapeptide protease recognition sequence are then able to liberate the T4 virion structural coat protein groups from the selection molecule thus allowing growth in these hosts. T7A/novel molecule are added in a continuous fashion using a cellstat as described in (31), or in a semicontinuous batch process adding repeated aliquots of the T7A/novel molecule to the EST1 hosts. Once viral replication occurs the resulting virions are harvested and their DNA isolated/purified as described in (22) and (23). The novel molecule sequence is obtained either through PCR amplification if the recognition sequences of the primers have not been prohibitively mutated, through isolation/purification of fragments of the T7/novel molecule gene which are capable of hybridizing with DNA encoding wild type novel molecules, or through isolation/purification of fragments capable of expressing molecules with the desired function. The sequence coding for the novel molecule from the T7/novel molecule virion capable of growing in EST1 is then expressed in any of a number of expression systems, (1), and the protease can then be more accurately characterized functionally. If further selection is necessary the sequence for the novel molecule from the T7A/novel molecule virion capable of growing in EST1 is ligated into T7B. Thus procedures are carried out as before except T7B is used instead of T7A, ET2 is used instead of ET1, and EST2 will be used instead of EST1. The procedure of Example I thus permits the development of a novel proteases specific for the decapeptide sequence from gp120. EXAMPLE II Creation of Novel Protease(s) for β-Galactosidase Through the Use of Artificial Zymogens Example II describes a method to create endopeptidase(s) with a range of specificity for recognition sequences around the carboxy terminus of β-galactosidase. The method employs a gene fusion involving β-galactosidase and a T7 gene. The selection procedure is based on a novel molecule (protease) cleaving the β-galactosidase which up-modulates the T7 product function necessary for viral replication. Therefore this example represents a viral positive selection procedure. The procedure is generally represented in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. Specifically, β-galactosidase in the correct reading frame, is ligated to the amino terminus of each of the T7 genes that are encoded in EST1 and EST2 without stop codons prematurely terminating the fusion protein. The DNA encoding the fusions are then inserted into the pKK177-3 plasmid under the control of the tac promoter. E. coli B, a host strain for bacteriophage T7, is transformed by the introduction of plasmids encoding T7 genes so as to complement T7 deletion mutants. This allows for the growth and amplification of these T7 deletion mutants. Two different deletion mutant T7 strains are made and so two corresponding E. coli complementary transformants are produced as described in Example I. In addition the corresponding selection strains, EST1 and EST2 but with β-galactosidase fused to the amino termini of the T7 genes used, are then utilized in the selection procedures. There are no constraints on the proteases other than to cleave enough of the β-galactosidase so as to liberate the function of the T7 genes in constructs. In this respect the desired novel molecule is ‘semi-specific’. However, the protease itself may be specific for a particular recognition sequence. One skilled in the art would realize that this technique might be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences with proteins other than β-galactosidase. 1) E. coli Transformant 1 (ET1) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the inducible expression of T7 genes gp1 (RNA polymerase), gp 4 (primase/helicase), and mutant gp 5 (DNA polymerase) with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. This transformed host, upon induced expression of these genes, allows for the growth of a T7 deletion mutant (T7A) for genes gp 1, 4 and 5. 2) E. coli Transformant 2 (ET2) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for the inducible expression of T7 genes gp1, gp 4, mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity, and in addition gene 10A (major head protein), 13 (internal virion protein), and 18 (DNA maturation protein). This transformed host upon induced expression of these genes allows for the growth of a T7 deletion mutant (T7B) for genes 1, 4, 5, 10A, 13 and 18. In addition two E. coli Selection Transformants (EST1 and EST2) are produced. These transformed cell lines differ from ET1 and ET2 in that the T7 genes encoded in these cells are complexed as gene fusions. In addition, these strains are selected for protease deficiency (e.g., strains such as lon, hfl, or htpR) (1) and (20). These two transformants are described below: 1) E. coli Selection Transformant 1 (EST1) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for T7 genes gp1, gp 4, and mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity each of which is ligated to β-galactosidase so that upon expression the modulation moiety β-galactosidase is fused to their amino termini. 2) E. coli Selection Transformant 2 (EST2) is transformed with E. coli plasmid pKK177-3 carrying the sequence for T7 genes gp1, gp 4, mutant gp 5 with low fidelity and reduced 3′-5′ exonuclease activity, and in addition genes 10A (major head protein), 13 (internal virion protein), and 18 (DNA maturation protein) each of which is ligated to β-galactosidase so that upon expression the modulation moiety β-galactosidase is fused to their amino termini. The complete sequence of T7 is elucidated in (21). Using the information from the T7 sequence, primers can be chemically synthesized for the PCR mediated amplification of the genes to be inserted into the plasmids. Example PCR primers for each gene are listed below with the numbers corresponding to the T7 DNA sequence given in (21). gene Primer A Primer B 1 3171-3185 5806-5820 4 11565-11579 13249-13263 5 14353-14367 16451-16465 10A 22966-22980 23987-24001 13 27306-27320 27706-27720 18 36552-36566 36805-36819 PCR amplification of each of these genes can be carried out through standard techniques such as those described in (1). T7 wild type phage and their DNA which will be used as a template may be isolated/purified by the following method as described by (22) and (23). The T7 genes once amplified may be ligated into plasmid vectors with inducible promoters such as p-KK177-3, a vector which utilizes the tac promoter. The tac promoter is turned off in E. coli strains which express high levels of the lac repressor. The promoter is induced through the addition of isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside (IPTG) to a final concentration of 1 mM. p-KK177-3 as well as the tac promoter are discussed in (1). Ligation of the T7 genes amplified by PCR into a plasmid containing an inducible promoter such as p-KK177-3 can be carried out through standard ligation techniques described in (1). The recombinant plasmids are then used to transform an E. coli B strain, which expresses high levels of the lac repressor, through techniques such as electrotransformation or by using calcium chloride. Protocols for these techniques are described in (1) β-galactosidase is a commonly used gene in molecular biology and a variety of different methods for the construction of β-galactosidase fusion proteins have been described (24). These methods or the methods described in (1) referred to earlier may be used to form a properly ligated β-galactosidase, in the correct reading frame, to the amino terminus of each of the T7 genes that will be encoded in EST1 and EST2 without stop codons prematurely terminating the fusion protein. DNA molecules encoding the fusions may then in turn be ligated into pKK177-3 plasmid DNA under the control of the tac promoter. There are at least four different methods which can be used to generate the T7 deletion mutants. These methods include using specific restriction enzymes if appropriate, creating unique restriction sites by oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis, deletion by oligonucleotide-mediated “loop-out” mutagenesis, and the generation of systematic deletions. These techniques are outlined in (1). The T7 viral genome is obtained as described previously in (22) and (23). The T7 deletion mutant genomes are then properly packaged into virions in vitro following the protocols of (28). The population of novel molecules is based on several known proteases. This allows for several different evolutionary starting points from which the desired novel molecule could arise. The proteases to be used are HIV protease, polio3C protease, and subtilisin BPN′. The sequences for these proteases have been introduced into E. coli and expressed as functional enzymes or as enzymes with functional potential (29) and (30). To generate a large and heterogeneous putative novel molecule population each protease gene is subjected to site directed mutagenesis as well as in vitro chemical mutagenesis. Methods for site directed mutagenesis and methods for in vitro chemical mutagenesis are given in (1). The mutagenized novel molecules are then ligated to a promoter such as bacteriophage lambda PR or PL promoters (for use in hosts which do not express lambda repressor to down-regulate novel molecule production) or a T7 promoter using methods discussed earlier. The promoter/novel molecule population is then ligated into the T7A deletion mutant population grown in ET1 host cells following the procedures above. Once this procedure is complete, a heterogeneous T7A deletion mutant population (T7A/novel molecule) is produced which is highly heterogeneous by virtue of the fact that it encodes a heterogeneous mutagenized pool of novel molecules. The T7A/novel molecule population is then grown up on ET1 host cells and transferred to EST1 host cells. The EST1 host cells for the T7A/novel molecule population are kept in stationary non-replicating growth phase. Only those T7A/novel molecule virions which are capable of producing a novel molecule which restores gp1, gp 4 and gp 5 function by cleaving the β-galactosidase groups from the selection molecule are capable of growing in these hosts. The T7A/novel molecule virions are added in a continuous fashion using a cellstat as described by (31), or in a semicontinuous batch process adding repeated aliquots of the T7A/novel molecule virions to the EST1 hosts. Once viral replication occurs the resulting virions are harvested and their DNA isolated/purified as described by (22) and (23). The novel molecule sequence is obtained either through PCR amplification, if the recognition sequences of the primers have not been prohibitively mutated, through isolation/purification of fragments of the T7/novel molecule gene which are capable of hybridizing with DNA encoding wild type novel molecules, or through isolation/purification of fragments capable of expressing molecules with the desired function. The sequence coding the novel molecule from the T7/novel molecule virion capable of growing in EST1 is then expressed in any of a number of expression systems, (1), and the protease can then be more accurately characterized functionally. If further selection is necessary the sequence for the novel molecule from the T7A/novel molecule virion capable of growing in EST1 is ligated into T7B. Thus procedures are carried out as before except T7B is used instead of T7A, ET2 is used instead of ET1, and EST2 is used instead of EST1. This procedure allows for the development of a protease generally specific to cleave the carboxy terminal region of β-galactosidase. EXAMPLE III Methods to Select Novel Protease(s) Specific for an Epitope of Influenza Haemagglutinin Example III describes a method to create an endopeptidase which cleaves specifically a heptapeptide sequence from influenza haemagglutinin (HA) site A (amino acids 140 to 146) (32) The method employs gene fusions involving T7 genes (whose function is down-modulated when complexed in the fusion) and genes from other bacteriophage. The selection procedure is based on a novel molecule (endoprotease) cleaving the influenza HA heptapeptide recognition sequence and thereby up-modulating the function of the T7 product necessary for viral replication. This example represents a viral positive selection procedure. A simplified representation of the method appears in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. The heptapeptide recognition sequence is composed of the amino acids 140 to 146 of an influenza HA, AICHI/2/68. The sequence is Lys-Arg-Gly-Pro-Gly-Ser-Gly. Two strains EST1* and EST2* and are produced which encode the heptapeptide sequence as recognition linkers used in the manner in which the factor X recognition sequence (33) and the V8 recognition sequence system (34) are used. In addition these strains are selected to be protease deficient. In these systems specific sequences for particular proteases are placed between two genes to be cleaved. The constructs for EST1* and EST2* are based on EST1 and EST2 described in Example I, but with the specific influenza HA heptapeptide sequence described above. The fusions and novel molecule populations are constructed and expressed as described earlier. Similar selection protocols are then followed. Thus, upon production of an novel molecule capable of cleaving the influenza HA heptapeptide, the T7 genes are released from their constructs. Since the heptapeptide recognition sequence is the only common sequence between all of the fusions, novel molecule selection is directed towards proteases which are specific only for the influenza HA heptapeptide. First novel molecules are selected on EST1* followed by selection on EST2* as described in Example 1 for EST1 and EST2. The resultant novel molecules carried in T7B are isolated/purified and characterized. One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in this example. EXAMPLE IV Method of Creating a Novel Hydroxylase Based on Antibody Binding Example IV describes a method to create a molecule capable of hydroxylating an organic molecule, R, at a specific site. The method employs the use of antibodies capable of binding specifically to R—OH. A simplified representation of the method steps appears in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The antibodies are complexed in fusions with the catalytic subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase attached to their constant region. Upon binding their antigens, antibodies undergo conformational change. The bound antibodies are cleaved by an endoprotease (designed using methods described elsewhere in the application) capable of recognizing the conformation of the bound antibody. The released aspartate transcarbamoylase catalytic subunits form multi-subunit complexes thus functionally up-modulating the aspartate transcarbamoylase activity, and thus conferring a selectable advantage on the cell. Therefore molecules capable of catalyzing the desired hydroxylation may be selected. In this example the reaction of interest is the site specific hydroxylation of a drug RH to ROH as shown in (35). Small amounts of the desired product, R—OH, or an analog of this product are produced through isolation or chemical synthesis so that monoclonal antibodies specific for the hydroxylated form ROH can be produced through protocols such as those in (36). The genes for the antibody with the desired specificity are ligated to the gene for the catalytic sub-unit of aspartate transcarbamoylase at the constant region of the antibody's heavy chain gene. These constructs are then expressed in their functional conformation in E. coli by extension of the techniques of (10), (11), and (12). These E. coli are selected for the requirement of functionally active aspartate transcarbamoylase for efficient growth and they are selected to be protease deficient. The novel molecule population is based on a hydroxylase cytochrome p-450. The gene is mutated so as to create a heterogeneous population of mutant hydroxylases through a variety of techniques described earlier. The genes are then inserted into a plasmid under the control of low fidelity T7 replication machinery. The plasmids are transfected into the cells expressing the antibody fusion protein. The resultant cells are grown in a chemostat in pyrimidine limiting media. The genes for the hydroxylases encoded in the selected cells are isolated/purified, cloned and the functional characteristics of the relevant hydroxylase is determined. One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop molecules with a variety of functional characteristics other than the ability to act as a hydroxylase. In addition, one skilled in the art will realize that molecules other than antibodies which undergo conformational change upon binding might be tied in through a variety of mechanisms to confer a growth advantage or disadvantage. EXAMPLE V A Method for Creating a Novel Endopeptidase Using Cellular Positive Selection Example V describes a method to create an endopeptidase which cleaves specifically a decapeptide sequence from gp120. A simplified representation appears in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The method employs gene fusions involving three cellular genes, aspartate transcarbamoylase, glutamine synthetase, and tryptophan svnthetase (whose functions are down-modulated when complexed in the fusion) in selection molecules with various genes from other bacteriophage. The selection procedure is based on a novel molecule (endoprotease) cleaving the gp120 decapeptide recognition sequence and thus up-modulating the three cellular genes' functions and therefore giving the cells containing the endopeptidase with the desired function a growth advantage under selection conditions. This example represents a positive cellular selection procedure. The genes for virion coat proteins 24 and 18 of bacteriophage T4 are fused to the amino and carboxy termini respectively of glutamine synthetase through a protease peptide recognition sequence from gp120 used in Example I. Similarly virion coat proteins 27 and 20 are fused with the gp120 linker to the amino and carboxy termini respectively of the alpha subunit of tryptophan synthetase and gene 12 of T7 and gene F from phiX174 are fused with the gp120 linker to the amino and carboxy termini respectively of the beta subunit of tryptophan synthetase. Lastly proteins from gene 23 and 15 of bacteriophage T4 are fused with the gp120 linker to the amino and carboxy termini respectively of the catalytic subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase, and proteins from gene 27 of bacteriophage T4 and gene 16 of bacteriophage T7 are fused with the gp120 linker to the amino and carboxy termini respectively of the regulatory subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase. Aspartate transcarbamoylase catalyzes the formation of N-carbamoyl-aspartate from carbamoyl phosphate and aspartate. These constructs can be fabricated with appropriate promoters and expressed using ligation techniques described in Example I, and then incorporated into the E. coli chromosome of a strain of E. coli which is a deletion mutant for the aspartate transcarbamoylase, glutamine synthetase, and tryptophan synthetase genes. These E. coli are additionally selected for the requirement of functionally active aspartate transcarbamoylase, glutamine synthetase, and tryptophan synthetase for efficient growth and are also selected for protease deficiency. These E. coli are then grown in glutamine, tryptophan and pyrimidine rich medium. The novel molecule genes based on the three proteases from Example I are mutated as before. In this example, however, the resulting heterogeneous population of genes which express putative novel molecules is ligated into a high copy plasmid such as the PUC vectors (e.g., pUC18, pUC19, pUC118, and pUC119) described in (1), which is under the control of mutant low fidelity T7 replication machinery. Plasmids whose replication is under the control of T7 replication machinery are described in (37). In this example the plasmid encodes multiple novel molecule genes per plasmid as well as the required genes for T7 replication (38) with mutant gene 5 DNA polymerase. This allows for a differential mutation rate to exist between the population of DNA encoding the constructs on the E. coli chromosome and the putative novel molecule population encoded on the plasmid. Selection is then carried out in glutamine, tryptophan, and pyrimidine limiting media in a chemostat as described in (39) and (40). The selection pressure is then cycled between high and low selection pressure environments in the chemostat (e.g., low levels of glutamine, tryptophan and pyrimidines in the media for high selection pressure and high levels of glutamine, tryptophan and pyrimidines in the media for low selection pressure) as has been described in (41), so as to select for different subspecies of the genes which encode putative novel molecules which in turn aids in obtaining mutants with higher activity for a desired reaction. Finally evolutionary resetting may be used to further stabilize the selection molecule constructs over time. Periodically during the incubation cells are assayed for their ability to grow in three different media, pyrimidine limiting media containing glutamine and tryptophan (assay for mutation giving rise to aspartate transcarbamoylase function), glutamine limiting media containing pyrimidines and tryptophan (assay for mutation giving rise to glutamine synthetase function), and tryptophan limiting media containing pyrimidines and glutamine (assay for mutation giving rise to tryptophan synthetase function). Using such methods the generation of non-useful mutants may be assayed. Each time a selection molecule mutant is found to occur, the plasmids are isolated/purified as described in previous examples and then used to transform an aliquot of the original selection molecule encoding E. coli. This allows the selection molecule constructs to be evolutionarily reset while maintaining the evolutionary progress of the novel molecule population. The reset population can then be reintroduced into the chemostat. When the novel molecule of the desired specificity is expressed those cells carrying the gene encoding the desired novel molecule are selected in the chemostat and the plasmid carrying the novel molecule may be isolated/purified as described earlier. Other enzymes or pathways capable of synthesizing or abrogating the need for the compounds synthesized by aspartate transcarbamoylase, glutamine synthetase, and tryptophan synthetase should be made non-functional, preferably by deletion. For example, deletion mutants of glutamine-keto acid transaminase should be used since the enzyme catalyses the synthesis glutamine from 2-keto-glutaramate. Also there should be no mechanism for the synthesis of tryptophan from indole pyruvate or serine. The desired host cell for selection will only grow efficiently when glutamine, tryptophan and pyrimidines are added in the medium. After selection the genes for the endoprotease of interest are isolated/purified, cloned and their expression products characterized. One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in the example. EXAMPLE VI A Method for Creating a Novel Endopeptidase Using Negative Cellular Selection Example VI describes a method to create an endopeptidase which cleaves specifically a decapeptide sequence from gp120 with a lower turnover rate than wild type HIV protease. The method employs a recombinant β-galactosidase with a decapeptide recognition sequence. The selection procedure is based on a novel molecule (endoprotease) cleaving a gp120 decapeptide recognition sequence and thus down-modulating the β-galactosidase activity and therefore giving the cells containing the endopeptidase with the desired HIV protease activity a growth disadvantage under selection conditions. The example represents a negative cellular selection procedure. There are many known single amino acid changes to HIV protease which are capable of rendering the protease enzymatically inactive (5) and (42). One of these inactive missense HIV proteases or a cocktail of them are mutagenized. This example utilizes enzymatically active β-galactosidase containing an HIV protease decapeptide recognition sequence which upon cleavage renders the β-galactosidase molecule inactive (29). Strains are developed following the protocols from (29), for the production of the E. coli MC1061 strain which contain plasmids carrying the β-galactosidase construct and a mutant inactive HIV protease (for example Asp-29→Gly). First, using these methods strains are produced which contain. one of the HIV protease inactive mutants described in (5) or (42) or combinations of more than one of them. These cell lines are then grown to allow the isolation/purification of the plasmids, (1). The plasmid DNA is then subjected to mutagenesis as described earlier (1) or by transfecting the plasmids into strains such as E. coli strain LE30 mutD which have high rates of mutation (42). Then the mutagenized plasmids are transfected into E. coli strain MC1061, (1), which carry the desired β-galactosidase construct (29). These cells are then selected for negative cellular growth as described in (43). One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in the example. EXAMPLE VII A Method for Creating a Novel Endopeptidase Using Positive Cellular Selection Example VII describes a method to obtain an endopeptidase which cleaves specifically a decapeptide sequence from gp120 with a lower turnover rate than wild type HIV protease. The method employs a fusion protein of the catalytic subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase. The selection procedure is based on a novel molecule (endoprotease) cleaving a gp120 decapeptide recognition sequence and up-modulating the aspartate transcarbamoylase activity and therefore giving the cells containing the endopeptidase with the desired HIV protease activity a growth advantage under selection conditions. The example represents a positive cellular selection procedure. As in the previous example, molecules with HIV protease function are obtained from one or a combination of single amino acid HIV protease mutants which are enzymatically inactive and have been subjected to mutagenesis (as described above). However, in this example a fusion is created of the catalytic subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase with β-galactosidase attached to its amino terminus through the HIV protease recognition decapeptide from (29) and gene 10 (capsid protein) from bacteriophage T7 attached to its carboxy terminus through the HIV protease recognition decapeptide (1). The mutagenized population of HIV missense mutants are transfected into modified MC1061 cells which are deletion mutants for the aspartate transcarbamoylase catalytic subunit and contain the aspartate transcarbamoylase fusion properly promoted on the host chromosome using techniques as described in previous examples. Additionally, these host cells are selected for the requirement of functional aspartate transcarbamoylase for efficient growth and are selected for protease deficiency. Selection for the expression of molecules capable of cleaving the fusion and liberating the aspartate transcarbamoylase enzymatic activity is then carried out in a chemostat (39). One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in the example. EXAMPLE VIII A Method for Creating a Novel HIV Protease Using Negative Cellular Selection This example is similar to Example VI. In this example, however, wild type HIV protease is used as a starting point instead of enzymatically active missense mutants. Additionally, the HIV decapeptide recognition sequence is changed to one of the following sequences, each of which is to be used in a separate selection run in parallel: TABLE 1 Relative cleavage of HIV peptide substrates Cleavage site* Sequence (Vmax/ 3 P5 P4 P3 P2 P1 ↓ P1′ P2′ P3′ P4′ P5′ Code Km)rel.† p6*/PR V S F N F * P Q I T L —NH2 BI-P-136 1.00 CA+/NC T A T I M * M Q R G N —NH2 BI-P-140 0.20 MA/CA V S Q N Y * P I V Q N —NH2 BI-P-138 0.07 CA/CA+ K A R V L * A E A M S —NH2 BI-P-144 0.04 PR/RT C T L N F * P I S P I —NH2 BI-P-127 0.03 RT/IN Ac-T F Q A Y * P L R E A —NH2 BI-P-102 <0.005 (avian) IN, integrase protein. *Cleavage sites within the HIV gag-pol polyprotein are designated according to the new nomenclature (2), except for the N-terminal product from the pol reading frame (p6*), for which there is no new name. CA+ specifies the C-terminally extended capsid protein p25 (24). †Relative values of Vmax/Km were determined by using competition experiments. Each value is an average of at least three determinations and is reproducible to ±20%. The sequences of BI-P-140, BI-P-138, BI-P-144, BI-P-127 and BI-P-102 (sequence set A) have been shown to be cleaved by HIV protease at various rates, but all at much slower rates than that of the decapeptide of BI-P-136, if the rate of cleavage is detectable at all (44). Negative cellular selection is then carried out using decapeptide recognition sequences from sequence set A. Four of the five sequences are natural substrates for HIV protease but are processed by the enzyme at a fraction of the rate of the BI-P-136 substrate decapeptide. Cells are prepared which contain these four sequences inserted into beta-galactosidase (in an analogous fashion to (29)) and expressed HIV proteases. These cells may be considered ‘leaky’ auxotrophs to various extents. As such beta-galactosidase will initially be cleaved and therefore inactivated to varying levels in the cells carrying these constructs. The fifth sequence, a recognition sequence from avian sarcoma-leukosis virus, is not specifically cleaved by HIV protease (44) and (45). In addition these strains are selected for the requirement of functional β-galactosidase for efficient growth, and for protease deficiency. HIV protease mutants are obtained with increased turnover rates for the various substrate decapeptides under negative selection conditions with varying concentrations of antibiotic and lactose. The use of higher concentrations of lactose and antibiotic affords more stringent negative selection pressure by allowing the more leaky auxotrophs to grow using the lactose and then be killed by the penicillin. This selects for HIV protease mutants with higher turnover rates for the constructs of interest. The mutant proteases from the selected cells are then characterized in in vitro assays as described in (29). Those cellular clones with the desired specificity are then grown up and their plasmids encoding the desired function isolated/purified as described above. One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in the example. EXAMPLE IX A Method for Creating a Novel HIV Protease Using Positive Cellular Selection This example is similar to Example VII. In this example, wild type HIV protease is used as a starting point instead of enzymatically inactive missense mutants. Additionally, the HIV decapeptide recognition sequence is changed to one of the following sequences (44), each of which is to be used in a separate selection run parallel: TABLE 1 Relative cleavage of HIV peptide substrates Sequence (Vmax/ Cleavage site* P5 P4 P3 P2 P1 ↓ P1′ P2′ P3′ P4′ P5′ Code Km)rel.† p6*/PR V S F N F * P Q I T L —NH2 BI-P-136 1.00 CA+/NC T A T I M * M Q R G N —NH2 BI-P-140 0.20 MA/CA V S Q N Y * P I V Q N —NH2 BI-P-138 0.07 CA/CA+ K A R V L * A E A M S —NH2 BI-P-144 0.04 PR/RT C T L N F * P I S P I —NH2 BI-P-127 0.03 RT/IN Ac-T F Q A Y * P L R E A —NH2 BI-P-102 <0.005 (avian) IN, integrase protein. *Cleavage sites within the HIV gag-pol polyprotein are designated according to the new nomenclature (2), except for the N-terminal product from the pol reading frame (p6*), for which there is no new name. CA+ specifies the C-terminally extended capsid protein p25 (24). †Relative values of Vmax/Km were determined by using competition experiments. Each value is an average of at least three determinations and is reproducible to ±20%. The sequences of BI-P-140, BI-P-138, BI-P-144, BI-P-127 and BI-P-102 (sequence set A) have been shown to be cleaved by HIV protease at various rates, but all at much slower rates than that of the decapeptide of BI-P-136, if the rate of cleavage is detectable at all (44). Positive cellular selection is then carried out in a chemostat (described previously) under various dilution rates and selection pressures to select cells that express proteases that are capable of liberating aspartate transcarbamoylase enzymatic activity through cleavage of the fusion construct at desired turnover rates. The mutant HIV proteases in the selected cellular clones may then be further characterized using the in vitro assays as described in (29). Those cellular clones with the desired specificity are then grown up and their plasmids encoding the desired function isolated/purified as described previously. One skilled in the art will realize that this technique may be used to develop proteases with specificity for recognition sequences other than the one used in the example. EXAMPLE X Cell-Free Selection This example illustrates how various steps are carried out in controlled cell-free environments. The endopeptidase used is a missense mutant of HIV protease such as Asn-25 (5) and (42). The genes for these enzymes are encoded on plasmids and mutagenized using any of the methods described in earlier examples including chemical mutagenesis, site directed mutagenesis, and low fidelity replication (e.g., growing in MutD strain). The mutagenized population of enzymes is produced in E. coli as before, and then isolated/purified (using techniques such as are described in (1)). The plasmids containing the endopeptidase population are isolated/purified (1). Similar protocols are used to express a fusion protein of actin linked at its amino terminus to β-galactosidase with a HIV protease recognition sequence (29) and to gene 10 of T7 at its carboxy terminus through the same HIV protease recognition sequence. The expressed fusion construct is isolated/purified as described before. Alternatively, the putative novel molecule and actin fusion genes may be amplified and expressed using expression PCR as described in (48). This would eliminate the use of live cells in any aspect of the procedure. The expressed putative novel molecule proteins are incubated with the isolated/purified actin fusion proteins allowing novel molecule proteases with the desired function to cleave the recognition sequence. The resulting mixture from the putative novel molecule and actin fusion incubation are then incubated together in the presence of isolated/purified Dnase I. DNase is known to be inhibited by the 1:1 complexing with actin monomers (46, 47). The actin monomer is sterically free to bind to the DNase I enzyme after proper cleavage of the HIV protease recognition sequence. The isolated/purified plasmid (or PCR DNA) encoding the putative novel molecule population is then added to the reaction mixture and incubated. The resulting DNA is isolated/purified from the incubation mixture using methods described in (1). The DNA is then characterized using gel electrophoresis. Upon identification of a DNA band corresponding to an undigested plasmid encoding a putative novel molecule, the DNA from this band is isolated/purified (1) and equally divided into 100 samples. Each sample is amplified and the putative novel molecules expressed and their function assayed as before to determine which sample encoded novel molecule capable of inhibiting the DNase I. Further partitioning of the samples encoding the enzymatic activity is carried out until the desired clone is obtained and optionally amplified. At this point the novel molecules are characterized for various attributes such as turnover rate. If the novel molecules' characteristics are as desired no further development is required. If they are not, the novel molecules are further evolutionarily progressed. Using the DNA encoding these novel molecules the process is repeated by re-mutagenizing the novel molecules' gene population, amplifying, and then assaying again for the desired function in the expressed proteins. In this way the DNA encoding the novel molecule population can undergo an evolutionary progression so as to obtain a novel molecule with the preferred characteristics. EXAMPLE XI Directed Evolution of a Novel Protease Specific for an Epitope of Influenza Haemagglutinin (HA) Encoded in an M13 Vector Using an Aspartate-semialdehyde Dehydrogenase (ASD) Based Selection Molecule in E. coli in a Batch Process Conducted in a Chemostat Aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ASD) catalyzes the production of aspartate 4-semialdehyde from aspartyl 4-phosphate in E. coli. The reaction is NADPH dependent and liberates a phosphate group. The production of aspartate 4-semialdehyde is a branch point from which the precursors of the 4 amino acids methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine are generated. Thus, if ASD is non-functional in the cell and the cells are selected such that there are no alternate pathways for the production of aspartate 4-semialdehyde or any of the other important metabolites downstream of aspartate 4-semialdehyde, the cell will not be able to grow without addition of the four amino acids in the media. In addition the cells are selected to be protease deficient. An ASD based selection construct is produced by creating a fusion protein. β-galactosidase is encoded upstream of the ASD sequence and asparagine synthetase is encoded downstream. β-galactosidase and asparagine synthetase are linked to ASD through a decapeptide recognition sequence from influenza HA site B (32), Thr-Asp-Gln-Glu-Gln-Thr-Ser-Leu-Tyr-Val. The fusion protein is encoded on the E. coli chromosome under the control of the strongest promoter which is shown to confer acceptable background ASD activity. With the maximal number of fusion proteins available, novel molecules with low turnover but the correct proteolytic specificity have a selective advantage. This method permits the growth within a chemostat of cells and replicators wherein there is a separation of the coding sequences for selection molecules and putative novel molecules allowing differential mutation rates. The selection relies on the dual selection of the cells and the replicators in a symbiotic relationship. The novel molecule evolutionary starting point is a protease which recognizes a specific sequence and which is not deleterious to the system, e.g., collagenase from Achromobacter iophagus and clostridium histolyticium which predominantly cleave at X-gly and pro-X-gly-pro, is encoded for in the genome of a phage such as M13. Large numbers of M13 phage encoding the novel molecule are subjected to strong mutagens such as ethyl methane sulfonate, nitrosoguanidine, and irradiation. Mutagenation gives rise to a heterogeneous population which is then incubated in a chemostat with E. coli encoding the selection construct in minimal media without the four amino acids. Random mutagenesis confers an evolutionary head start on the novel molecule population relative to the selection constructs. In addition, the M13 genome is replicated at a higher rate than the E. coli chromosome further increasing the number of mutations in the M13 genome relative to the E. coli chromosome. Those M13 molecules with the greatest activity are obtained based on their selective growth advantage. The genes which encode the most promising novel molecules are isolated/purified from the population and these can be mutagenized again and incubated with an evolutionary reset population of E. coli cells encoded for a fusion protein selection construct in a repeatable batch-type process. This allows for the maintenance of the best novel molecules while keeping the fusion protein stable by refreshing its population many times. EXAMPLE XII Directed Evolution of a Novel Protease Specific for a Recognition Sequence from HIV gp120 Encoded in an M13 Vector Using Selection Constructs Containing Enzymes Important in the Synthesis of Chorismate in E. coli Using Differential Mutation Rate, Redundancy and a Heterogeneous Initial Population Chorismate is a branch point in the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan. Its production is catalyzed by the enzymatic action of chorismate synthase on 3-enolpyruvyl-shikimate 5-phosphate. Production of chorismate follows a linear unbranched pathway from 3-deoxy-7-phospho-D-arabinoheptulosonate. The pathway including chorismate and 3-deoxy-7-phospho-D-arabinoheptulosonate contains seven members and is catalyzed by six different enzymes of which one is chorismate synthase. Each of the six enzymes is used in a different protein fusion selection construct encoded on the E. coli chromosome of a strain selected to require chorismate for efficient growth and selected to be protease deficient. The coding sequence for each enzyme, flanked on both sides with the proteolytic recognition sequence of interest, amino acids 271-295 of variable region 3 from HIV gp120 (N-N-T-R-K-S-I-R-I-Q-R-G-P-G-R-A-F-V-T-I-G-K-I-G-N), is sandwiched between appropriate bulky groups such as β-galactosidase, one of the three phospho-2-3-deoxyheptonate aldolases and proteins from bacteriophage, as described in other examples. The fusion proteins are encoded on the E. coli chromosome under the control of the strongest promoter which is shown to confer acceptable background activity. It is preferred to use modulation moieties each of which is non-homologous and which have no homology to genes within the E. coli chromosome. Modulation molecules are chosen which effectively down-modulate the six enzymes including chorismate synthase. These redundant selection molecules channel the development of a protease specific for the recognition sequence from gp120 which is the only common sequence to all of the fusions. The E. coli cell line produced encodes all six of the fusion based selection constructs thereby creating a redundant system. In this system, the biosynthesis of chorismate is blocked even if five of the six protein fusions undergo non-useful deletions. In addition, the redundant system works even if down-modulation of the enzymatic functions in the several proteins is not complete. Since each of the enzymes catalyzes a reaction in the same pathway, the down-modulation of each within their fusions has a cumulative effect on the production of chorismate. The putative novel molecule population is encoded in an M13 phage. The evolutionary starting points for the novel molecule include HIV protease subtilisin BPN, polio 3C protease and collagenases from Achromobacter iophagus and clostridium histolyticium. A large population of such phage are mutagenized so as to confer an evolutionary head start to the putative novel molecule population. Differential mutation rates for the selection constructs and the novel molecules are created by using different origins of replication and their corresponding replication machinery. The selection constructs are replicated solely by the natural E. coli holoenzyme complex while the novel molecules may be replicated by the T7 DNA replication machinery. To create an M13 phage in which replication of the putative novel molecule population is directed by T7 machinery, a dual replication mechanism is introduced. M13 is encoded on a circular single stranded DNA genome. T7 is a linear double stranded DNA phage. During its replication,. however, M13 is produced in a double stranded form. The normal M13 origin is kept intact so as to get the phage to its double stranded form, and then a T7 replication system can be targeted to replicate genes on the M13 genome. To do this T7 genes required for replication including mutant low fidelity T7 DNA polymerase are expressed from either the M13 genome, the bacterial chromosome, or a plasmid. These genes include a modified T7 DNA polymerase (gene 5) of low fidelity, the T7 RNA polymerase, and the T7 gyrase (gene 4) (38). The T7 replication machinery is under the control of a strong promoter so that a high copy number is achieved. The M13 genome contains a number of T7 origins of replication so that once the M13 is double stranded, the large copy number of T7 replication machinery successfully competes with the E. coli holoenzyme (which is present in very low copy numbers within a cell) for the replication of the M13 genome. The putative novel molecule or molecules are located near the T7 origin of replication so as to increase the likelihood that if both a bacterial holoenzyme and a T7 DNA polymerase are actively replicating the same M13 genome, the modified T7 polymerase with low fidelity will replicate the novel molecule. The differential mutation rate is also enhanced by increasing the copy number of putative novel molecule sequences on the M13 genome. These sequences may or may not be complete. For example, multiple copies of the complete putative novel molecule may lead to beneficial homologous recombinations. In addition, small stretches of DNA, especially those encoding important portions of the novel molecule such as the catalytic site, may be randomly incorporated into the M13 genome so that increased numbers of small recombinations around important sites will occur. These small sequences will also be likely to bring in random flanking sequences (since they are randomly distributed in the genome) in some fraction of the recombinations. The E. coli containing the redundant system and the heterogeneous starting population of M13s described above encoding the novel molecules is grown in a chemostat. The selection pressure is modulated, kept constant, or regularly cycled by adjusting the chemostat environment, in particular the concentration of the amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan and the flow rate. Samples of the M13 bacteriophage are taken regularly and assayed for the ability to produce novel molecules with the desired proteolytic activity. EXAMPLE XIII Directed Evolution of a Novel Kinase for NRI from E. Coli Example XIII describes a method for the directed evolution of a kinase capable of phosphorylating and thereby modulating the function of NRI from E. coli (2). Evolutionary starting points are encoded on a plasmid replicated by low-fidelity T7 replication machinery. The phosphorylated NRI allows for cell growth within the selection system, and therefore this is an example of positive cellular selection. An E. coli strain, selected for the requirement of glutamine synthetase for efficient growth is constructed with the following modifications. In this strain the glnA-glnL-glnG operon is substantially altered. The promoters recognized by σ70 are deleted. The glnL and glnG genes are deleted and replaced by the gene for DNaA. All other copies of the DNaA gene are deleted. The glnG gene, which encodes NRI, is placed under the control of a promoter recognized by a factor such as σ70 and not σ54. The required genes for T7 replication (38) with a T7 DNA polymerase of low fidelity are inserted and properly promoted and expressed. A plasmid is constructed and introduced into the strain which is replicated by the low-fidelity T7 replication machinery. Thus the plasmid, based on pUC118, is a deletant for origins of replication functionally recognized by cellular replication machinery and instead contains the major origin of T7 replication which contains promoters ø1.1A and ø1.1B. A heterogeneous set of evolutionary starting points based on bacterial kinases, CheA, SpoIIJ, FrzE, DctB, and AprZ are mutated and inserted into the plasmid so as to allow their proper expression. The cells are then incubated in glutamine and nitrogen limiting media. Cells capable of growth are selected. In this example selection occurs through a cascade. A properly phosphorylated NRI is capable of acting as an enhancer to the promoter glnApZ recognized by σ54 by binding an upstream DNA sequence. The enhanced glnApZ promoter then allows for the high level expression of glnA (glutamine synthetase) and DNaA. These proteins then in turn activate cascades which allow for cellular growth and replication. 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Queener et al., Screening and Selection for Strain Improvement, Chapter 12, from Manual of Industrial Microbiology, Edited by Demain & Solomon, pp. 155-169 (1986). 44. Krausslich et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 86, pp. 807-811 (1989). 45. Kotler et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 85, pp. 4185-4189 (1988). 46. Laskowski, Deoxyribonuclease I, from The Enzymes, Third Edition, Vol. 4, pp. 289-311, edited by Boyer (1971). 47. Moore, Pancreatic DNase, from The Enzymes, Third Edition, Vol. 14, pp. 281-296, edited by Boyer (1981). 48. Kain, Biotechniques, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 366-73 (1991) | <SOH> TECHNICAL FIELD <EOH>The invention relates broadly to rational methods using recombinant genetic techniques and selection to isolate, create or direct the evolution of genes which express novel molecules having a desired interaction with substrates of interest. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for isolating, creating or evolving novel molecules including organic, inorganic and biomolecules such as proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, oligonucleotides, lipids and polysaccharides for use as reactants, catalysts, enzymatic cofactors, repressors, enhancers, hormones and binders for a wide variety of substrates in industrial and therapeutic products. Even more specifically, the invention relates to methods wherein host cells and/or viruses, which express a modulated growth factor for the host or for the virus functionally associated with a substrate of interest or analog thereof, and multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of putative novel molecules which may interact with the substrate of interest or analog to alter the activity of the growth factor, are subjected to selection conditions or evolutionary selection conditions to select for hosts or viruses, or mutations thereof carrying the gene which expresses the novel molecule of interest. The methods of the invention can be used to rationally create molecules having a wide range of interesting properties including catalysts, e.g., proteases, binding peptides, enzymatic cofactors, enhancers, repressors, and hormones, among others, for a variety of industrial, research or therapeutic uses. Several publications are referenced in this application by Arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citation for these references are found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The references more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains as well as certain aspects of the invention itself. 1. Background of the Invention In general, there are three ways in which a molecule with novel properties may be obtained. A first method, e.g., protein engineering, relies on known properties of a general type of molecule and upon theoretical models which attempt to define the conformation of molecules most likely to have the desired properties. No models have proved general enough or exact enough to reproducibly design appropriate molecules. A second method is screening. Screening requires that multiple permutations of molecules be tested for a given property. The current status of screening technology and the vast number of different permutations limits the usefulness of this technique. For example, a peptide sequence of twenty amino acids has 20 20 different permutations. To screen bacteria producing different permutations of peptides of significant length, billions upon billions of petri dishes, each on the order of a thousand colonies, would be needed. To screen such large populations to find those few members, if any, which have the desired characteristics is extremely inefficient. Screening techniques are not adequate for the realistic performance of such tasks. A third method employs natural selection in specific non-generalizable ways. For example, if a unicellular organism is missing an enzyme in a critical metabolic pathway, one can try to select for a molecule with the same function as that lost by the mutant. This technique is limited, however, by the reactions that are encoded in the genome of the organism and that may be complemented within the cell. Moreover, for each different complementation experiment, a new mutant strain is needed. 2. The Prior Art Methods for selecting organisms are well known in the art. These methods include growing host cells in the absence of an essential nutrient, on organic compounds which cannot be utilized by parental strains or in the presence of toxic analogs in order to select for organisms which, for example, express molecules essential for cell growth. Such techniques are primitive because growth in the absence of an essential nutrient does not permit the researcher to rationally design procedures for the selection of molecules for any specific type of reaction or for any particular targeted region within the substrate. Selection pressure based on growth in the absence of an essential nutrient is crude in that no rationally defined selection pressure through which a growth advantage or disadvantage is conferred is imposed and therefore hosts may be selected which achieve survival by expressing molecules having a range of functions. This limits the usefulness of such methods since it reduces the ability of the hosts to isolate or create molecules with specific desired capabilities. For example, growth on organic compounds which cannot be utilized by parental strains is limited because the hosts are selected only on the basis of their capability of utilizing the organic compound. Use of the organic compound may be accomplished through any of a number of different reactions. There is no rational method to isolate, create or direct the evolution of a molecule capable of a specific reaction with a targeted region within a specific substrate. Dube et al., Biochemistry , Vol. 28, No. 14, Jul. 11, 1989, disclose the remodeling of genes coding for β-lactamase, by replacing DNA at the active site with random nucleotide sequences. The oligonucleotide replacement preserves certain codons critical for activity but contains base pairs of chemically synthesized random sequences that code for more than a million amino acid substitutions. A population of E. coli were infected with plasmids containing these random inserts and the populations were incubated in the presence of carbenicillin and certain related analogs of carbenicillin. Seven new active-site mutants that rendered the E. coli host resistant to carbenicillin were selected, each containing multinucleotide substitutions that code for different amino acids. Each of the mutants exhibited a temperature-sensitive, β-lactamase activity. Dube et al. is thus limited to enhancing the already known function of a class of enzymes. A process for producing novel molecules and DNA and RNA sequences through recombinant techniques and selection is disclosed in Kauffman et al., U.K., Patent Application No. GB 2183661A, filed Jun. 17, 1985. Mutated genes are introduced into host cells, the modified hosts are grown so that the mutated genes are cloned, thereby promoting production of the proteins expressed by said genes, the modified host cells are screened and/or selected so as to identify the strains of host cells producing novel proteins with a desired property, and the identified strains are grown so as to produce a novel molecule having the desired property. The techniques taught in Kauffman et al. like those in Dube et al. are limited to methods for modifying the known function of certain classes of molecules. Schatz et al., Cell , Vol. 53, pp. 107-115 (1988) describe a method for the identification of a fibroblast cell line capable of expressing a gene which encodes an enzyme having known recombinase activity. The method is based upon a process of somatic recombination in which widely separated gene segments are ligated together to form a complete variable region (the variable region being assembled from V (variable), J (joining) and in some cases D (diversity) gene segments in an ordered and highly regulated fashion). Gene transfer is used to stably confer on a fibroblast the ability to carry out V(D)J rearrangements. Retrovirus-based DNA recombination substrates that comprise a library of genes, some of which encode the recombinase gene, i.e., the gene which expresses the enzyme(s) which play a role in V(D)J recombination, were transfected into host cells which contain a gene expressing a growth factor flanked by the recombinase recognition sequences. Initially, the gene expressing the growth factor was not transcribed or translated. However, transcription and translation of the growth factor was activated when recombinase activity was expressed through the interaction of recombinase with the recombinase recognition sequences. Bock et al., Nature , Vol. 355, pp. 564-567 (1992), report efforts to select DNA molecules with novel functions. Aptamers, stochastically generated oligonucleotides capable of binding specific molecular targets, were selected in cell-free selection procedures. Single-stranded DNA can be screened for aptamers that bind human thrombin, a protein with no known nucleic acid-binding function. These processes, which actually constitute cell-free screening procedures, include the screening and the amplification of some members of a sub-population. The other members are discarded. Curtiss, PCT Application No. WO89/03427, discloses methods and techniques for expressing recombinant genes in host cells. Curtiss discloses genetically engineered host cells which express desired gene products because they are maintained in a genetically stable population. The genetically engineered cells are characterized by: (1) the lack of a gene encoding an enzyme essential for cell wall growth, i.e., the inability to catalyze a step in the biosynthesis of an essential cell wall structural component; (2) a first recombinant gene encoding an enzyme which is the functional replacement of the enzyme essential for cell wall growth; and, (3) a second recombinant gene encoding a desired polypeptide which is physically linked to the first recombinant gene. Loss of the first recombinant gene causes the cells to lyse when the cells are in an environment where a product expressed by the first recombinant gene is absent, and where the cells are grown in an environment such that the absence of the first recombinant gene causes the cells to lyse. Baum et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci ., ( USA ), Vol. 87, pp. 10023-10027 (1990), relates to a method for monitoring cleavage interactions by a variety of proteases. A fusion construct is created by inserting a protease cleavage site e.g., decapeptide human immunodeficiency virus (“HIV”) protease recognition sequence, into specific locations of β-galactosidase in E. coli . Those construct genes, which retain their enzymic activity despite insertion of the cleavage site, are subcloned into plasmids which encode wild type and mutant HIV protease, respectively. The fusion construct was found to be cleaved by wild type HIV protease and not mutant HIV protease in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Upon cleavage by HIV protease, the altered β-galactosidase is inactivated. The cleavage reaction is inhibited by pepstatin A, a known inhibitor of HIV protease. An analogous construct was developed using a polio protease cleavage site, which was cleaved by polio protease. Paoletti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,330, disclose methods for modifying the genome of vaccinia virus in order to produce vaccinia mutants, particularly by the introduction into the vaccinia genome of exogenous DNA. DNA sequences and unmodified and genetically modified microorganisms involved as intermediates are disclosed as are methods for infecting cells and host animals with the vaccinia mutants in order to amplify the exogenous DNA and proteins encoded by the exogenous DNA. This reference is representative of art-known recombinant techniques used to modify both viruses and host cell microorganisms. Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,898, relates to the use of recombinant DNA techniques to make analogs of toxin molecules and to the use of such molecules to treat medical disorders. The toxin molecules can be linked to any specific-binding ligand, whether or not it is a peptide, at a position which is predeterminedly the same for every toxin molecule. Anderson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,035, disclose a method for delivery and transfer of genetic information by packaging a hybrid DNA-protein complex into a viral vector, and then transferring this genetic information from the hybrid virus into susceptible microorganisms. An organism having a function or capability desired to be transferred is selected and the DNA thereof is isolated/purified and cleaved to separate the exogenous genes controlling the function desired to be transferred or cloned. These exogenous genes are inserted into the DNA of a virus. The resulting hybrid DNA-protein is introduced into a cell-free in vitro medium, along with a source of viral capsid precursor structure, i.e., proheads, and required accessory viral structural and packaging proteins in order to assemble an infectious hybrid virus encapsidating the hybrid DNA. The viral capsid precursor structure, and accessory viral structural and packaging proteins, are produced by infecting capable microorganisms with a first viral mutant capable of producing capsid precursor structures without producing at least one packaging protein and infecting compatible microorganisms with a second viral mutant capable of producing accessory viral structural and packaging proteins without producing capsid precursor structures. These infected cells are then mixed and lysed to provide the source of virus components for in vitro packaging for hybrid DNA-protein. The hybrid virus is then used to infect microorganisms compatible with the virus to program the infected cells to serially reproduce the desired function of the exogenous genes and the genes themselves as nucleic acids. Dulbecco, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,002, discloses a method for incorporating DNA fragments into the DNA gene of a virus. The DNA fragments encode for proteins which have specific medical or commercial use. Small segments of an original protein exhibiting desired functions are identified and a DNA fragment, having a nucleotide base sequence encoding that segment of the protein, is isolated/purified from an organism or synthesized chemically. The isolated/purified DNA fragment is inserted into the DNA genome of the virus so that the inserted DNA fragment expresses itself as the foreign segment of a surface viral protein and so that neither the function of the protein segment nor the function of any viral protein critical for viral replication is impaired. None of the prior art methods offers a rational approach employing selection procedures to the isolation, creation, or creation by directed evolution of novel molecules having a specific function with respect to a chosen substrate of interest. The screening methods are inherently inefficient, wasteful and time consuming. The primitive methods of selection disclosed in the art do not permit the creation, for example, of molecules having high specificity, either as a binder or as catalyst, for a particular recognition sequence. They produce limited numbers of molecules with limited properties. Moreover, none of the prior art references teach methods which are universal in their applicability. There are no prior art methods for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of genes which express different molecules each having a rationally designed activity with respect to a substrate of interest. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention is broadly in rational methods for the isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule capable of desired interaction with a substrate of interest. The method involves selecting hosts, or replicators in hosts, which encode novel molecules based upon cell or replicator growth caused by the desired interaction of the novel molecule and a selection molecule expressed by the host. The method is performed by expressing multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules in a population of host cells containing a cell growth factor and/or a replicator (e.g., a virus) growth factor, and a substrate of interest or analog thereof functionally associated with said growth factor, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for those hosts or those replicators which express a novel molecule which interacts with the substrate of interest or analog to alter the activity of the growth factor. The invention is also in the modified host cells for use in the invention, in the modified replicators, in certain selection molecules used in carrying out the methods, in the genes and novel molecules produced by the methods of the invention and in systems and kits useful for practicing the invention. Selection for Host Methods The isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes a novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest may be performed by the steps of expressing in a population of host cells multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a multiplicity of putative novel molecules, and adding or expressing a cell growth factor, a substrate of interest or analog thereof having a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, and optionally a growth factor modulation moiety, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for those hosts containing genes capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence to alter the activity of the growth factor. The order of expression of the putative novel molecules and the order of expression and/or addition of the growth factor, substrate of interest or analog thereof and modulation moiety relative to one another and to the expression of the putative novel molecules, and the timing of the selection process with respect to any of such steps is a matter of choice. In some embodiments it may be advantageous to impose selection conditions on a population of hosts or replicators prior to modifying the host or replicators to express growth factors, recognition sequences or modulation moieties, or selection molecules incorporating same, so as to develop a desired host or replicator strain for subsequent selection. The method may be performed by introducing a homogeneous population of genes which may express multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a heterogeneous population of genes which may express a multiplicity of different putative novel molecules or molecules with evolutionary potential into a population of host cells whose genome has been artificially altered to express a cell growth factor and a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, imposing selection conditions, e.g., cultivating or incubating the population of host cells under selection conditions to select for those hosts containing genes capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the sequence to alter the activity of the growth factor and isolating/purifying the gene of interest from the selected cell population. The gene of interest may then be used to express additional quantities of the novel molecule. The growth factor and recognition sequence may be present as individual molecules or groups of molecules, or, may be associated together in molecules which incorporate both of them. The host cells, e.g., E. coli , may be modified by exogenous addition of the growth factor and/or recognition sequence, or, the growth factor and/or recognition sequence may be expressed by the host. By imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells it is possible to select for those hosts containing genes, or mutations thereof, capable of expressing a novel molecule which has the desired interaction with the recognition sequence and which thereby affects the activity of the growth factor. Selection for Replicator Methods The isolation, creation or directed evolution of a gene which encodes novel molecule capable of a desired interaction with a substrate of interest may also be performed by expressing multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or multiplicity of different putative novel molecules encoded by a replicator, e.g., a virus, in a population of host cells which contain or express a growth factor for the replicator, a substrate of interest or analog thereof which incorporates a recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor, and optionally a growth factor modulation moiety, and imposing selection conditions on the population of host cells to select for the replicator, e.g., virus, capable of expressing a novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence so as to alter the activity of the growth factor. These methods may be performed, for example, by introducing a replicator, e.g., a virus, into a population of host cells whose genome has been artificially altered to express a growth factor for the virus and a recognition sequence representing the substrate of interest which is functionally associated with the growth factor, cultivating or incubating that population of host cells to select for the viruses capable of expressing the novel molecule which interacts with the recognition sequence so as to alter the activity of the growth factor, and isolating/purifying the gene of interest. As in the host methods, the order of expression and/or addition of the several components of the process and the order of expression and/or addition relative to imposition of selection conditions is a matter of choice. In such methods, a homogeneous population of viruses which expresses multiple copies of a putative novel molecule or a heterogeneous population of viruses containing a multiplicity of mutant genes, each of which may express a different putative novel molecule, is introduced into a population of modified host cells which contain a functionally down-modulated growth factor necessary for the growth and/or replication of the viruses and a recognition sequence as described above. Those viruses which express novel molecules which interact with the recognition sequence and thereby up-modulate the activity of the growth factor will replicate within the host. Those viruses which express novel molecules which do not have the desired interaction will not be replicated. The host cells can then be incubated or cultivated under selection conditions to select for the population of the viruses which express the novel molecules of interest. In a preferred method, the genome of the host cells are artificially altered to express a molecule or molecules which include the growth factor and the recognition sequence which represents the substrate of interest and which is functionally associated with the growth factor. The population of cells is then infected by a replicator, e.g., a virus, whose genome is capable of expressing multiple copies of a molecule or a multiplicity of different molecules which may interact with the selection molecule expressed by the recombinant genome of the host cell. Those novel molecules which interact with the recognition sequence so as to alter the function of the growth factor will confer a selective growth advantage on the virus which expresses the novel molecule of choice. The population of host cells can then be cultivated or incubated to create an amplified population of the desired virus. As in host selection, the genome of the host cells are artificially altered to express a growth factor and a recognition sequence, as individual molecules or as physical or chemical associations or combinations thereof. The recognition sequence represents the substrate of interest and is functionally associated with the replicator growth factor. Desirably the genome is modified by recombinant methods to express a selection molecule e.g., a fusion or deletion protein, which includes both the growth factor and the recognition sequence. The growth factor and recognition sequence may be associated with a selection moiety which modulates the activity of the growth factor. The selection moiety may be an individual molecule(s) or may be part of a selection molecule(s), e.g., fusion or deletion protein, which also includes the growth factor and the recognition sequence. The novel molecule to be obtained may act through a cascade of events, i.e., it may interact with the recognition sequence to cause the desired effect or that interaction may start a cascade of events with any number of intermediate steps which ultimately affects the activity of the growth factor. Each molecule in the cascade can be a natural or engineered substrate within the host cell or an exogenously supplied substrate or can be, itself, a novel molecule. The host selection and replicator selection methods of the invention can be used to create a wide range of novel molecules, e.g., novel proteases capable of a desired interaction with a protease recognition sequence. Molecules other than proteases can be produced, e.g., enzymes capable of site specific glycosylation (or phosphorylation, etc.) around an important cellular protein for growth which is particularly sensitive to glycosylation (or phosphorylation, etc.) and is permissive to the insertion of recognition sequences. The universal selection method links the formation of virtually any product to the growth of a cell. For example, in the reaction A+B→C (catalyzed by X), linking the production of C to the growth ability of a cell, even though C may have no effect on the growth of the cell directly or indirectly, one can select for that member of a population of putative novel molecules which is capable of catalyzing the reaction (whatever the reaction type may be) or is capable of acting as a substrate or is capable of acting as the product C itself—in short—capable of acting in any way so as to contribute to the production of C. The invention offers significant advantages over the prior art techniques. It offers an inherent efficiency increase over screening and places the burdens on the experimental system rather than on the experimenters. In selection, the environmental conditions determine which members of a population are viable. By properly defining the selection procedures and conditions, those clones with the desired properties can be obtained from a huge population. The selection procedures of the invention have the advantage that they may be used to obtain a vast array of novel molecules each of which is highly specific for a given recognition sequence and interaction. In contrast, the primitive selection methods of the prior art are crude and empirical. | 20040623 | 20060627 | 20050519 | 70961.0 | 0 | BRUSCA, JOHN S | SELECTION METHODS | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,366 | ACCEPTED | Glycol proportioning panel | A glycol proportioning station that provides a deicing mixture of glycol and water to tank trucks that in turn spray the deicing mixture onto aircraft. The invention includes a remote control that is positioned where the truck is loaded and which runs in parallel with the controls on the main unit of the system. The proportioning system operates with an economy of parts by employing constant flow rates of both water and glycol. The desired percentage of glycol in the effluent is obtained by initially setting the position of one or more modulating valves provided on each of separate water and glycol lines and then employing a refractometer feedback loop to modulate the flow in one or both of the input lines. A static mixer positioned along the effluent line upstream of the in-line refractometer provides a uniform glycol-water mixture. The system provides other novel features such as a “last fill” option that prevents the system from freezing when it is not being used. | 1-10. (canceled) 11. A method of obtaining a desired mixture of glycol and water for use in deicing aircraft, said method comprising: (a) providing two input lines, one input line adapted to transport glycol and the other input line adapted to transport water, and merging the lines into a common effluent line; (b) selecting a desired percentage of glycol in the effluent and adjusting at least one valve disposed on one of the glycol and water lines to achieve the desired glycol percentage; then (c) providing a substantially constant flow of water and glycol to the two input lines; and then (d) monitoring the refractive index of the effluent stream with a refractometer and converting the refractive index to glycol concentration. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising initially providing a substantially matched flow of glycol and water to the two input lines in step (b). 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising, before step (b), partially closing a pressure reducing valve on one of the input lines to provide the substantially matching flow rates. 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating an error signal if the glycol concentration is outside a pre-determined tolerance. 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising modulating the at least one valve in response to the glycol concentration. 16. A method of automatically refilling a supply tank for a glycol proportioning panel, comprising: (a) providing a microprocessor in communication with the glycol proportioning panel; (b) sending a tank level signal form the glycol supply tank to the microprocessor, the microprocessor thereby monitoring the level of glycol in the glycol supply tank; (c) upon the level of glycol in the tank declining to a predetermined value, the microprocessor creating and sending an email message over a communications network to a glycol supplier; and (d) the glycol supplier transporting fresh glycol to and filling the glycol tank in response to the email message. | CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/307,430, filed Jul. 24, 2001. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to aircraft de-icing operations and more particularly to apparatus that mix and dispense deicing liquids that are in turn sprayed onto aircraft. BACKGROUND In northern climates during winter months, aircraft which are either parked on the ground overnight or which are on the ground during severe winter weather frequently accumulate snow or ice on the airfoil surfaces. It is thus necessary to remove this material prior to takeoff and such removal has been the subject of a variety of deicing equipment in the prior art. The typical approach is to apply deicing compositions to aircraft in wintery weather before takeoff to deice them and to prevent ice from forming for a certain period (the so-called “hold-over time”). This goal is frequently achieved with mixtures of water and ethylene glycol or water and propylene glycol The most popular equipment to apply the deicing mixtures are self-contained trucks having an extendible and maneuverable boom mounted thereon and a tank containing the deicing mixture. The truck typically includes a self-contained heater that heats the glycol-water mixture to 160 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. The heated deicing fluid is then pumped through a hose to the end of the boom where the operator directs a stream of the heated deicing fluid mixture from a nozzle onto the aircraft. This procedure removes the snow and/or ice and provides a coating of glycol which largely prevents further formation of the freezing substance during the hold-over time. This deicing procedure normally takes place on the tarmac just prior to the plane's departure after which the aircraft's normal internal electrical deicing systems are employed. It is known to provide “glycol proportioning panels,” as they are known in the art, that mix water and pure ethylene or propylene glycol and provide the mixture to the trucks that in turn spray it onto the aircraft. Most of these known proportioning panels are large, ungainly, expensive and offer limited mixing functionality. For example, one disadvantage of these known proportioning systems is that the desired ratio of glycol to water is typically limited to only three or four settings. However, to minimize glycol waste and to optimize the mixture for a given weather condition, more selections of glycol mixtures are desirable. Another disadvantage to presently available glycol proportioning panels is that the systems are housed in a building that may be hundreds of feet from where the truck that sprays the mix onto the aircraft is loaded. The mixture is piped over this distance. The distance between the main unit and the location where the effluent is being dispensed can create a communication problem between the operator of the panel who is located in the building, and the personnel who are loading the truck, who are outside and several hundred feet away. Another disadvantage of known proportioning systems is that they employ variable speed or frequency pumps to proportion the percentages of glycol and water. In addition to creating more process variables to be monitored, the variable speed pumps can be undesirably slow. Systems relying on multiport computer controlled valves to mix glycol and water are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,005 (Hope et al.) discloses a glycol proportioning station wherein water is pumped by a pump and its flow rate measured by a flow meter. Glycol is pumped through another pump and through a multi-port valve, which has multiple ports of different sizes that are pneumatically opened or closed in response to pre-programmed signals from a controller that is coupled to the multiport valve. In use, the water flow rate is sensed and the flow of glycol is controlled by the multi-port digital valve, which opens and closes any number of ten possible elements, or parts, to accommodate the required flow. It is also known in the art to use refractometers with glycol mixing systems for aircraft. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,497 to Susko discloses a deicing system in which a refractometer is used to monitor the mixed fluid and adjust flow of the glycol and water lines as necessary. Separate supply lines provide controlled flows of water and glycol to a wye-connection point. Each supply line has its own pump and throttling valve to control flow, as directed by a microprocessor. The system includes a heat exchanger into which fluid is recycled until the glycol mix reaches the desired temperature and until the refractive index read by a refractometer has reached the set point. The refractometer output signal indicates whether the refractive index is at, below, or above the set point. If below the set point, the microprocessor adjusts a valve on the glycol line to add glycol to the mix; if above the set point the microprocessor adjusts the valve on the water line to add water to the mix. Once the correct temperature and refractive index are recognized at the microprocessor, a valve is opened on the effluent line and the mixture is delivered. U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,593 (Thomton-Trump) discloses an aircraft deicing system which includes a specific gravity meter that displays the glycol percentage to an operator positioned in a basket and a lever to adjust the glycol percentage in the effluent. By adjusting the lever, the operator may vary the amount of pure glycol fed into the mixture line and thereby adjust the glycol percentage in the effluent. In summary, known glycol proportioning panels can be expensive, slow and inflexible. What is needed is a glycol proportioning panel that addresses these drawbacks. SUMMARY The present invention provides a glycol proportioning station that provides a deicing mixture of glycol and water to tank trucks that in turn spray the deicing mixture onto aircraft. The invention includes two independent ways to modulate flow in the separate glycol and water lines that are merged into the effluent. The first method involves measuring the flow rates in the individual glycol and water lines, totalizing them and calculating the percentage of glycol in the effluent. The second method involves reading the refractive index of the effluent and converting it to glycol concentration. The system's refractometer can thus be used as a back-up to check the glycol concentration of the effluent, and a visual or audible warning signal can be activated when the percentage of glycol in the effluent, as read by the refractometer, is outside of the set tolerance, typically about two (2) percent. In another form of the present invention, the refractometer can be used in a feedback loop which includes a microprocessor to adjust flow control valves instead adjusting them based upon the flow meters. In another preferred form, the flow can be initially set by adjusting one or more characterized ball valves on one or more of the glycol or water input lines. Then, after flow has reached substantially steady state, flow can be modulated by means of the refractometer feedback loop just discussed. In another embodiment of the present invention, a remote control is positioned where the truck is loaded and runs in parallel with the controls on the main unit of the system. The main unit includes a first control panel having a first display mounted thereon for controlling the operation of the proportioning station. A remote control panel having a second display is located a distance from the main unit, and is capable of operating the main unit in parallel with the controls on the main unit. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a method of obtaining a desired mixture of glycol and water for use in deicing aircraft. The method comprises providing two input lines, one adapted to transport glycol and the other adapted to transport water, and merging the lines into an effluent line. Substantially constant flow of glycol and water is provided to the two input lines, espectively. Preferably, the flow rates are matched by adjusting a pressure reducing valve on the line which has the greater maximum flow. The flow rates in the two input lines are monitored and glycol percentage in the effluent is calculated therefrom. The refractive index of the effluent is monitored with a refractometer and converted into glycol concentration. The glycol concentration measured from the refractometer is compared to the calculated percentage of glycol. Finally, if the glycol concentration measured from the refractometer is outside a predetermined tolerance, either an error signal is produced or the system employs a feedback loop to adjust one of the flow control valves. One advantage of the present invention is that it provides an accurate yet reliable system for proportioning a mixture of water and glycol. Advantageously, the system includes two separate means for determining glycol concentration. The system's on-line refractometer can be used to verify the accuracy of the glycol percentage calculated by measuring the individual flow rates of glycol and water, or it can be used as an independent means for modulating glycol or waterflow. The system also provides the capability of initially mixing based upon flow rates then later mixing based upon the refractometer reading. Another advantage of the present invention is that the proportioning station can be controlled proximate the tank truck which will spray the mix on the aircraft. This avoids communication problems between the operator of the station and the operator filling the truck, and thereby makes it easier to accomplish the job. The remote panel may also allow the dispensing of the glycol mix to be accomplished with one less person. Another advantage of the present invention is that it uses substantially constant flow, which allows a much quicker fill time. Flow rates up to 300 gallons per minute or more are possible, which is much faster than systems employing variable frequency pumps. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it is economical. Glycol stations employing the present invention may cost only a fraction of the cost of competing glycol proportioning stations, which can ultimately help reduce the cost of air travel. Still another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a uniform mixture of glycol and water with an economy of moving parts. This is accomplished by building a static mixer into the effluent line downstream of the manifold which merges the glycol and water streams. The static mixer provides uniform mixing under very low temperatures or if thickening agents are added to the glycol. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The above-mentioned and other advantages of the present invention, and the manner of obtaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glycol proportioning station in accordance with the present invention and which also illustrates a portable panel for remotely controlling the proportioning station; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the interior of the main panel of the glycol proportioning station shown in FIG. 1; FIGS. 3A-3D are various illustrations of a static mixer in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating web enablement of the system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the controls for the glycol proportioning station of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating more of the controls for the glycol proportioning station of the present invention. Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 1, glycol proportioning station 20 includes main unit 22 and remote control unit 24 communicably connected to one another by wires 26 and 28. Glycol inlet 30 and water inlet 32 are adapted to receive glycol from a supply tank (not shown) and water from a municipal supply (not shown). A pump/starter 31 which is powered by unit 22 (ee FIG. 2) supplies pure glycol from a tank (not shown) and feeds it into inlet 30. The mechanical fittings of inlets 30 and 32 can be any of a wide variety of commercial fittings, quick disconnects, and the like. Unit 22 includes a hingedly attached front cover panel 34 (see FIG. 2) which is fitted with a smaller door 36 behind which are controls 38 and display 40. Also disposed on front cover panel 34 are a series of push buttons and lights 42, whose specific operations will be described in more detail below. An “emergency stop” button 44 allows the operator to shut down the system at any time. Strobe light 46 flashes and speaker 47 sounds an audible alarm to indicate a low temperature condition. Unit 22 includes legs 48 that are formed of angled steel welded to the body of panel 22, which is also formed of steel. Optionally, the body of panel 34 can be formed of stainless steel. Outlet 50 dispenses a mixture of glycol and water in a desired concentration. An in-line refractometer 51 is mounted to unit 22 and monitors the refractive index of the mixture of glycol and water passing through coupling 53 and correlates the index to the concentration of glycol. Refractometer 51 measures the concentration of glycol in the mixture by measuring refractive indices as is known in the art and feeds the concentration back to processor 104, discussed below. Alternatively, the refractometer can supply the refractive index to processor 104, and processor 104 can convert the index to concentration of glycol. An in-line refractometer suitable for the present invention is available from AFAB Enterprises, Eustis, Fla., Part No. PR-111. Although it is envisioned that other refractometers may also work well, it is important that the refractometer maintain a steady reading under high and erratic or turbulent flow conditions. As discussed below, a static mixer is disposed in the effluent line in close proximity upstream of refractometer 51, which causes turbulence, which in turn can be problematic if the refractometer does not perform well under such flow conditions. Furthermore, typical flow rates from outlet 50 can exceed 300 gallons per minute, and the refractometer must be able to provide an accurate reading under such high flow conditions. Again referring to FIG. 1, remote control unit 24 includes a hingedly attached door 52, controls 54, display 56 and push buttons and lights 58. Essentially, remote control 24 allows an operator to control the glycol proportioning station in parallel with or instead of operating the station from main unit 22. The length of cables 26 and 28 can be adjusted to any desired distance, as dictated by the distance between the location of main unit 22, which is typically inside, and the position of the truck to be loaded, which can be several hundred feet away from unit 22. Turning now to FIG. 2, glycol line 60 and water line 62 extend from the bottom to the top of the panel's interior and include several components therealong. First, lines 60 and 62 feed into solenoids 64 and 66, respectively. Standard pressure gauges 68 are disposed about elbows 70 and 72 of lines 60 and 62, respectively. Next along glycol and water pipes 60 and 62 are pressure reducing valves 74 and 76, respectively, which may be used to match the flow rates of the incoming water and glycol lines 62 and 60, as described below. Next along lines 60 and 62 are one way valves 78 and 80, followed by “Belimo valves” 82 and 84. The Belimo valves are electrically connected to system processor 104 for communication therewith, as described below, and are automatically adjusted by same before the start of the operation. The Belimo valves are known in the art as “characterized ball valves” and are believed important to modulating flow in the present invention. The Belimo valves suitable for use with the present invention are available from the Belimo Co., Danbury Conn., Part No. B-249. After the Belimo valves, turbine wheel flow meters 86 and 88 are disposed along lines 60 and 62, respectively, and are connected to processor 104 to feed flow information thereto. Lines 60 and 62 merge into manifold 90 which also includes a pressure gauge 68 mounted thereto. The water and glycol coming together in manifold 90 are fed into static mixer 92, which enhances mixing. Turning now to FIG. 3, the details of static mixer 92 can be more fully appreciated. Mixer 92 includes inlet 94 and outlet 96 and includes baffles 98 therebetween that are welded or otherwise fixed to the inside walls of mixer 92. The baffles mix the glycol and water in the direction of arrows 100. FIGS. 3B, 3C and 3D illustrate the baffles 98 from the top, side and end, respectively. It can thus be appreciated that the baffles create a swirling effect that produces substantially uniform mixing of glycol and water such that a uniform mixture exits outlet 50. Returning now to FIG. 2, the componentry installed on the right side of divider 102 in unit 22 is described from top to bottom. First, block A includes 120 volt circuit breakers for various system components. Each specific circuit breaker is noted in the top left portion of FIG. 4. Terminal block B shown in FIG. 2 includes inputs and outputs for the heaters, the solenoids, etc. as shown and described more fully in FIG. 4. In the middle of block B is a power switch 99 that turns on/off with the closing/opening of panel 34. Block B′ includes a 120 volt to 24 volt transformer 101 to supply power to the 24 volt componentry in the panel. Block C includes processor 104 that uses a 2-10 volt output to control Belimo valves 82 and 84. The Belimo valves 82 and 84 return 2-10 volt signals that are fed into rescaling modules 103 and 105 contained in block F. In turn, the resealing modules 103 and 105 send 1-5 volt signals back to processor 104. Also included in block F are two cards 107 and 109, one for each flow meter 86 and 88, that pulse every 4.73 gallons from the flow transmitters to keep track of fluid totals. Also included in block F is a DC power supply 111 which operates in-line refractometer 51. With further reference to FIG. 2, primary and secondary heaters 116 and 118 are mounted on divider wall 102 and include fans 116a and 118a mounted thereon to blow warm air and keep the interior of unit 22 sufficiently warm to prevent freezing in the piping. There is a thermometer (not shown) disposed on the piping side of unit 22 which feeds into microprocessor 104 and the microprocessor in turn controls heaters 116 and 118. Block D includes an alarm temperature controller 119 that engages strobe 46 and speaker 47 should the temperature within unit 22 fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or other pre-selected minimum temperature. The alarm temperature controller serves as a backup should processor 104 fail. Block E includes relays 121 for the various components. The operation of proportioning station 20 will now be explained with reference to the controls illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. When system 20 is initially set up at a facility, one or the other of pressure reducing valves 74 or 76 is constricted so that the both lines 60 and 62 provide approximately the same constant volume input. For example, system 20 is run with the valves wide open, and if the glycol flow were 160 gallons per minute (gpm), whereas the water flow were 150 gpm, the glycol pressure reducing valve 74 would be constricted so as to match the glycol flow rate to that of the water, 150 gpm. Water is often provided directly from a municipal source and in such cases it is easier to match the glycol flow to water, rather than vice versa. The pressure reducing valves need not be readjusted unless the incoming flow rates of water or glycol were to change. This pre-positioning of the valves to provide matched flow rates is a manual step performed on initial start up. For normal operation, the operator ensures that station 20 is in the “auto mode” by moving switch 108 to the “auto” position (FIG. 5), and that emergency stop 110 (FIG. 6) is fully pulled out. Next, the desired glycol percentage is selected by adjusting dial 112 as shown in FIG. 5. The foregoing steps cause processor 104 to send a signal to Belimo valves 82 and 84 (FIG. 2) so these valves initially adjust their positions so that the relative flow of water and glycol therethrough matches the desired ratio of glycol to water selected with dial 112. Once the Belimo valves are in the position as determined by the position of dial 112, the operator pushes start button 114 (FIG. 6), which in turn activates solenoids 64 and 66 to allow water and glycol to flow. Starter/pump 31 activates upon depressing start button 114. The pump 31 pumps glycol into inlet 30 and its suction end is connected to a tank (not shown) of pure glycol as indicated in FIG. 2. Thus, the positions of the Belimo valves 82 and 84 are initially adjusted based upon receiving at their inputs matched flow rates of glycol and water and water. For example, if 55% glycol were dialed in to dial 112, Belimo valve 84 would have to be throttled back or partially closed upon the initial setting being dialed in with dial 112, since otherwise the flow would remain as received, roughly 50% glycol. Once operation begins, turbine wheel flow meters 86 and 88 measure flow and send a signal to processor 104 which in turn displays the actual mix percentage being delivered on display 40. Processor 104 can send a signal to Belimo valves 82 and/or 84 to modulate one or both such that the mix percentage coincides with that selected on dial 112. Optionally, refractometer 51 can also feed back into processor 104 and in turn processor 104 can adjust Belimo valves 82 and 84 to correct the percentage of the mixture being delivered from outlet 50. This is defined as the “refractometer feedback loop.” In one embodiment of system 20, the flow rates of lines 60 and 62 are measured and totalized by turbine flow meters 86 and 88, and the percentage of glycol in the effluent 50 is calculated by processor 104. In turn, processor 104 throttles either Belimo valve 82 or 84 to adjust for variations in glycol percentage and bring the calculated glycol percentage within tolerance. Additionally, refractometer 51 includes display 53 that indicates the glycol percentage of the effluent stream independently of the totalizing method just discussed. If system 20 is operating within tolerance, the value indicated on display 53 should substantially correspond with the value indicated on display 40. In this embodiment, if the display. 53 and display 40 differ by more than a predetermined amount, an error signal can be produced. Mix fail light 126 is then illuminated. Thus, this embodiment provides a back-up system to measure glycol concentration in the effluent. In another embodiment; refractometer 51 is operably connected to processor 104 and sends a signal thereto corresponding to glycol effluent concentration in 20 output 50. Processor 104 then compares the glycol concentration in output 50 as measured from refractometer 51 to the calculated percentage of glycol obtained from totalizing the turbine flow meters 86 and 88, discussed above. Processor 104 then sends a valve readjust signal to either Belimo valve 82 or 84, the valve readjust signal causing valve 82 or 84 to at least partially open or close. (It is preferable to 25 configure system 20 so that the valve corresponding to the flow which fluctuates less is adjusted. Typically, this corresponds to the glycol line 60.) In another embodiment, one or both flow control valves 82 and 84 are initially set based upon receiving equal flow rates of water and glycol, as is achieved by adjusting one of the pressure reducing valves 74 or 76. This initial setting begins before fluid begins to be pumped into lines 60 and 62. Once system 20 reaches substantially steady state proportioning, the refractometer feedback loop takes over and one or both flow control valves 82 and 84 are modulated by refractometer feedback loop described above. This method of initially setting the valves based upon desired glycol percentage as selected, then modulating the Belimo valve(s) based upon the refractometer reading has been found to be particularly desirable because it is manageable and accurate. After sending the readjust signal to the Belimo valve, processor 104 then waits a predetermined time, and rechecks the reading from refractometer 51. This process is repeated until (1) the reading is brought to within a pre-defined tolerance (typically 2%) of the desired concentration or (2) until the Belimo valve reaches the maximum extent to which it can open or close, in which case an error signal occurs; namely, mix fail light 126 illuminates. The extent to which the Belimo valve can be throttled is limited so as to avoid alternately driving the valve open and closed. It has been found that a maximum adjustment of about of 25 gpm is preferable. Other functions of the controls 38 and 40 include level override 120 (FIG. 5) which allows the operator to run the glycol pump even though the system is indicating that the glycol tank is empty. Such might be the case when, for example, the operator wishes to use the glycol pump 31 as an off-load application to load into an empty glycol tank. To maintain the override condition, the operator must keep button 120 depressed. Station 20 also provides a “last fill” option. Typically, for the last run of the evening, the operator would simply push last fill button 122 (FIG. 6) and, irrespective of the position of dial 112, processor 104 will automatically position Belimo valves 82 and 84 such that a 55% glycol mixture is dispensed. This acts as purge such that a residual amount of this higher (55%) concentration of glycol will remain in the discharge piping and prevent it from freezing when the system is shut down and unused for several hours, as occurs typically in the evening. To leave the “last fill” mode, the operator simply presses reset button 124, and when the next cycle begins the processor will return the valves to the setting indicated on dial 112. “Mix Fail” light 126, when illuminated, indicates that the percentage of glycol in the mixture exiting outlet 50 is outside of a predetermined tolerance, typically 2%, as discussed above. This can happen when the Belimo valves become maladjusted, water pressure drops, pump pressure fails, or the refractometer feedback loop described above cannot bring the percentage glycol to within tolerance of the desired concentration. The mix fail signal is preferably sent by in-line refractometer 51 as well as the percentage of glycol as measured by flow meters 86 and 88 and totalized by processor 104. In this regard, in-line refractometer 51 can be configured as a backup to or replacement for flow meters 86 and 88. Station 20 can be programmed to shut down completely in the event of a “mix fail” condition or simply illuminate light 126. The controls also include a high pressure light which would indicate, for example, that a valve had shut off on the discharge side of pump 31. The tank level light can be operatively connected to a float in the pure glycol supply tank (not shown) such that the tank level light illuminates when the float moves below a designated level within the tank. Returning now to FIG. 1, remote control 24 can be located several hundred yards away from the building in which main unit 22 is located. The remote control is wired in parallel with the controls 38 and 42 on unit 22. Wire 26 is a multi conductor cable that carries signals for all of the functionality of the control buttons and lights whereas line 28 is a twisted 4-conductor cable for communications between the remote display and the display on unit 22. Thus, an operator can be positioned at the truck which is being filled by a line (not shown) running from outlet 50. In turn, after the truck is filled, it will heat the mixture and spray it onto a plane to de-ice same. Another embodiment of the present invention relates to web enablement, as shown with reference to FIG. 4. On advantage of web enablement is to facilitate a method of automatically refilling the glycol supply tank 201 for system 20. With reference to FIG. 4, microprocessor 104 is in communication with the glycol proportioning panel 20. A tank level signal is sent from the glycol supply tank 201 to microprocessor 104, and microprocessor 104 thereby monitors the level 203 of glycol in the glycol supply tank 201. Upon the level of glycol in the tank declining to a predetermined value, microprocessor 104 creates and sends an electronic message (e.g., “email”) over a communications network to a server 205. In turn, the message may be relayed to one of more users 207, one of whom may send another electronic message through server 205 to a glycol supplier 209, who then knows it is time to transport fresh glycol to and fill glycol tank 201 in response to the email message. Alternatively, the electronic message can be sent directly from microprocessor 104 through server 205 to glycol supplier 209, e.g., to glycol supplier 209's email address. Other web enablement features and variations thereof would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art with knowledge of this disclosure, and are within the scope of this invention. For example, the users could monitor in real time the reading from refractometer 51, the totalized flow as calculated from the flow measured by flow meters 82 and 84, and the outside temperature at the airport where deicing is taking place. While a preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention has been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In northern climates during winter months, aircraft which are either parked on the ground overnight or which are on the ground during severe winter weather frequently accumulate snow or ice on the airfoil surfaces. It is thus necessary to remove this material prior to takeoff and such removal has been the subject of a variety of deicing equipment in the prior art. The typical approach is to apply deicing compositions to aircraft in wintery weather before takeoff to deice them and to prevent ice from forming for a certain period (the so-called “hold-over time”). This goal is frequently achieved with mixtures of water and ethylene glycol or water and propylene glycol The most popular equipment to apply the deicing mixtures are self-contained trucks having an extendible and maneuverable boom mounted thereon and a tank containing the deicing mixture. The truck typically includes a self-contained heater that heats the glycol-water mixture to 160 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. The heated deicing fluid is then pumped through a hose to the end of the boom where the operator directs a stream of the heated deicing fluid mixture from a nozzle onto the aircraft. This procedure removes the snow and/or ice and provides a coating of glycol which largely prevents further formation of the freezing substance during the hold-over time. This deicing procedure normally takes place on the tarmac just prior to the plane's departure after which the aircraft's normal internal electrical deicing systems are employed. It is known to provide “glycol proportioning panels,” as they are known in the art, that mix water and pure ethylene or propylene glycol and provide the mixture to the trucks that in turn spray it onto the aircraft. Most of these known proportioning panels are large, ungainly, expensive and offer limited mixing functionality. For example, one disadvantage of these known proportioning systems is that the desired ratio of glycol to water is typically limited to only three or four settings. However, to minimize glycol waste and to optimize the mixture for a given weather condition, more selections of glycol mixtures are desirable. Another disadvantage to presently available glycol proportioning panels is that the systems are housed in a building that may be hundreds of feet from where the truck that sprays the mix onto the aircraft is loaded. The mixture is piped over this distance. The distance between the main unit and the location where the effluent is being dispensed can create a communication problem between the operator of the panel who is located in the building, and the personnel who are loading the truck, who are outside and several hundred feet away. Another disadvantage of known proportioning systems is that they employ variable speed or frequency pumps to proportion the percentages of glycol and water. In addition to creating more process variables to be monitored, the variable speed pumps can be undesirably slow. Systems relying on multiport computer controlled valves to mix glycol and water are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,005 (Hope et al.) discloses a glycol proportioning station wherein water is pumped by a pump and its flow rate measured by a flow meter. Glycol is pumped through another pump and through a multi-port valve, which has multiple ports of different sizes that are pneumatically opened or closed in response to pre-programmed signals from a controller that is coupled to the multiport valve. In use, the water flow rate is sensed and the flow of glycol is controlled by the multi-port digital valve, which opens and closes any number of ten possible elements, or parts, to accommodate the required flow. It is also known in the art to use refractometers with glycol mixing systems for aircraft. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,497 to Susko discloses a deicing system in which a refractometer is used to monitor the mixed fluid and adjust flow of the glycol and water lines as necessary. Separate supply lines provide controlled flows of water and glycol to a wye-connection point. Each supply line has its own pump and throttling valve to control flow, as directed by a microprocessor. The system includes a heat exchanger into which fluid is recycled until the glycol mix reaches the desired temperature and until the refractive index read by a refractometer has reached the set point. The refractometer output signal indicates whether the refractive index is at, below, or above the set point. If below the set point, the microprocessor adjusts a valve on the glycol line to add glycol to the mix; if above the set point the microprocessor adjusts the valve on the water line to add water to the mix. Once the correct temperature and refractive index are recognized at the microprocessor, a valve is opened on the effluent line and the mixture is delivered. U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,593 (Thomton-Trump) discloses an aircraft deicing system which includes a specific gravity meter that displays the glycol percentage to an operator positioned in a basket and a lever to adjust the glycol percentage in the effluent. By adjusting the lever, the operator may vary the amount of pure glycol fed into the mixture line and thereby adjust the glycol percentage in the effluent. In summary, known glycol proportioning panels can be expensive, slow and inflexible. What is needed is a glycol proportioning panel that addresses these drawbacks. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The present invention provides a glycol proportioning station that provides a deicing mixture of glycol and water to tank trucks that in turn spray the deicing mixture onto aircraft. The invention includes two independent ways to modulate flow in the separate glycol and water lines that are merged into the effluent. The first method involves measuring the flow rates in the individual glycol and water lines, totalizing them and calculating the percentage of glycol in the effluent. The second method involves reading the refractive index of the effluent and converting it to glycol concentration. The system's refractometer can thus be used as a back-up to check the glycol concentration of the effluent, and a visual or audible warning signal can be activated when the percentage of glycol in the effluent, as read by the refractometer, is outside of the set tolerance, typically about two (2) percent. In another form of the present invention, the refractometer can be used in a feedback loop which includes a microprocessor to adjust flow control valves instead adjusting them based upon the flow meters. In another preferred form, the flow can be initially set by adjusting one or more characterized ball valves on one or more of the glycol or water input lines. Then, after flow has reached substantially steady state, flow can be modulated by means of the refractometer feedback loop just discussed. In another embodiment of the present invention, a remote control is positioned where the truck is loaded and runs in parallel with the controls on the main unit of the system. The main unit includes a first control panel having a first display mounted thereon for controlling the operation of the proportioning station. A remote control panel having a second display is located a distance from the main unit, and is capable of operating the main unit in parallel with the controls on the main unit. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a method of obtaining a desired mixture of glycol and water for use in deicing aircraft. The method comprises providing two input lines, one adapted to transport glycol and the other adapted to transport water, and merging the lines into an effluent line. Substantially constant flow of glycol and water is provided to the two input lines, espectively. Preferably, the flow rates are matched by adjusting a pressure reducing valve on the line which has the greater maximum flow. The flow rates in the two input lines are monitored and glycol percentage in the effluent is calculated therefrom. The refractive index of the effluent is monitored with a refractometer and converted into glycol concentration. The glycol concentration measured from the refractometer is compared to the calculated percentage of glycol. Finally, if the glycol concentration measured from the refractometer is outside a predetermined tolerance, either an error signal is produced or the system employs a feedback loop to adjust one of the flow control valves. One advantage of the present invention is that it provides an accurate yet reliable system for proportioning a mixture of water and glycol. Advantageously, the system includes two separate means for determining glycol concentration. The system's on-line refractometer can be used to verify the accuracy of the glycol percentage calculated by measuring the individual flow rates of glycol and water, or it can be used as an independent means for modulating glycol or waterflow. The system also provides the capability of initially mixing based upon flow rates then later mixing based upon the refractometer reading. Another advantage of the present invention is that the proportioning station can be controlled proximate the tank truck which will spray the mix on the aircraft. This avoids communication problems between the operator of the station and the operator filling the truck, and thereby makes it easier to accomplish the job. The remote panel may also allow the dispensing of the glycol mix to be accomplished with one less person. Another advantage of the present invention is that it uses substantially constant flow, which allows a much quicker fill time. Flow rates up to 300 gallons per minute or more are possible, which is much faster than systems employing variable frequency pumps. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it is economical. Glycol stations employing the present invention may cost only a fraction of the cost of competing glycol proportioning stations, which can ultimately help reduce the cost of air travel. Still another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a uniform mixture of glycol and water with an economy of moving parts. This is accomplished by building a static mixer into the effluent line downstream of the manifold which merges the glycol and water streams. The static mixer provides uniform mixing under very low temperatures or if thickening agents are added to the glycol. | 20040624 | 20060815 | 20050818 | 94629.0 | 0 | DOUGLAS, STEVEN O | GLYCOL PROPORTIONING PANEL | SMALL | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,689 | ACCEPTED | Controller for processing apparatus | The present invention relates to processing apparatus utilising dynamic scaling of voltage (DVS), and in particular although not exclusively to a controller for such apparatus. The invention is especially applicable to software defined radio (SDR), but is not so limited and may be applied to other re-configurable electronic systems. The present invention provides a controller for a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency; the controller comprising: means for scheduling operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; means for determining a voltage and/or frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; and means for instructing the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. | 1. A controller for a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency; the controller comprising: a processor or control code for a processor arranged to schedule operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; a processor or control code for a processor arranged to determine a voltage and/or frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; a processor or control code for a processor arranged to instruct the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. 2. A controller according to claim 1 wherein the profile is arranged to minimise the average power consumed by the apparatus in performing the operation. 3. A controller according to claim 1 wherein the profile is a voltage-frequency profile. 4. A controller according to claim 3 wherein the voltage-frequency profile has more than two voltage or frequency operating points. 5. A controller according to claim 3 wherein the voltage-frequency profile includes voltage or frequency operating points which increase over the execution time of the operation. 6. A controller according to claim 5 wherein the voltage-frequency profile increases the voltage or frequency operating points if the operation has not been completed within the average cycle count of the operation. 7. A controller according to claim 1 and comprising an operation control data-structure comprising a number of records each corresponding to a predetermined operation, each record comprising the worst case cycle count of the corresponding operation. 8. A controller according to claim 7 wherein each record comprises the average cycle count and the standard deviation of the average cycle count of the operation. 9. A controller according to claim 7 wherein each record comprises a voltage and/or frequency profile. 10. A controller according to claim 1 and comprising a voltage-frequency profile calculator arranged to calculate a said voltage-frequency profile for a said operation based on the worst case cycle count of the operation, the average cycle count of the operation, and the standard deviation of the average count. 11. A controller according to claim 10 further comprising a processor or control code for a processor arranged to quantise the voltage-frequency profile determined by the calculator to correspond to available voltage and/or frequency operating points of the resources. 12. A controller according to any claim 1 and comprising a process timetable having a number of control messages for the resources, the messages corresponding to the operations and containing voltage and/or frequency control instructions. 13. A processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency, and a controller comprising: a processor or control code for a processor arrange to schedule operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; a processor or control code for a processor arrange to determine a voltage and/or frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; a processor or control code for a processor arrange to instruct the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. 14. An apparatus according to claim 13 and comprising a wireless terminal or base station. 15. A computer program product carrying code for configuring a configurable device having a controller for a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency; the controller comprising: a processor or control code for a processor arranged to schedule operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; a processor or control code for a processor arranged to determine a voltage and/or frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; a processor or control code for a processor arranged to instruct the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. 16. A method of controlling a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency; the method comprising: scheduling operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; determining a voltage-frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; instructing the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. 17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the profile is arranged to minimise the average power consumed by the apparatus in performing the operation. 18. A method according to claim 16 wherein the profile is a voltage-frequency profile. 19. A method according to claim 18 wherein the voltage-frequency profile has more than two voltage or frequency operating points. 20. A method according to claim 18 wherein the voltage-frequency profile includes voltage or frequency operating points which increase over the execution time of the operation. 21. A method according to claim 20 wherein the voltage-frequency profile increases the voltage or frequency operating points if the operation has not been completed within the average cycle count of the operation. 22. A method according to claim 16 wherein said determining comprises generating an operation control data-structure comprising a number of records each corresponding to a predetermined operation, each record comprising the worst case cycle count of the corresponding operation. 23. A method according to claim 22 wherein each record comprises the average cycle count and the standard deviation of the average cycle count of the operation. 24. A method according to claim 22 wherein each record comprises a voltage and/or frequency profile. 25. A method according to claim 16 wherein the determining comprises calculating a said voltage-frequency profile for a said operation based on the worst case cycle count of the operation, the average cycle count of the operation, and the standard deviation of the average count. 26. A method according to claim 25 wherein the determining further comprises quantising the voltage-frequency profile determined by the calculation to correspond to available voltage and/or frequency operating points of the resources. 27. A method according to claim 16 wherein the scheduling comprises generating a process timetable having a number of control messages for the resources, the messages corresponding to the operations and containing voltage and/or frequency control instructions. 28. A method according to claim 16 wherein the processing apparatus is a wireless terminal or base station. 29. A program product carrying code readable by a processor in order to carry out a method of controlling a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing resources, at least some of said resources having controllable supply voltage and/or frequency; the method comprising: scheduling operations on said resources, at least some of said operations having a predetermined deadline by which the operation must be performed; determining a voltage-frequency profile for a said operation having a said deadline; instructing the resources to perform said operations according to said schedule and said profile. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to processing apparatus utilising dynamic scaling of voltage (DVS), and in particular although not exclusively to a controller for such apparatus. The invention is especially applicable to software defined radio (SDR), but is not so limited and may be applied to other re-configurable electronic systems. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Basic dynamic scaling voltage DVS processing modules exist in the prior art, for example the Intel™ Speedstep™ technology applied to many laptop computers in which the processor is allowed to enter a “sleep” mode when not in use in order to reduce power consumption from the battery. Recently processing modules have emerged which are able to operate at a number of different voltage and frequency or clock speed rates. Power consumption in a processor is a function of both voltage and clock speed or frequency, and as is known a quadratic reduction in power consumption can theoretically be achieved by reducing both these parameters. Transmeta™ provides Longrun™ power management technology which adjusts the voltage and clock speed of a processor in order to ensure the processor minimises the amount of time spent in idle, in which the processor is “on” but not used for processing. A problem with such approaches however is that they are not well suited to tasks with hard deadlines, for example ensuring that a data block received by a wireless terminal is decoded by a Viterbi decoder algorithm within a set number of milliseconds. Processing execution time deadlines for certain operations in such systems are often defined by standard protocols in order that, for example the terminal can inter-operate with a base station in a wireless cellular or local area network. Many of the tasks or operations in devices or systems such as wireless terminals operate according to one or more standards and can be implemented in a number of ways, for example by using specialised hardware accelerators such as ASIC's or by using a digital signal processor which is configured according to software. Often some of the processing or tasks overlap in time or are independent of other tasks and can therefore be performed in parallel, allowing the processing resource to allocate a slice of processing power to one task and another slice to another task. This might be achieved using multiple processors or timeslicing a resource such as a microprocessor for example. Various methods of scheduling the processor time for a number of tasks are known in the art. Modifying such scheduling methodologies to incorporate the concept of reducing the voltage-frequency of the processing resource when dealing with certain tasks in order to reduce power consumption, is described in conceptual terms in Flavius Gruian “Hard Real-Time Scheduling for Low-Energy Using Stochastic Data and DVS processors”, ISLPED'01, Aug. 2-7, 2001. However the practical implementation of such a system is non-trivial. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general terms in one aspect the present invention provides a controller for a processing apparatus having multiple processing resources at least some of which have controllable voltage and/or frequency operational parameters. The controller comprises or accesses an operations data-structure comprising a number of execution parameters for each operation the apparatus is to perform. In a wireless terminal or base station for example this will be known in advance for given protocols, and the controller may be re-configurable in order to deal with new protocols. The execution parameters for each operation may comprise a voltage-frequency profile, a start time, worst case cycle count, and actual execution cycle count statistics for previous executions of the operation. These statistics are preferably updated over time as the operation is performed numerous times in order to provide a historical statistical basis for parameters such as average execution cycle count. A voltage-frequency profile calculating means provides or periodically updates the stored voltage-frequency profile for each operation based on these parameters. The voltage-frequency profile is arranged to minimise power consumption for each operation, for example by having the processing resource performing the operation initially at a low voltage-frequency, then only if the operation execution time overruns a predetermined limit (for example the average execution time) increase the voltage-frequency used by the processing resource in order to complete the operation within the hard execution time deadline. Because each operation will not run to its worst case execution cycle count every time, but instead is more likely to run to the average execution cycle count or time, then the voltage-frequency of the processing resource performing the operation can be initially kept lower than normal in the expectation that even at this level the operation is likely to be completed before the operation deadline. Then if the operation is still being performed past a predetermined time, perhaps close to the deadline, then the voltage-frequency can be increased significantly in order to quickly finish the operation in order to meet the deadline. In the worst case cycle count, the power consumed will be the same as it would have been had the operation been performed at a constant higher (albeit for a shorter time) voltage-frequency level;. In cases where the operation is performed during or substantially during the initial low voltage-frequency level, then less power is consumed than if this operation had been performed using a constant higher voltage-frequency level. Therefore, overall less power will be consumed by this apparatus which will improve battery life for portable devices such as mobile wireless communications or computing terminals. In particular in one aspect the present invention provides a controller according to claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention are described with respect to the following drawings, by way of example only and without intending to be limiting, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic of an architecture for a processing apparatus; FIG. 2 is a schematic of a controller for the processing apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a schematic showing the control structure of the controller for each resource controlled by the controller of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a scheduling schematic showing the timing of various operations performed on a number of parallel processing resources; FIGS. 5a and 5b show voltage-frequency profiles for an operation; and FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of operation of the controller of FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, the architecture of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment comprises a plurality of processing resources R1-Rn, a controller 1, a control plane 2, a data plane 3 and a data-bus controller 4. The processing apparatus might be used in a wireless communications terminal for receiving and sending signals to a base station according to one or more protocols such as UMTS and GSM for example. The apparatus is particularly suited to software defined radio (SDR) applications, and for convenience and ease of explanation the embodiment will be described with respect to mobile wireless communications applications, although it is not so limited. The processing resources R could be ASIC's for specific wireless communications processing such as a Viterbi decoder for example, they could also be reconfigurable digital signal processing (DSP) blocks with multiple uses, or similarly reconfigurable field programmable gate arrays (FPGA's) The data plane 3 is a logical entity comprising a data-bus coupled to a memory resource and input/output interfaces to other resources, for example analogue-to-digital converters, digital-to-analogue converters, channel decoder, equaliser and vocoder. The memory is used to store sampled signal symbols as well as those symbols and associated data following various stages in the processing chain to obtain decoded traffic data. The data-bus controller 4 controls access between the various resources R and the memory and other data plane components; allowing for example a resource to read appropriate data and then write data back to the memory following processing by the resource. The control plane 2 is another logical entity comprising a control-bus between the resources R and the controller 1. Both the data and control planes could also be implemented as a cross-bar or network for example. The controller 1 controls operation of the data plane 3 via the data-bus controller 4 in order to ensure that the data in the data plane passed to the right resource R for processing and that demands for -data transfer by competing entities are handled appropriately. The fabric used to transfer data might also be capable of being switched to run at different v-f depending on the configuration of the system. Like all other resources the data plane would be configured by the controller, via the ‘data bus controller/arbiter’. Those skilled in the art will be familiar with the operation of data bus controllers. In general terms, the controller, ensures that data in the data plane is properly processed by the various resources R, in the right order and if possible in parallel by splitting operations into tasks or groups of tasks that can be performed using different resources. Additionally, the controller 1 controls the voltage-frequency (v-f) of each resource R in such a way that the required processing is carried out with a minimum of power consumption. Many of the processing tasks will have predetermined deadlines by which processing must be finished and so the controller 1 is arranged to control the processing in the apparatus according to this constraint whilst at the same time minimising power consumption. This is advantageous in portable terminals having processing tasks with hard deadlines such as wireless communications terminals for example. FIG. 2 shows the controller 1 schematically, and FIG. 3 shows the control structures embodied by the controller 1 for each resource; including two sets of resources R using different time bases, for example GSM and UMTS. The controller 1 comprises a dispatcher 10 which controls forwarding of control messages to the appropriate resource R. The dispatcher 10 determines what control messages to send to what resource R at what time according to a process timetable 11. The process timetable 11 is a data-structure which comprises a list of control messages each having an associated resource identifier and a start time. The start time is usually relative to a predetermined time reference such as a 10 ms radio frame in the case of WCDMA. Wireless communications signals are transmitted within frames to which a receiver synchronises itself in order to properly receive and process the signals. A frame sync source 12 derived from an internal clock signal for example is supplied to the dispatcher 10 to ensure that the processing operations are properly synchronised as between each other. Each control message will contain a transmission time, destination, a command, voltage-frequency setting and configuration information. The nature and timing of the control messages in the process timetable 11 is determined by a dynamic scheduler 13. The scheduler 13 writes or updates control messages in a shadow process timetable 14 which is another data-structure having the same structure as the active process timetable 11. The active process timetable 11 is typically loaded with the contents of the shadow process timetable 14 at some convenient time, for example at the end/start of a frame. A shadow timetable is used because changes to the timetable would take a finite amount of time to write into the table and while this is happening the timetable would have incomplete data and so may result in faulty commands being sent to the resources. The controller updates the control messages for various operations as events change. For example an operation may finish early freeing up one of the resources earlier than expected and the controller may therefore re-assign a later scheduled operation to the newly freed up processing resource R. FIG. 4 shows a schedule for operations O1-O10 which are distributed over time and over 5 processing resources R1-R5. Some of the operations require data from a previous operation and so can't be started until after that operation has been completed, whereas other operations can run in parallel. Schedulers for scheduling operations over a number of processing resources are known in the art. Typically prior art schedulers will schedule operations based on their worst case cycle count, that is the number of processing cycles that the processing resource will have to perform in the worst case situation in order to complete the operation. From this it can be determined what the maximum execution time of an operation is and this is then used to schedule the operation in with the other required operations. However often operations will not require their worst case cycle count and instead will finish early. Dynamic schedulers can dynamically change the schedule to take account of the fact that operations sometimes finish early, and perhaps start a later scheduled operation early. Such dynamic schedulers are also known in the art. The controller 1 also comprises an operations control block data-structure 15 which comprises a control block or record 16 for each operation the processing apparatus is to carry out. The record 16 of each operation comprises a number of parameters associated with the operation including its Worst case cycle count, a resource identifier (R1-Rn), a voltage frequency (v-f) profile, and preferably execution time statistics corresponding to previous executions of the operation in the processing apparatus. These include past execution times, (execution time Ø, executing time 1 . . . ), that can be used to implement filtering of the values before statistics are calculated. The controller also comprises a voltage frequency profile calculator 17 which determines the v-f over the worst case execution time of the operation, and is used to control the v-f operating parameters of the resource R performing the operation. A quantiser 18 adjusts the output of the v-f profile calculator 17 to one of the achievable or practical v-f points associated with the resource R. The quantiser and profile calculation can be done in a single block e.g. when only 2 voltage settings are being used. The quantised v-f profile for the processing resource R associated with the operation is then written to that operation's control block or record 16. The v-f profile for each operation will typically start off at a certain level and then, if necessary increase this level as the operation's hard deadline is approached, as shown in FIG. 5a. This takes advantage of the fact that on many occasions the operation will not require its worst case cycle count and will therefore finish early. By keeping the v-f low at first, many executions of the operation will be performed using this low v-f only, and therefore on average power consumption associated with this operation will be reduced. In the instances where the operation requires its worst case cycle count, or a cycle count approaching this, then the v-f is increased in order to ensure the operation is finished by its deadline. The v-f profile for each operation is influenced by the historical execution statistics for that operation. For example if the operation has an average execution time or cycle count that has a low standard deviation, in other words there is not much variation, then the initial v-f level can be set low such that the average execution time will be reached at this low v-f near the hard deadline. The v-f level can then be raised significantly in order to ensure the operation finishes before its hard deadline for those executions when the operation requires more than its average number of cycle counts. For operations having a high standard deviation, that is there is a lot of variation in the execution times, then the v-f level will initially be higher in order to ensure-that the operation finishes before its hard deadline for all execution situations. FIG. 5b shows the cycle period vs. cycle number for three standard deviation values, for an average execution cycle count of 500 and a standard deviation that varies between 30 and 10000. Ultimately the calculation is based on cycle count but a conversion can be made from execution time to cycle count and similarly a conversion could also be made with higher level metrics such as average and deviation of the number of iterations of a turbo decoder which could be mapped to the equivalent cycle count statistics. The dynamic scheduler 13 can be arranged to retrieve the v-f profiles from the appropriate operation's control block 16 for each operation or task it writes to the process timetables 11 and 14 as indicated in FIG. 2. Alternatively the dynamic scheduler 13, may retrieve parameters such as the operation's worst count, average count, deadline and from these derive a voltage frequency profile as indicated in FIG. 3. The operations will be scheduled as before referring to FIG. 4, that is the operation execution time will be the same, however additional v-f controls will be added to the process timetable in order that the resource R performing the operation will operate according to the v-f profile during execution of the operation. Thus the overall execution time of the operation is unaffected, however its v-f levels will vary according to the determined v-f profile. Each of the resources R has its own supply voltage and clock frequency, and the controller sets the voltage-frequency for each module. Because each module R can operate off a separate clock the interface to the data plane will be asynchronous, and in addition it must also buffer the different operating voltages. The resources R are usually specialized data processing blocks with limited control code, that is they receive data, process it and then pass it on. The controller 1 determines how and when each resource operates. All data transfer between resources goes via the data plane. All control messages and measurement reports go via the control plane. The data plane is also regarded as a resource and so its characteristics can also be controlled via the data bus controller. For example its v-f may be adjusted when interacting with a particular resource R. Each resource executes an operation when instructed to do so by the controller 1. Within the control processor the dispatcher reads the Process Timetable and sends messages to each resource just before the resource is expected to process data. The message will contain configuration information and a command word. In this way the resources can be statically scheduled to implement the required functionality. One of the commands that can be sent to a resource is a voltage-frequency command. This command will set the supply voltage to the resource and also the operating frequency. The resource comprises a counter to count the actual number of cycles. Alternatively the resource may contain a timer, operating off a standard clock. This is used to time how long the operation takes to complete i.e. the actual execution time. On completion the resource will send, in a message, the execution time and operation handle to the controller. The cycle operation time will vary due to the voltage-frequency ramping itself but also because the operation may take a different number of cycles to complete. The reasons for changes in cycle count include: the processing required is dependant on the data for example a voice decoder; the resource shares a data bus with another resource so may be blocked while the second resource uses the bus; the system may dynamically modify the processing implemented by the resource as a result of a change in an external condition for example, the number of iterations of Turbo decoder may change as a result of a change in the channel conditions. The controller 1 calculates the actual cycle count from the actual execution time using its knowledge of what the voltage-frequency ramp was. An alternative to measuring the execution time is to use a counter in the resource to count the number of cycles directly. The controller 1 stores execution times/cycle counts sent by each resource, at the end of each operation, in the respective operation control block data record 16. The operation control block 15 is initialized with the worst-case cycle count and start time relative to frame period i.e. earliest time operation can start because of availability of data from other operations; and its relative timing deadline when an operation is created. If the statistics of this operation are known at design time the average cycle count and standard deviation may also be set at initialisation. In this case a flag is set to indicate that the actual execution times are not required and in addition the voltage-frequency profile needs only be calculated when the relative timing deadline changes. The controller 1 includes a statistics calculator 19 to update statistics such as the average cycle count and standard deviation for each operations control block record 16. When either the static resource schedule changes or the voltage-frequency profile for any operation changes the messages in the process time table 11 and 14 are updated with the correct value for the voltage-frequency. To avoid an excessive amount of time spent calculating new voltage-frequency profiles it is likely that this will only be done at relatively infrequent intervals, for example the end of a frame. By increasing the voltage-frequency during the execution of an operation the power consumption is reduced if the operation takes less than its average cycle count but still achieves its deadline if the worst case cycle count is encountered. This makes it ideally suited to hard realtime applications such as wireless terminals especially if they are designed to be reconfigurable-Software Defined Radio. Referring to FIG. 6, a flow chart of the operation of the controller 1 is shown. The dynamic scheduler 13 receives a definition of the data flow between operations which includes a set of required operations and their timing constraints from a Configuration Management Module. For example in a SDR terminal, this may correspond to receiving cellular calls in GSM. The operations required to achieve the reception and transmission of the GSM signals are then downloaded to the scheduler 13. The scheduler 13 determines an initial schedule by splitting the operations up and allocating them to different processing resources R at appropriate times as illustrated in FIG. 4. The scheduler 13 then reads the v-f profile data for each operation from the appropriate operation control blocks 16, and writes appropriate control messages to the shadow process timetable 14. At an appropriate point (in absolute time) these are loaded into the active process timetable 11 and forwarded by the dispatcher 10 to the appropriate resource R. Following completion of an operation by a resource R, a completion message is sent to the controller 1 and includes the execution -time and/or execution cycle count for the operation. This information is forwarded to the appropriate control block 16 where it is added to the statistical information stored on the operation. The scheduler 13 also monitors the operation end times and may dynamically reschedule later operations if the completed operation finished early. The v-f profile for each operation is calculated from the statistical execution time data stored in the operation blocks 16, and is quantised to practical v-f points for the resource R and then stored in the operations block 16 for that operation (or delivered directly to the dynamic scheduler). The v-f profile is updated periodically as the statistical data mounts. The process timetable is preferably updated as follows: a. Find all messages requesting an operation. b. Purge all stale voltage-frequency commands associated with this operation from the list c. Add new voltage-frequency commands to the list using new voltage-frequency settings. Alternatively, some resources may be able to self modify their voltage-frequency setting internally. So in such a scenario the configuration message sent to a resource will contain a set of voltage-frequency values and their associated relative timings. So when these values are changed only the configuration command needs to be modified. A further enhancement to this scheme uses more than one process timetable 11 (and associated shadow 14), as is illustrated in FIG. 3(system 1 and 2). Each timetable runs from a different timebase and frame sync. This can be used when two systems such as GSM and UMTS are being implemented on the same platform. In such a system the two frame sync time periods are different and operate out of phase with each other, and without multiple timetables the common denominator would be very high and hence the timetable would be very long. This can be further extended to each operation on a resource or each resource with multiple operations has its own timetable, v-f profile, calculator, etc. This simplifies access to the timetable. The overlapping of resources (e.g. data bus) between two systems (GSM and UMTS) is possible but scheduling becomes difficult because of the different timebases i.e. the scheduling would have to run across a common multiple making it very big. In alternative arrangements only one of voltage or frequency may be adjusted such that a separate voltage profile or frequency profile is calculated for the operations to be performed. For example the frequency might be set so the operation completes at a specific time and this might simplify the scheduler and reduce resource requirements e.g. output data will only be written into global memory at the end of an operation and then be immediately read by another operation hence freeing up RAM. The skilled person will recognise that the above-described apparatus and methods may be embodied as processor control code, for example on a carrier medium such as a disk, CD- or DVD-ROM, programmed memory such as read only memory (Firmware), or on a data carrier such as an optical or electrical signal carrier. For many applications embodiments of the invention will be implemented on a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Thus the code may comprise conventional programme code or microcode or, for example code for setting up or controlling an ASIC or FPGA. The code may also comprise code for dynamically configuring re-configurable apparatus such as re-programmable logic gate arrays. Similarly the code may comprise code for a hardware description language such as Verilog™ or VHDL (Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language). As the skilled person will appreciate, the code may be distributed between a plurality of coupled components in communication with one another. Where appropriate, the embodiments may also be implemented using code running on a field-(re)programmable analog array or similar device in order to configure analog hardware. The skilled person will also appreciate that the various embodiments and specific features described with respect to them could be freely combined with the other embodiments or their specifically described features in general accordance with the above teaching. The skilled person will also recognise that various alterations and modifications can be made to specific examples described without departing from the scope of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Basic dynamic scaling voltage DVS processing modules exist in the prior art, for example the Intel™ Speedstep™ technology applied to many laptop computers in which the processor is allowed to enter a “sleep” mode when not in use in order to reduce power consumption from the battery. Recently processing modules have emerged which are able to operate at a number of different voltage and frequency or clock speed rates. Power consumption in a processor is a function of both voltage and clock speed or frequency, and as is known a quadratic reduction in power consumption can theoretically be achieved by reducing both these parameters. Transmeta™ provides Longrun™ power management technology which adjusts the voltage and clock speed of a processor in order to ensure the processor minimises the amount of time spent in idle, in which the processor is “on” but not used for processing. A problem with such approaches however is that they are not well suited to tasks with hard deadlines, for example ensuring that a data block received by a wireless terminal is decoded by a Viterbi decoder algorithm within a set number of milliseconds. Processing execution time deadlines for certain operations in such systems are often defined by standard protocols in order that, for example the terminal can inter-operate with a base station in a wireless cellular or local area network. Many of the tasks or operations in devices or systems such as wireless terminals operate according to one or more standards and can be implemented in a number of ways, for example by using specialised hardware accelerators such as ASIC's or by using a digital signal processor which is configured according to software. Often some of the processing or tasks overlap in time or are independent of other tasks and can therefore be performed in parallel, allowing the processing resource to allocate a slice of processing power to one task and another slice to another task. This might be achieved using multiple processors or timeslicing a resource such as a microprocessor for example. Various methods of scheduling the processor time for a number of tasks are known in the art. Modifying such scheduling methodologies to incorporate the concept of reducing the voltage-frequency of the processing resource when dealing with certain tasks in order to reduce power consumption, is described in conceptual terms in Flavius Gruian “Hard Real-Time Scheduling for Low-Energy Using Stochastic Data and DVS processors”, ISLPED'01, Aug. 2-7, 2001. However the practical implementation of such a system is non-trivial. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In general terms in one aspect the present invention provides a controller for a processing apparatus having multiple processing resources at least some of which have controllable voltage and/or frequency operational parameters. The controller comprises or accesses an operations data-structure comprising a number of execution parameters for each operation the apparatus is to perform. In a wireless terminal or base station for example this will be known in advance for given protocols, and the controller may be re-configurable in order to deal with new protocols. The execution parameters for each operation may comprise a voltage-frequency profile, a start time, worst case cycle count, and actual execution cycle count statistics for previous executions of the operation. These statistics are preferably updated over time as the operation is performed numerous times in order to provide a historical statistical basis for parameters such as average execution cycle count. A voltage-frequency profile calculating means provides or periodically updates the stored voltage-frequency profile for each operation based on these parameters. The voltage-frequency profile is arranged to minimise power consumption for each operation, for example by having the processing resource performing the operation initially at a low voltage-frequency, then only if the operation execution time overruns a predetermined limit (for example the average execution time) increase the voltage-frequency used by the processing resource in order to complete the operation within the hard execution time deadline. Because each operation will not run to its worst case execution cycle count every time, but instead is more likely to run to the average execution cycle count or time, then the voltage-frequency of the processing resource performing the operation can be initially kept lower than normal in the expectation that even at this level the operation is likely to be completed before the operation deadline. Then if the operation is still being performed past a predetermined time, perhaps close to the deadline, then the voltage-frequency can be increased significantly in order to quickly finish the operation in order to meet the deadline. In the worst case cycle count, the power consumed will be the same as it would have been had the operation been performed at a constant higher (albeit for a shorter time) voltage-frequency level;. In cases where the operation is performed during or substantially during the initial low voltage-frequency level, then less power is consumed than if this operation had been performed using a constant higher voltage-frequency level. Therefore, overall less power will be consumed by this apparatus which will improve battery life for portable devices such as mobile wireless communications or computing terminals. In particular in one aspect the present invention provides a controller according to claim 1 . | 20040628 | 20080205 | 20050203 | 80750.0 | 0 | PHAM, THOMAS K | CONTROLLER FOR PROCESSING APPARATUS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,936 | ACCEPTED | Expandable pole socket with twist and lock insert | An expandable socket holds a fence pole for a flexible swimming pool fence. The socket, being generally cylindrical, but slightly tapered, is open at a top end and has a bottom end partially closed with a rectangular opening. The socket sits within a bore within a concrete swimming pool deck or within a cylindrical sleeve adapted to be imbedded in a hole in earth. The lower end of the fence pole has a shaft, with a locking plate mounted thereon. The locking plate fits through the opening in the socket and is twisted to lock the pole in place within the socket. The socket has one or more lengthwise expansion ribs extending from a sidewall. Each rib is capable of limited pivotal outwardly and inwardly movement and has an increased taper at the distal end. When the fence pole is inserted into the socket, each rib is forced outwardly to engage an inner surface of the cylindrical sleeve. | 1. An expandable socket in combination with a fence pole comprising: said socket being cylindrical open at a top end and having a bottom end partially closed with an opening having a pair of axes wherein one axis is longer than the other axis; a cylindrical member adapted to be imbedded in a hole in earth and sized to receive said socket; said fence pole having a lower end for insertion into said socket when fitted into said cylindrical member; the lower end of said fence pole having a shaft extending therefrom; a locking plate mounted on a bottom of said shaft in a plane at right angles to a central axis of said shaft, said locking plate having a planar shape with two axes, where one axis is longer than the other axis, said locking plate being sized to fit through the rectangular opening in said socket, when said fence pole is in one rotational position and said locking plate being blocked from passing through said rectangular opening when turned into another rotational position, so that when said fence pole is inserted into said socket and said locking plate is passed through said rectangular opening followed by rotating said fence pole, said fence pole being fixed in place by said socket; said socket having at least one lengthwise expansion rib in a sidewall formed by a pair of parallel slits in said sidewall and a slit adjacent the lower end of said cylindrical member at right angles to said parallel slits so that said rib is flexibly attached at an upper end to said cylindrical member and said rib is capable of limited outwardly and inwardly movement about the upper end of said rib; and said rib having a thickness which changes from the same thickness of the sidewall of said socket where said rib attaches to said sidewall to a greater thickness at a bottom end of said rib, whereby when said fence pole is inserted into said socket said rib is forced outwardly to engage an inner surface of said cylindrical member. 2. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 1 in which said socket tapers inwardly from said top end to said bottom end of said socket. 3. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 2 in which the top end of said socket has a flange to engage a top end of said cylindrical member. 4. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 3 in which the bottom end of said socket is above a bottom end of said cylindrical member when fully inserted into said cylindrical member leaving a space above a bottom of said hole in the earth for accommodating said locking plate when the fence pole is locked into said socket. 5. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 4 in which said fence pole is removable from said socket by rotating said fence pole to a position where said locking plate will pass through said rectangular opening. 6. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 5 in which there are at least three of said ribs in the sidewall of said socket. 7. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 6 in which said socket is made from injection molded plastic resin. 8. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 1 wherein said opening and said locking plate are rectangular. 9. The expandable socket and fence pole of claim 1 wherein said opening and said locking plate are elliptical. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to safety locks for fence posts of fences for swimming pools. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Flexible fences are known, to provide an extra measure of protection in addition to typical chain link fences around a swimming pool, which can sometimes to climbed by young children. The flexible fences are too loose for gripping, and therefore prevent a young child from getting unsupervised access to a swimming pool, even if the child climbs over a conventional chain link fence around a swimming pool. Such flexible fences are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,833 of Bohen. In addition, there are fence plugs with expandable wings of sockets for fence poles, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 978,505 of Stewart or 3,159,248 of Biehn. Also quarter turn twist lock posts for fences are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,516 of Coules. U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,601 of Rybek shows plastic anchor sockets, but they are not expanding. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide child-resistant socket and post assembly for a temporary flexible fence post. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A low fence of screen netting is sometimes used as a barrier around a pool to deny access to infants and toddlers. Generally support poles are used which are inserted into permanent holes around the pool to provide a means to erect and take down this temporary fencing as needed. Two considerations in this apparatus are safety and convenience. The fence should be easy to erect and remove while making it difficult for a small child to pull the poles from the holes. A simple locking means, such as a twist lock, is sometimes used to satisfy these two considerations. This invention provides a twist and lock pole insertion and removal capability. In addition, the initial hole preparation which involves insertion of a pole socket is especially simple with the present invention since no great exertion or tools are required. Since the pole socket and the twist and lock insert which is attached to the pole bottom are injection molded from a plastic resin such as polypropylene, low cost and long corrosion resistance are assured. No moving parts or auxiliary metal elements are required. The lock is positively initiated by a twist motion ranging anywhere from about 30 to 90 degrees after the pole is seated in the pole socket. The pole socket is a hollow cylindrical shape that is slightly tapered from top to its bottom which has a rectangular keyway cutout. Each socket includes one or more (preferably three) of elongated expansion ribs flexibly attached at their upper ends to the walls of the socket. The ribs have a crossectional shape that increases in thickness toward the bottom of the socket, so that the ribs expand outward to engage the sides of the hole when a pole is inserted. The twist and lock insert which is attached to the bottom of each pole has a shaft region which is inserted into the pole end as well as a small rectangular plate, smaller in both dimensions than the rectangular cutout at the bottom of the pole socket. The insert is inserted into the pole end leaving some space between the pole end and the distal plate. By rectangular it is assumed that the plate has a shape with two axes, where one axis is longer than the other axis. Therefore the plate can also be rounded and elliptical, as well as rectangular. Operation involves simply inserting the pole into the expandable pole socket and rotating slightly until the distal plate goes through the keyway cutout at the bottom of the pole socket. A twist of the pole beyond this orientation locks the pole to the pole socket. There is great resistance to pull out the pole and pole socket from the hole in this position beyond the slight press fit of the top region of the pole socket into the hole. This is because the expandable ribs have been pushed with some force against the side walls of the hole. By twisting the smooth pole back into registration between distal locking plate and rectangular keyway at the bottom of the socket, it can be easily withdrawn with an upward force. This releases the force of the ribs against the hole wall sides, but the slight press fit of the socket in the hole is enough to ensure retention of the pole socket in the hole while the smooth outer surface of the pole easily moves upward disengaging with the expandable ribs. With the pole sockets of this invention, hole preparation simply involves pressing in a pole socket into a rigid hole until it seats to its upper collar. The press fit force is not relied upon to keep the socket from being pulled up when the pole is locked, so this can be light fit. It is the force of the expandable ribs against the hole walls that serve this purpose while the side force of each rib against the pole side keeps it centered and upright. It is also the rib force against the hole wall that permits the pole to be rotated while the socket remains stationary. It can be appreciated that the pole should be of smooth surface such as aluminum tubing or plastic resin. In concrete, the pole sockets can be used directly in bored holes. In soft ground, a rigid cylindrical sleeve must be used as a hole liner; this can be a section of metal or plastic pipe of appropriate inner diameter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a Perspective detail of temporary fencing around a pool; FIG. 2 is a Perspective view of the major components of the expandable pole socket and twist and lock insert of this invention; FIG. 3 is a Side elevational view of a twist and lock insert used with the temporary fencing of FIGS. 1 and 2; FIG. 4 is a Bottom view of the twist and lock insert of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a Top plan view of an expandable pole socket used with the temporary fencing of FIGS. 1; FIG. 6 is a Crossectional side view of the expandable pole socket as in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a Side elevational view in partial crossection of the pole of FIGS. 1 and 2, shown locked into an expandable pole socket in a soft ground installation; and, FIG. 8 is a Side elevational view detail view, showing a cap used to cover open tops of expandable pole socket for the off-season. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows pool 1 with a section of temporary fencing 2. Fence 2 material consists of plastic netting 3 which is more secure than a low section of chain link fencing since is not graspable and less prone to injury of infants and toddlers. This netting has reinforcing fabric webbing 4 on top and bottom edges. Upright support poles 5 are inserted into permanent holes 6 around pool 1 periphery. Screwed plates 7 attach netting 3 to poles 5. FIG. 2 shows the major components of this invention. Pole 5 has a twist and lock insert 15 attached to its bottom end via shaft 16. Rectangular locking plate 17 is at its distal end. Expandable pole socket 20 is shown with collar 23, slightly tapered side 21 and locking rib 22 which is attached at its upper end but free along sides and distal end. Space 24 which permits free movement in and out. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the side and bottom views respectively of twist and lock insert 15. FIG. 5 is a top view expandable pole socket 20 showing three locking ribs 22 spaced at 120 degree intervals with rectangular locking keyway 25 at the bottom. FIG. 6 is a side view crossection of expandable pole socket 20 with one locking rib 22 (on bottom of figure) shown in crossection. It is tapered to a thicker crossection at its distal end. FIG. 7 shows a side view of a locked pole 5 in partial crossection in a soft ground 30 installation in a lawn area with grass 31. Rigid metal pipe 32 is installed in a hole. Expandable pole socket 20 is shown in crossection (similar to FIG. 6) in such a view as to show the intimate engagement of rib 22 with the side of pipe 22 when pole 5 is inserted and locked. Plate 17 has been inserted through opening 25 and twisted out of alignment. FIG. 8 shows accessory cap 35 which is sized to fit the top opening of expandable pole socket 20. This is used in the off season, such as winter in the northeast, to seal socket 20 from water and debris. In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Flexible fences are known, to provide an extra measure of protection in addition to typical chain link fences around a swimming pool, which can sometimes to climbed by young children. The flexible fences are too loose for gripping, and therefore prevent a young child from getting unsupervised access to a swimming pool, even if the child climbs over a conventional chain link fence around a swimming pool. Such flexible fences are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,833 of Bohen. In addition, there are fence plugs with expandable wings of sockets for fence poles, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 978,505 of Stewart or 3,159,248 of Biehn. Also quarter turn twist lock posts for fences are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,516 of Coules. U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,601 of Rybek shows plastic anchor sockets, but they are not expanding. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A low fence of screen netting is sometimes used as a barrier around a pool to deny access to infants and toddlers. Generally support poles are used which are inserted into permanent holes around the pool to provide a means to erect and take down this temporary fencing as needed. Two considerations in this apparatus are safety and convenience. The fence should be easy to erect and remove while making it difficult for a small child to pull the poles from the holes. A simple locking means, such as a twist lock, is sometimes used to satisfy these two considerations. This invention provides a twist and lock pole insertion and removal capability. In addition, the initial hole preparation which involves insertion of a pole socket is especially simple with the present invention since no great exertion or tools are required. Since the pole socket and the twist and lock insert which is attached to the pole bottom are injection molded from a plastic resin such as polypropylene, low cost and long corrosion resistance are assured. No moving parts or auxiliary metal elements are required. The lock is positively initiated by a twist motion ranging anywhere from about 30 to 90 degrees after the pole is seated in the pole socket. The pole socket is a hollow cylindrical shape that is slightly tapered from top to its bottom which has a rectangular keyway cutout. Each socket includes one or more (preferably three) of elongated expansion ribs flexibly attached at their upper ends to the walls of the socket. The ribs have a crossectional shape that increases in thickness toward the bottom of the socket, so that the ribs expand outward to engage the sides of the hole when a pole is inserted. The twist and lock insert which is attached to the bottom of each pole has a shaft region which is inserted into the pole end as well as a small rectangular plate, smaller in both dimensions than the rectangular cutout at the bottom of the pole socket. The insert is inserted into the pole end leaving some space between the pole end and the distal plate. By rectangular it is assumed that the plate has a shape with two axes, where one axis is longer than the other axis. Therefore the plate can also be rounded and elliptical, as well as rectangular. Operation involves simply inserting the pole into the expandable pole socket and rotating slightly until the distal plate goes through the keyway cutout at the bottom of the pole socket. A twist of the pole beyond this orientation locks the pole to the pole socket. There is great resistance to pull out the pole and pole socket from the hole in this position beyond the slight press fit of the top region of the pole socket into the hole. This is because the expandable ribs have been pushed with some force against the side walls of the hole. By twisting the smooth pole back into registration between distal locking plate and rectangular keyway at the bottom of the socket, it can be easily withdrawn with an upward force. This releases the force of the ribs against the hole wall sides, but the slight press fit of the socket in the hole is enough to ensure retention of the pole socket in the hole while the smooth outer surface of the pole easily moves upward disengaging with the expandable ribs. With the pole sockets of this invention, hole preparation simply involves pressing in a pole socket into a rigid hole until it seats to its upper collar. The press fit force is not relied upon to keep the socket from being pulled up when the pole is locked, so this can be light fit. It is the force of the expandable ribs against the hole walls that serve this purpose while the side force of each rib against the pole side keeps it centered and upright. It is also the rib force against the hole wall that permits the pole to be rotated while the socket remains stationary. It can be appreciated that the pole should be of smooth surface such as aluminum tubing or plastic resin. In concrete, the pole sockets can be used directly in bored holes. In soft ground, a rigid cylindrical sleeve must be used as a hole liner; this can be a section of metal or plastic pipe of appropriate inner diameter. | 20040625 | 20060606 | 20051229 | 90294.0 | 0 | FERGUSON, MICHAEL P | EXPANDABLE POLE SOCKET WITH TWIST AND LOCK INSERT | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,876,975 | ACCEPTED | Header for harvesting crops having stalks | The entire right, title and interest in and to this application and all subject matter disclosed and/or claimed therein, including any and all divisions, continuations, reissues, etc., thereof are, effective as of the date of execution of this application, assigned, transferred, sold and set over by the applicant(s) named herein to Deere & Company, a Delaware corporation having offices at Moline, Ill. 61265, U.S.A., together with all rights to file, and to claim priorities in connection with, corresponding patent applications in any and all foreign countries in the name of Deere & Company or otherwise. | 1. In a crop harvesting header, for harvesting crops having stalks, including several intake and mowing devices arranged laterally one next to the other for cutting and conveying the harvested crops, of which a first intake and mowing device and a second intake and mowing device, which is arranged laterally next to the first intake and mowing device and at a greater distance than the first device from a longitudinal center plane of the header, a deflection conveyor unit having an upright rotational axis, which is inclined slightly forwards, bridging a vertical distance between a working plane of the intake and mowing devices and a plane of an outlet channel defined in a rear wall of said harvesting header for being introduced into an intake channel of a harvesting machine, wherein the first intake and mowing device can be driven such that it conveys cut harvested crops first inward toward said center plane and then rearward, the improvement comprising: said second intake and mowing device adapted for being driven such that it conveys cut harvested crops first inward toward said center plane and then rearward. 2. The crop harvesting header, as defined in claim 1, and further including a cross conveyor channel extending behind said first intake and mowing device from a location adjacent said second intake and mowing device to a location adjacent said deflection conveyor; a cross conveyor element being mounted where, when set in motion, it acts to sweep through said cross conveyor channel so as to convey harvested crop, cut by said second intake and mowing device, to said deflection conveyor independently of said first intake and mowing device. 3. The crop harvesting header, as defined in claim 2, wherein said cross conveyor element is arranged in front of said cross conveyor channel. 4. The crop harvesting header, as defined in claim 2, wherein said first intake and mowing device is rotatable about a first axis; and said cross conveyor element being rotatable about a second rotational axis approximately parallel to said first rotational axis. 5. The crop harvesting header, as defined in claim 4, wherein outer peripheral parts of said first intake and mowing device trace a cylindrical envelope during operation; and said second rotational axis being within said cylindrical envelope. 6. The crop harvesting header, as defined in claim 3, wherein said cross conveyor channel has a rear side delimited by a fixed, upright wall; and said cross conveyor element being oriented to convey the harvested crops in interaction with said rear wall. 7. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 4, wherein said cross conveyor element and said intake and mowing device have radii which are approximately equal. 8. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 4, wherein said first intake and mowing device includes at least two vertically spaced conveying disks provided with recesses for receiving plant stalks; and said cross conveyor element including at least one conveyor disk provided with recesses for receiving plant stalks and arranged in the vertical direction between said at least two conveying disks of said first intake and mowing device. 9. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 8, and further including a transmission arrangement for driving said first intake and mowing device; said transmission arrangement including upper and lower gear housings; a connection element extending between and interconnecting said upper and lower gear housings; a hollow shaft received on said connection element; and said lower housing containing drive elements connected for driving said hollow shaft; and said upper housing including drive elements coupled between said hollow shaft and an upper one of said at least two vertically spaced conveying disks. 10. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 1, wherein said first intake and mowing device is directly adjacent to said center plane. 11. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 1, and further including a third intake and mowing device located further outward from said center plane than said second intake and mowing device; a further cross conveyor channel extending behind said second intake and mowing device between said third and first intake and mowing devices; and a further cross conveyor element being located and operated so that harvested crop cut by said third intake and mowing device is conveyed independently of said second intake and mowing device through said further cross conveyor channel towards the center of the harvesting header. 12. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 11, and further including at least a fourth intake and mowing device arranged next to, and farther outward from said central plane than, said third intake and mowing device. 13. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 11, wherein said first-mentioned and further cross conveyor elements define a wedge-shaped region adjacent rear sides of said first-mentioned and further cross conveyor elements; and a cross conveyor drum being located in said wedge-shaped region for conveying crop from said further, to said first-mentioned, cross conveyor element. 14. The harvesting header, as defined in claim 2, wherein said cross conveyor element and said deflection conveyor unit are so located relative to each other and to said first intake and mowing device said cross conveyor element delivers crop to said deflection conveyor unit at a region which is upstream of a region where crop is delivered to said deflection conveyor unit by said first intake and mowing device. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a header for harvesting crops having stalks, with several intake and mowing devices arranged laterally one next to the other for cutting and conveying the harvested crops, of which, on one side of the longitudinal center plane of the machine there is a first intake and mowing device and a second intake and mowing device arranged next to the first device at a greater distance from the longitudinal center plane of the machine than the first intake and mowing device, and with a deflection conveyor unit that has a rotational axis inclined slightly forward in order to bridge the vertical distance between the working plane of the intake and mowing devices and the plane of the intake channel of a harvesting machine and to introduce the harvested crops into the intake channel of a harvesting machine, wherein the first intake and mowing device can be driven such that it conveys the mown crops first inwards and then rearwards BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In DE 39 09 754 A, a harvesting device for introducing stalk fodder is described, for which four rotating cutting disks are arranged laterally one next to the other. The cut crops are received at their rear side by a cross auger. The cutting disks rotate, each in the same sense, on the two sides of the longitudinal center plane, wherein the crops are conveyed first outwards and then rearwards. WO 02/062128 A shows a machine with the same general configuration. DE 199 53 521 A shows a cutting and conveying device for stalk crops, which has four cutting and conveying rotors arranged laterally one next to the other. The rotational sense of the cutting and conveying rotors is such that the crops are conveyed first inwards and then rearwards. At the rear side of the cutting and conveying rotors there is a cross auger, which conveys the harvested crops from the outer cutting and conveying rotors to the center of the machine, where they are conveyed rearwards into the field chopper through the center region of the cross auger together with the crops running in from the inner cutting and conveying rotors. In EP 0 760 200 A, a machine for harvesting crops having stalks is disclosed, for which several intake and mowing drums are distributed over the working width. The crops are transported inwards to the rear side of the intake and mowing drums along the rear wall. On the two sides of the longitudinal center plane, the intake and mowing drums rotate in the same sense with the exception of the outer intake and mowing drums, so that the crops are conveyed first outwards and then rearwards. This rotational direction enables the use of cross auger drums in the wedge-shaped region of adjacent intake and mowing drums. The material is fed from the intake and mowing drums arranged farther to the outside through the cross auger drums to the inner intake and mowing drums. They feed this material, together with the crops harvested by the inner intake and mowing drums, to the diagonal conveyor drums, which convey the gathered crop material upwards and rearwards into the intake channel of the field chopper. The intake and mowing drums of EP 1 008 291 A rotate with the same rotational sense as those of EP 0 760 200 A. The cross conveyance, however, behind the intake and mowing drums is created by a separate cross conveyor, which is separate from the intake and mowing drums. In FIGS. 10 and 11 of GB 2 012 154 A, a corn harvesting machine is shown, for which two receiving drums are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal center plane. The outer receiving drums rotate outwards, while the inner receiving drums rotate inwards. At the rear side, the harvested crops are conveyed through a belt conveyor or a worm conveyor inwards to the center of the machine and then deflected rearwards into the intake channel of a chopper. DE 102 22 310 A discloses a machine for harvesting corn, for which the inner intake and mowing drums turn inwards. They feed the crops to deflection conveyor units in the form of diagonal conveyor drums, which convey the crops upwards and rearwards into the intake channel of the harvesting machine. The crops from the outer intake and mowing drums rotating outwards are fed to the diagonal conveyor drums behind the last intake and mowing drums by a separate cross conveyor, because conveyance through the rear sides of the inner intake and mowing drums against the selected rotational direction is not possible. The cross conveyor can be located in front of or behind the cross conveyor channel. The machine disclosed in EP 0 760 200 A, wherein the cross conveyor drums interact with the intake and mowing drums, has the advantage of a short construction, so that the field chopper carrying them must absorb only a relatively small torque. The machine proposed in DE 102 22 310 A also has a short construction. However, a few mowing drums for these machines rotate in the opposite sense, so that infeed problems occur in the infeed region between these mowing drums. The machines according to DE 39 09 754 A, DE 199 53 521 A, WO 02/062128 A, EP 1 008 291 A, and GB 2 012 154 A are significantly longer in the direction of motion due to the cross conveyor acting independently of the intake and mowing drums in the form of worm or band conveyors and place more stress on the field chopper. The construction according to EP 0 508 189 A is only suitable in a restrictive way for working widths like those achieved with the previously mentioned machines. The invention is based on the problem of designing a compact crop harvester header for harvesting crops having stalks, for which the disadvantages mentioned above are present not at all or only to a small degree. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an improved arrangement of a crop harvester header equipped with a plurality of intake and mowing drums An object of the invention is to provide a crop harvesting header including first and second intake and mowing devices mounted in side-by-side relationship to each other at one side of a longitudinal center plane of the header, with both the first and second intake and mowing devices being driven so that cut crop is conveyed first inwards toward said center plane and then rearwards. The invention relates to a harvesting header for mowing crops having stalks, for which at least one first intake and mowing device and one subsequent outer second intake and mowing device, which is offset outwards relative to the inner intake and mowing device, are arranged one next to the other to the side of a longitudinal center plane relative to the direction of travel. In the center of the machine behind the intake and mowing devices, there is a deflection conveyor unit, which has an approximately vertical, but slightly forwardly inclined rotational axis for overcoming the difference in height between the working plane of the intake and mowing devices and the plane of the intake channel of a self-propelled harvesting machine carrying the header. The deflection conveyor unit is preferably a diagonal conveyor drum, which is provided in particular with conveyor disks arranged one above the other with pushers distributed over their circumferences. A use of a conveyor equipped with tension means (chains or belts) as the deflection conveyor unit would also be conceivable. Relative to the worm conveyors frequently used in the prior art, this deflection conveyor has the advantage that it is smaller and lighter. The first intake and mowing device turns the harvesting operation first inwards and then rearwards. Therefore, two first intake and mowing devices arranged symmetrically in the center (on both sides of the longitudinal center plane) of a machine draw in the harvested crops between themselves, which is then especially advantageous when crop stalks run into this region. The second intake and mowing device rotates such that it conveys the crops first inwards and then rearwards, i.e., in the same sense as the first intake and mowing device. One advantage is that the rotational direction of all intake and mowing devices on one side of the machine is the same, so that infeed problems between oppositely rotating intake and mowing devices are eliminated. In addition, a large number of the same parts are used. Due to the selected rotational direction of the first intake and mowing device like that disclosed in EP 0 508 189 A and EP 0 760 200 A, which makes more difficult a transport of the harvested crops through the rear region of the first intake and mowing device, a separate cross conveyor element is advantageous in order to convey the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device inwards to the center of the machine, where they are then conveyed through the deflection conveyor unit into the intake channel of a harvesting machine carrying the machine. The cross conveyor element thus works independent of the first intake and mowing device and conveys the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device independently through a cross conveyor channel, which is located in the direction of travel behind the first intake and mowing device, to the deflection conveyor unit. However, instead of the separate cross conveyor element, the harvested crops could also be input to the first intake and mowing device and allowed to circulate to its front side. It should be further mentioned that the cross conveyor element described in the following can also be used in machines, for which the intake and mowing devices have the rotational directions shown in DE 102 22 310 A. In one advantageous embodiment, the cross conveyor element is arranged before the cross conveyor channel. The active conveyance of the harvested crops running from the second intake and mowing device is realized by elements, which are located at the front side of the cross conveyor channel relative to the direction of travel of the machine. In this way, a compact construction of the machine can be achieved. The cross conveyor element could be a worm conveyor, a conveyor belt, or a chain conveyor provided with suitable pushers. However, due to the advantages of a simple and low-wear construction, a rotary conveyor with an arbitrary, suitable rotational axis is preferred. In one embodiment, the cross conveyor element could be a conveyor disk introduced into the cross conveyor channel from above or from below with a horizontal rotational axis oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel. One advantage of a conveyor disk relative to a worm conveyor is the defined feeding of the harvested crops to the subsequent conveyor. The rotational axis extends in a different embodiment parallel to the rotational axis of the first intake and mowing device. To achieve a compact construction, the rotational axis of the cross conveyor element can be arranged within the envelope of the first intake and mowing device. At the rear side of the cross conveyor channel, an active cross conveyor element could likewise be attached in order to improve the crop conveyance. However, to be able to form the machine compactly, it is proposed to form the rear side of the cross conveyor channel by a rear wall, which is attached rigidly or spring mounted, but which is not driven. The rear wall allows a simple and secure conveyance of the harvested crops through the cross conveyor channel in interaction with the cross conveyor element. The function of the cross conveyor element is to convey the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device to the rear side of the first intake and mowing device, i.e., to bridge approximately the width of the first intake and mowing device. Therefore, it is advantageous to give the cross conveyor element a radius, which approximately matches the radius of the first intake and mowing device. However, the use of several smaller cross conveyor elements would also be conceivable. In a preferred embodiment, the cross conveyor element is assembled from one or more coaxial conveyor disks, which are provided in a known way with grooves or recesses for receiving plant stalks. The conveyor disk(s) or any other conveyor elements of the cross conveyor element is, or are, located between coaxial conveyor disks of the intake and mowing device, which are also provided in a known way with grooves for receiving plant stalks. The rotational axis of the conveyor disks of the cross conveyor element is offset relative to the rotational axis of the conveyor disks of the intake and mowing device, as a rule, towards the rear in the direction of travel of the machine. The conveyor disks can be held by a suitable gear housing, which also contains the associated drive elements. The connection of the gear housing below and above the cross conveyor element can be realized by a connection element, which is located within a hollow shaft, which is used for driving the cross conveyor element. As a rule, the first intake and mowing device is arranged directly next to the longitudinal center plane of the machine. Therefore, two first intake and mowing devices arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal center plane draw in the harvested crops, so that almost no crop conveyor problems appear here. However, it would also be conceivable to arrange another intake and mowing device with arbitrary rotational direction between the first intake and mowing device and the longitudinal center plane of the machine. The first intake and mowing device can be offset laterally arbitrarily far relative to the longitudinal center plane of the machine for certain embodiments, especially when the machine is built asymmetrically and/or has an uneven number of intake and mowing devices. For increasing the working width, third intake and mowing devices can be provided at the side of the second intake and mowing devices, which are spaced even farther from the longitudinal center plane of the machine. It is also conceivable to use fourth, fifth, etc., intake and mowing devices. Due to the selected rotational direction of the second intake and mowing device, a separate conveyance of the harvested crops is advantageous at the rear side of the second intake and mowing device. A cross conveyor element can be used for this purpose, which is similar to the cross conveyor element at the rear side of the first intake and mowing device. In the wedge-shaped region between adjacent cross conveyor elements, a cross conveyor drum can be arranged, as described in EP 0 760 200 A. The third intake and mowing devices arranged farthest to the outside preferably rotate such that they convey the crops initially inwards and then rearwards, which has the advantage that a conveyance of the harvested crops along its rear side is unnecessary, the crops reception in the region between the third and second intake and mowing devices is improved, and the construction of the machine is simplified. However, they could also rotate in the opposite sense to the first and second intake and mowing devices. If four or more intake and mowing devices are used, the construction of the third intake and mowing devices corresponds to the second intake and mowing devices. As a rule, the deflection conveyance unit is also used for transport of the crops from the first intake and mowing device. It receives the crops preferably downstream of the reception area of the crops from the second intake and mowing device (as a rule, from the cross conveyor element), so that the two transition regions at the deflection conveyor unit are independent of each other. The machine is preferably built symmetrically, i.e., there are two first and two second and optionally arbitrarily many other (two third, two fourth, etc.) intake and mowing devices on either side of the longitudinal center plane. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Six embodiments of the invention, which are described in more detail in the following, are shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic top view showing the crop intake and mowing, and crop conveying drums of a crop harvesting header constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention for harvesting crops having stalks. FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a crop harvesting header having an enlarged working width relative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a crop harvesting header having an enlarged working width relative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section taken along line 4-4 through the header shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a modification of the header illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a modification of the header illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a top view of a header having an even larger working width than any of the headers illustrated in the other views. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a crop harvesting header 10 for mowing crops having stalks, for example, corn. The header 10 has two inner or first intake and mowing devices 12, and two outer or second intake and mowing devices 14. The mowing devices 12 and 14 are arranged symmetrically to a longitudinal center plane 16 of the machine 10, with the inner two mowing devices 12 being respectively located adjacent to opposite sides of the center plane 16 and with the outer two mowing devices 14 being respectively located on opposite sides of the two inner mowing devices 12 from the center plane 16. The header 10 includes a chassis 18. In the following, directional terms, such as forward and rearward are referenced relative to a forward direction of travel V, while outer, inner, and lateral are referenced relative to the longitudinal center plane 16 of the machine 10. The intake and mowing devices 12, 14 are row independent and are assembled from a lower cutting disk, which rotates about an approximately vertical axis, and coaxial conveyor disks, which are arranged above this cutting disk, with the circumference of each conveyor disk being equipped with pocket-like recesses. The cutting disks separate the top parts of the crops being harvested, which can be, in particular, corn, from the stubble remaining at the bottom. The stalks of the harvested crops are received and held in the pocket-like recesses of the conveyor disks. Instead of all or a few of the illustrated rotating intake and mowing devices, intake and mowing devices, which are based on endless conveyors, can also be used. As a rule, crop dividers (not shown) are arranged ahead of the intake and mowing devices 12, 14. During operation, the machine 10 is fixed at the intake channel of a self-propelled field chopper, which moves over a field to be harvested in the direction of travel V. The rotational direction of the intake and mowing devices 12, 14 used in harvesting operation of the machine 10 are indicated by arrows. The first intake and mowing devices 12 rotate such that the chopped harvested crops are conveyed first inwards, in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane 16, and then rearwards against the direction of travel V. Thus, crops running between the first intake and mowing devices 12 can be harvested without difficulty. In the region of the first intake and mowing devices 12 adjacent to the longitudinal center plane 16, there are first crop clearing or stripping elements 20, which are connected to the chassis 18 and which remove the harvested crops stalks in the radial direction from the pocket-like recesses of the conveyor disks of the intake and mowing devices 12. Then the plants are led through a conveyor channel 22, which extends diagonally outwards and rearwards and which is limited laterally by the clearing elements 20 and a rhomboidal guide element 24, and especially by the pressure of subsequent plants, which are conveyed through the first intake and mowing device 12 into the effective region of a deflection conveyor 26, in the form of a diagonal conveyor drum, which is built from a cylindrical body with toothed conveyor disks arranged one above the other. It would also be conceivable to eliminate the guide element 24. The deflection conveyors 26 have rotational axes inclined forwards and convey the harvested crops running at a region designated with the reference symbol 30 from the first intake and mowing devices 12 at first inwards and then diagonally rearwards and upwards into the intake channel 28 of the field chopper, in which channel feed rolls (not shown) are arranged one above the other. The second intake and mowing devices 14 rotate in the same sense with the first intake and mowing devices 12. Shortly before the area of the second intake and mowing devices 14 facing the longitudinal center plane 16, second crop clearing or stripping elements 33 are connected to the chassis 18 in order to discharge the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing devices 14. There the crops are received by cross conveyor elements 32, which are built from two conveyor disks arranged one above the other with pocket-like recesses distributed over their circumference. The cross conveyor elements 32 are arranged in front of the cross conveyor channels 34, which extend between the second clearing elements 33 and the deflection conveyors 26 at the rear side of the header 10. Towards the rear, the cross conveyor channels 34 are delimited by fixed housing walls 36, whose shapes are adapted to the cross conveyor elements 32, i.e., at a constant distance over the length of the cross conveyor channel 34, and which transition in their outer end regions into the second clearing elements 33. An axis of rotation 38 of the rotary driven cross conveyor element 32 lies within the envelope of, and behind an axis of rotation 40 of, the first intake and mowing devices 12, and offset towards the outside relative to this first device. The conveyor disks of the cross conveyor elements 32 lie in the vertical direction between the conveyor disks of the first intake and mowing devices 12, as can be seen with reference to FIG. 4. The plants harvested from the second intake and mowing devices 14 are thus conveyed by the cross conveyor element 32 through the cross conveyor channel 34. At the end of the cross conveyor channel 34, third crop clearing or stripping elements 42, which transition into the first clearing elements 20 or are integrated with these elements, convey the harvested goods from the cross conveyor elements 32 outwards. At one region, which is designated by the reference symbol 44, that lies upstream of the region 30, the deflection conveyor unit 26 receives the plants from the cross conveyor channel 34. The shown embodiment can be modified by adding intake and mowing devices 14 and cross conveyor elements 32 into embodiments with larger working widths, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. There, third intake and mowing devices 46 and 48, respectively, are arranged at the side of the second intake and mowing devices 14. The third intake and mowing devices 48 of FIG. 3 have a larger diameter than the third intake and mowing devices 46 of FIG. 2, so that they enable the harvesting of another row of plants, but otherwise have the same construction and the same operation. The second intake and mowing devices 14 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 operate analogously to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and discharge the harvested crops chopped by them to the cross conveyor elements 32, which are arranged behind the first intake and mowing devices 12 in the direction of travel V. Due to the selected rotational direction of the second intake and mowing devices 14, a cross conveyor element 50, whose positioning, construction, and function corresponds to the cross conveyor element 32, is likewise allocated to these second devices. The cross conveyor element 50 is also assembled from conveyor disks arranged one above the other with pocket-like recesses for holding plant stalks distributed around their circumferences. The conveyor disks of the cross conveyor element 50 are arranged between the conveyor disks of the second intake and mowing device 14, and a cross conveyor channel is similarly defined at its rear side. The cross conveyor elements 50 thus receive the harvested crops cut by the third intake and mowing devices 46 and 48, respectively, which are lifted out by the clearing elements and conveyed in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane 16 of the machine 10. Shortly before reaching an inner region of the cross conveyor element 50, that region closest to the longitudinal center plane 16, the stalks of the harvested crops are lifted out by additional clearing elements (not shown) from the pocket-like recesses of the conveyor disks of the cross conveyor element 50 and then led into the effective outer region of the cross conveyor element 32. In the embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 3, additional intake and mowing devices together with cross conveyor elements arranged behind these devices could be inserted between the first and second intake and mowing devices 12, 14 in order to enlarge the working widths even more or to be able to use smaller diameters for the intake and mowing devices 12, 14, 46, 48. For explaining the construction of the drive of the first intake and mowing devices 12 and the cross conveyor element 32, FIG. 4 shows a vertical section through the header 10 of FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4. The second intake and mowing devices 14 and cross conveyor element 50 from FIGS. 2 and 3 are thus equivalent in terms of construction. The cutting disk 54, which is mentioned above, is supported so that it can rotate above a lower gear housing 52, which is rigidly connected to the chassis 18. A first conveyor disk 56 of the intake and mowing device 12 is arranged coaxially to the cutting disk 54 and above this disk in the vertical direction. The cutting disk 54 is driven in operation by a hollow shaft 58, which is provided on its lower end with gear teeth 60, which mesh with teeth of a gear 62. The gear 62 is arranged on a shaft 64, which is rotatably mounted in the lower gear housing 52. A first bevel gear 66 is fixed to a lower region of the shaft 64 and is meshed with a bevel gear 66 fixed to one end of a drive shaft 70, which is driven by a main drive shaft (not shown), which is in drive connection with the combustion engine of a self-propelled harvesting machine, which moves the header 10 over a field to be harvested. At a location below the gear 62, the shaft 64 is provided with gear teeth 72 which are meshed with teeth of a gear 74 fixed to a lower region of a drive shaft 76 which extends through the hollow shaft 58 and the cutting disk 54, and is rotatably supported in the lower gear housing 52. The shaft 76 carries the first conveyor disk 56 and sets this in rotation about the rotational axis 40. The shaft 76 also drives a first gear 78, which is located in a center gear housing 80, which is attached above the first conveyor disk 56. The first gear 78 meshes with a second gear 82 defining a lower end of a hollow shaft 84, which is located in the center gear housing 80, rotates about the rotational axis 38, and drives a connection disk 86, on whose outer circumference a lower conveyor disk 88 and an upper conveyor disk 90 are located. In addition, an upper end of the shaft 84 defines a third gear 92, which meshes with a fourth gear 94. The fourth gear 94 is fixed to a second shaft 96 and drives the second (upper) conveyor disk 98 of the intake and mowing device 12, which is fixed to an upper end of the second shaft 96. The third and fourth gears 92, 94 are located in an upper gear housing 100, which is connected in turn to the center gear housing 80. The shaft 84 is a hollow shaft and is mounted for rotation about a fixed support shaft 102, which has opposite ends respectively pressed within the center gear housing 80 and the upper gear housing 100 so as to hold them together. The center gear housing 80 is further supported by a support 104, which is fixed to and extends outwards and rearwards in the radial direction from the chassis 18 so as to extend between the cutting disk 54 and the connection disk 86. The cutting disk 54 and the lower conveyor disk 56, as well as the upper conveyor disk 98 of the first intake and mowing device 12, are arranged coaxially to each other and to the rotational axis 40. Similarly, the conveyor disks 88 and 90 of the conveyor element 32 are arrange coaxially to each other and to the rotational axis 38. The ratios of the gears 78, 82, 92, and 94 are selected such that the conveyor disks 56 and 98 of the first intake and mowing device 12 rotate at the same speed but faster than the conveyor disks 88 and 90 of the cross conveyor element 32. However, it would also be conceivable that the conveyor speed, i.e., the circumferential speed of the pocket-like recesses of the conveyor disks 88 and 90 of the cross conveyor element 32, could be greater than that of the intake and mowing device 12 or be approximately equal. In another embodiment, the cutting disk 54 can be supported so that it can rotate on the lower housing 52 and be driven by a gear on its lower side (or a hollow shaft). Through the cutting disk 54 and the gear or the hollow shaft, another hollow shaft can extend, which is used for driving the conveyor disk 56 and the gear 78. Another connection element can be arranged in the interior of the other hollow shaft, which carries the center gear housing 80, so that the support 104 is relieved of stress or can be eliminated. In FIGS. 5-7, other embodiments of the invention are shown, wherein elements that match those of previously described headers are provided with the same reference numerals. The header 10 in FIG. 5 corresponds essentially to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. However, one difference is the addition of a cross conveyor drum 106 in the wedge-shaped region between the cross conveyor element 50 of the second intake and mowing device 14 and the cross conveyor element 32 of the first intake and mowing device 12. The cross conveyor drums 106 correspond in construction and function to the cross conveyor drums from EP 0 760 200 A. They are built from a rotational body with an approximately vertical rotational axis, which is provided with conveyor disks arranged one above the other with conveyor teeth. The cross conveyor drums 106 are arranged behind the cross conveyor channel 34. The conveyor teeth of its conveyor disks extend through suitable slots in the rear wall 36, which delimits rear side of the cross conveyor channel 34. Through suitable clearing elements (not shown), such as skids or bars, the harvested crops are lifted from the cross conveyor elements 50 and received by the conveyor teeth of the cross conveyor drums 106, which convey it in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane 16. Directly downstream of this transfer region, the conveyor teeth of the cross conveyor drums 106 also receive the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing devices 14. Then the cross conveyor element 32 of the first intake and conveyor device 12 receives the harvested crops from the cross conveyor drum 106. With the exception of the addition of the previously described cross conveyor drum 106, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 matches that from FIG. 3. The header 10 shown in FIG. 7 also includes fourth intake and mowing devices 110. Therefore, a cross conveyor element 112 is allocated to the third intake and mowing devices. In construction, the third intake and mowing devices 48 with the cross conveyor element 112 correspond in this embodiment to the second intake and mowing devices 14 with the cross conveyor element 50. In the wedge-shaped region between the cross conveyor element 112 of the third intake and mowing device 48 and the cross conveyor element 50 of the second intake and mowing device, a cross conveyor drum 106 is likewise arranged, like that described in reference to FIG. 5. Another cross conveyor drum 106 is located in the wedge-shaped region between the cross conveyor elements 50 and 32. The rotational directions of the intake and mowing devices 12, 14, 48, and 110 of FIG. 7 extend such that in the normal harvesting operation, the harvested crops are cut and conveyed first in the direction towards the longitudinal center plane 16 of the header 10. In this way, conveyance problems between intake and mowing devices rotating in opposite senses are eliminated. For reverse operation, the driven elements of the machine 10 each rotate in the opposite senses to the described rotational directions. Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In DE 39 09 754 A, a harvesting device for introducing stalk fodder is described, for which four rotating cutting disks are arranged laterally one next to the other. The cut crops are received at their rear side by a cross auger. The cutting disks rotate, each in the same sense, on the two sides of the longitudinal center plane, wherein the crops are conveyed first outwards and then rearwards. WO 02/062128 A shows a machine with the same general configuration. DE 199 53 521 A shows a cutting and conveying device for stalk crops, which has four cutting and conveying rotors arranged laterally one next to the other. The rotational sense of the cutting and conveying rotors is such that the crops are conveyed first inwards and then rearwards. At the rear side of the cutting and conveying rotors there is a cross auger, which conveys the harvested crops from the outer cutting and conveying rotors to the center of the machine, where they are conveyed rearwards into the field chopper through the center region of the cross auger together with the crops running in from the inner cutting and conveying rotors. In EP 0 760 200 A, a machine for harvesting crops having stalks is disclosed, for which several intake and mowing drums are distributed over the working width. The crops are transported inwards to the rear side of the intake and mowing drums along the rear wall. On the two sides of the longitudinal center plane, the intake and mowing drums rotate in the same sense with the exception of the outer intake and mowing drums, so that the crops are conveyed first outwards and then rearwards. This rotational direction enables the use of cross auger drums in the wedge-shaped region of adjacent intake and mowing drums. The material is fed from the intake and mowing drums arranged farther to the outside through the cross auger drums to the inner intake and mowing drums. They feed this material, together with the crops harvested by the inner intake and mowing drums, to the diagonal conveyor drums, which convey the gathered crop material upwards and rearwards into the intake channel of the field chopper. The intake and mowing drums of EP 1 008 291 A rotate with the same rotational sense as those of EP 0 760 200 A. The cross conveyance, however, behind the intake and mowing drums is created by a separate cross conveyor, which is separate from the intake and mowing drums. In FIGS. 10 and 11 of GB 2 012 154 A, a corn harvesting machine is shown, for which two receiving drums are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal center plane. The outer receiving drums rotate outwards, while the inner receiving drums rotate inwards. At the rear side, the harvested crops are conveyed through a belt conveyor or a worm conveyor inwards to the center of the machine and then deflected rearwards into the intake channel of a chopper. DE 102 22 310 A discloses a machine for harvesting corn, for which the inner intake and mowing drums turn inwards. They feed the crops to deflection conveyor units in the form of diagonal conveyor drums, which convey the crops upwards and rearwards into the intake channel of the harvesting machine. The crops from the outer intake and mowing drums rotating outwards are fed to the diagonal conveyor drums behind the last intake and mowing drums by a separate cross conveyor, because conveyance through the rear sides of the inner intake and mowing drums against the selected rotational direction is not possible. The cross conveyor can be located in front of or behind the cross conveyor channel. The machine disclosed in EP 0 760 200 A, wherein the cross conveyor drums interact with the intake and mowing drums, has the advantage of a short construction, so that the field chopper carrying them must absorb only a relatively small torque. The machine proposed in DE 102 22 310 A also has a short construction. However, a few mowing drums for these machines rotate in the opposite sense, so that infeed problems occur in the infeed region between these mowing drums. The machines according to DE 39 09 754 A, DE 199 53 521 A, WO 02/062128 A, EP 1 008 291 A, and GB 2 012 154 A are significantly longer in the direction of motion due to the cross conveyor acting independently of the intake and mowing drums in the form of worm or band conveyors and place more stress on the field chopper. The construction according to EP 0 508 189 A is only suitable in a restrictive way for working widths like those achieved with the previously mentioned machines. The invention is based on the problem of designing a compact crop harvester header for harvesting crops having stalks, for which the disadvantages mentioned above are present not at all or only to a small degree. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>According to the present invention, there is provided an improved arrangement of a crop harvester header equipped with a plurality of intake and mowing drums An object of the invention is to provide a crop harvesting header including first and second intake and mowing devices mounted in side-by-side relationship to each other at one side of a longitudinal center plane of the header, with both the first and second intake and mowing devices being driven so that cut crop is conveyed first inwards toward said center plane and then rearwards. The invention relates to a harvesting header for mowing crops having stalks, for which at least one first intake and mowing device and one subsequent outer second intake and mowing device, which is offset outwards relative to the inner intake and mowing device, are arranged one next to the other to the side of a longitudinal center plane relative to the direction of travel. In the center of the machine behind the intake and mowing devices, there is a deflection conveyor unit, which has an approximately vertical, but slightly forwardly inclined rotational axis for overcoming the difference in height between the working plane of the intake and mowing devices and the plane of the intake channel of a self-propelled harvesting machine carrying the header. The deflection conveyor unit is preferably a diagonal conveyor drum, which is provided in particular with conveyor disks arranged one above the other with pushers distributed over their circumferences. A use of a conveyor equipped with tension means (chains or belts) as the deflection conveyor unit would also be conceivable. Relative to the worm conveyors frequently used in the prior art, this deflection conveyor has the advantage that it is smaller and lighter. The first intake and mowing device turns the harvesting operation first inwards and then rearwards. Therefore, two first intake and mowing devices arranged symmetrically in the center (on both sides of the longitudinal center plane) of a machine draw in the harvested crops between themselves, which is then especially advantageous when crop stalks run into this region. The second intake and mowing device rotates such that it conveys the crops first inwards and then rearwards, i.e., in the same sense as the first intake and mowing device. One advantage is that the rotational direction of all intake and mowing devices on one side of the machine is the same, so that infeed problems between oppositely rotating intake and mowing devices are eliminated. In addition, a large number of the same parts are used. Due to the selected rotational direction of the first intake and mowing device like that disclosed in EP 0 508 189 A and EP 0 760 200 A, which makes more difficult a transport of the harvested crops through the rear region of the first intake and mowing device, a separate cross conveyor element is advantageous in order to convey the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device inwards to the center of the machine, where they are then conveyed through the deflection conveyor unit into the intake channel of a harvesting machine carrying the machine. The cross conveyor element thus works independent of the first intake and mowing device and conveys the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device independently through a cross conveyor channel, which is located in the direction of travel behind the first intake and mowing device, to the deflection conveyor unit. However, instead of the separate cross conveyor element, the harvested crops could also be input to the first intake and mowing device and allowed to circulate to its front side. It should be further mentioned that the cross conveyor element described in the following can also be used in machines, for which the intake and mowing devices have the rotational directions shown in DE 102 22 310 A. In one advantageous embodiment, the cross conveyor element is arranged before the cross conveyor channel. The active conveyance of the harvested crops running from the second intake and mowing device is realized by elements, which are located at the front side of the cross conveyor channel relative to the direction of travel of the machine. In this way, a compact construction of the machine can be achieved. The cross conveyor element could be a worm conveyor, a conveyor belt, or a chain conveyor provided with suitable pushers. However, due to the advantages of a simple and low-wear construction, a rotary conveyor with an arbitrary, suitable rotational axis is preferred. In one embodiment, the cross conveyor element could be a conveyor disk introduced into the cross conveyor channel from above or from below with a horizontal rotational axis oriented perpendicular to the direction of travel. One advantage of a conveyor disk relative to a worm conveyor is the defined feeding of the harvested crops to the subsequent conveyor. The rotational axis extends in a different embodiment parallel to the rotational axis of the first intake and mowing device. To achieve a compact construction, the rotational axis of the cross conveyor element can be arranged within the envelope of the first intake and mowing device. At the rear side of the cross conveyor channel, an active cross conveyor element could likewise be attached in order to improve the crop conveyance. However, to be able to form the machine compactly, it is proposed to form the rear side of the cross conveyor channel by a rear wall, which is attached rigidly or spring mounted, but which is not driven. The rear wall allows a simple and secure conveyance of the harvested crops through the cross conveyor channel in interaction with the cross conveyor element. The function of the cross conveyor element is to convey the harvested crops from the second intake and mowing device to the rear side of the first intake and mowing device, i.e., to bridge approximately the width of the first intake and mowing device. Therefore, it is advantageous to give the cross conveyor element a radius, which approximately matches the radius of the first intake and mowing device. However, the use of several smaller cross conveyor elements would also be conceivable. In a preferred embodiment, the cross conveyor element is assembled from one or more coaxial conveyor disks, which are provided in a known way with grooves or recesses for receiving plant stalks. The conveyor disk(s) or any other conveyor elements of the cross conveyor element is, or are, located between coaxial conveyor disks of the intake and mowing device, which are also provided in a known way with grooves for receiving plant stalks. The rotational axis of the conveyor disks of the cross conveyor element is offset relative to the rotational axis of the conveyor disks of the intake and mowing device, as a rule, towards the rear in the direction of travel of the machine. The conveyor disks can be held by a suitable gear housing, which also contains the associated drive elements. The connection of the gear housing below and above the cross conveyor element can be realized by a connection element, which is located within a hollow shaft, which is used for driving the cross conveyor element. As a rule, the first intake and mowing device is arranged directly next to the longitudinal center plane of the machine. Therefore, two first intake and mowing devices arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal center plane draw in the harvested crops, so that almost no crop conveyor problems appear here. However, it would also be conceivable to arrange another intake and mowing device with arbitrary rotational direction between the first intake and mowing device and the longitudinal center plane of the machine. The first intake and mowing device can be offset laterally arbitrarily far relative to the longitudinal center plane of the machine for certain embodiments, especially when the machine is built asymmetrically and/or has an uneven number of intake and mowing devices. For increasing the working width, third intake and mowing devices can be provided at the side of the second intake and mowing devices, which are spaced even farther from the longitudinal center plane of the machine. It is also conceivable to use fourth, fifth, etc., intake and mowing devices. Due to the selected rotational direction of the second intake and mowing device, a separate conveyance of the harvested crops is advantageous at the rear side of the second intake and mowing device. A cross conveyor element can be used for this purpose, which is similar to the cross conveyor element at the rear side of the first intake and mowing device. In the wedge-shaped region between adjacent cross conveyor elements, a cross conveyor drum can be arranged, as described in EP 0 760 200 A. The third intake and mowing devices arranged farthest to the outside preferably rotate such that they convey the crops initially inwards and then rearwards, which has the advantage that a conveyance of the harvested crops along its rear side is unnecessary, the crops reception in the region between the third and second intake and mowing devices is improved, and the construction of the machine is simplified. However, they could also rotate in the opposite sense to the first and second intake and mowing devices. If four or more intake and mowing devices are used, the construction of the third intake and mowing devices corresponds to the second intake and mowing devices. As a rule, the deflection conveyance unit is also used for transport of the crops from the first intake and mowing device. It receives the crops preferably downstream of the reception area of the crops from the second intake and mowing device (as a rule, from the cross conveyor element), so that the two transition regions at the deflection conveyor unit are independent of each other. The machine is preferably built symmetrically, i.e., there are two first and two second and optionally arbitrarily many other (two third, two fourth, etc.) intake and mowing devices on either side of the longitudinal center plane. | 20040625 | 20070529 | 20050113 | 63228.0 | 0 | TORRES, ALICIA M | HEADER FOR HARVESTING CROPS HAVING STALKS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,001 | ACCEPTED | Rule based system and method for automatically generating photomask orders by conditioning information from a customer's computer system | A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format includes at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format. The system includes at least one set of rules corresponding to the at least one template or order, wherein the set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into the at least one template or order as required by the specified order format. A graphical user interface is associated with the at least one template or order, wherein the user can access the at least one template or order to enter photomask order data and create an order in a specified format. A data processing mechanism imports electronic information from external media into the at least one template or order. | 1. A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format comprising: at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein said at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format; at least one set of rules corresponding to said at least one template or order, wherein said set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into said at least one template or order as required by the specified order format; a graphical user interface associated with said at least one template or order, wherein the user can access said at least one template or order to enter photomask order data and create an order in a specified format; and a data processing mechanism for importing electronic information from external media into said at least one template or order. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said data-processing mechanism comprises instructions that map the data contained in said electronic information to a format usable for said system for generating photomask orders. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said external media is located on a remote computer system. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said external media is located on the same computer system as said graphical user interface. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said electronic information comprises information regarding one or more of the following: logistics suppliers, equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, photomask manufacturer, and transportation services. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said system further comprises: a custom module for receiving a command line to instruct said system to access said electronic information from said external media. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said system further comprises: a message generator for alerting users of said system as to the status of an order being generated. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein a message is generated by said message generator in the form of one or more of the following: an e-mail, a text message to be delivered over a communication network, and a log file. 9. A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format comprising: at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein said at least one templates or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format; at least one set of rules corresponding to at least one templates or order, wherein said set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into said template or order as required by the specified order format; and a data-processing mechanism for accessing one or more external sources of electronic information, wherein said one or more sources of electronic information are accessed through a data service system. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said data service system comprises and enables users to simultaneously access one or more of the following: Internet web sites, databases, intranets, and other internal or external resources. 11. The system of claim 9, wherein said data-processing mechanism comprises instructions that map the data contained in said electronic information to a format usable for said system for generating photomask orders. 12. The system of claim 9, wherein said one or more external sources of electronic information is located on a remote computer system. 13. The system of claim 9, wherein said at least one template or order is created through a graphical user interface and said one or more external sources of electronic information is located on the same computer system as said graphical user interface. 14. The system of claim 9, wherein said electronic information comprises information regarding one or more of the following: logistics suppliers, equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, photomask manufacturer, and transportation services. 15. The system of claim 9, further comprising: a custom module for receiving a command line to instruct said system to access said one or more sources of electronic information. 16. The system of claim 9, further comprising a message generator for alerting users of said system as to the status of an order being generated. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein a message is generated by said message generator in the form of one or more of the following: an e-mail, a text message to be delivered over a communication network, and a log file. 18. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format, comprising: generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein said at least one order is created by entering data into one or more templates governed by at least one set of rules; and accessing electronic information from an external database by a data processing mechanism to incorporate said electronic information into said template. 19. The method of claim 17, wherein said data-processing mechanism comprises instructions that map the data contained in said electronic information to a format usable for said system for generating photomask orders. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein said external database is located on a remote computer system. 21. The method of claim 17, wherein said external database is located on the same computer system as said graphical user interface. 22. The method of claim 17, wherein said electronic information comprises information regarding one or more of the following: logistics suppliers, equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, photomask manufacturer, and transportation services. 23. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving a command line to access said electronic information from said external database. 24. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating a message that alerts users as to the status of an order being generated. 25. The method of claim 17, wherein said message is in the form of one or more of the following: an e-mail, a text message to be delivered over a communication network, or a log file. 26. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format, comprising: generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein said at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules; accessing electronic information from a data service; and incorporating said electronic information into said order. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of accessing comprises simultaneously accessing one or more of the following: Internet web sites, databases, intranets, and other internal or external resources. 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of incorporating comprises mapping the data contained in said electronic information to a format usable for generating photomask orders. 29. The method of claim 26, wherein said electronic information is located on a remote computer system. 30. The method of claim 26, wherein said at least one order is created through a graphical user interface and said electronic information is located on the same computer system as said graphical user interface. 31. The method of claim 26, wherein said electronic information comprises information regarding one or more of the following: logistics suppliers, equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, photomask manufacturer, and transportation services. 32. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving a command line to access said electronic information from said data service. 33. The method of claim 26, further comprising generating a message that alerts users as to the status of an order being generated. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein said message is in the form of one or more of the following: an e-mail, a text message to be delivered over a communication network, and a log file. 35. A processor readable storage medium containing processor readable code for programming a processor to perform a method comprising the steps of: generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein said at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules; accessing electronic information from a data service; and incorporating said electronic information into said order. 36. The processor readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the step of accessing comprises simultaneously accessing one or more of the following: Internet web sites, databases, intranets, and other internal or external resources. 37. The processor readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the step of incorporating comprises mapping the data contained in said electronic information to a format usable for generating photomask orders. 38. The processor readable medium of claim 35, wherein said electronic information is located on a remote computer system. 39. The processor readable medium of claim 35, wherein the data is entered into the at least one template through a graphical user interface and said electronic information is located on the same computer system as said graphical user interface. 40. The processor readable medium of claim 35, wherein said electronic information comprises information regarding one or more of the following: logistics suppliers, equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, photomask manufacturer, and transportation services. 41. The processor readable medium of claim 35, wherein the method further comprises receiving a command line to access said electronic information from said data service. 42. The processor readable medium of claim 35, wherein the method further comprises generating a message that alerts users as to the status of an order being generated. 43. The processor readable medium of claim 42, wherein said message is in the form of one or more of the following: an e-mail, a text message to be delivered over a communication network, and a log file. | RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/209,254, filed Jul. 30, 2002, and is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/099,622, filed Mar. 14, 2002. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to a rule based system and method for automatically generating photomask orders in a specified format, and more particularly, relates to a software-based application which automatically generates photomask orders in a specified format through the use of templates and rules which guide a user through the process of generating a photomask order in a complete and accurate manner. The rules and templates are established based on the requirements of a particular standard (e.g., SEMI P10) or propriety photomask order format and are organized and stored in a manner which can be adapted to meet the criteria of both modified and new photomask order formats now known or hereinafter developed. Additionally, the system and method of the present invention provides for the ability to generate new photomask orders using existing photomask order data. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Photomasks are high precision plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits. Photomasks are typically made from very flat pieces of quartz or glass with a layer of chrome on one side. Etched in the chrome is a portion of an electronic circuit design. This circuit design on the mask is also called “geometry”. A typical photomask used in the production of semiconductor devices is formed from a “blank” or “undeveloped” photomask. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical blank photomask 10 is comprised of three or four layers. The first layer 11 is a layer of quartz or other substantially transparent material, commonly referred to as the substrate. The next layer is typically a layer of opaque material 12, such as Cr, which often includes a third layer of antireflective material 13, such as CrO. The antireflective layer may or may not be included in any given photomask. The top layer is typically a layer of photosensitive resist material 14. Other types of photomasks are also known and used including, but not limited to, phase shift masks, embedded attenuated phase shift masks (“EAPSM”) and alternating aperture phase shift masks (“AAPSM”). The process of manufacturing a photomask involves many steps and can be time consuming. In this regard, to manufacturer a photomask, the desired pattern of opaque material 12 to be created on the photomask 10 is typically defined by an electronic data file loaded into an exposure system which typically scans an electron beam (E-beam) or laser beam in a raster or vector fashion across the blank photomask. One such example of a raster scan exposure system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,737 to Collier. Each unique exposure system has its own software and format for processing data to instruct the equipment in exposing the blank photomask. As the E-beam or laser beam is scanned across the blank photomask 10, the exposure system directs the E-beam or laser beam at addressable locations on the photomask as defined by the electronic data file. The areas of the photosensitive resist material that are exposed to the E-beam or laser beam become soluble while the unexposed portions remain insoluble. In order to determine where the E-beam or laser beam should expose the photoresist 14 on the blank photomask 10, and where it should not, appropriate instructions to the processing equipment need to be provided, in the form of a jobdeck. After the exposure system has scanned the desired image onto the photosensitive resist material 14, as shown in FIG. 2, the soluble photosensitive resist material is removed by means well known in the art, and the unexposed, insoluble photosensitive resist material 14′ remains adhered to the opaque material 13 and 12. Thus, the pattern to be formed on the photomask 10 is formed by the remaining photosensitive resist material 14′. The pattern is then transferred from the remaining photoresist material 14′ to the photomask 10 via known etch processes to remove the antireflective material 13 and opaque materials 12 in regions which are not covered by the remaining photoresist 14′. There is a wide variety of etching processes known in the art, including dry etching as well as wet etching, and thus a wide variety of equipment used to perform such etching. After etching is complete, the remaining photoresist material 14′ is stripped or removed and the photomask is completed, as shown in FIG. 3. In the completed photomask, the pattern as previously reflected by the remaining antireflective material 13′ and opaque materials 12′ are located in regions where the remaining photoresist 14′ remain after the soluble materials were removed in prior steps. In order to determine if there are any unacceptable defects in a particular photomask, it is necessary to inspect the photomasks. A defect is any flaw affecting the geometry. This includes chrome where it should not be (chrome spots, chrome extensions, chrome bridging between geometry) or unwanted clear areas (pin holes, clear extensions, clear breaks). A defect can cause the customer's circuit not to function. The customer will indicate in its defect specification the size of defects that will affect their process. All defects that size and larger must be repaired, or if they can not be repaired, the mask must be rejected and rewritten. Typically, automated mask inspection systems, such as those manufactured by KLA-Tencor or Applied Materials, are used to detect defects. Such automated systems direct an illumination beam at the photomask and detect the intensity of the portion of the light beam transmitted through and reflected back from the photomask. The detected light intensity is then compared with expected light intensity, and any deviation is noted as a defect. The details of one system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,702 assigned to KLA-Tencor. After passing inspection, a completed photomask is cleaned of contaminants. Next, a pellicle may be applied to the completed photomask to protect its critical pattern region from airborne contamination. Subsequent through pellicle defect inspection may be performed. In some instances, the photomask may be cut either before or after a pellicle is applied. To perform each of the manufacturing steps described above, a semiconductor manufacturer (e.g., customer) must first provide a photomask manufacturer with different types of data relating to the photomask to be manufactured. In this regard, a customer typically provides a photomask order which includes various types of information and data which are needed to manufacture and process the photomask, including, for example, data relating to the design of the photomask, materials to be used, delivery dates, billing information and other information needed to process the order and manufacture the photomask. A long standing problem in the manufacture of photomasks is the amount of time it takes to manufacture a photomask from the time a photomask order is received from a customer. In this regard, the overall time it takes to process a photomask order and manufacture a photomask can be lengthy, and thus, the overall output of photomasks is not maximized. Part of this problem is attributable to the fact that many customers who order photomasks often place their orders in a variety of different formats which are often not compatible with the photomask manufacturer's computer system and/or manufacturing equipment. Accordingly, the photomask manufacturer is often required to reformat the order data and condition it into a different format which is compatible with its computer system and/or manufacturing equipment, which can take a great deal of time, and thus, delay the time it takes to manufacture a photomask. In an attempt to address these problems, the photomask industry has developed various standard photomask order formats in which photomask orders should be placed. For example, the SEMI P10 standard is one standard format used in the manufacture of photomasks. Additionally, a few semiconductor manufacturers have developed their own proprietary photomask order format in which photomask orders are to be placed, rather than adopting a standard format. These standard and proprietary photomask order formats were created so that photomask orders would be received from customers in a uniform format, thereby reducing the overall time it takes to manufacture a photomask. Although the use of such standard and/or proprietary photomask order formats are useful in reducing the time it takes to manufacture photomasks, many semiconductor manufacturers have been reluctant to place their photomask orders in such standard and/or proprietary formats for a variety of reasons. For example, the SEMI P10 standard order format is quite complicated and requires the customer placing the order to have a sophisticated working knowledge of the requirements associated with such standard. Since many semiconductor manufacturers do not manufacture photomask, such manufacturers may not have the resources, time or ability to learn the intricacies of such standard format. Thus, semiconductor manufacturers often provide a photomask manufacturer with photomask order data in an unorganized and often incomplete manner. As a result, the photomask manufacturer is required to parse through this data and organize it in a useful format (e.g., in the SEMI P10 format). Additionally, in those instances where incomplete photomask order data is provided to a photomask manufacturer, such manufacturer will be required to request the missing information from the customer. As a result, a great deal of time is often wasted in the process of obtaining a complete and accurate photomask order, and thus, the overall time that it takes to manufacturer a photomask can be greatly delayed. There has been a long felt need in the field of photomask manufacture for a customer side system and method for automatically generating a complete and accurate photomask order in a standard and/or proprietary format. In the past, AlignRite Corporation (a predecessor organization to Photronics, Inc.), attempted to expedite the delivery of the electronic data through the use of an Internet based delivery system. However, although the AlignRite System was capable of rapid delivery of the photomask data from a customer to the computer system of the photomask manufacturer and was capable of validating the accuracy of this data in real time, this prior system did not provide for the automated generation of photomask order data in a single standard and/or proprietary format. In this regard, once the data was received from the customer, standard modifications to the data would also have to be entered manually by operators. Each time a manual change would have to be entered, the risk of human error increased and the overall length of the job would be extended. Others have disclosed systems in which manufacturing and billing data are down-loaded over the Internet and verified on-line automatically. One such system is described in PCT Publication Number 02/03141, published on Jan. 10, 2002 to DuPont Photomask, Inc. More particularly, the DuPont Publication discloses a system in which photomask order data is entered on-line by a customer and transmitted to a photomask manufacturer for processing. In this system, a customer is prompted to enter photomask order data. Such data is transmitted to a photomask manufacturer, who in turn performs a diagnostic evaluation of the data. If any data is incomplete or inaccurate, the system sends a message to the customer notifying him of such error. Thereafter, the user must correct the error. After the data has been validated by the manufacturer (and corrected when necessary), the manufacturer processes this data and puts it into a standard (or proprietary) format, such as the SEMI P10 standard format. Although useful for diagnostic purposes, the system of the DuPont PCT Publication does not prevent errors from being entered in a photomask order. In this regard, this system is only able to identify errors in a photomask order after the order has been entered by a customer and transmitted to a photomask manufacturer. Upon receiving the order, the photomask manufacturer validates the order information, and if it detects an error, sends an error message to the customer and prompts the customer to correct such error. Additionally, this system does not place the entered photomask order data into a standard format until after it has been validated and received by the photomask manufacturer. In other words, the manufacturer is required to condition the data entered by a customer into a standard format for manufacturer. As a result, a great deal of time is wasted correcting the customer's data entry mistakes and converting the data into a standard format. Thus, there is a long felt need for a system and method which generates photomask orders in a standard and/or proprietary order format and prevents errors during data entry and prior to transmission to a photomask manufacturer. After the manufacturing steps described above are completed, the completed photomask is sent to a customer for use to manufacture semiconductor and other products. In particular, photomasks are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to transfer micro-scale images defining a semiconductor circuit onto a silicon or gallium arsenide substrate or wafer. The process for transferring an image from a photomask to a silicon substrate or wafer is commonly referred to as lithography or microlithography. Typically, as shown in FIG. 4, the semiconductor manufacturing process comprises the steps of deposition, photolithography, and etching. During deposition, a layer of either electrically insulating or electrically conductive material (like a metal, polysilicon or oxide) is deposited on the surface of a silicon wafer. This material is then coated with a photosensitive resist. The photomask is then used much the same way a photographic negative is used to make a photograph. Photolithography involves projecting the image on the photomask onto the wafer. If the image on the photomask is projected several times side by side onto the wafer, this is known as stepping and the photomask is called a reticle. As shown in FIG. 5, to create an image 21 on a semiconductor wafer 20, a photomask 10 is interposed between the semiconductor wafer 20, which includes a layer of photosensitive material, and an optical system 22. Energy generated by an energy source 23, commonly referred to as a Stepper, is inhibited from passing through the areas of the photomask 10 where the opaque material is present. Energy from the Stepper 23 passes through the transparent portions of the quartz substrate 11 not covered by the opaque material 12 and the antireflective material 13. The optical system 22 projects a scaled image 24 of the pattern of the opaque material 12 and 13 onto the semiconductor wafer 20 and causes a reaction in the photosensitive material on the semiconductor wafer. The solubility of the photosensitive material is changed in areas exposed to the energy. In the case of a positive photolithographic process, the exposed photosensitive material becomes soluble and can be removed. In the case of a negative photolithographic process, the exposed photosensitive material becomes insoluble and unexposed soluble photosensitive material is removed. After the soluble photosensitive material is removed, the image or pattern formed in the insoluble photosensitive material is transferred to the substrate by a process well known in the art which is commonly referred to as etching. Once the pattern is etched onto the substrate material, the remaining resist is removed resulting in a finished product. A new layer of material and resist is then deposited on the wafer and the image on the next photomask is projected onto it. Again the wafer is developed and etched. This process is repeated until the circuit is complete. Because, in a typical semiconductor device many layers may be deposited, many different photomasks may be necessary for the manufacture of even a single semiconductor device. Indeed, if more than one piece of equipment is used by a semiconductor manufacturer to manufacturer a semiconductor device, it is possible more than one photomask may be needed, even for each layer. Furthermore, because different types of equipment may also be used to expose the photoresist in the different production lines, even the multiple identical photomask patterns may require additional variations in sizing, orientation, scaling and other attributes to account for differences in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Similar adjustments may also be necessary to account for differences in the photomask manufacturer's lithography equipment. These differences need to be accounted for in the photomask manufacturing process. While the prior art is of interest, the known methods and apparatus of the prior art present several limitations which the present invention seeks to overcome. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein the rules can be adapted or modified to meet any number of different standard and/or proprietary formats now known or hereinafter developed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein the system and method requires a user to follow a set of rules associated with a standard and/or proprietary format for photomask orders. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein an order is generated by merging existing photomask order(s) and/or templates containing photomask data into a single, new order. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for reducing photomask order and data entry times. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for reducing transcription errors associated with the manual entry of photomask orders. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for increasing the overall output of photomasks being manufactured. It is another object of the present invention to solve the shortcomings of the prior art. Other objects will become apparent from the foregoing description. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format, at least one set of rules corresponding to the at least one template or order, wherein the set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into the at least one template or order as required by the specified order format, a graphical user interface associated with the at least one template or order, wherein the user can access the at least one template or order to enter photomask order data and create an order in a specified format, and a data processing mechanism for importing electronic information from external media into the at least one template or order. A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention includes at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format, at least one set of rules corresponding to the at least one template or order, wherein the set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into the template or order as required by the specified order format, and a data-processing mechanism for accessing one or more external sources of electronic information, wherein the one or more sources of electronic information are accessed through a data service system. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into one or more templates governed by at least one set of rules, and accessing electronic information from an external database by a data processing mechanism to incorporate the electronic information into the one or more templates. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention includes generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules, accessing electronic information from a data service, and incorporating the electronic information into the order. A processor readable storage medium according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention contains processor readable code for programming a processor to perform a method including the steps of generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules, accessing electronic information from a data service, and incorporating the electronic information into the order. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and related objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following, detailed description of the preferred, albeit illustrative, embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein: FIG. 1 represents a blank or undeveloped photomask of the prior art; FIG. 2 represents the photomask of FIG. 1 after it has been partially processed; FIG. 3 represents the photomask of FIGS. 1 and 2 after it has been fully processed; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the method of using a processed photomask to make or process a semiconductor wafer; FIG. 5 shows the process of making a semiconductor using a wafer stepper; and FIG. 6 shows a photomask order generating system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) The present invention relates to a computerized rule-based system and method for automatically generating photomask orders in a specified format, wherein a photomask customer desiring to place an order for a photomask is guided through the process of entering an order in a complete and accurate manner in accordance with the requirements of the specified order format. To carry out these functions, the system and method utilizes the following four components to generate a photomask order into a desired format: (1) templates in which data is entered; (2) rules for converting the data entered in the templates into a specified standard and/or proprietary format; (3) a method for using templates to create a photomask order in a specified format; and (4) a separate set of rule for validating photomask order against a specified standard format. Software is implemented in this system to associate specific templates with specific rules to ensure that a customer enters complete and accurate photomask order information. Likewise, software is implemented in the system of the present invention to associate specific photomask orders with specific rules to ensure that a customer enters complete and accurate photomask order information. Before describing this software, it is first necessary to describe the manner in which the templates, orders and rules are stored and organized. More particularly, the system includes a server and an external data storage media stored on the server. Rules and templates for facilitating the entry of photomask order data and for generating an order are stored in the external storage media. The external data storage media may be a variety of different types of storage media, including, but not limited to, a relational database, an object-oriented class, an XML file and other similar storage media now known or hereinafter developed. By maintaining the storage media external to the system and by providing flexibility in the type of storage media that can be used with the system and method of the present invention, a variety of different users and automated systems may operate the system dynamically across a variety of different platforms. In a preferred embodiment, a set of templates and orders are created based on the requirements of a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. In this regard, the templates and orders are organized as a hierarchy of components and subcomponents, wherein each component and subcomponent is defined by the requirements of a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. For example, a particular photomask order format may require that the mask data component include certain subcomponents, such as a title, barcode and pattern data, to name a few. Each of these subcomponents may have further detailed subcomponents (“child component”). For example, the pattern data component, which is a subcomponent of the mask data component, may have a set of child components associated therewith. Depending upon the requirements of the standard and/or proprietary photomask order format, these child components may have additional subcomponents as well, which can in turn, have their own subcomponents and so forth and so on. Each component and subcomponent is defined by a set of attributes (e.g., binary, string, integer, real number, date, Boolean, list, etc.). Since templates are used to create photomask orders, the rules (discussed in more detail below) associated with a given template can be can be a subset of the rules associated with the photomask order that is created from the template. This will allow the user to leave certain information or components out of a template in the event that such information changes for each new order created from the given template. Table 1 demonstrates an example of how the components and subcomponents of the templates and orders may be organized according to a standard and/or proprietary photomask order format: TABLE 1 Order Supplied Pattern Data Pattern Group Pattern Placement Mask Data Title Barcade OPC Definition Array Registration Measure File Registration Die to Data Inspection Die to Die Inspection Surface Definition Visual Inspection Pattern Critical Dimension Die to Die Inspection Die to Data Inspection Field Patten Critical Dimension Die to Die Inspection Die to Data Inspection Templates and orders may be created manually using a graphical user interface. Templates and orders may also be automatically created or modified using information from other, external media, including, but not limited to, non-formatted text files, XML files, or some type of data storage device or mechanism. For example, a customer's computer may include such files, databases or other electronic information that would be useful in creating a new template or order or providing missing information for an existing template or order. A data-processing mechanism may be used to import necessary information from these external media into new or existing templates or orders. For example, a translation or mapping software could be used to convert the customer's files or databases into a format which would be needed for the application. A commercially available example of such software is Data Junction, a visual design tool for rapidly integrating and transforming data between hundreds of applications and structured data formats. However, any appropriate commercial or proprietary translation or mapping software could be used to accomplish this task. The external information may be imported into the templates or orders either locally to the order processing system, or via an existing network connection, like a wide area network or local area network or internet, etc. They may also be accepted by other known techniques such as FTP protocol, e-mail, http, proprietary protocols, or any other known protocols that may be available to transfer the information. Once generated, either in whole or in part, in one embodiment of the disclosed system, the orders and/or templates may be transferred or accessed by different users of the system of the present invention, or different systems of the present invention. For example, one user at a customer may e-mail or otherwise transfer a template or order to a different user at that customer or a different customer so that the transferred template or order could be used to make a new or modified template or order. Of course, such transfer may occur by other methods of transfer such as FTP protocol, transferring on disk or other storage medium, etc. When making a photomask order, customers may not have access to, or knowledge of, all required information to complete an order. In the past, the lack of such information would delay the order completion process and require that such information be manually collected from appropriate sources. Under one embodiment of the present invention, such information is automatically retrieved, at least in part, from other sources which have the required information and require little, or no input on the part of the customer. For example, in the event that the information required to be entered into an order which are governed by a first set of rules is unavailable to the customer, the data processing mechanism of the present invention can access a data-service that will provide the capability to search for this required information. An example of such a data-service would include ServiceObjects, which enables users to simultaneously access Internet sites, databases, intranets and other internal and external resources as if the content existed in a single location and to package information, such as shipping information, in a format that can be accessed by other programs. In this example, the application would send a data query to the data-service seeking specific shipping options that may be available for the photomask being ordered. The data-service would in turn, send the requested information back to the application, which would then provide such information to the customer using the application. Other types of data-services could also be used for such information such as logistics, inventories, supply characteristics, equipment availability, run times, tool up time, level loading, capacity information, or any other such information that a customer would desire in order to prepare a specific photomask order. The data-service may be either locally on the customer's computer or network or remotely located from the customer's order processing system, and may itself access data from any number or type of remote computer systems (e.g., the logistic vendor's computer system, the parts supplier's computer system, the equipment supplier's computer system, the photomask manufacturer's computer system, etc.) who publish in an interface known to both the application software and the data-service, and can use any number of acceptable protocols, including, for example, SOAP, XML, XML-RPC, ebXML, HTML, etc. The data-service may search (e.g., by query) these remote systems for the information not available to the customer, and if available, retrieve such data. Optionally, the data-service can be configured to verify data, if so desired. The data-service's search mechanism may be configurable based on the user's desired information (e.g., logistics, supply, processing time, etc.) based on any number of possible parameters (e.g., costs, time, customer name, mask size, stepper equipment to be used, etc.) provided by the user's system. All operations performed by a person via a graphical user interface may also be performed, at least in part, in an automated manner; that is to say without human interaction. The invention may provide access to this functionality via a plain-text instruction set or command line. A plain text instruction set is a high level programming language which can be interpreted into the application programming interface to instruct the application to perform a series of operations. For example, a command line stating “replace device name ‘Device A’ with device name ‘Device B’” could be sent to the system by a user at the customer's network, or automatically as detailed above. When the system receives this command line, it would replace the device name in a specific template or order with the new device name. Of course, this is merely one example of how an instruction set could be used, and is not meant to be limiting within the scope of the present invention. Custom modules may be created for use on the customer's system to access this instruction using any programming language capable of producing an ASCII or binary file and executing an operating system command. Automated implementation will allow access by authorized users to any authorized system via an existing network connection. Typical security measures such as firewalls, log-ins, passwords, etc. can be used to protect the confidentiality of the database and mask ordering system. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of various potential embodiments of the automated features of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the customer 110 has installed on its computer system or network an order processing system 100 consistent with the present invention. A user of this system may input a partial or complete order or template in the manner described above. A file 130 located on the customer's network is used to create or modify the template or order. To the extent that any information necessary to complete the order is not inputted directly by the customer, such information may be automatically retrieved by the order processing system 100 automatically from: files, databases, or other electronic information available on the customer system; a system external to the customer which can be accessed remotely; from one or more suppliers or vendors of the customer either directly; and/or through a data-service system. The customer may either input directly all the information necessary to complete an order, some of the information necessary to complete an order with the remainder coming from these other sources, or through an external program initiate a process which will automatically generate a complete order without having to access the graphical user interface of the order processing system. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the information necessary to complete an order is retrieved from a data-services system 120. The data-services system 120 queries configured resources, such as data suppliers A and B, which can be, for example, suppliers or vendors of the customer. The data-services system 120 may also gather information from the customer itself. Once all the necessary information is retrieved and entered into the proper template, an order document 140 is generated which is sent to the photomask supplier 150. The execution of any task in an automated manner, may include alert notification of any system failure or process invalidation based on either sets of rules. Notification is configurable by the end user, and may be in the form of email, messaging, log files or database entries. In one embodiment, the notification feature automatically generates a message sent to a distribution list of the names of people who will be involved in the ordering of the photomask. This distribution list can be established by any predetermined criteria. Once the message is generated, each person on the distribution list may be automatically notified that an order for a photomask has been generated. Such notifications may include e-mail, beepers, mobile telephones, etc. This automatic notification process can be set up anywhere in the Customer's Network or even the Manufacturer's Network and be triggered by any step that the Customer desires. This example should not be treated as limiting to the present invention and is merely illustrative of the type of notification system that can be incorporated with the present invention. Upon notification of the preparation of a new or modified photomask order, the present invention can automatically forward the order to the photomask manufacturer, if no errors are present, or may wait for authorization from a user of the customer system. If errors are identified, the customer may then manually edit the order to fix such errors, and continue to process the order in a normal manner. In another embodiment, an incomplete photomask order may be generated which includes design information in a format which can be transferred to the photomask manufacturer's processing system to allow the photomask manufacturer to verify the validity, feasibility and/or desirability of the design. For example, a customer may transfer a partial photomask order including fracture instructions which could then be transmitted to the photomask manufacturer to be analyzed for validity, feasibility and/or desirability of the proposed design. This could be done either automatically as described above, or manually. If automated, the system could upon receipt of information regarding a proposed partial photomask order generate the information necessary to submit fracture instructions to a photomask supplier for further analysis and evaluation. Upon submission of the information, the photomask manufacturer may then also propose alternative designs which may be more feasible or desirable from the manufactures'perspective or otherwise. The results of the photomask manufacturer's analysis may then be transmitted to the customer computer system for further consideration by the customer on whether to go forward with the order or modify the proposed order. Preferably, each template and order is stored in a database, but may also be stored in other locations. A search engine may be provided on which users can search for a particular template or order stored in the database. Using the search engine, the user can locate the appropriate templates that are needed to generate a photomask in a particular order format. Once such templates are located, data relating to a photomask order is entered by a user (typically, a photomask customer desiring to place an order for a photomask). The user can also use the search engine to locate existing photomask orders for the purpose of completing the data entry or modifying their content, as described below. As noted above, a customer may not have sufficient knowledge of the requirements of a particular photomask order format, and thus, may not enter all necessary information required by such standards to complete an order. Additionally, customers are prone to making data entry errors, and thus, may provide inaccurate information. Accordingly, a first and second set of rules are established and stored on the system to ensure that the customer enters complete and accurate data into the templates and orders, as required by a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. In the preferred embodiment, the first set of rules are established to ensure that a user inputs all necessary data to output a complete photomask order, as specified by a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. Preferably, the first set of rules are established based on the requirements of a selected photomask order format. In this regard, the first set of rules dictate whether data “must” be input, “can” be input and/or “must not” be input into each component and subcomponent of a template or order, as dictated by the specified photomask order format. Additionally, the first set of rules should be configured such that they will require the user to enter information into any other components which are required (as set forth in a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format) to complete a photomask order. Thus, for example, referring to Table 1, a particular standard order format may require, with respect to the “Pattern” template, that for all EAPSM orders: placement data and critical dimensions data must be provided; die to die inspection data may be provided; and die to data cannot be provided. Accordingly, rules are established and associated with the appropriate templates (and components and sub-components) which require that: 1) the user “must” include placement data and critical dimension data; 2) the user “can” include die to die inspection data; and 3) the user “must not” include die to data inspection data. Accordingly, in this example, when a user seeks to create an order for an EAPSM using the system and method of the present invention, the rules will: 1) require the user to input placement and critical dimension data; 2) permit (but not require) a user to enter die to die inspection data; and 3) preclude a user from entering die to data inspection. Additionally, the selected order format may require that in addition to Pattern Data, Array Registration data must also be entered to complete a photomask order. Accordingly, the first set of rules would also be configured such that once the user has completed entering all the pattern data, the user will be guided to the “Array Registration” template and be prompted to enter all required data into that template (and any other corresponding subcomponents of that template) as well. Similarly, if the standard and/or proprietary photomask order format requires the entry of data into any other templates to complete a photomask order, the first set of rules will guide the user to such other templates after the user has entered all data into the Array Registration template, and prompt the user to enter all required data into such template(s). Once the user has entered data in all required templates, the user will be permitted to finalize the template (subject to entering data according to the second set of rules as discussed below). Thus, as should be apparent, the first set of rules of the present invention ensure that the user enters the necessary information into the appropriate templates as required by a particular standard and/or proprietary format to generate a photomask order. Put another way, the rules guide a user through the process of entering photomask order data to ensure that all necessary order information is entered into the templates. Additionally, the system and method also provide for a second set of rules which ensure that a user inputs data in an accurate and proper format, as specified by a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. As noted above, each component and subcomponent of a template is defined by a set of attributes (e.g., binary, string, integer, real number, date, Boolean, list, etc.). Thus, in a preferred embodiment, a second set of rules are established for each template and order that indicates to the user whether the data entered into a particular template or order “must”, “can” and/or “must not” have a particular attribute, as required by a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format. For example, referring to Table 1, a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format may require that: 1) the data entered into the placement template “must” be an integer; 2) the data entered into the title template “can” be a string; and 3) the data entered into the critical dimension template “must not” be a string. Accordingly, a rule is established for the placement template which: 1) requires the user to enter an integer in the placement template; 2) allows the user to enter a string into the title template; and 3) prevents the user from entering a string into the critical dimension template. Thus, as should be apparent, the rules of the present invention ensure that the user enters the appropriate type of information into each template as required by a particular standard and/or proprietary photomask order format to generate a photomask order. Put another way, the second set of rules only permit the user to enter a certain type of data into a template, and thus, reduce the possibility of there being design errors and/or data entry errors in the process of placing a photomask order. In a preferred embodiment, the first and second set of rules described herein are created and stored separately. As noted above, the rules may be stored either internal or external to the system in any different number of dynamic formats (e.g., as a database, an object-oriented class, an XML file, etc.) so that the system may be adapted to run on any number of platforms, depending the preferences or a user and/or automated system. It should be noted, however, that a single set of rules can be created and stored, provided that such single set of rules both ensures that a user both enters complete photomask order information (as described with reference to the first set of rules) and enters accurate photomask order information (as described with reference to the second set of rules). Further, the first and second set of rules may be combined as a single set of rules in a similar manner. As noted above, the present invention includes a function to associate specific first and second sets of rules with specific templates, to ensure that a photomask order is generated in a complete and accurate manner. In the preferred embodiment, this functionality is provided in the form of a software-based application installed on the computer of an entity desiring to place an order for a photomask, such as a semiconductor manufacturer. Unlike the prior art, this software is not dependent on a given photomask manufacturer's manufacturing process. Rather, the software of the present invention can be deployed as a stand-alone secure application, a network distributed application or a web-based “thin-client” application. Preferably, the software is utilized in a client-server system, wherein a graphical user interface (e.g., the client) connects to and retrieves data from a database on the server. In all cases, the customer running the software of the present invention is not required to access and/or login to any external local area network of a photomask manufacturer to place an order. The manner in which the software of the present invention associates specific rules with specific templates is now described. In particular, since the templates are hierarchical collections of data, each element of a template is interpreted by an associated software object. In the preferred embodiment, rules are embedded within the software objects and are responsible for the assembly of the data entered in the templates. These rules are constraints or instructions, such as an algorithm, and typically relate to one or more attributes of the software object. Accordingly, with this arrangement, it is possible to enter a complete and accurate photomask order as the rules and templates are appropriately associated with each other. Additionally, the system is preferably configured to permit the rules and templates to be separately updated should the need arise. In this regard, the current standard photomask order format is known as the SEMI P-10 standard format. However, it is anticipated that as technological advances are made, a new standard format may be developed to cover these advances, and thus, replace the current SEMI P-10 standard format. Additionally, there are currently many other international standard order formats that are used by photomask manufacturers overseas. As with the SEMI P-10 format, it is expected that these international formats will also change or be replaced over time. Thus, the system of the present invention provides for the ability to update the rules and templates to meet these changes. More particularly, the first and second sets of rules are preferably stored as separate files from each of the templates, which are in turn also each stored as separate files. By keeping the rules and templates separate, any modification to one will have no effect on the other. In this regard, when the rules or templates are modified, there will be no need for a correlative code change to a corresponding element where none would be indicated by the proximate feature modification. Additionally, by storing the rules and templates separately, the possibility of the occurrence of a system seize-up (e.g., where unanticipated changes to an embedded or inner-nested element might cause an unanticipated failure) can be avoided. In this regard, if rules and templates were not stored separately, independent modification would be impossible. Each existing template, of which there could be thousands, would then have to be modified individually to include the new rules. Thus, as should be readily apparent, the system and method of the present invention is not limited to any one particular standard format, but rather can be easily adapted to conform to the requirements of any current or newly developed standard photomask order format. Similarly, a customer may change its proprietary order format to meet any changes associated with new developments or improved technologies. To modify the rules, software objects are established such that the rules contained therein may affect one or more of its attributes, its children or other rules contained within it. In this regard, the rules are established such that only certain specified attributes are affected by rules. Thus, since the software objects, like templates, are hierarchical in nature, they know both their parent and children. Accordingly, any time a child object is modified, it notifies its parent of the area, rules or attributes impacted by the change. As a result, any change made anywhere within the hierarchy of rules is propagated through the entire family. Accordingly, the rules have the capability to enforce the addition of, or the removal of, any child element of the parent. Thus, within the application, each object is individually updateable through subsequent releases of the software. Additionally, object parents maintain a standard collection for each type of child element, which can be added or removed while the template is being constructed. Templates can also be modified in response to a modification of a standard and/or proprietary photomask order format which requires the addition of new attributes and/or subcomponents to be added to hierarchy of orders and templates. In such instances, the new relationships are defined for affected components and/or subcomponents and new rules are dynamically added to the existing rule schema. To illustrate these features of the present invention, the following example is now described. The current Semi P-10 standard requires that a photomask order include, among other things: Mask Order[ ], Mask Set [ ], Mask Definition [ ], and Pattern Definition[ ]. Thus, according to this requirement, the following templates would be established: SemiOrder Template, SemiMaskSet Template, SemiMask Template and SemiPattern Template. Additionally, a first and second set of rules for each of these templates would be established which dictate whether data must be entered into each of the templates and the type of data that can be entered into such templates. However, at a later point in time, the Semi P-10 standard may be replaced by a new standard that requires a CD component. Thus, the existing templates (e.g., SemiPattern) could be modified to include, for example, a CD component to conform to a modification of the metrology aspect of the SEMI P-10 standard. Additionally, a new template could be created to conform to any newly added aspects (e.g., registration) of the new SEMI standard. Similarly, the already existing first and second set of rules could be adapted to meet the changes associated with the modified CD component aspect of the current SEMI P-10 standard. Additionally, a new set of first and second set of rules could be created to conform to the new registration feature of the new SEMI standard. Another aspect of the present invention is that it provides for the ability to generate new photomask orders by: (1) merging data into a new order from an already existing template having data contained therein; (2) merging data into a new order from an already existing order having data contained therein; or (3) merging data into a new order from already existing templates and orders. In this regard, whenever a user enters data into either a template or creates an order, such template and/or order is saved on the system of the present invention. Thereafter, a user is able to access the already existing templates and/or orders and use the data saved therein to generate a new order. By providing a user of the system of the present invention with the ability to merge data from already existing orders and/or templates, the process for entering photomask order data is greatly reduced, thereby reducing the overall time it takes to manufacture a photomask order. Each of the three methods for merging data into an order is described below. In one embodiment, to create a new order from an existing template(s), the user is prompted to create a new, blank order. Next, the user is provided with the option of selecting templates and/or orders which were created and saved from a previous photomask order. Depending upon the type of photomask to be manufactured from the new order, the user selects and loads the most relevant template(s) stored in the relational database. The selected template is displayed to the user with previously entered data. For each non-null object within the template (e.g., the object contains data), the user may either select the previously entered data into the new order or over-write this data with new data. Additionally, to the extent that a particular object within a template is null (e.g., it is already empty), the user may enter appropriate data within that object. Next, the rules established for this order operate as described above to ensure that data is accurately and completely entered. Thereafter, the software processes this information and generates a new order based on this information. The process for creating a new order from an already existing order is similar to the process of creating a new order from an already existing template. In this embodiment, to create a new order from an existing order(s), the user is prompted to create a new, blank order. Next, the user is provided with the option of selecting templates and/or orders which were created and saved from a previous photomask order. Depending upon the type of photomask to be manufactured from the new order, the user selects and loads the relevant order(s) stored in a relational database. The selected order is displayed to the user with previously entered data. For each non-null object within the order, the user may either select the previously entered data into the new order or over-write this data with new data. Additionally, to the extent that a particular object within an order is null, the user may enter appropriate data within that object. Next, the rules established for this order operate as described above to ensure that data is accurately and completely entered. Thereafter, the software processes this information and generates a new order based on this information. In yet another embodiment, to create a new order from both an existing template(s) and order(s), the user is prompted to create a new, blank order. Next, the user is provided with the option of selecting templates and/or orders which were created and saved from a previous photomask order. Depending upon the type of photomask to be manufactured from the new order, the user selects and loads the relevant template(s) stored in a relational database. The selected template is displayed to the user with previously entered data. For each non-null object within the template, the user may either select the previously entered data into the new order or over-write this data with new data. Additionally, to the extent that a particular object within a template is null, the user may enter appropriate data within that object. Next, the rules established for this order operate as described above to ensure that data is accurately and completely entered. Additionally, previously saved orders may also be merged into the same order. In this regard, the user can select and load previously placed order(s) stored in a relational database. The selected order is displayed to the user with previously entered data. For each non-null object within the order (e.g., the object contains data), the user may either select the previously entered data into the new order or over-write this data with new data. Additionally, to the extent that a particular object within a order is already empty, the user may enter appropriate data within that object. Next, the rules established for this order operate as described above to ensure that data is accurately and completely entered. Once all of the appropriate templates and orders have been merged into the new order, the software processes this information and generates a new order based on this information. Now that the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is to be construed broadly and limited only by the appended claims and not by the foregoing specification. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Photomasks are high precision plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits. Photomasks are typically made from very flat pieces of quartz or glass with a layer of chrome on one side. Etched in the chrome is a portion of an electronic circuit design. This circuit design on the mask is also called “geometry”. A typical photomask used in the production of semiconductor devices is formed from a “blank” or “undeveloped” photomask. As shown in FIG. 1 , a typical blank photomask 10 is comprised of three or four layers. The first layer 11 is a layer of quartz or other substantially transparent material, commonly referred to as the substrate. The next layer is typically a layer of opaque material 12 , such as Cr, which often includes a third layer of antireflective material 13 , such as CrO. The antireflective layer may or may not be included in any given photomask. The top layer is typically a layer of photosensitive resist material 14 . Other types of photomasks are also known and used including, but not limited to, phase shift masks, embedded attenuated phase shift masks (“EAPSM”) and alternating aperture phase shift masks (“AAPSM”). The process of manufacturing a photomask involves many steps and can be time consuming. In this regard, to manufacturer a photomask, the desired pattern of opaque material 12 to be created on the photomask 10 is typically defined by an electronic data file loaded into an exposure system which typically scans an electron beam (E-beam) or laser beam in a raster or vector fashion across the blank photomask. One such example of a raster scan exposure system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,737 to Collier. Each unique exposure system has its own software and format for processing data to instruct the equipment in exposing the blank photomask. As the E-beam or laser beam is scanned across the blank photomask 10 , the exposure system directs the E-beam or laser beam at addressable locations on the photomask as defined by the electronic data file. The areas of the photosensitive resist material that are exposed to the E-beam or laser beam become soluble while the unexposed portions remain insoluble. In order to determine where the E-beam or laser beam should expose the photoresist 14 on the blank photomask 10 , and where it should not, appropriate instructions to the processing equipment need to be provided, in the form of a jobdeck. After the exposure system has scanned the desired image onto the photosensitive resist material 14 , as shown in FIG. 2 , the soluble photosensitive resist material is removed by means well known in the art, and the unexposed, insoluble photosensitive resist material 14 ′ remains adhered to the opaque material 13 and 12 . Thus, the pattern to be formed on the photomask 10 is formed by the remaining photosensitive resist material 14 ′. The pattern is then transferred from the remaining photoresist material 14 ′ to the photomask 10 via known etch processes to remove the antireflective material 13 and opaque materials 12 in regions which are not covered by the remaining photoresist 14 ′. There is a wide variety of etching processes known in the art, including dry etching as well as wet etching, and thus a wide variety of equipment used to perform such etching. After etching is complete, the remaining photoresist material 14 ′ is stripped or removed and the photomask is completed, as shown in FIG. 3 . In the completed photomask, the pattern as previously reflected by the remaining antireflective material 13 ′ and opaque materials 12 ′ are located in regions where the remaining photoresist 14 ′ remain after the soluble materials were removed in prior steps. In order to determine if there are any unacceptable defects in a particular photomask, it is necessary to inspect the photomasks. A defect is any flaw affecting the geometry. This includes chrome where it should not be (chrome spots, chrome extensions, chrome bridging between geometry) or unwanted clear areas (pin holes, clear extensions, clear breaks). A defect can cause the customer's circuit not to function. The customer will indicate in its defect specification the size of defects that will affect their process. All defects that size and larger must be repaired, or if they can not be repaired, the mask must be rejected and rewritten. Typically, automated mask inspection systems, such as those manufactured by KLA-Tencor or Applied Materials, are used to detect defects. Such automated systems direct an illumination beam at the photomask and detect the intensity of the portion of the light beam transmitted through and reflected back from the photomask. The detected light intensity is then compared with expected light intensity, and any deviation is noted as a defect. The details of one system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,702 assigned to KLA-Tencor. After passing inspection, a completed photomask is cleaned of contaminants. Next, a pellicle may be applied to the completed photomask to protect its critical pattern region from airborne contamination. Subsequent through pellicle defect inspection may be performed. In some instances, the photomask may be cut either before or after a pellicle is applied. To perform each of the manufacturing steps described above, a semiconductor manufacturer (e.g., customer) must first provide a photomask manufacturer with different types of data relating to the photomask to be manufactured. In this regard, a customer typically provides a photomask order which includes various types of information and data which are needed to manufacture and process the photomask, including, for example, data relating to the design of the photomask, materials to be used, delivery dates, billing information and other information needed to process the order and manufacture the photomask. A long standing problem in the manufacture of photomasks is the amount of time it takes to manufacture a photomask from the time a photomask order is received from a customer. In this regard, the overall time it takes to process a photomask order and manufacture a photomask can be lengthy, and thus, the overall output of photomasks is not maximized. Part of this problem is attributable to the fact that many customers who order photomasks often place their orders in a variety of different formats which are often not compatible with the photomask manufacturer's computer system and/or manufacturing equipment. Accordingly, the photomask manufacturer is often required to reformat the order data and condition it into a different format which is compatible with its computer system and/or manufacturing equipment, which can take a great deal of time, and thus, delay the time it takes to manufacture a photomask. In an attempt to address these problems, the photomask industry has developed various standard photomask order formats in which photomask orders should be placed. For example, the SEMI P10 standard is one standard format used in the manufacture of photomasks. Additionally, a few semiconductor manufacturers have developed their own proprietary photomask order format in which photomask orders are to be placed, rather than adopting a standard format. These standard and proprietary photomask order formats were created so that photomask orders would be received from customers in a uniform format, thereby reducing the overall time it takes to manufacture a photomask. Although the use of such standard and/or proprietary photomask order formats are useful in reducing the time it takes to manufacture photomasks, many semiconductor manufacturers have been reluctant to place their photomask orders in such standard and/or proprietary formats for a variety of reasons. For example, the SEMI P10 standard order format is quite complicated and requires the customer placing the order to have a sophisticated working knowledge of the requirements associated with such standard. Since many semiconductor manufacturers do not manufacture photomask, such manufacturers may not have the resources, time or ability to learn the intricacies of such standard format. Thus, semiconductor manufacturers often provide a photomask manufacturer with photomask order data in an unorganized and often incomplete manner. As a result, the photomask manufacturer is required to parse through this data and organize it in a useful format (e.g., in the SEMI P10 format). Additionally, in those instances where incomplete photomask order data is provided to a photomask manufacturer, such manufacturer will be required to request the missing information from the customer. As a result, a great deal of time is often wasted in the process of obtaining a complete and accurate photomask order, and thus, the overall time that it takes to manufacturer a photomask can be greatly delayed. There has been a long felt need in the field of photomask manufacture for a customer side system and method for automatically generating a complete and accurate photomask order in a standard and/or proprietary format. In the past, AlignRite Corporation (a predecessor organization to Photronics, Inc.), attempted to expedite the delivery of the electronic data through the use of an Internet based delivery system. However, although the AlignRite System was capable of rapid delivery of the photomask data from a customer to the computer system of the photomask manufacturer and was capable of validating the accuracy of this data in real time, this prior system did not provide for the automated generation of photomask order data in a single standard and/or proprietary format. In this regard, once the data was received from the customer, standard modifications to the data would also have to be entered manually by operators. Each time a manual change would have to be entered, the risk of human error increased and the overall length of the job would be extended. Others have disclosed systems in which manufacturing and billing data are down-loaded over the Internet and verified on-line automatically. One such system is described in PCT Publication Number 02/03141, published on Jan. 10, 2002 to DuPont Photomask, Inc. More particularly, the DuPont Publication discloses a system in which photomask order data is entered on-line by a customer and transmitted to a photomask manufacturer for processing. In this system, a customer is prompted to enter photomask order data. Such data is transmitted to a photomask manufacturer, who in turn performs a diagnostic evaluation of the data. If any data is incomplete or inaccurate, the system sends a message to the customer notifying him of such error. Thereafter, the user must correct the error. After the data has been validated by the manufacturer (and corrected when necessary), the manufacturer processes this data and puts it into a standard (or proprietary) format, such as the SEMI P10 standard format. Although useful for diagnostic purposes, the system of the DuPont PCT Publication does not prevent errors from being entered in a photomask order. In this regard, this system is only able to identify errors in a photomask order after the order has been entered by a customer and transmitted to a photomask manufacturer. Upon receiving the order, the photomask manufacturer validates the order information, and if it detects an error, sends an error message to the customer and prompts the customer to correct such error. Additionally, this system does not place the entered photomask order data into a standard format until after it has been validated and received by the photomask manufacturer. In other words, the manufacturer is required to condition the data entered by a customer into a standard format for manufacturer. As a result, a great deal of time is wasted correcting the customer's data entry mistakes and converting the data into a standard format. Thus, there is a long felt need for a system and method which generates photomask orders in a standard and/or proprietary order format and prevents errors during data entry and prior to transmission to a photomask manufacturer. After the manufacturing steps described above are completed, the completed photomask is sent to a customer for use to manufacture semiconductor and other products. In particular, photomasks are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to transfer micro-scale images defining a semiconductor circuit onto a silicon or gallium arsenide substrate or wafer. The process for transferring an image from a photomask to a silicon substrate or wafer is commonly referred to as lithography or microlithography. Typically, as shown in FIG. 4 , the semiconductor manufacturing process comprises the steps of deposition, photolithography, and etching. During deposition, a layer of either electrically insulating or electrically conductive material (like a metal, polysilicon or oxide) is deposited on the surface of a silicon wafer. This material is then coated with a photosensitive resist. The photomask is then used much the same way a photographic negative is used to make a photograph. Photolithography involves projecting the image on the photomask onto the wafer. If the image on the photomask is projected several times side by side onto the wafer, this is known as stepping and the photomask is called a reticle. As shown in FIG. 5 , to create an image 21 on a semiconductor wafer 20 , a photomask 10 is interposed between the semiconductor wafer 20 , which includes a layer of photosensitive material, and an optical system 22 . Energy generated by an energy source 23 , commonly referred to as a Stepper, is inhibited from passing through the areas of the photomask 10 where the opaque material is present. Energy from the Stepper 23 passes through the transparent portions of the quartz substrate 11 not covered by the opaque material 12 and the antireflective material 13 . The optical system 22 projects a scaled image 24 of the pattern of the opaque material 12 and 13 onto the semiconductor wafer 20 and causes a reaction in the photosensitive material on the semiconductor wafer. The solubility of the photosensitive material is changed in areas exposed to the energy. In the case of a positive photolithographic process, the exposed photosensitive material becomes soluble and can be removed. In the case of a negative photolithographic process, the exposed photosensitive material becomes insoluble and unexposed soluble photosensitive material is removed. After the soluble photosensitive material is removed, the image or pattern formed in the insoluble photosensitive material is transferred to the substrate by a process well known in the art which is commonly referred to as etching. Once the pattern is etched onto the substrate material, the remaining resist is removed resulting in a finished product. A new layer of material and resist is then deposited on the wafer and the image on the next photomask is projected onto it. Again the wafer is developed and etched. This process is repeated until the circuit is complete. Because, in a typical semiconductor device many layers may be deposited, many different photomasks may be necessary for the manufacture of even a single semiconductor device. Indeed, if more than one piece of equipment is used by a semiconductor manufacturer to manufacturer a semiconductor device, it is possible more than one photomask may be needed, even for each layer. Furthermore, because different types of equipment may also be used to expose the photoresist in the different production lines, even the multiple identical photomask patterns may require additional variations in sizing, orientation, scaling and other attributes to account for differences in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Similar adjustments may also be necessary to account for differences in the photomask manufacturer's lithography equipment. These differences need to be accounted for in the photomask manufacturing process. While the prior art is of interest, the known methods and apparatus of the prior art present several limitations which the present invention seeks to overcome. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein the rules can be adapted or modified to meet any number of different standard and/or proprietary formats now known or hereinafter developed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein the system and method requires a user to follow a set of rules associated with a standard and/or proprietary format for photomask orders. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based system and method for automatically generating a photomask order into one or more standard and/or proprietary formats, wherein an order is generated by merging existing photomask order(s) and/or templates containing photomask data into a single, new order. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for reducing photomask order and data entry times. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for reducing transcription errors associated with the manual entry of photomask orders. It is another object of the present invention to provide a rule-based photomask order system and method for increasing the overall output of photomasks being manufactured. It is another object of the present invention to solve the shortcomings of the prior art. Other objects will become apparent from the foregoing description. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format, at least one set of rules corresponding to the at least one template or order, wherein the set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into the at least one template or order as required by the specified order format, a graphical user interface associated with the at least one template or order, wherein the user can access the at least one template or order to enter photomask order data and create an order in a specified format, and a data processing mechanism for importing electronic information from external media into the at least one template or order. A system for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention includes at least one template or order for entry and storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one template or order is created based upon requirements of a specified photomask order format, at least one set of rules corresponding to the at least one template or order, wherein the set of rules includes instructions which insure that a user enter complete information into the template or order as required by the specified order format, and a data-processing mechanism for accessing one or more external sources of electronic information, wherein the one or more sources of electronic information are accessed through a data service system. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into one or more templates governed by at least one set of rules, and accessing electronic information from an external database by a data processing mechanism to incorporate the electronic information into the one or more templates. A method for generating photomask orders in a specified format according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention includes generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules, accessing electronic information from a data service, and incorporating the electronic information into the order. A processor readable storage medium according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention contains processor readable code for programming a processor to perform a method including the steps of generating at least one order for the storage of photomask order data, wherein the at least one order is created by entering data into at least one template governed by at least one set of rules, accessing electronic information from a data service, and incorporating the electronic information into the order. | 20040625 | 20100223 | 20050310 | 60295.0 | 0 | LEVIN, NAUM B | RULE BASED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING PHOTOMASK ORDERS BY CONDITIONING INFORMATION FROM A CUSTOMER'S COMPUTER SYSTEM | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,109 | ACCEPTED | Using federated mote-associated logs | Systems and related methods utilizing one or more mote-related content logs. | 1. A method comprising: accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search; and searching at least one federated log in response to said accepted input. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: accepting a visual-definition input. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: accepting at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: accepting a pressure-definition input. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: accepting a sonic-definition input. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching at least one federated log further comprises: searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log further comprises: searching at least one of a first-administered mote-addressed content log, a first-administered multi-mote content log, or a first-administered aggregation of content logs. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein said searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log further comprises: searching at least one of a second-administered mote-addressed content log, a second-administered multi-mote content log, or a second-administered aggregation of content logs. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching at least one federated log further comprises: searching a time series of at least two federated logs. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching at least one federated log further comprises: searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log further comprises: searching a time series of at least two multi-mote logs, the time series including the at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said searching at least one federated log further comprises: searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: searching a time series of at least two aggregations of content logs, the time series including the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein said searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 15. The method of claim 12, wherein said searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 16. A system comprising: means for accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search; and means for searching at least one federated log responsive to said means for accepting input. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: means for accepting a visual-definition input. 18. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: means for accepting at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. 19. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: means for accepting a pressure-definition input. 20. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search further comprises: means for accepting a sonic-definition input. 21. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for searching at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log. 22. The system of claim 21, wherein said means for searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log further comprises: means for searching at least one of a first-administered mote-addressed content log, a first-administered multi-mote content log, or a first-administered aggregation of content logs. 23. The system of claim 21, wherein said means for searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log further comprises: means for searching at least one of a second-administered mote-addressed content log, a second-administered multi-mote content log, or a second-administered aggregation of content logs. 24. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for searching at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching a time series of at least two federated logs. 25. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for searching at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. 26. The system of claim 25, wherein said means for searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching a time series of at least two multi-mote logs, the time series including the at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. 27. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for searching at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 28. The system of claim 27, wherein said means for searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching a time series of at least two aggregations of content logs, the time series including the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 29. The system of claim 27, wherein said means for searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 30. The system of claim 27, wherein said means for searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. 31. A method comprising: loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one federated log in response to said input. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein said loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: loading the at least one federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 33. The method of claim 31, wherein said searching the loaded at least one federated log further comprises: searching the loaded at least one federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 34. A system comprising: means for loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; means for accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and means for searching the loaded at least one federated log responsive to said means for accepting input. 35. The system of claim 34, wherein said means for loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: means for loading the at least one federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 36. The system of claim 34, wherein said means for searching the loaded at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching the loaded at least one federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 37. A method comprising: loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log in response to said input. 38. The method of claim 37, wherein said loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: loading the at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 39. The method of claim 37, wherein said searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log further comprises: searching the at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 40. A system comprising: means for loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; means for accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and means for searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log responsive to said means for accepting input. 41. The system of claim 40, wherein said means for loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: means for loading the at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 42. The system of claim 40, wherein said means for searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log further comprises: means for searching the at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 43. A method comprising: loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log in response to said input. 44. The method of claim 43, wherein said loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: loading the at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 45. The method of claim 43, wherein said searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log further comprises: searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 46. A system comprising: means for loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; means for accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and means for searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log responsive to said means for accepting input. 47. The system of claim 46, wherein said means for loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: means for loading the at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 48. The system of claim 46, wherein said means for searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log further comprises: means for searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 49. A method comprising: loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log in response to said input. 50. The method of claim 49, wherein said loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: loading the at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 51. The method of claim 49, wherein said searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 52. A system comprising: means for loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; means for accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and means for searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log, responsive to said means for accepting input. 53. The system of claim 52, wherein said means for loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network further comprises: means for loading the at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log to at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. 54. The system of claim 52, wherein said means for searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log further comprises: means for searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log via at least one of a notebook computer system, a minicomputer system, a server computer system, or a mainframe computer system. | CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is related to, claims the earliest available effective filing date(s) from (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other than provisional patent applications; claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patent applications), and incorporates by reference in its entirety all subject matter of the following listed application(s); the present application also claims the earliest available effective filing date(s) from, and also incorporates by reference in its entirety all subject matter of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the following listed application(s): 1. United States patent application entitled MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG CREATION, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 12, 2004. 2. United States patent application entitled TRANSMISSION OF MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 12, 2004. 3. United States patent application entitled AGGREGATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 12, 2004. 4. United States patent application entitled TRANSMISSION OF AGGREGATED MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 12, 2004. 5. United States patent application entitled FEDERATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 12, 2004. 6. United States patent application entitled MOTE-ASSOCIATED INDEX CREATION, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 7. United States patent application entitled TRANSMISSION OF MOTE-ASSOCIATED INDEX DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 8. United States patent application entitled AGGREGATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED INDEX DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 9. United States patent application entitled TRANSMISSION OF AGGREGATED MOTE-ASSOCIATED INDEX DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 10. United States patent application entitled FEDERATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED INDEX DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 11. United States patent application entitled MOTE NETWORKS HAVING DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS, naming Clarence T. Tegreene as inventor, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 12. United States patent application entitled MOTE NETWORKS USING DIRECTIONAL ANTENNA TECHNIQUES, naming Clarence T. Tegreene as inventor, filed Mar. 31, 2004. 13. United States patent application entitled USING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOGS, Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed May 20, 2004. 14. United States patent application entitled FREQUENCY REUSE TECHNIQUES IN MOTE-APPROPRIATE NETWORKS, Edward K. Y. Jung and Clarence T. Tegreene as inventors, filed Jun. 25, 2004. TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates, in general, to motes. SUMMARY In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search; and searching at least one federated log in response to said accepted input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system aspects are set forth and described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/or drawings of the present application. The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes described herein, as defined by the claims, will become apparent in the detailed description set forth herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 shows an example of mote 100 of mote-appropriate network 150 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. FIG. 2 depicts an exploded view of mote 200 that forms a part of a mote-appropriate network (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and/or 12). FIG. 3 depicts an exploded view of mote 300 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 350 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. FIG. 4 shows a high-level diagram of a network having a first set of motes addressed 1 A through MA (M is an integer greater than 1; A is the letter A and in some instances is used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks such as shown/described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, and/or 12), which may form a context for illustrating one or more processes and/or devices described herein. FIG. 5 depicts an exploded view of mote 500 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 550 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. FIG. 6 depicts an exploded view of mote 600 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 550 (FIG. 5) that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. FIG. 7 shows a high-level diagram of an exploded view of a mote appropriate network that depicts a first set of motes addressed 1A through MA (M is an integer greater than 1; A is the letter A and in some instances is used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks as in FIGS. 11 and/or 12), which may form an environment for process(es) and/or device(s) described herein. FIG. 8 shows an exploded view of aggregation 710 of content logs of FIG. 7. Aggregation 710 of content logs is shown as having mote addressed content logs for motes 1A through MA for times t=t0 (an initial time) through and up to time=tcurrent (a current time). FIG. 9 depicts an exploded view of aggregation 710 of content logs of FIG. 7. FIG. 10 shows a high-level diagram of first-administered set 1000 of motes addressed 1A through MA, and second-administered set 1002 of motes addressed 1B through NB (M and N are integers greater than 1; A and B are letters used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks as in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12) that may form an environment for process(es) and/or device(s) described herein. FIG. 11 shows a high-level diagram of first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes modified in accordance with teachings of subject matter described herein. FIG. 12 shows the high-level diagram of FIG. 11, modified to show first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes wherein each mote is illustrated as having log(s) (e.g., mote-addressed and/or multi-mote) and associated reporting entity(ies). FIG. 13 shows an exemplary exploded view of federated log 916. FIG. 14 depicts a perspective cut-away view of a hallway that may form an environment of processes and/or devices described herein. FIGS. 15, 16, and 17 shows three time-sequenced views of a person transiting wall 1400 and floor 1402 of the hallway of FIG. 14. FIG. 18 depicts a perspective view of the hallway of FIG. 14, modified in accord with aspects of the subject matter described herein. FIG. 19 illustrates that first set 400 of the physical motes of wall 1400 may be treated as mapped into a conceptual x-y coordinate system. FIG. 20 shows a partially schematic diagram that pictographically illustrates the coordinating of the conceptual mapping of the motes of wall 1400 with the logs of first set 400 of the motes of wall 1400. FIGS. 21, 22, and 23 show time-stamped versions of aggregation 710 associated with the state of first set 400 of motes. FIG. 24 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of a process. FIG. 25 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. FIG. 26 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. FIG. 27 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 26. FIG. 28 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 27. FIG. 29 illustrates the perspective cut-away view of the hallway of FIG. 14 modified in accord with aspects of the subject matter described herein. FIG. 30 shows that first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400 may be treated as mapped into a conceptual x-y coordinate system. FIG. 31 shows a partially schematic diagram that pictographically illustrates the coordinating of the conceptual mapping of the motes of wall 1400 with the logs of first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400. FIG. 32 shows time-stamped versions of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs associated with the state of first-administered set 1000 of motes. FIG. 33 depicts time-stamped versions of aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs associated with the state of second-administered set 1002 of motes. FIGS. 34, 35, and 36, illustrate different versions of federated content log 916. FIG. 37 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of a process. FIG. 38 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. FIG. 39 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. FIG. 40 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 39. FIG. 42 shows a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 39. The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicates similar or identical items. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present application uses formal outline headings for clarity of presentation. However, it is to be understood that the outline headings are for presentation purposes, and that different types of subject matter may be discussed throughout the application (e.g., device(s)/structure(s) may be described under process(es)/operations heading(s) and/or process(es)/operations may be discussed under structure(s)/process(es) headings; and/or descriptions of single topics may span two or more topic headings). Hence, the use of the formal outline headings is not intended to be in any way limiting. I. Mote-Associated Log Creation A. Structure(s) and/or System(s) With reference now to FIG. 1, shown is an example of mote 100 of mote-appropriate network 150 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. A mote is typically composed of sensors, actuators, computational entities, and/or communications entities formulated, in most cases at least in part, from a substrate. As used herein, the term “mote” typically means a semi-autonomous computing, communication, and/or sensing device as described in the mote literature (e.g., Intel Corporation's mote literature), as well as equivalents recognized by those having skill in the art (e.g., Intel Corporation's smart dust projects). Mote 100 depicts a specific example of a more general mote. Mote 100 is illustrated as having antenna 102, physical layer 104, antenna entity 119, network layer 108 (shown for sake of example as a mote-appropriate ad hoc routing application), light device entity 110, electrical/magnetic device entity 112, pressure device entity 114, temperature device entity 116, volume device entity 118, and inertial device entity 120. Light device entity 110, electrical /magnetic device entity 112, pressure device entity 114, temperature device entity 116, volume device entity 118, antenna entity 119, and inertial device entity 120 are depicted to respectively couple through physical layers 104 with light device 140, electrical/magnetic device 142, pressure device 144, temperature device 156, volume device 158, antenna 102, and inertial device 160. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the herein described entities and/or devices are illustrative, and that other entities and/or devices consistent with the teachings herein may be substituted and/or added. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that herein the term “device,” as used in the context of devices comprising or coupled to a mote, is intended to represent but is not limited to transmitting devices and/or receiving devices dependent on context. For instance, in some exemplary contexts light device 140 is implemented using one or more light transmitters (e.g., coherent light transmission devices or non-coherent light transmission devices) and/or one or more light receivers (e.g., coherent light reception devices or non-coherent light reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., optical filters, hardware, firmware, and/or software). In some exemplary implementations, electrical/magnetic device 142 is implemented using one or more electrical/magnetic transmitters (e.g., electrical/magnetic transmission devices) and/or one or more electrical/magnetic receivers (e.g., electrical/magnetic reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., electrical/magnetic filters, supporting hardware, firmware, and/or software). In some exemplary implementations, pressure device 144 is implemented using one or more pressure transmitters (e.g., pressure transmission devices) and/or one or more pressure receivers (e.g., pressure reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., supporting hardware, firmware, and/or software). In some exemplary implementations, temperature device 156 is implemented using one or more temperature transmitters (e.g., temperature transmission devices) and/or one or more temperature receivers (e.g., temperature reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., supporting hardware, firmware, and/or software). In some exemplary implementations, volume device 158 is implemented using one or more volume transmitters (e.g., gas/liquid transmission devices) and/or one or more volume receivers (e.g., gas/liquid reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., supporting hardware, firmware, and/or software). In some exemplary implementations, inertial device 160 is implemented using one or more inertial transmitters (e.g., inertial force transmission devices) and/or one or more inertial receivers (e.g., inertial force reception devices) and/or one or more supporting devices (e.g., supporting hardware, firmware, and/or software). Those skilled in the art will recognize that although a quasi-stack architecture is utilized herein for clarity of presentation, other architectures may be substituted in light of the teachings herein. In addition, although not expressly shown, those having skill in the art will appreciate that entities and/or functions associated with concepts underlying Open System Interconnection (OSI) layer 2 (data link layers) and OSI layers 4-6 (transport-presentation layers) may be present and active to allow/provide communications consistent with the teachings herein. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that these entities and/or functions are not expressly shown/described herein for sake of clarity. Referring now to FIG. 2, depicted is an exploded view of mote 200 that forms a part of a mote-appropriate network (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and/or 12). Mote 200 is illustrated as similar to mote 100 (FIG. 1), but with the addition of log creation agent 202, mote-addressed sensing/control log 204, and mote-addressed routing/spatial log 252. Mote-addressed sensing/control log 204 is shown in FIG. 2 as having illustrative entries of light device information, electrical/magnetic device information, pressure device information, temperature device information, volume device information, inertial device information, and antenna information. Examples of light device information include measures of brightness, saturation, intensity, color, hue, power (e.g., watts ), flux (e.g., lumens), irradiance (e.g., Watts/cm2), illuminance (lumens/m2, lumens/ft2), pixel information (e.g., numbers of pixels (e.g., one for a very small mote image capture device), relative pixel orientation)), etc. Examples of electrical/magnetic device information include measures of field strength, flux, current, voltage, etc. Examples of pressure device information include measures of gas pressure, fluid pressure, radiation pressure, mechanical pressure, etc. Examples of temperature device information include measures of temperature such as Kelvin, Centigrade, and Fahrenheit, etc. Examples of inertial device information include measures of force, measures of acceleration, deceleration, etc. Examples of antenna information include measures of signal power, antenna element position, relative phase orientations of antenna elements, delay line configurations of antenna elements, beam directions, field of regard directions, antenna types (e.g., horn, biconical, array, Yagi, log-periodic, etc.), etc. FIG. 2 does not show illustrative entries for mote-addressed routing/spatial log 252. For a specific example of what one implementation of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log might contain, see the mote-addressed routing/spatial logs shown internal to multi-mote content log 504 of FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, in some implementations a mote-addressed routing/spatial log will contain a listing of mote addresses directly accessible from a mote (e.g., via direct radio transmission/reception from/by antenna 102), an assessment of qualities of data communications service on the data communication links to such directly accessible motes, and/or a listing of relative and/or absolute spatial coordinates of such directly accessible motes. Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, in one implementation, log creation agent 202 is a computer program—resident in mote 200—that executes on a processor of mote 200 and that constructs and/or stores mote-addressed sensing/control log 204, and/or mote-addressed routing/spatial log 252 in memory of mote 200. In some implementations, log creation agent 202 is pre-installed on mote 200 prior to mote 200 being added to a mote-appropriate network, while in other implementations log creation agent 202 crawls and/or is transmitted to mote 200 from another location (e.g., a log creation agent at another mote or another networked computer (not shown) clones itself and sends that clone to mote 200). In yet other implementations, log creation agent 202 is installed at a proxy (not shown) for mote 200. The inventors point out that in some applications the systems and/or processes transfer their instructions in a piecewise fashion over time, such as is done in the mote-appropriate Mate′ virtual machine of the related art. The inventors also point out that in some applications motes are low-power and/or low bandwidth devices, and thus in some implementations the system(s) and process(es) described herein allow many minutes (e.g., hours, days, or even weeks) for herein described agents and/or processes to migrate to and establish themselves at various motes. The same may also hold true for transmission of information among motes in that in some implementations such transmission may be done over the course of hours, days, or even weeks depending upon bandwidth, power, and/or other constraints. In other implementations, the migrations and/or transmissions are accomplished more rapidly, and in some cases may be accomplished as rapidly as possible. For sake of clarity, some implementations shown/described herein include various separate architectural components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the separate architectural components are so described for sake of clarity, and are not intended to be limiting. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the herein-described architectural components, such reporting entities, logs, and/or device entities, etc. are representative of substantially any architectural components that perform in a similar manner. For example, while some implementations show reporting entities obtaining information from logs created with device entity data, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such implementations are representative of reporting entities obtaining the data directly from the device entities. As another example, while some implementations show reporting entities obtaining information produced by device entities, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such implementations are representative of queries executing at the mote that extract and/or transmit similar information as that described in the relation to the reporting entities and/or device entities (e.g., some multi-mote creation agent making a query of a database entity resident at a mote, where the database entity would perform in a fashion similar to that described in relation to reporting entities, logs, and/or device entities, etc.). Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the architectural components described herein are representative of virtually any grouping of architectural components that perform in a similar manner. B. Process(es) and/or Scheme(s) Mote 200 of FIG. 2 can serve as a context in which one or more processes and/or devices may be illustrated. In one exemplary process, once log creation agent 202 has become active at mote 200, log creation agent 202 communicates with device entity registry 210 to receive device identifiers indicative of device entities present at mote 200 (e.g., light device entity 110, electrical /magnetic device entity 112, pressure device entity 114, etc.). In some implementations, device entities of mote 200 register their presences with device entity registry 210, while in other implementations the operating system of mote 200 registers the device entities when the operating system installs the device entities and/or their associated drivers (if any). In some implementations, device entity registry 210 receives device identifiers from an external source (e.g., receiving the device identifiers from a multi-mote creation agent, an aggregation agent, or a federation agent that transmits over a wireless link). In some implementations, once log creation agent 202 becomes aware of what device entities are present, log creation agent 202 communicates with the device entities (e.g., light device entity 110, electrical/magnetic entity 112, pressure entity 114, etc.) to find out what sensing/control functions are present and/or available at their various respectively associated devices (e.g., light device 140, electrical/magnetic device 142, pressure device 144, etc.). In some implementations, log creation agent 202 also communicates with routing/spatial log 252 to find out the mote-network address of mote 200 (e.g., mote-network address 6A) as well as other spatial information (e.g., mote-network addresses and/or spatial locations of the motes that can be reached directly by wireless link from mote 200; spatial locations may be absolute and/or relative to some marker, such as mote 200 itself). In some implementations, log creation agent 202 communicates with the device entities using a common application protocol which specifies standard interfaces that allow log creation agent 202 to garner the necessary information without knowing the internal workings and/or architectures of each specific device entity. In other implementations, such a common application protocol is not used. In various implementations, contemporaneous with and/or subsequent to log creation agent 202 communicating with the device entities, log creation unit 202 creates one or more mote-addressed content logs. In some implementations the one or more mote-addressed content logs are associated with the mote-network address of the mote at which log creation unit 202 resides. The inventors point out that examples of the term “log,” and/or phrases containing the term “log,” exist in the text (e.g., independent claims, dependent claims, detailed description, and/or summary) and/or drawings forming the present application and that such term and/or phrases may have scopes different from like terms and/or phrases used in other contexts. In some implementations the one or more mote-addressed content logs are time stamped with the time the log was created. Mote 200 is depicted for sake of illustration as having a mote-address of 6A. Accordingly, a specific example of more general mote-addressed content logs is shown in FIG. 2 as mote 6A-addressed sensing/control log 204. Mote 6A-addressed sensing/control log 204 is depicted as listing the sensing and/or control information in association with device-identifiers associated with devices present and/or available at mote 200. Mote 6A-addressed sensing/control log 204 is also depicted for sake of illustration as having been created at the current time, and thus is shown stamped with the denotation “tcurrent.” In addition, shown as yet another specific example of more general mote-addressed content logs is mote 6A-addressed routing/spatial log 252, which typically contains a listing of mote-network addresses of those motes directly accessible from mote 200 and such directly accessible motes' spatial orientations relative to mote 200 and/or some other common spatial reference location (e.g., GPS). Mote 6A-addressed routing/spatial log 252 is also depicted as having a time stamp of “tcurrent,” In some implementations, log creation unit 202 creates one or more extensible mote-addressed content logs (e.g., creating the one or more extensible logs in response to a type of content being logged). In addition, those having skill in the art will appreciate that while direct mote addressing is shown and described herein for sake of clarity (e.g., mote-appropriate network addresses), the mote addressing described herein may also entail indirect addressing, dependent upon context. Examples of indirect addressing include approaches where a mote-address encodes an address of an agent that in turn produces the address of the mote (analogous to the Domain Name System in the Internet), or where the mote-address directly or indirectly encodes a route to a mote (analogous to explicit or implicit routable addresses.). Those having skill in the art will appreciate that adapting the teachings herein to indirect addressing may be done with a reasonable amount of experimentation, and that such adaptation is not expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity. As noted herein, a content log may have a device identifier which in various implementations may include an implicit and/or explicit indicator used to reference the specific device at that mote. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that ways in which such may be achieved include the use of a structured name. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in some implementations mote-local devices may also have global addresses, which may be substituted or allowed to “stand in” for mote addresses. II. Transmission of Mote-Associated Log Data A. Structure(s) and/or System(s) With reference now to FIG. 3, depicted is an exploded view of mote 300 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 350 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Mote 300 is illustrated as similar to mote 200 (FIG. 2), but with the addition of reporting entity 302. In some implementations, reporting entity 302 is a computer program—resident in mote 300—that executes on a processor of mote 300 and that transmits all or a part of mote-addressed sensing/control log 204, and/or mote-addressed routing/spatial log 252 to another entity (e.g., through antenna 102 to a multi-mote log creation agent such as shown/described in relation to FIG. 5 or through a mote-network to a designated gateway such as shown/described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, 11, and/or 12). In some implementations, reporting entity 302 is pre-installed on mote 300 prior to mote 300 being added to a mote-appropriate network, while in other implementations reporting entity 302 crawls and/or is transmitted to mote 300 from another location (e.g., a reporting entity at another mote or another networked computer (not shown) clones itself and sends that clone to mote 300). The inventors point out that in some applications the crawling and/or transmissions described herein are performed in a piecewise fashion over time, such as is done in the mote-appropriate Mate′ virtual machine of the related art. The inventors also point out that in some applications motes are low-power and/or low bandwidth devices, and thus in some implementations the crawling and/or transmissions described herein allow many minutes (e.g., hours, days, or even weeks) for herein described agents and/or processes to migrate to and establish themselves at various motes. The same may also hold true for transmission of information among motes in that in some implementations such transmission may be done over the course of hours, days, or even weeks depending upon bandwidth, power, and/or other constraints. In other implementations, the migrations and/or transmissions are accomplished more rapidly, and in some cases may be accomplished as rapidly as possible. B. Process(es) and/or Scheme(s) Mote 300 of FIG. 3 can serve as a context in which one or more processes and/or devices may be illustrated. In one exemplary process, reporting entity 302 transmits at least a part of a content log to another entity either resident within or outside of mote network 350 (e.g., through antenna 102 to a multi-mote log creation agent such as shown/described in relation to FIG. 5 or through a mote-network to a designated gateway-proximate mote as shown/described in relation to FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and/or 12). In some implementations, reporting entity 302 transmits in response to a received schedule (e.g., received from multi-mote log creation agent 502 of FIG. 5 and/or federated log creation agent 914 of FIGS. 11 and/or 12). In some implementations, reporting entity 302 transmits in response to a derived schedule. In some implementations, the schedule is derived in response to one or more optimized queries. In some implementations, the schedule is derived in response to one or more stored queries (e.g., previously received or generated queries). In some implementations, reporting entity 302 transmits in response to a received query (e.g., received from multi-mote log creation agent of FIG. 5 and/or federated log creation agent of FIGS. 9 or 10). In various implementations, reporting entity 302 transmits using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques. In various other implementations, reporting entity 302 decodes previously encrypted data, using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques, prior to the transmitting. Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a high-level diagram of a network having a first set 400 of motes addressed 1A through MA (M is an integer greater than 1; A is the letter A and in some instances is used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks such as shown/described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, and/or 12), which may form a context for illustrating one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Each mote is shown as having a mote-addressed content log that includes a sensing/control log and/or a routing/spatial log respectively associated with the sensing/control information at each such mote and/or the spatial locations (relative and/or absolute) of motes that can be reached by direct transmission from each such mote. In some implementations, the motes' various logs are created and/or function in fashions similar to logs shown/described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIG. 3). In addition, shown is that the motes of FIG. 4 include reporting entities that are created and/or function in ways analogous to the creation and/or functioning of reporting entities as shown and described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIG. 3). In addition, although not explicitly shown, one or more of the motes of FIG. 4 may include log creation agents that are created and/or function in ways analogous to the creation and/or functioning of log creation agents as shown and described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIG. 2). In some implementations, the reporting entities at each mote transmit all or a part of their mote-addressed content logs (e.g., mote-addressed sensing/control logs, and/or mote-addressed routing/spatial logs) to one or more entities (e.g., multi-mote log creation agent 502 such as shown/described in relation to FIG. 5 and/or multi-mote log creation agent 716 such as shown/described in relation to FIGS. 7, 9 and 10). In some implementations, such transmissions are done in response to a schedule, and in other implementations such transmissions are done in response to queries from the one or more entities. Such transmissions may be in response to received schedules, in response to schedules derived at least in part from optimized queries, in response to schedules derived at least in part from received queries, and/or in response to received queries such as described here and/or elsewhere herein. III. Aggregating Mote-Associated Log Data A. Structure(s) and/or System(s) With reference now to FIG. 5, depicted is an exploded view of mote 500 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 550 that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Mote 500 is illustrated as similar to mote 300 (FIG. 3), but with the addition of multi-mote log creation agent 502, multi-mote content log 504, and multi-mote registry 510 (e.g., a registry of motes under the aegis of multi-mote log creation agent 502 and/or from which multi-mote content log 504 is to be constructed). Multi-mote content log 504 typically contains at least a part of content logs from at least two differently-addressed motes. As an example of the foregoing, multi-mote content log 504 is shown containing sensing/control mote-addressed logs and mote-addressed routing/spatial logs for two differently addressed motes: a mote having mote-network address of 1A and a mote having a mote-network address of 3A. In some implementations, the sensing/control logs and/or routing/spatial logs function more or less analogously to mote-addressed sensing/content log 204, and/or mote-addressed routing/spatial log 252 of mote 200 (e.g., as shown/described in relation to FIG. 2). In some implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 is a computer program—resident in mote 500—that executes on a processor of mote 500 and that constructs and stores multi-mote content log 504 in memory of mote 500. In some implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 is pre-installed on mote 500 prior to mote 500 being added to a mote-appropriate network, while in other implementations multi-mote log creation agent 502 crawls and/or is transmitted to mote 500 from another location (e.g., a multi-mote log creation agent at another mote or another networked computer (not shown) clones itself and sends that clone to mote 500). The inventors point out that in some applications the crawling and/or transmissions described herein are performed in a piecewise fashion over time, such as is done in the mote-appropriate Mate′ virtual machine of the related art. The inventors also point out that in some applications motes are low-power and/or low bandwidth devices, and thus in some implementations the crawling and/or transmissions described herein allow many minutes (e.g., hours, days, or even weeks) for herein described agents and/or processes to migrate to and establish themselves at various motes. The same may also hold true for transmission of information among motes in that in some implementations such transmission may be done over the course of hours, days, or even weeks depending upon bandwidth, power, and/or other constraints. In other implementations, the migrations and/or transmissions are accomplished more rapidly, and in some cases may be accomplished as rapidly as possible. B. Process(es) and/or Scheme(s) Mote 500 of FIG. 5 can serve as a context in which one or more processes and/or devices may be illustrated. In one exemplary process, once multi-mote log creation agent 502 has become active at mote 500, multi-mote log creation agent 502 obtains a listing of motes from which multi-mote content log 504 is to be constructed (e.g., a listing of motes making up a part of mote network 550). In some implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 obtains the listing of motes from which multi-mote content log 504 is to be constructed by communicating with multi-mote registry 510 to learn what mote-network addresses multi-mote log creation agent 502 is to consult to create multi-mote content log 504. In some implementations, various log creation agents at various respective motes (e.g., the log creation agents at the motes of FIG. 4) register their mote addresses with multi-mote registry 510, while in other implementations an administrator (e.g., either at or remote from mote 500) registers the mote-addresses in multi-mote registry 510. In some implementations, a system administrator places various motes under the aegis of particular multi-mote log creation agents based on a single criterion or combined criteria such as spatial locations, bandwidths, qualities of service of data communication links, and/or contents of data captured at various particular motes. In other implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 is pre-loaded with knowledge of the listing of motes from which multi-mote content log 504 is to be constructed. In yet other implementations, the listing of motes from which multi-mote content log 504 is to be constructed is obtained from various motes that inform multi-mote log creation agent 502 that such various motes are to be included in the listing. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that other mechanisms for obtaining the listing, consistent with the teachings herein, may be substituted. In some implementations, once multi-mote log creation agent 502 becomes aware of the mote-addresses for which it (multi-mote log creation agent 502) is responsible, multi-mote log creation agent 502 communicates with the various respective reporting entities at the various motes for which multi-mote log creation agent 502 is responsible and receives all or part of various respective mote-addressed content logs (e.g., at least a part of one or more sensing/control logs and/or one or more routing/spatial logs such as shown and described elsewhere herein). Thereafter, multi-mote log creation agent 502 uses the various reported mote-addressed content logs to construct and/or save multi-mote content log 504 by aggregating at least a part of mote-addressed content logs from two separately addressed and/or actually separate motes. For example, multi-mote content log 504 is shown as an aggregate of sensing/control and routing/spatial logs for motes having mote-network addresses of 1A and 3A, although typically multi-mote content logs will log more than just two motes. In some implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 receives all or part of various respective mote-addressed content logs from various respective reporting entities at various motes which transmit in response to a schedule (e.g., once every 18 minutes). In some implementations, the schedule may be received, pre-stored, and/or derived (e.g., such as shown/described in relation to other transmissions described elsewhere herein). In addition, while the present application describes multi-mote log creation agent 502 receiving all or part of various respective mote-addressed content logs from the various respective reporting entities at the various motes (e.g., mote 1A and/or mote 3A), those having skill in the art will appreciate that in other implementations multi-mote log creation agent 502 receives all or part of such logs from one or more motes representing the first set of motes. In various implementations discussed herein, multi-mote log creation agent 502 receives mote-addressed content logs transmitted by reporting entities of various motes from which multi-mote log creation agent 502 creates multi-mote content log 504. In other implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 receives one or more previously-created multi-mote content logs transmitted by multi-mote reporting entities at various motes from which multi-mote log creation agent 502 creates multi-mote content log 504. That is, in some implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 creates multi-mote content log 504, at least in part, from a previously generated aggregate of mote-addressed content logs (e.g., from a previously generated multi-mote content log). In some implementations, such received multi-mote content logs have been created by other multi-mote log creation agents resident at other motes throughout a mote network (e.g., a mote network such as shown in FIG. 4). Subsequent to receiving such previously created multi-mote content logs, multi-mote log creation agent 502 then aggregates the multi-mote content logs to form another multi-mote content log. In yet other implementations, multi-mote log creation agent 502 aggregates both mote-addressed content logs and multi-mote content logs respectively received from various reporting entities to create a multi-mote content log. The inventors point out that in some applications motes are low-power and/or low bandwidth devices, and thus in some implementations the systems and processes described herein allow many minutes (e.g., hours, days, or even weeks) for herein described agents and processes to migrate to and establish themselves at various motes (e.g., by transferring their instructions in a piecewise fashion over time). The same may also hold true for transmission of information among motes. IV. Transmission of Aggregated Mote-Associated Log Data A. Structure(s), and/or System(s) With reference now to FIG. 6, depicted is an exploded view of mote 600 forming a part of mote-appropriate network 550 (FIG. 5) that may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Mote 600 is illustrated as similar to mote 500 (FIG. 5), but with the addition of multi-mote reporting entity 602. In some implementations, multi-mote reporting entity 602 is a computer program—resident in mote 600—that executes on a processor of mote 600. In some implementations, multi-mote reporting entity 602 is a computer program that is pre-installed on mote 600 prior to mote 600 being added to a mote-appropriate network, while in other implementations multi-mote reporting entity 602 is a computer program that crawls and/or is transmitted to mote 600 from another location (e.g., a reporting entity at another mote or another networked computer (not shown) clones itself and sends that clone to mote 600). The inventors point out that in some applications the crawling and/or transmissions described herein are performed in a piecewise fashion over time, such as is done in the mote-appropriate Mate′ virtual machine of the related art. The inventors also point out that in some applications motes are low-power and/or low bandwidth devices, and thus in some implementations the crawling and/or transmissions described herein allow many minutes (e.g., hours, days, or even weeks) for herein described agents and/or processes to migrate to and establish themselves at various motes. The same may also hold true for transmission of information among motes in that in some implementations such transmission may be done over the course of hours, days, or even weeks depending upon bandwidth, power, and/or other constraints. In other implementations, the migrations and/or transmissions are accomplished more rapidly, and in some cases may be accomplished as rapidly as possible. Referring now to FIG. 7, shown is a high-level diagram of an exploded view of a mote appropriate network that depicts a first set of motes addressed 1A through MA (M is an integer greater than 1; A is the letter A and in some instances is used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks as in FIGS. 11 and/or 12), which may form an environment for process(es) and/or device(s) described herein. Each mote is shown as having a mote-addressed content log that includes a sensing/control log and/or a routing/spatial log respectively associated with the sensing/control functions of devices at each such mote and/or the spatial locations (relative and/or absolute) of motes that can be reached by direct transmission from each such mote. In some implementations, the motes' various logs are created and/or function in fashions similar to mote-addressed logs shown and described herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 2, 3, and/or FIG. 4). In some implementations, the motes' various logs are created and/or function in fashions similar to multi-mote content logs shown and described herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 5 and/or 6). For example, mote 1A (i.e., mote having mote-network address 1A) and mote 6A (i.e., mote having mote-network address 6A) are shown having multi-mote content logs 750 and 752 respectively. The multi-mote content logs are created and/or function in ways analogous to those shown and/or described elsewhere herein. Mote 4A is shown in FIG. 7 as proximate to gateway 704 onto WAN 714 (e.g., the Internet). Multi-mote log creation agent 716 is depicted as executing on the more powerful computational systems of gateway 704 (e.g., a mini and/or mainframe computer system) to create aggregation 710 of content logs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that aggregation 710 of content logs may be composed of multi-mote content logs and/or individual mote-addressed content logs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that aggregations of multi-mote content logs in themselves may be considered aggregates of one or more individual mote-addressed content logs and thus types of multi-mote content logs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that multi-mote content logs in themselves may be considered aggregates of one or more individual mote-addressed content logs and thus types of aggregations of content indexes. With reference now to FIG. 8, shown is an exploded view of aggregation 710 of content logs of FIG. 7. Aggregation 710 of content logs is shown as having mote addressed content logs for motes 1A through MA for times t=t0 (an initial time) through and up to time=tcurrent (a current time). In general, the time entries correspond with and/or are derived from time stamps of one or more mote-addressed logs such as those described elsewhere herein. With reference now to FIG. 9, depicted is an exploded view of aggregation 710 of content logs of FIG. 7. Aggregation 710 of content logs is shown as having mote addressed content logs for motes 1A through MA for times t=t0 (an initial time) through and up to time=tcurrent (a current time). In general, the time entries of the table correspond and/or are derived from time stamps of mote-addressed logs as described elsewhere herein. Example entries for time=t0 are shown for motes having mote-network addresses of 1A and MA. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that entries at other times could be similar to or different from those shown. Referring now again to FIG. 7, the motes are shown having reporting entities that function analogously to other reporting entities described herein (e.g., multi-mote reporting entity 602 and/or reporting entity 302). In some implementations, such reporting entities are computer programs that execute on processors of the motes wherein such reporting entities are resident and that transmit all or a part of logs at their motes (e.g., mote-addressed content logs and/or multi-mote content logs) to other entities (e.g., multi-mote log creation agents at designated mote addresses and/or designated gateway-proximate motes). In some implementations, the reporting entities are pre-installed on the motes prior to such motes' insertion to a mote-appropriate network, while in other implementations such reporting entities crawl and/or are transmitted to their respective motes from other locations (e.g., a reporting entity at another mote or another networked computer (not shown) clones itself and sends that clone to another mote). In addition, in some implementations one or more of the reporting entities is given access to the content logs of the motes and thereafter use such access to report on the content of the motes. The multi-mote content logs and/or mote-addressed content logs may be as shown and/or described both here and elsewhere herein, and such elsewhere described material is typically not repeated here for sake of clarity. In some implementations, various reporting entities at various motes transmit in response to a schedule (e.g., once every 24 hours). In one specific example implementation, a reporting entity transmits in response to a received schedule (e.g., received from multi-mote log creation agent 716 and/or from federated log creation agent 914 of FIGS. 11 and/or 12). In another specific example implementation, a reporting entity transmits in response to a derived schedule. In another specific implementation, the schedule is derived in response to one or more optimized queries. In yet other implementations, the schedule is derived in response to one or more stored queries (e.g., previously received and/or generated queries). In other implementations, the reporting entities transmit in response to received queries (e.g., received from multi-mote log creation agents or federated log creation agents). In various implementations, the reporting entities transmit using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques. In various other implementations, the reporting entities decode previously encrypted data, using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques, prior to the transmitting. B. Process(es) and/or Scheme(s) With reference now again to FIGS. 6-7 and/or FIGS. 9-13 the depicted views may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Some exemplary processes include the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 to another entity (e.g., another multi-mote log creation agent at a designated mote address, or a designated gateway-proximate mote or a federated log creation agent such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 11, and/or 12). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of transmitting at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log of multi-mote content log 504 to another entity (e.g., another multi-mote log creation agent at a designated mote address or a designated gateway-proximate mote or a federated log creation agent such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 11 and/or 12). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of transmitting at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log of multi-mote content log 504 to another entity (e.g., another multi-mote log creation agent at a designated mote address, or a designated gateway-proximate mote, or a federated log creation agent such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 11 and/or 12). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of effecting the transmitting with a reporting entity. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 is a logical process at mote 600 that transmits a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs (e.g., multi-mote logs and/or aggregations of other logs such as mote-addressed and multi-mote logs). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of obtaining access to the one or more mote-addressed content logs of the first set of motes. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 is granted the access by an entity such as a system administrator. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of effecting the transmitting in response to a schedule. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 in response to a schedule (e.g., once every 24 hours). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving the schedule. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 in response to a received schedule (e.g., received from multi-mote log creation agent 718 and/or a federated log creation agent 914 of FIGS. 11 and/or 12). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of deriving the schedule. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 in response to a derived schedule (e.g., derived in response to an optimized query and/or one or more stored queries). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of effecting the transmitting in response to a query. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 in response to a received query (e.g., received from a multi-mote log creation agent or a federated log creation agent). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of encrypting utilizing at least one of a private or a public key. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 transmits at least a part of multi-mote content log 504 using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of transmitting at least a part of an aggregate of one or more mote-addressed content logs of a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of decoding at least a part of one or more mote-addressed content logs utilizing at least one of a public key or a private key. In one instance, multi-mote reporting entity 602 decodes previously encrypted data, using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques, prior to the transmitting of at least a part of multi-mote content log 504. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes are representative of more general processes taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. V. Federating Mote-Associated Log Data A. Structure(s) and/or System(s) Referring now to FIG. 10, shown is a high-level diagram of first-administered set 1000 of motes addressed 1A through MA, and second-administered set 1002 of motes addressed 1B through NB (M and N are integers greater than 1; A and B are letters used herein to help distinguish differently administered networks as in FIGS. 10, 11, and 12) that may form an environment for process(es) and/or device(s) described herein. In some implementations, first-administered set 1000 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a first administrator and second-administered set 1002 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a second administrator, where the first and/or second administrators tend not to have any significant knowledge of the internal operations of networks they don't administer. Examples in which this may be the case are where first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 are owned by different business entities, and where first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 have been constructed for two separate purposes (e.g., one set to monitor crops and the other set to monitor building systems, and thus the systems were not designed to interact with each other). In some implementations, first-administered set 1000 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a first administrator and second-administered set 1002 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a second administrator, where either or both of the first administrator and the second administrator has some knowledge of the networks they don't administer, but the networks are administered separately for any of a variety of reasons such as security, current employment, permissions, job function distinction, organizational affiliation, workload management, physical location, network disconnection, bandwidth or connectivity differences, etc. In some implementations, first-administered set 1000 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a first transient administration and second-administered set 1002 of motes constitutes all or part of a network under a second transient administration, where either or both the first and second transient administrations are those such as might exist when a network partitions or a signal is lost. The inventors have noticed that in some instances it could be advantageous for one or more systems to use resources from first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. The inventors have devised one or more processes and/or devices that allow systems to use resources in such a fashion. With reference now to FIG. 11, shown is a high-level diagram of first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes modified in accordance with teachings of subject matter described herein. Shown respectively proximate to first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes are gateways 704, 706 onto WAN 714. Gateways 704, 706 are respectively shown as having resident within them multi-mote log creation agents 716, 718 and aggregations 910, 912 of first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. The gateways, multi-mote log creation agents, and aggregations are created and/or function substantially analogously to the gateways, log creation agents, and aggregations of logs described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to Figures), and are not explicitly described here for sake of clarity. For example, aggregation 910 of first-administered logs and aggregation 912 of second-administered logs can be composed of either or both mote-addressed and/or multi-mote content logs and in themselves can be considered instances of multi-mote content logs. Furthermore, although not expressly shown in FIG. 11 for sake of clarity, it is to be understood that in general most motes will have one or more log creation agents (e.g., multi-mote or other type), logs (e.g., multi-mote or other type), and/or reporting entities (e.g., multi-mote or other type) resident within or proximate to them (see, e.g., FIG. 12). In some implementations, the functioning and/or creation of such logs, agents, and/or entities is under the control of federated log creation agent 914. In some implementations, federated log creation agent 914, on an as-needed basis, disperses and/or activates various log creation agents and/or their associated reporting entities (e.g., as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 4), and/or various multi-mote log creation agents and/or their associated reporting entities (e.g., as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 5, 6, and/or 7) throughout first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. In some implementations, such dispersals and/or activations are done on an as-needed basis, while in other implementations such dispersals and activations are pre-programmed. In yet other implementations, the agents, logs, and/or entities are pre-programmed. Further shown in FIG. 1 1 are federated log creation agent 914 and federated log 916 resident within mainframe computer system 990, which in some implementations are dispersed, created, and/or activated in fashions similar to other log creation agents and logs described herein. In some implementations, federated log creation agent 914 generates federated log 916 by obtaining at least a part of one or more logs (e.g., multi-mote or mote-addressed logs) from both first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. In some implementations, federated log 916 typically includes at least a part of a content log from two differently-administered mote networks, such as first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes In some implementations, federated log 916 has one or more entries denoting one or more respective administrative domains of one or more content log entries (e.g., see federated log 916 of FIG. 12). In other implementations, federated log 916 has access information to one or more content logs for an administered content log (e.g., in some implementations, this is actually in lieu of a content log). In other implementations, federated log 916 has information pertaining to a currency of at least one entry of an administered content log. In other implementations, federated log 916 has information pertaining to an expiration of at least one entry of an administered content log. In other implementations, federated log 916 has metadata pertaining to an administrative domain, wherein the metadata includes at least one of an ownership indicator, an access right indicator, a log refresh indicator, or a predefined policy indicator. In other implementations, federated log 916 has an administrative domain-specific query string generated for or supplied by an administrative domain to produce an updated content log for that domain. Continuing to refer to FIG. 11, aggregation 910 of first-administered log and aggregation 912 of second-administered log (e.g., instances of multi-mote content logs) are shown as respectively interfacing with first-administered reporting entity 902 and second-administered reporting entity 904. First-administered reporting entity 902 and/or second-administered reporting entity 904 typically are dispersed, created, and/or activated in fashions analogous to the dispersal, creation, and/or activation of other reporting entities as described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 3 and/or 6), and hence such dispersals, creations, and/or activations are not explicitly described here for sake of clarity. In some implementations, first-administered reporting entity 902 and/or second-administered reporting entity 904 transmit all/part of their respective multi-mote content logs to federated log creation agent 914, from which federated log creation agent creates federated log 916. First-administered reporting entity 902 and/or second-administered reporting entity 904 transmit in manners analogous to reporting entities discussed elsewhere herein. For example, transmitting in response to schedules received, schedules derived, and/or queries received from federated log creation agent 914, and/or transmitting using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques and/or decoding previously encrypted data, using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques, prior to the transmitting. In the discussion of FIG. 11, federated log creation agent 914 was described as obtaining portions of aggregations of first-administered and second-administered network logs from which federated log 916 was constructed. In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 obtains portions of first-administered and second-administered network logs from various reporting entities dispersed throughout the first-administered and second-administered mote networks 1000, 1002 (e.g., multi-mote or other type reporting entities such as those described in relation to FIGS. 3, 6, and/or elsewhere herein). Such reporting entities and logs are implicit in FIG. 9 (e.g., since the multi-mote creation agents 716, 718 would typically interact with such reporting entities to obtain logs under the purview of such entities), but are explicitly shown and described in relation to FIG. 12. In other implementations, the various reporting entities dispersed throughout the networks report directly to federated log creation agent 914. One example of such implementations is shown and described in relation to FIG. 12. Referring now to FIG. 12, shown is the high-level diagram of FIG. 11, modified to show first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes wherein each mote is illustrated as having log(s) (e.g., mote-addressed and/or multi-mote) and associated reporting entity(ies). The reporting entities may be of substantially any type described herein (e.g., multi-mote or other type) and the logs may also be of substantially any type described herein (e.g., multi-mote or mote-addressed content log). In some implementations, various reporting entities dispersed throughout first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes transmit all/part of their respective logs (multi-mote or otherwise) to federated log creation agent 914, from which federated log creation agent creates federated log 916. The various reporting entities transmit in manners analogous to reporting entities discussed elsewhere herein. For example, transmitting in response to schedules received, schedules derived, and/or queries received from federated log creation agent 914, and/or transmitting using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques and/or decoding previously encrypted data, using either or both public key and private key encryption techniques, prior to the transmitting. With reference now to FIG. 13, shown is an exemplary exploded view of federated log 916. Federated log 916 is shown to contain aggregations of content logs drawn from first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. Shown is that federated log 916 contains aggregated sensing/control and routing/spatial logs for motes addressed 1A and 2A under the administration of a first network administrator. Depicted is that federated log 916 contains aggregated sensing/control and routing/spatial logs for motes addressed 3A and 4A under the administration of a second network administrator. Although aggregations for only two administered networks are shown, those having skill in the art will appreciate that in some implementations the number of administered networks logged could be several. In addition, although each individual administrator-specific aggregation is shown containing entries for only three motes, those having skill in the art will appreciate that in most implementations the number of motes in the aggregations will run to the hundreds, thousands, and/or higher. B. Process(es) and/or Scheme(s) With reference now again to FIGS. 2, 3, . . . , and/or FIG. 13, the depicted views may serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Some exemplary processes include the operations of obtaining at least a part of a first-administered content log from a first set of motes; obtaining at least a part of a second-administered content log from a second set of motes; and creating a federated log from at least a part of the first-administered content log and at least a part of the second-administered content log. Other more general exemplary processes of the foregoing specific exemplary processes are taught at least in the claims and/or elsewhere in the present application. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a first-administered content log from a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of the multi-mote content log 752 of mote 6A (e.g., such as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log from at least one aggregation of one or more first-administered logs. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of aggregation of first-administered log(s) 910 as transmitted by first-administered reporting entity 902 for first-administered set 1000 of motes (e.g., as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from at least one aggregation of one or more first-administered logs. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of aggregation of first-administered log(s) 910 as transmitted by first-administered reporting entity 902 for first-administered set 1000 of motes (e.g., as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing log or a mote-addressed control log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the first set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of first-administered set 1000 of motes from one or more multi-mote content logs' associated multi-mote reporting entities (e.g., such as shown and/or described in relation to the multi-mote content logs and/or associated reporting entities of first-administered set 800 of motes of FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the first set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the first-administered set 1000 of motes (e.g., such as shown and/or described in relation to the multi-mote content log of mote 6A of FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a first-administered content log from a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log from a reporting entity at a mote of the first set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed sensing log/control log from one or more associated reporting entities at the motes of first-administered set 800 of motes (e.g., such as shown and/or described in relation the mote-addressed content logs of motes 3A and/or 5A of FIGS. 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a first-administered content log from a first set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a reporting entity at a mote of the first set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from one or more associated reporting entities at the motes of first-administered set 1000 of motes (e.g., such as shown and/or described in relation to the mote-addressed content logs of motes 3A and/or 5A of 7, 8, . . . , and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a second-administered content log from a second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of the multi-mote content log associated with a mote of second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing log/control log from at least one aggregation of one or more second-administered logs. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of aggregation of second-administered log(s) 912 as transmitted by second-administered reporting entity 904 for second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from at least one aggregation of one or more second-administered logs. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of aggregation of second-administered log(s) 912 transmitted by second-administered reporting entity 904 for second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of second-administered set 1002 of motes from one or more multi-mote content logs' associated multi-mote reporting entities (e.g., such as shown and described in relation to the multi-mote content logs and/or reporting entities of second-administered set 1002 of motes of FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of receiving at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a multi-mote reporting entity at a mote of the second-administered set 1002 of motes from an associated multi-mote reporting entity (e.g., such as shown and described in relation to the multi-mote content logs and/or reporting entities of second-administered set 1002 of motes of FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a second-administered content log from a second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log from a reporting entity at a mote of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed sensing/control log from one or more associated reporting entities at the motes of second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., such as shown and described in relation the mote-addressed content logs and associated reporting entities of second-administered set 1002 of motes of FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of obtaining at least a part of a second-administered content log from a second set of motes includes but is not limited to the operation of receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from a reporting entity at a mote of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 receiving at least a part of a mote-addressed routing/spatial log from one or more associated reporting entities at the motes of second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., such as shown and described in relation the mote-addressed content logs of second-administered set 1002 of motes of FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and/or 13). In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of creating a federated log from at least a part of the first-administered content log and at least a part of the second-administered content log includes the operation of federated log creation agent 914 generating federated log 916 in response to one or more logs (e.g., multi-mote and/or mote-addressed logs) obtained from both first-administered set 1000 of motes and the second-administered set 1002 of motes. In some implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include at least a part of a content log from two differently-administered mote networks, such as first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes (see., e.g., federated log 916 of FIG. 13). In some implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include one or more entries denoting one or more respective administrative domains of one or more content log entries (e.g., see federated log 916 of FIG. 13). In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include access information to one or more content logs for an administered content log (e.g., in some implementations, this is actually in lieu of a content log). In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include information pertaining to a currency of at least one entry of an administered content log. In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include information pertaining to an expiration of at least one entry of an administered content log. In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include metadata pertaining to an administrative domain, wherein the metadata includes at least one of an ownership indicator, an access right indicator, a log refresh indicator, or a predefined policy indicator. In other implementations, federated log creation agent 914 creates federated log 916 to include an administrative domain-specific query string generated for or supplied by an administrative domain to produce an updated content log for that domain. In some specific exemplary processes, the operation of creating a federated log from at least a part of the first-administered content log and at least a part of the second-administered content log includes but is not limited to the operations of creating the federated log from at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the first set of motes; creating the federated log from at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log or a mote-addressed routing log/spatial log of the first set of motes; creating the federated log from at least a part of one or more multi-mote content logs of the second set of motes; and/or creating the federated log from at least a part of at least one of a mote-addressed sensing/control log or a mote-addressed routing log/spatial log of the second set of motes. For example, federated log creation agent 914 creating at least a part of federated log 916 in response to portions of multi-mote content logs (e.g., multi-mote logs and/or aggregations of logs) received from reporting entities associated with first-administered set 1000 of motes and/or second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., such as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and/or 13). With reference now again to FIGS. 2, 3, . . . , and/or 13, the depicted views may yet again serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices described herein. Some specific exemplary processes include the operations of creating one or more first-administered content logs for a first set of motes; obtaining at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs of the first set of motes; creating one or more second-administered content logs for a second set of motes; obtaining at least a part of the second-administered content logs of the second set of motes; and creating a federated log from at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs and at least a part of the one or more second-administered content logs. In some specific exemplary processes, the operations of creating one or more first-administered content logs for a first set of motes and creating one or more second-administered content logs for a second set of motes function substantially analogously as the processes described in creating mote-addressed content logs, mote-addressed logs, and aggregations of logs as set forth elsewhere herein (e.g., such as shown and/or described under text/drawings of Roman Numeral headings I (“MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG CREATION”), III (“AGGREGATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA”), and V (“FEDERATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA”), above, as well as in the as-filed claims). Accordingly, the specific exemplary processes of the operations of creating one or more first-administered content logs for a first set of motes and creating one or more second-administered content logs for a second set of motes are not explicitly redescribed here for sake of clarity, in that such specific exemplary processes will be apparent to one of skill in the art in light of the disclosure herein (e.g., as shown and described under text/drawings of Roman Numeral headings I, III, and V, above, as well as in the as-filed claims). In some specific exemplary processes, the operations of obtaining at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs of the first set of motes; obtaining at least a part of the second-administered content logs of the second set of motes; and creating a federated log from at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs and at least a part of the one or more second-administered content logs function substantially analogously as to like processes described elsewhere herein (e.g., as shown and described under text/drawings of Roman Numeral heading V (“FEDERATING MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOG DATA”), above, as well as in the as-filed claims). Accordingly, the specific exemplary processes of the operations of obtaining at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs of the first set of motes; obtaining at least a part of the second-administered content logs of the second set of motes; and creating a federated log from at least a part of the one or more first-administered content logs and at least a part of the one or more second-administered content logs are not explicitly redescribed here for sake of clarity, in that such specific exemplary processes will be apparent to one of skill in the art in light of the disclosure herein (e.g., as shown and described under text/drawings of Roman Numeral heading V, above, as well as in the as-filed claims). VI. Using Mote-Associated Logs Referring now to FIG. 14, depicted is a perspective cut-away view of a hallway that may form an environment of processes and/or devices described herein. Wall 1400 and floor 1402 are illustrated having motes (depicted as circles and/or ovals). Typically, the motes may be as described elsewhere herein (e.g., mote 200, 300, 500, and/or 600). In some instances, the motes are applied to wall 1400 and/or floor 1402 with an adhesive. In other instances, the motes are formed into 1400 and/or floor 1402 during fabrication. In other instances, a covering for the wall (e.g., wallpaper and/or paint) contains motes that are applied to 1400 and/or floor 1402. With reference now to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17, shown are three time-sequenced views of a person transiting wall 1400 and floor 1402 of the hallway of FIG. 14. FIG. 15 shows the position of the person at time=t_1. FIG. 16 shows the position of the person at time=t_2. FIG. 16 shows the position of the person at time=t_3. Referring now to FIG. 18, depicted is a perspective view of the hallway of FIG. 14, modified in accord with aspects of the subject matter described herein. Illustrated is that the motes of wall 1400 may be treated as a first set 400 of motes that function and/or are structured in fashions analogous to first set 400 of motes shown/described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 4-9) and/or as shown/described here. Accordingly, antenna 1802 is shown proximate to wall 1400 and feeding gateway 704 onto WAN 714. Multi-mote log creation agent 716 is depicted as executing on the more powerful computational systems of gateway 704 (e.g., a mini and/or mainframe computer system) to create aggregation 710 of content logs. Gateway 704, multi-mote creation agent 716, and aggregation 710 of content logs function and/or are structured analogously as described elsewhere herein, and are not expressly re-described here for sake of clarity. With reference now to FIG. 19, illustrated is that first set 400 of the physical motes of wall 1400 may be treated as mapped into a conceptual x-y coordinate system. The mapping into the conceptual x-y coordinate system may be used to illustrate how a multi-mote content log or aggregation of content logs can be used to advantage. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in some instances, the mapping will typically be into a three-space coordinate system (e.g., x-y-z), but that a two-space (e.g., x-y) example is described herein for sake of clarity. In addition, although rectilinear coordinate systems are described herein, those having skill in the art will appreciate that other coordinate systems (e.g., spherical, cylindrical, circular, etc.) may be substituted consistent with the teachers herein. Referring now to FIG. 20, shown is a partially schematic diagram that pictographically illustrates the coordinating of the conceptual mapping of the motes of wall 1400 with the logs of first set 400 of the motes of wall 1400. Specifically, depicted in FIG. 20 is that the mapping of the physical motes as shown in FIG. 19 can be abstracted into mote content logs. (This abstraction is illustrated in FIG. 20 by the dashed lines indicating the motes.) The mote content logs can be used to “stand in” for or “represent” the first set 400 of motes, and can be managed and/or searched using high speed computer systems. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many techniques suitable for managing/searching mote content logs of first set 400 of motes. Examples of such techniques are database techniques such as those associated with Structured Query Language (SQL) systems. With reference now to FIGS. 21, 22, and 23 shown are time-stamped versions of aggregation 710 associated with the state of first set 400 of motes. FIG. 21 depicts aggregation 701 at time=t_1 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 710 at time=t_1. FIG. 22 illustrates aggregation 701 at time=t_2 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 710 at time=t_2. FIG. 23 shows aggregation 710 at time=t_3 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 710 at time=t_3. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in practice aggregation 710 will generally be in the form of nested data structures and that the pictographic representations of how the person would “appear” in FIGS. 21, 22, and 23 are used herein for sake of clarity. As described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 1 and 2), motes can include any number of devices whose information can be captured in aggregates of content logs (e.g., aggregation 710 of content logs). Accordingly, aggregation 710 allows flexible and powerful searching techniques, a few of which will now be described. Following are a series of flowcharts depicting embodiments of processes. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initial flowcharts present embodiments via an overall “big picture” viewpoint and thereafter the following flowcharts present alternate embodiments and/or expansions of the “big picture” flowcharts as either sub-steps or additional steps building on one or more earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g., beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overall view and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details in subsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and efficient understanding of the various process instances. Referring now to FIG. 24, depicted is a high-level logic flowchart of a process. Method step 2400 shows the start of the process. Method step 2402 depicts accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search. Method step 2404 searching at least one mote-addressed content log in response to said input. Method step 2406 shows the end of the process. With reference now to FIG. 25, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2402 includes method step 2500. Method step 2500 shows accepting a visual-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the visual-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to search for a particular image (e.g., a digital photograph of a person's face). In some implementations such as those used in nursing homes, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a request to search for a particular shape (e.g., a line drawing of a prone person, such as might appear if a person were to fall onto the motes of floor 1402 of FIG. 14). In other implementations, the visual-definition input may be more abstract, such as, for example, a request may be in the form of spatial frequency content, spectral components, or other aspects of a searched for object, event or set of objects. Continuing to refer to FIG. 25, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2402 includes method step 2502. Method step 2502 shows accepting at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in fire detection, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to search for a particular infra-red signature or temperature (e.g., an infrared signature or temperature in closet of a building indicate of a potential spontaneous combustion). In some implementations such as those used in agriculture, electrical circuitry (e.g., a touch screen of a computer system showing motes superimposed over particular plants or plant groupings) accepts a request to monitor various plants or groups of plants for either or both a particular infrared signature or temperature profile (e.g., a defined range of temperatures for optimal growing, such as might be controlled in a greenhouse environment). With reference now again to FIG. 25, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2402 includes method step 2504. Method step 2504 shows accepting a pressure-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the pressure-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in medicine, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to sound an alert if a specified pressure at any one or more motes is exceeded (e.g., a pressure sensed by one or more motes interior to a cast indicates a potential for ischemic necrosis or neural impairment). In some implementations such as those used in fluid systems management, electrical circuitry (e.g., an input panel exterior to a piping system) accepts a request that the system give an alert when motes interior to the piping system indicates that the pressure(s) either exceed or fall below one or more defined pressures (e.g., a lowest acceptable pressure in hydraulic lifting system in industrial equipment). With reference now again to FIG. 25, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2402 includes method step 2506. Method step 2506 shows accepting a sonic-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the sonic-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in administration, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to convert microphone input to a digital audio file and/or configured to accept digital audio directly) accepts a request that a system determine whether a particular voice has been heard in a room during some defined interval of time (e.g., have you heard “this voice” during the last 24 hours where “this voice” could either be a sample captured in real time or a stored sample of voice). In some implementations such as those used in data processing, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to accept digital audio directly) accepts a request that the system perform an action when a certain sound pattern over time is detected (e.g., if the sonic-definition input where a time series of audio that indicated that a hard disk failure was imminent, request would be that the system order a new hard disk and perform a disk swap at some time before the predicted imminent failure). Referring now to FIG. 26, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 24. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2404 includes method step 2600. Method step 2600 shows searching a time series of at least two content logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry successively searches a time series of content logs for various defined types of information. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound a gunshot would make in aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. Continuing to refer to FIG. 26, depicted is that in one alternate implementation method step 2404 includes method step 2602. Method step 2602 shows searching at least one multi-mote content log having the at least one mote-addressed content log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the at least one multi-mote content log having the at least one mote-addressed content log. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry searches one or more multi-mote content logs, over time, in response to a defined search (e.g., electrical circuitry searching one or more multi-mote content logs for motes distributed proximate to a patient's heart for sounds indicative of arrhythmia, in response to a search requesting that the logs be so searched). In some implementations such as those used in aviation maintenance, electrical circuitry searches one or more multi-mote content logs, over time, in response to a defined search (e.g., electrical circuitry searching one or more multi-mote content logs for motes in a defined area of aviation equipment, such as a jet engine, for sounds indicative of motor failure, in response to a search requesting that the logs be so searched). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. With reference now to FIG. 27, shown is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 26. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2602 includes method step 2700. Method step 2700 shows searching a time series of at least two multi-mote logs, the time series including the at least one multi-mote content log having the at least one mote-addressed content log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry successively searches a time series of content logs for various defined types of information. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern or characteristic of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound or acoustic signature a gunshot would make in aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. Referring now again to FIG. 26, depicted is that in one alternate implementation method step 2404 includes method step 2604. Method step 2604 shows searching at least one aggregation of content logs, the aggregation having the at least one mote-addressed content log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the at least one aggregation of content logs, the aggregation having the at least one mote-addressed content log. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching aggregation 710 of content logs at time=t_1 (FIG. 21) in order to determine if a person was in front of wall 1400 at some time=t_1 as shown and/or described in relation to FIG. 15). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular sound at a particular time (e.g., a certain sound present in aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21)). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. With reference now to FIG. 28, shown is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 27. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2604 includes method step 2800. Method step 2800 illustrates searching a time series of at least two aggregations of content logs, the time series including the at least one aggregation of content logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the time series of the at least one aggregation of content logs. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound a gunshot would make in aggregation 710 at time=t_1 (FIG. 21), at time=t_2 (FIG. 22), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 23) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. Continuing to refer to FIG. 28, depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2604 includes method step 2802. Method step 2802 illustrates searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry is used to effect the searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. Continuing to refer to FIG. 28, depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 2604 includes method step 2804. Method step 2804 illustrates searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry is used to effect the searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 2402. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some implementations, the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 24-28) is performed on mote-addressed content logs, multi-mote content logs, and/or aggregations of content logs loaded to computer systems external to a mote-appropriate network. For example, as shown/described in relation to gateway 704, which can include, for example, one or more of a notebook computer system, minicomputer system, server computer system, and/or a mainframe computer system. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that in other implementations the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 24-28) is performed in whole or in part on motes of a mote-appropriate network. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the approaches described herein are not limited to accepting an input of a single kind and that the searching may be refined using a combination of inputs, such as a visual definition input combined with a sonic definition input. When combined, the searching logic may correlate the processes temporally or the searches may be combined independently of relative time references. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that in other implementations the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 24-28) is performed in other computer systems consistent with the teachings herein. VII. Using Federated Mote-Associated Logs With reference now to FIG. 29, illustrated is the perspective cut-away view of the hallway of FIG. 14 modified in accord with aspects of the subject matter described herein. Illustrated is that the motes of wall 1400 may be partitioned into first-administered set 1000, of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes analogous to the first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes shown/described elsewhere herein (e.g., in relation to FIGS. 10-13). Antenna 2900 is shown proximate to first-administered set 1000 of motes and shown feeding gateway 704 onto WAN 714. Multi-mote log creation agent 716 is depicted as executing on the more powerful computational system(s) of gateway 704 (e.g., a mini and/or a mainframe computer system) to create aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs. First-administered reporting entity 902 is illustrated as executing on gateway 704. Gateway 704, multi-mote log creation agent 716, aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs, and first-administered reporting entity 902 function and/or are structured in fashions analogous to those described here and/or elsewhere herein. Antenna 2902 is shown proximate to second-administered set 1002 of motes and feeding gateway 706 onto WAN 714. Multi-mote log creation agent 718 is depicted as executing on the more powerful computational system(s) of gateway 706 (e.g., a mini and/or a mainframe computer system) to create aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs. Second-administered reporting entity 904 is illustrated as executing on gateway 706. Gateway 706, multi-mote log creation agent 718, aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs, and second-administered reporting entity 904 function and/or are structured in fashions analogous to those described here and/or elsewhere herein. In some implementations, frequency re-use techniques are utilized across first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes. For instance, first-administered set 1000 of motes operating on or around a first carrier frequency and second-administered set 1002 of motes operating on or around a second carrier frequency. Accordingly, in some implementations antenna 2900 is tuned to a carrier frequency of first-administered set 1000 of motes and antenna 2902 is tuned to a carrier frequency of second-administered set 1002 of motes. In other implementations, frequency re-use techniques are not used across first-administered set 1000 of motes and second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., the differently administered networks use different addressing spaces and/or proximities to provide for the separate network administrations). Further shown in FIG. 29 are federated log creation agent 914 and federated content log 916 resident within mainframe computer system 990. Federated log creation agent 914, federated content log 916, and mainframe computer system 990 function and/or are structured in fashions analogous to those described here and/or elsewhere herein. Referring now to FIG. 30, shown is that first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400 may be treated as mapped into a conceptual x-y coordinate system. The mapping into the conceptual x-y coordinate system may be used to illustrate how a multi-mote content log or aggregation of content logs (e.g., such as those forming at least a part of federated content log 916) can be used to advantage. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in some instances, the mapping will typically be into a three-space coordinate system (e.g., x-y-z), but that a two-space (e.g., x-y) example is described herein for sake of clarity. In addition, although rectilinear coordinate systems are described herein, those having skill in the art will appreciate that other coordinate systems (e.g., spherical, cylindrical, circular, etc.) may be substituted consistent with the teachings herein. With reference now to FIG. 31, shown is a partially schematic diagram that pictographically illustrates the coordinating of the conceptual mapping of the motes of wall 1400 with logs of first-administered set 1000 and second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400. (This abstraction is illustrated in FIG. 31 by the dashed lines indicating the motes.) Specifically, depicted in FIG. 31 is that the mapping of the physical motes shown in FIG. 30 can be abstracted into aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs and aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs. So abstracted, the mote content logs can be used to “stand in” for or “represent” first-administered set 1000 and/or second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400, and can be independently and/or jointly managed and/or searched using high speed computer systems. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many techniques suitable for managing/searching mote content logs of first-administered set 1000 and/or second-administered set 1002 of the physical motes of wall 1400. Examples of such techniques are database techniques such as those associated with relational database and/or SQL systems. Referring now to FIG. 32 shown are time-stamped versions of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs associated with the state of first-administered set 1000 of motes. The left-lower portion of FIG. 32 depicts aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_1 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation of content logs 910 at time=t_1. The middle-most portion of FIG. 32 illustrates aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_2 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_2. The upper-right portion of FIG. 32 shows aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_3 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_3. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in practice aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs will generally be in the form of nested data structures and that the pictographic representations of how the person would “appear” in FIG. 32 are used herein for sake of clarity. With reference now to FIG. 33, depicted are time-stamped versions of aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs associated with the state of second-administered set 1002 of motes. The lower portion of FIG. 33 depicts aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_1 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_1. The middle-most portion of FIG. 33 illustrates aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_2 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_2. The upper portion of FIG. 33 shows aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_3 and how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in a aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_3. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in practice aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs will generally be in the form of nested data structures and that the pictographic representations of how the person would “appear” in FIG. 33 are used herein for sake of clarity. Referring now to FIG. 32 and FIG. 33, note that when the person is within the bounds of first-administered set 1000 of motes at time=t_1 the person does not “appear” in the content logs representing second-administered set 1002 of motes (e.g., logs of aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs). Note also that when the person is within the bounds of second-administered set 1002 of motes at times t_2 and t_3, the person does not “appear” in the content logs representing first-administered set 1000 of motes (e.g., logs of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs). Those having skill in the art will appreciate that this is indicative of reduced power and/or other reduced resource consumption. More specifically, in some implementations such as those described, since each separately administered network need not react to traffic of any networks of which each separately administered network is not a part, a separate administration scheme paired with the federation schemes as described herein allows use of mote networks to track large and/or dense subject matter domains with less resource utilization (e.g., less power consumption such as that associated with either or both less transmission, and/or less reception). With reference now to FIGS. 34, 35, and 36, illustrated are different versions of federated content log 916. With reference now to FIG. 34, depicted is federated content log 916 at time=t_1 that shows how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in the context of the entire wall 1400 at time=t_1. Federated content log 916 at time=t_1 is shown composed of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_1 (FIG. 32) and aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_1 (FIG. 33). Referring now to FIG. 35, depicted is federated content log 916 at time at time=t_2 that shows how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in the context of the entire wall 1400 at time=t_2. Federated content log 916 at time=t_2 is shown composed of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_2 (FIG. 32) and aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_2 (FIG. 33). Referring now to FIG. 36, depicted is federated content log 916 at time at time=t_3 that shows how the person transiting wall 1400 “appears” in the context of the entire wall 1400 at time_t2. Federated content log 916 at time=t_3 is shown composed of aggregation 910 of first-administered content logs at time=t_3 (FIG. 32) and aggregation 912 of second-administered content logs at time=t_3 (FIG. 33). Those having skill in the art will appreciate that in practice federated content log 916 will generally be in the form of nested data structures and that the pictographic representations of how the person would “appear” in FIGS. 34, 35, and 36 are used herein for sake of clarity. As described elsewhere herein, motes can include any number of devices whose information can be captured in content logs (e.g., federated content log 916). Accordingly, federated content log 916 allows flexible and powerful searching techniques, a few of which will now be described. Following are a series of flowcharts depicting embodiments of processes. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initial flowcharts present embodiments via an overall “big picture” viewpoint and thereafter the following flowcharts present alternate embodiments and/or expansions of the “big picture” flowcharts as either sub-steps or additional steps building on one or more earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g., beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overall view and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details in subsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and efficient understanding of the various process instances. Referring now to FIG. 37, depicted is a high-level logic flowchart of a process. Method step 3700 shows the start of the process. Method step 3702 depicts accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search. Method step 3704 depicts searching at least one federated log in response to said accepted input. Method step 3706 shows the end of the process. With reference now to FIG. 38, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3702 includes method step 3800. Method step 3800 shows accepting a visual-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the visual-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to search for a particular image (e.g., a digital photograph of a person's face). In some implementations such as those used in nursing homes, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a request to search for a particular shape (e.g., a line drawing of a prone person, such as might appear if a person were to fall onto the motes of floor 1402 of FIG. 14). In other implementations, the visual-definition input may be more abstract, such as, for example, a request may be in the form of spatial frequency content, spectral components, or other aspects of a searched for object, event or set of objects. Continuing to refer to FIG. 38, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3702 includes method step 3802. Method step 3802 shows accepting at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the at least one of an infrared-definition input or a temperature-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in fire detection, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to search for a particular infra-red signature or temperature (e.g., an infrared signature or temperature in a closet of a building indicative of a potential spontaneous combustion). In some implementations such as those used in agriculture, electrical circuitry (e.g., a touch screen of a computer system showing motes superimposed over particular plants or plant groupings) accepts a request to monitor various plants or groups of plants for either or both a particular infrared signature or temperature profile (e.g., a defined range of temperatures for optimal growing, such as might be controlled in a greenhouse environment). With reference now again to FIG. 38, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3702 includes method step 3804. Method step 3804 shows accepting a pressure-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the pressure-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in medicine, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI)) accepts a command to sound an alert if a specified pressure at any one or more motes is exceeded (e.g., a pressure sensed by one or more motes interior to a cast indicates a potential for ischemic necrosis or neural impairment). In some implementations such as those used in fluid systems management, electrical circuitry (e.g., an input panel exterior to a piping system) accepts a request that the system give an alert when motes interior to the piping system indicates that the pressure(s) either exceed or fall below one or more defined pressures (e.g., a lowest acceptable pressure in hydraulic lifting system in industrial equipment). With reference now again to FIG. 38, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3702 includes method step 3806. Method step 3806 shows accepting a sonic-definition input. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry accepts the sonic-definition input. In some specific implementations such as those used in administration, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to convert microphone input to a digital audio file and/or configured to accept digital audio directly) accepts a request that a system determine whether a particular voice has been heard in a room during some defined interval of time (e.g., have you heard “this voice” during the last 24 hours where “this voice” could either be a sample captured in real time or a stored sample of voice). In some implementations such as those used in data processing, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry configured to accept digital audio directly) accepts a request that the system perform an action when a certain sound pattern over time is detected (e.g., if the sonic-definition input where a time series of audio that indicated that a hard disk failure was imminent, request would be that the system order a new hard disk and perform a disk swap at some time before the predicted imminent failure). Referring now to FIG. 39, illustrated is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3704 includes method step 3906. Method step 3906 shows searching a federated log having at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry successively searches the at least one first-administered content log and at least one second-administered content log for various defined types of information. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by a program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of federated content log 916 at time=t_l (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound a gunshot would make in federated content log 916at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. With reference now to FIG. 40, shown is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 39. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3906 includes method step 4000. Method step 4000 illustrates searching at least one of a first-administered mote-addressed content log, a first-administered multi-mote content log, or a first-administered aggregation of content logs and searching at least one of a second-administered mote-addressed content log, a second-administered multi-mote content log, or a second-administered aggregation of content logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the at least one of a first-administered mote-addressed content log, a first-administered multi-mote content log, or a first-administered aggregation of content logs and at least one of a second-administered mote-addressed content log, a second-administered multi-mote content log, or a second-administered aggregation of content logs for various defined types of information. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Continuing to refer to FIG. 39, depicted is a high-level logic flowchart illustrating several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 37. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3704 includes method step 3900. Method step 3900 shows searching a time series of at least two federated logs. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry successively searches a time series of federated logs for various defined types of information. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of federated content log 916 at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry searches for a particular pattern or characteristic of sound over time (e.g., searching one or more content logs of federated content log 916 for a pattern of sound or acoustic signature a gunshot would make in federated content log 916at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Continuing to refer to FIG. 39, illustrated is that in one alternate implementation method step 3704 includes method step 3902. Method step 3902 shows searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry searches one or more multi-mote content logs, over time, in response to a defined search (e.g., electrical circuitry searching one or more multi-mote content logs for motes distributed proximate to a patient's heart for sounds indicative of arrhythmia, in response to a search requesting that the logs be so searched). In some implementations such as those used in aviation maintenance, electrical circuitry searches one or more multi-mote content logs, over time, in response to a defined search (e.g., electrical circuitry searching one or more multi-mote content logs for motes in a defined area of aviation equipment, such as a jet engine, for sounds indicative of motor failure in response to a search requesting that the logs be so searched). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. With reference now to FIG. 41, shown is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 39. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3902 includes method step 4100. Method step 4100 shows searching a time series of at least two multi-mote logs, the time series including the at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry successively searches a time series of content logs for various defined types of information. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of federated content log 916 at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern or characteristic of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound or acoustic signature a gunshot would make in federated content log 916 at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Referring now again to FIG. 39, depicted is that in one alternate implementation method step 3704 includes method step 3904. Method step 3904 shows searching at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching federated content log 916 of content logs at time=t_1 (FIG. 34) in order to determine if a person was in front of wall 1400 at some time=t_1 as shown and/or described in relation to FIG. 15). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular sound at a particular time (e.g., a certain sound present in federated content log 916 at time=t_1 (FIG. 34)). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. With reference now to FIG. 42, shown is a high-level logic flowchart depicting several alternate implementations of the high-level logic flowchart of FIG. 39. Depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3904 includes method step 4200. Method step 4200 illustrates searching a time series of at least two aggregations of content logs, the time series including the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry searches the at least two aggregations of content logs, the time series including the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In some specific implementations such as those used in security, electrical circuitry (e.g., electrical circuitry forming a processor configured by program to perform various tasks) searches for a particular image in motion (e.g., searching one or more content logs of federated content log 916at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) in order to track a person's progress through the hallway such as shown and/or described in relation to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17). In some implementations such as those used in criminal investigations, electrical circuitry accepts a request to search for a particular pattern of sound over time (e.g., the pattern of sound a gunshot would make in federated content log 916 at time=t_1 (FIG. 34), at time=t_2 (FIG. 35), and at time=t_3 (FIG. 36) if a gun were to be fired in the hallway of FIG. 14). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Continuing to refer to FIG. 42, depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3904 includes method step 4202. Method step 4202 illustrates searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry is used to effect the searching at least one mote-addressed content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Continuing to refer to FIG. 42, depicted is that in one alternate implementation, method step 3904 includes method step 4204. Method step 4204 illustrates searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs, wherein the at least one aggregation of content logs forms a part of the at least one federated log. In various exemplary implementations, electrical circuitry is used to effect the searching at least one multi-mote content log of the at least one aggregation of content logs. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other searches may be performed, dependent upon the accepted input defining the mote appropriate search of method step 3702. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some implementations, the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 37-42) is performed on mote-addressed content logs, multi-mote content logs, and/or aggregations of content logs loaded to computer systems external to a mote-appropriate network. For example, as shown/described in relation to gateway 704, which can include, for example, one or more of a notebook computer system, minicomputer system, server computer system, and/or a mainframe computer system. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that in other implementations the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 37-42) is performed in whole or in part on motes of a mote-appropriate network. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the approaches described herein are not limited to accepting an input of a single kind and that the searching may be refined using a combination of inputs, such as a visual definition input combined with a sonic definition input. When combined, the searching logic may correlate the processes temporally or the searches may be combined independently of relative time references. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that in other implementations the searching described in relation to various processes herein (e.g., such as those shown/described in relation to FIGS. 37-42) is performed in other computer systems consistent with the teachings herein. Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the art has progressed to the point where there is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can become significant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a solely software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by which the processes described herein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations will require optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware. The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood as notorious by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, several portions of the subject matter subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and/or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory; and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links using TDM or IP based communication links (e.g., packet links). In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate such described devices and/or processes into mote processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be integrated into a mote processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical mote processing system generally includes one or more of a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, user interfaces, drivers, sensors, actuators, applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as USB ports, control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A typical mote processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable available components, such as those typically found in mote-appropriate computing/communication systems, combined with standard engineering practices. Specific examples of such components include commercially described components such as Intel Corporation's mote components and supporting hardware, software, and firmware. The foregoing described aspects depict different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this subject matter described herein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should NOT be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” and/or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense of one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense of one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together). | <SOH> TECHNICAL FIELD <EOH>The present application relates, in general, to motes. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: accepting input defining a mote-appropriate network search; and searching at least one federated log in response to said accepted input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one mote-addressed content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one mote-addressed content log of the federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one multi-mote content log of a federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one multi-mote content log of the federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to: loading at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of at least one federated log to a computer system external to a mote-appropriate network; accepting input defining a search of the mote-appropriate network; and searching the loaded at least one aggregation of content logs wherein the at least one aggregation forms a part of the at least one federated log in response to said input. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system aspects are set forth and described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/or drawings of the present application. The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes described herein, as defined by the claims, will become apparent in the detailed description set forth herein. | 20040625 | 20080617 | 20051229 | 95042.0 | 0 | MIZRAHI, DIANE D | USING FEDERATED MOTE-ASSOCIATED LOGS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,221 | ACCEPTED | Thermally stable crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride and method of making the same | A crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride, named herein as “type II” crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride, has excellent thermal stability. Type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern having average values of diffraction angle (2θ) and relative intensity P(%) as presented in the following table: Diffraction Angle Relative Intensity 2Θ P(%) 5.236 9.8 9.212 12.5 13.732 15.5 16.446 4.8 18.234 5 21.114 9.7 22.529 25.5 24.071 29.9 25.879 18.4 27.762 16.5 29.757 10.1 34.392 4.4 38.157 13.1 44.293 5.9 64.699 7.7 77.815 100 | 1. A crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride having a powder X-ray diffraction pattern having average values of diffraction angle (2θ) and relative intensity (P(%)) as presented in the following table: Diffraction Angle Relative Intensity 2Θ P(%) 5.236 9.8 9.212 12.5 13.732 15.5 16.446 4.8 18.234 5 21.114 9.7 22.529 25.5 24.071 29.9 25.879 18.4 27.762 16.5 29.757 10.1 34.392 4.4 38.157 13.1 44.293 5.9 64.699 7.7 77.815 100 2. A crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride according to claim 1 having a melting point of approximately 207° C. 3. A process of preparing a crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride according to claim 1 comprising crystallization of epirubicin hydrochloride at a temperature of 20° C. and above. 4. A process according to claim 3 comprising crystallization of epirubicin hydrochloride from a hydrophilic organic solvent and a solution of epirubicin hydrochloride in one of the following: water or a mixture of hydrophilic organic solvent in water. 5. A process according to claim 3 comprising: a. dissolving epirubicin hydrochloride in water or in a mixture of hydrophilic organic solvent in water to form a solution; b. adjusting the pH of the solution to a value between 3 and 4. c. evaporating the solution at a temperature of about 40° C. until the solution is in a gel state; and d. crystallizing epirubicin hydrochloride by adding a hydrophilic organic solvent at a temperature between 20° C. and 90° C. 6. A process according to the claim 5, where in the crystallization temperature is between 20° C. and 50° C. 7. A process according to claim 4, wherein the hydrophilic organic solvent comprises 1-propanol or ethanol. 8. A process according to claim 5, wherein the hydrophilic organic solvent comprises an alcohol with branched carbon chain C1-C3. 9. A process of preparing a lyophilized preparation of epirubicin hydrochloride comprising dissolving crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride according to claim 1 in water, and freeze-drying the dissolved epirubicin hydrochloride. 10. A crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride according to claim 1 for use in the treatment of human or animal cancers. 11. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride according to claim 1 dissolved in a suitable carrier and used for intravenous injection in the treatment of human or animal cancers. 12. A method of treating cancer comprising administration to a person or an animal a lyophilized preparation of epirubicin hydrochloride prepared according to claim 9. 13. A method of treating cancer comprising administration to a person or an animal a pharmaceutical composition according to claim 11. 14. A process according to claim 3 comprising: a. dissolving epirubicin hydrochloride in water or in a mixture of hydrophilic organic solvent in water to form a solution; b. adjusting the pH of the solution to a value between 2 and 5. c. evaporating the solution at a temperature of about 40° C. until the solution is in a gel state; and d. crystallizing epirubicin hydrochloride by adding a hydrophilic organic solvent at a temperature between 20° C. and 90° C. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This Application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No. 60/484,132 filed on Jul. 2, 2003. U.S. provisional Application No. 60/484,132 is incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention generally relates to crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride, a compound which is useful as an anticancer chemotherapeutic drug. In particular, the field of the invention relates to a particular crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride which is distinguished by its improved thermal stability. In addition, the invention relates to methods of manufacturing the aforementioned crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride as well as to methods of using the aforementioned crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride to treat human and/or animal cancers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Anthracyclines form one of the largest families of naturally occurring bioactive compounds. Several members of this family have shown to be clinically effective anti-neoplastic agents. These include, for example, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, idarubicin, epirubicin, pirarubicin, zorubicin, aclarubicin, and carminomycin. For instance, these compounds have shown to be useful in bone marrow transplants, stem cell transplantation, treatment of breast carcinoma, acute lymphocytic and non-lymphocytic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and other solid cancerous tumors. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,112,076, 4,345,068, 4,861,870, 5,945,518, and 5,874,550 disclose the preparation of epirubicin hydrochloride and its usage as an anticancer agent, which is represented by the formula: Currently, there are two major methods of extraction of epirubicin hydrochloride from solutions. The first method involves the treatment of the organic solution of epirubicin base with a solution of hydrogen chloride in methanol. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,076. Alternatively, the second method involves the precipitation of epirubicin hydrochloride from an aqueous or organo-aqueous solution with the aid of acetone. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,870. U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,340 discloses an injectable ready-to-use solution containing epirubicin hydrochloride. More specifically, the '340 patent discloses a stable, injectable, sterile, pyrogen-free, anthracycline glycoside solution which consists essentially of a physiologically acceptable salt of an anthracycline glycoside dissolved in a physiologically acceptable solvent therefore, which has not been reconstituted from a lyophilizate, which has a pH of from 2.5 to 3.5 and which is preferably contained in a sealed glass container. While the '340 patent discloses injectable, ready-to-use preparations, the '340 patent does not disclose the stabilization of epirubicin hydrochloride itself as a bulk drug. U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,469 discloses a β-Type form of crystalline amrubicin hydrochloride having improved thermal stability. It is desirable to have a crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride which has improved thermal stability characteristics. Variation of thermal stability for different crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride is described for the first time herein. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel, strictly defined, crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride, named herein as “type II” crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride, that has excellent thermal stability. Variation of thermal stability for different crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride is described herein. Type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride is characterized by having a powder X-ray diffraction pattern having average values of diffraction angle (2θ) and relative intensity P(%) as presented in the following table: Diffraction Angle Relative Intensity 2Θ P(%) 5.236 9.8 9.212 12.5 13.732 15.5 16.446 4.8 18.234 5 21.114 9.7 22.529 25.5 24.071 29.9 25.879 18.4 27.762 16.5 29.757 10.1 34.392 4.4 38.157 13.1 44.293 5.9 64.699 7.7 77.815 100 Accordingly, several objects of the present invention are as follows: (1) Provide a crystalline form (as well as method of making the same) of epirubicin hydrochloride which is distinguished by improved thermal stability characteristics. (2) Provide an extraction method in which epirubicin hydrochloride is crystallized from the aqueous portion of an organo-aqueous solution. (3) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted within the range of 2 to 5 pH. (4) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted at temperatures of 20° C. and above. (5) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted with hydrophilic organic solvents such as alcohols, ketone, nitrites, and their mixtures with branched chains of C1-C4. It thus is an object of the invention to provide a crystalline form (i.e., type II) of epirubicin hydrochloride which is distinguished by other crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride by improved thermal stability characteristics. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of synthesis for the aforementioned type II crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a graph of the temperature vs. heat flow for type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. FIG. 2 illustrates an IR-spectrum plot of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. FIG. 3 illustrates a graph of the temperature vs. heat flow for type I crystalline hydrochloride. FIG. 4 illustrates an IR-spectrum plot of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. FIG. 5 illustrates the powder x-ray diffraction spectrum of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. FIG. 6 illustrates the powder x-ray diffraction spectrum of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. FIG. 7 illustrates the powder x-ray diffraction spectrum of type I and II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride which can be produced by crystallizing epirubicin hydrochloride from a suitable solvent such as, for example, water or mixture of water and a hydrophilic organic solvent. Preferably, crystallization of type II epirubicin hydrochloride is performed at a temperature of 20° C. or above. Crystallization is conducted by adding a hydrophilic organic solvent, preferably an alcohol with branched carbon chain C1-C3 to a solution of epirubicin hydrochloride in water or solvent-aqueous mixture. Preferably, the concentration by mass of epirubicin hydrochloride in aqueous or solvent-aqueous solution is from 5% to 50%, and more preferably from 10% to 30%. The pH of the solution is preferably maintained between 2 and 5. Volume of the solvent preferably exceeds the volume of the epirubicin hydrochloride solution from 2 to 20 times. The crystallization process is conducted at temperatures from 20° C. to 90° C., preferably from 20° C. to 50° C. Time of crystallization varies from between 0.5 to 12 hours, and more preferably between 2 to 5 hours. Type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride obtained by this method is extracted by standard procedures known to those of ordinary skill in the art (e.g., vacuum-filtration through the glass filter or centrifugal filtration) followed by drying of the crystals. The produced type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride can be used for preparation of the final dosage forms of epirubicin hydrochloride. By way of illustration and not limitation, the type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride can be lyophilized (e.g. freeze dried) or dissolved in solution for intravenous injection. For intravenous injection applications, the type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride can be dissolved in a suitable carrier or carriers known to those skilled in the art. The following two examples disclose methods of producing type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. EXAMPLE 1 (1) A solution of epirubicin hydrochloride (10.0 grams) in water or in ethanol-in-water mixture (pH 3-4) undergoes low-pressure evaporation at a temperature of 40° C. until a gel state of the solution is achieved. (2) 1-propanol in the amount of 12-times the volume of the residual solution is then added to the residual solution and stirred for 3 hours. (3) Precipitated crystals of epirubicin hydrochloride are then collected by filtration, washed in 10 ml of acetone and dried at room temperature. (4) The result is 9.3 grams of type II epirubicin hydrochloride crystals. (5) As seen in FIG. 1, the melting point of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride is approximately 207° C. with decomposition (hot stage 2° C./min). FIG. 2 illustrates the IR-spectrum (IR (KBr)) of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. Peaks/valleys are seen at 3415, 2928, 1720, 1620, 1576, 1510, 1413, 1371, 1284, 1239, 1210, 1162, 1115, 1068, 1019, 991, 930, 908, 880, 814, 768, 719, 693, 595 cm−1. EXAMPLE 2 (1) A solution of epirubicin hydrochloride (10.0 grams) in water or in ethanol-in-water mixture (pH 3-4) undergoes low-pressure evaporation at a temperature of 40° C. until a gel state of the solution is achieved. (2) Absolute ethanol in the amount of 10-times the volume of the original solution is then added to the residual solution and stirred for 2 hours. (3) Precipitated crystals of epirubicin hydrochloride are then collected by filtration, washed in 10 ml of ethanol and 10 ml of acetone and dried at room temperature. (4) The result is 7.5 grams of type II epirubicin hydrochloride crystals. The following example (Example 3) discloses a method of producing type I epirubicin hydrochloride crystals, namely epirubicin hydrochloride crystals as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,870. EXAMPLE 3 (1) Step is identical to step 1 in Example 1 above. (2) Gel solution of epirubicin hydrochloride is poured into 300 ml of acetone. (3) Precipitated crystals of epirubicin hydrochloride are then collected by filtration and washed in 50 ml of acetone. (4) The result is 9.7 grams of type I epirubicin hydrochloride crystals. As seen in FIG. 3, the melting point of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride is approximately 196° C. with decomposition (hot stage 2° C./min). FIG. 4 illustrates the IR-spectrum (IR (KBr)) of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. Peaks/valleys are seen at 3430, 2934, 2027, 1724, 1617, 1583, 1508, 1445, 1412, 1284, 1236, 1211, 1162, 1121, 1064, 1018, 992, 931, 909, 876, 814, 792, 767, 738, 721, 693, 588, and 465 cm−1. EXAMPLE 4 Optical Microscopy was performed on type I and II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride as described below: Microscope used: Labomed CXRIII optical microscope with polarizing filters. The samples of epirubicin hydrochloride obtained in Example 1 (type II) and Reference Example 3 (type I) both exhibit birefringence and are, therefore, anisotropic crystals. EXAMPLE 5 In this example, powder X-ray diffraction spectra of crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride of type I and type II were obtained. Powder X-ray diffraction spectra were measured using a Rigaku Cu Anode X-ray Diffractometer (MiniFlex). The conditions for analysis of the samples was as follows: Start angle: 3 Stop angle: 90 Sampling: 0.02 Scan speed: 1.00 X-ray powder diffraction performed with Copper Kα (λ=1.5406 Å incident X-ray) Vertical θ: 2θ Bertrano Parafocusing Diffractometer Nil scintillating (Pulse height PMT) detector Kβ Nickel filter The results of the measured powder X-ray diffraction spectra are as follows: The X-ray diffraction patterns are dissimilar for the samples obtained in Example 1 (Type II) and Reference Example 3 (Type I). Table 1 shown below illustrates the type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride XRD Analysis-Diffraction Angle (2-Θ) versus Relative Intensity (P %). In contrast, Table 2 shown below illustrates the type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride XRD Analysis-Diffraction Angle (2-Θ)) versus Relative Intensity (P %). TABLE 1 Crystalline Epirubicin hydrochloride type II XRD Analysis-Diffraction Angle (2-Θ) versus Relative Intensity (P %). 2Θ d(A) BG Peak P(%) Area FWHM 5.236 16.8641 22 415 9.8 122 0.234 9.212 9.5918 15 531 12.5 207 0.311 13.732 6.4434 40 658 15.5 211 0.256 16.446 5.3855 122 204 4.8 115 0.449 18.234 4.8614 74 214 5 105 0.39 21.114 4.2042 43 411 9.7 233 0.453 22.529 3.9433 323 1084 25.5 405 0.299 24.071 3.6941 102 1272 29.9 422 0.265 25.879 3.44 75 780 18.4 348 0.357 27.762 3.2108 71 701 16.5 319 0.363 29.757 2.9999 109 428 10.1 150 0.279 34.392 2.6055 67 186 4.4 101 0.434 38.157 2.3566 114 558 13.1 196 0.28 44.293 2.0433 78 249 5.9 91 0.292 64.699 1.4395 19 328 7.7 130 0.316 77.815 1.2264 41 4250 100 1817 0.342 TABLE 2 Crystalline Epirubicin hydrochloride type I XRD Analysis-Diffraction Angle (2-Θ) versus Relative Intensity (P %). 2-Θ d(A) BG Peak P(%) Area FWHM 38.236 2.3519 8 1750 47.7 585 0.267 44.453 2.0363 6 802 21.9 302 0.301 64.825 1.4371 7 373 10.2 141 0.301 77.955 1.2246 21 3667 100 1520 0.331 82.139 1.1725 12 277 7.6 120 0.344 Type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride gives a single strong signal at approximately 38 degrees. In contrast, type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride gives multiple strong signals across the entire spectrum. FIG. 5 illustrates the powder X-ray diffraction spectrum of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride obtained in Example 1. FIG. 6 illustrates the powder X-ray diffraction spectrum of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride obtained in Example 3 (Reference). FIG. 7 shows the superimposed X-ray diffraction spectra of type I and type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. EXAMPLE 6 The following example illustrates the improved thermal stability of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride as compared to type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. The type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride obtained in Example 1 and type 1 crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride obtained in reference Example 3 were each kept at a temperature 40° C. for six months, thereby mimicking accelerated storage conditions. The thermal stability was investigated and measured by studying the following parameters: (1) assay (HPLC method), (2) doxorubicinone quantity (doxorubicinone, an aglycone of epirubicin, is the major epirubicin degradation product), and (3) total impurities. The results of this investigation is presented in Tables 3 and 4 listed below. Anhydrous and solvent-free basis TABLE 3 Stability Data for type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. Accelerated storage conditions 40° C. ± 2° C. Batch ESP01 Batch ESP02 Batch ESP03 Doxo- Total Total Total Months Assay* Rubicinone impurities Assay* Doxorubicinone impurities Assay* Doxorubicinone impurities Initial 99.2 0.04 0.39 99.3 Not detected 0.37 99.0 0.06 0.42 3 99.1 0.07 0.44 99.0 0.06 0.44 99.1 0.12 0.48 6 99.1 0.12 0.50 99.0 0.14 0.51 99.0 0.15 0.53 *Anhydrous and solvent-free basis TABLE 4 Stability Data for type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. Accelerated storage conditions 40° C. ± 2° C. Sample ESP04 Sample ESP05 Sample ESP06 Total Total Total Months Assay* Doxorubicinone impurities Assay* Doxorubicinone impurities Assay* Doxorubicinone impurities Initial 98.8 0.17 0.42 99.0 0.21 0.45 99.2 0.07 0.42 3 94.3 2.1 2.7 94.0 2.4 3.0 95.1 1.8 2.4 6 89.0 6.0 7.6 90.1 5.8 7.7 90.2 5.4 6.9 *Anhydrous and solvent-free basis As the results in Tables 3 and 4 confirm, type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride exhibits much greater thermal stability than type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. This is particularly advantageous because the type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride will retain its efficacy for a longer period of time as compared to type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride because there is less degradation and impurities. This also means that the shelf life of type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride is longer than the shelf life of type I crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride. While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The invention, therefore, should not be limited, except to the following claims, and their equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Anthracyclines form one of the largest families of naturally occurring bioactive compounds. Several members of this family have shown to be clinically effective anti-neoplastic agents. These include, for example, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, idarubicin, epirubicin, pirarubicin, zorubicin, aclarubicin, and carminomycin. For instance, these compounds have shown to be useful in bone marrow transplants, stem cell transplantation, treatment of breast carcinoma, acute lymphocytic and non-lymphocytic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and other solid cancerous tumors. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,112,076, 4,345,068, 4,861,870, 5,945,518, and 5,874,550 disclose the preparation of epirubicin hydrochloride and its usage as an anticancer agent, which is represented by the formula: Currently, there are two major methods of extraction of epirubicin hydrochloride from solutions. The first method involves the treatment of the organic solution of epirubicin base with a solution of hydrogen chloride in methanol. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,076. Alternatively, the second method involves the precipitation of epirubicin hydrochloride from an aqueous or organo-aqueous solution with the aid of acetone. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,870. U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,340 discloses an injectable ready-to-use solution containing epirubicin hydrochloride. More specifically, the '340 patent discloses a stable, injectable, sterile, pyrogen-free, anthracycline glycoside solution which consists essentially of a physiologically acceptable salt of an anthracycline glycoside dissolved in a physiologically acceptable solvent therefore, which has not been reconstituted from a lyophilizate, which has a pH of from 2.5 to 3.5 and which is preferably contained in a sealed glass container. While the '340 patent discloses injectable, ready-to-use preparations, the '340 patent does not disclose the stabilization of epirubicin hydrochloride itself as a bulk drug. U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,469 discloses a β-Type form of crystalline amrubicin hydrochloride having improved thermal stability. It is desirable to have a crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride which has improved thermal stability characteristics. Variation of thermal stability for different crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride is described for the first time herein. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention relates to a novel, strictly defined, crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride, named herein as “type II” crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride, that has excellent thermal stability. Variation of thermal stability for different crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride is described herein. Type II crystalline epirubicin hydrochloride is characterized by having a powder X-ray diffraction pattern having average values of diffraction angle (2θ) and relative intensity P(%) as presented in the following table: Diffraction Angle Relative Intensity 2Θ P(%) 5.236 9.8 9.212 12.5 13.732 15.5 16.446 4.8 18.234 5 21.114 9.7 22.529 25.5 24.071 29.9 25.879 18.4 27.762 16.5 29.757 10.1 34.392 4.4 38.157 13.1 44.293 5.9 64.699 7.7 77.815 100 Accordingly, several objects of the present invention are as follows: (1) Provide a crystalline form (as well as method of making the same) of epirubicin hydrochloride which is distinguished by improved thermal stability characteristics. (2) Provide an extraction method in which epirubicin hydrochloride is crystallized from the aqueous portion of an organo-aqueous solution. (3) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted within the range of 2 to 5 pH. (4) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted at temperatures of 20° C. and above. (5) Provide an extraction method in which crystallization is conducted with hydrophilic organic solvents such as alcohols, ketone, nitrites, and their mixtures with branched chains of C 1 -C 4 . It thus is an object of the invention to provide a crystalline form (i.e., type II) of epirubicin hydrochloride which is distinguished by other crystalline forms of epirubicin hydrochloride by improved thermal stability characteristics. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of synthesis for the aforementioned type II crystalline form of epirubicin hydrochloride. | 20040625 | 20090203 | 20060323 | 68582.0 | A61K31704 | 1 | PESELEV, ELLI | THERMALLY STABLE CRYSTALLINE EPIRUBICIN HYDROCHLORIDE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | A61K | 2,004 |
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10,877,356 | ACCEPTED | Memory post-write page closing apparatus and method | Apparatus and method to receive new requests for write transactions; compare rank, bank and page of new requests to those already stored and assemble chains of write commands directed to the same rank, bank and page; select and transmit write commands from one chain at a time until each chain is done; and select a next chain of write commands to transmit, while creating and using a write page closing hint to determine when a change between pages of a given rank and bank should bring about the preemptive closing of a page to minimize incidents of incurring lengthy page miss delays. | 1. A computer system comprising: a processor; a memory device; a CAM coupled to the processor to store requests for write transactions received from the processor as chains of pending write transactions; a latch coupled to the CAM to store an address of a previously selected write transaction selected from the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM; transaction logic coupled to the CAM and to the memory device to carry out a currently selected write transaction received from the CAM; a first multiplexer coupled to the processor and the latch to select between the addresses of the requests for write transactions received from the processor and the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch; and control logic coupled to CAM to receive the results of comparisons between the addresses of requests for write transactions received from the processor and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM, and to receive results of comparisons between the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM. 2. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: a read transaction buffer to store pending read transactions; and arbiter logic coupled to the output of the read transaction buffer and the CAM to make a determination whether a read transaction or a write transaction is to be the next transaction to be carried out, and further coupled to the transaction logic to supply the transaction logic with the result of the determination. 3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the address of a pending write transaction is stored within the CAM in the form of a single binary value specifying the starting address of a portion of the memory device to which the write transaction is directed, and further comprising conversion logic to convert the single binary value to a plurality of values that separately specify at least a bank and a page. 4. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a nonvolatile portion of memory within the memory device indicating the configuration of ranks, banks, pages and columns into which memory cells within the memory device are organized. 5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the transaction logic transmits a write command to the memory device along with an auto precharge command if a write transaction selected from the CAM and sent to the transaction logic is accompanied with a page closing hint signal. 6. A memory controller comprising: a CAM to store requests for write transactions as chains of pending write transactions; a latch coupled to the CAM to store an address of a previously selected write transaction selected from the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM; transaction logic coupled to the CAM and to the memory device to carry out a currently selected write transaction selected from the chains of pending write transactions stored in the CAM and received from the CAM; a first multiplexer coupled to the processor and the latch to select between the addresses of the requests for write transactions and the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch; and control logic coupled to CAM to receive the results of comparisons between the addresses of requests for write transactions and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM, and to receive results of comparisons between the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the CAM; and further coupled to the transaction logic to selectively accompany a write transaction selected from the CAM and sent to the transaction logic with a page closing hint signal to the transaction logic. 7. The memory controller of claim 6, further comprising: a separate read transaction buffer to store pending read transactions; and arbiter logic coupled to the outputs of both the separate read transaction buffer and the transaction buffer to make a determination whether a read transaction or a write transaction is to be the next transaction to be carried out, and further coupled to the transaction logic to supply the transaction logic with the result of the determination. 8. The memory controller of claim 6, wherein the address of a pending write transaction stored within the CAM is stored in the form of a single binary value specifying the starting address of a portion of memory coupled to the memory controller and to which the write transaction is directed, and further comprising conversion logic to convert the single binary value to a plurality of values that separately specify at least a bank and a page. 9. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the transaction logic transmits a write command to the memory device along with an auto precharge command if a write transaction selected from the CAM and sent to the transaction logic is accompanied with a page closing hint signal. 10. A method comprising: receiving a request for a new write transaction to write data to a memory location within a memory device; associatively comparing the rank, bank and page of the address to which the requested new write transaction is directed to the rank, bank and page of at least one chain of pending write transactions stored within a CAM; adding the requested new write transaction to an existing chain of pending write transactions and incrementing the count of pending write transactions within the existing chain if the rank, bank and page of the requested new write transaction matches the rank, bank and page of the pending write transactions within the existing chain; and creating a new chain of pending write transactions, adding the requested new write transaction to the new chain and setting the count of pending write transactions within the new chain to indicate that the new chain is made up of one pending write transaction if there is no chain of pending write transactions having a rank, bank and page that matches the rank, bank and page of the requested new write transaction. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing the address to which a previous selected_entry write transaction was directed as the last_write_selected write transaction to allow another pending write transaction to be selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction; selecting at least one pending write_transaction from a first chain from which the last_write_selected write transaction was selected to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the first chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the first chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction without a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was not the only write transaction within the first chain; selecting at least one pending write transaction from a first chain from which the last_write_selected write transaction was selected to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the first chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the first chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction with a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was the only write transaction within the first chain; and associatively comparing the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction to the rank, bank and page of at least one chain of pending write transactions stored within the CAM, if there are no more pending write transactions within a first chain from which the last_write_selected write transaction was selected, to locate a second chain having of pending write transactions directed to a combination of rank and bank that differ from the combination of rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: selecting at least one pending write transaction from the second chain to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the second chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the second chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction without a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was not the only write transaction within the second chain and a second chain having a combination of rank and bank that differs from the combination of rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed was located; and selecting at least one pending write transaction from the second chain to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the second chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the second chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction with a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was the only write transaction within the second chain and a second chain having a combination of rank and bank that differs from the combination of rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed was located. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: selecting at least one pending write transaction from a third chain to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the third chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the third chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction without a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was not the only write transaction within the third chain and a second chain having a combination of rank and bank that differs from the combination of rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed was not located; and selecting at least one pending write transaction from a third chain to become the selected_entry write transaction, removing the selected_entry write transaction from the third chain, decrementing a count of pending write transactions within the third chain, and providing the selected_entry write transaction with a page closing hint to a transaction logic to carry out the selected_entry write transaction if the selected_entry write transaction was the only write transaction within the third chain and a second chain having a combination of rank and bank that differs from the combination of rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed was not located. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: carrying out a write operation without autoprecharge if a selected_entry write transaction was provided to the transaction logic without a page closing hint; and carrying out a write operation with autoprecharge if a selected_entry write transaction was provided to the transaction logic with a page closing hint. 15. A computer system comprising: a source of requests for write transactions selected from the group consisting of a processor and a graphics controller; a memory device; a write buffer to store requests for write transactions received as chains of pending write transactions from the source of requests for write transactions; a latch coupled to the write buffer to store an address of a previously selected write transaction selected from the chains of pending write transactions stored within the write buffer; transaction logic coupled to the write buffer and to the memory device to carry out a currently selected write transaction received from the write buffer; a first multiplexer coupled to the source of requests for write transactions and to the latch to select between the addresses of the requests for write transactions received from the source of requests for write transactions and the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch; and control logic coupled to write buffer to receive the results of comparisons between the addresses of requests for write transactions received from the source of the requests for write transactions and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the write buffer, and to receive results of comparisons between the address of the previously selected write transaction stored in the latch and the addresses of the chains of pending write transactions stored within the write buffer. 16. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising: a read transaction buffer to store pending read transactions; and arbiter logic coupled to the output of the read transaction buffer and the write buffer to make a determination whether a read transaction or a write transaction is to be the next transaction to be carried out, and further coupled to the transaction logic to supply the transaction logic with the result of the determination. 17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the address of a pending write transaction is stored within the write buffer in the form of a single binary value specifying the starting address of a portion of the memory device to which the write transaction is directed, and further comprising conversion logic to convert the single binary value to a plurality of values that separately specify at least a bank and a page. 18. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising a nonvolatile portion of memory within the memory device indicating the configuration of ranks, banks, pages and columns into which memory cells within the memory device are organized. 19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the transaction logic transmits a write command to the memory device along with an auto precharge command if a write transaction selected from the write buffer and sent to the transaction logic is accompanied with a page closing hint signal. | RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/801,201, filed on Mar. 15, 2004. BACKGROUND Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices provide the benefits of higher storage densities and less power consumption in comparison to other memory technologies, including and most notably, static random access memory (SRAM) devices. However, these benefits come at the cost of incurring various delays in accessing the memory cells making up a DRAM device, both at regular intervals, and in the time periods immediately before and after each access to either read data from the memory cells or to write data to the memory cells. The effect of these various delays has been to slow down the effective rate at which data stored within DRAM devices may be accessed, and although various ways have been devised in the prior art to mitigate the effect of these delays such that it is sometimes possible to entirely counteract certain delays in certain situations, the effect of these delays continues to be felt to a significant degree. Common DRAM devices are made up of many memory cells organized into multiple banks of memory cells, with the memory cells inside of each bank being organized into an array of rows and columns. For data to be written to or read from one or more memory cells within a given row of a given bank, requires that the given row (also commonly referred to as a “page”) within the given bank be “opened” for access with a row activate command and a delay be incurred to allow the row activation to complete before the actual reading or writing of data can take place. Unfortunately, only one row of any bank may be open at a time, and if a row other than the given row is already open in the given bank, then that other row must be “closed” with a precharge command and a delay be incurred to allow the precharge to complete before the row activate command to open the given row can be transmitted. The delay incurred to allow a precharge to finish closing one row before another can be opened in the same bank is a significant delay, and various schemes have been devised to attempt to counteract this delay. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following detailed description in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing a memory system having a memory controller. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing memory control circuitry. FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, together, are a flow chart of an embodiment. FIGS. 4a and 4b are block diagrams of other embodiments employing a portion of memory control circuitry. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing a computer system. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another embodiment employing memory control circuitry. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention concern incorporating support for marking write transactions with a page closing hint to cause a given write transaction to a given page to be immediately followed with a precharge to close the given page. Although the following discussion centers on DRAM devices in which memory cells are organized into one or more two dimensional arrays of rows and columns, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention as hereinafter claimed may be practiced in support of a number of different types of memory devices having memory cells organized in a number of different possible ways, including interleaved banks, arrays of more than two dimensions (i.e., more than two-part addresses), content-addressable, etc. Also, although at least part of the following discussion centers on memory devices within computer systems, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention as hereinafter claimed may be practiced in connection with other electronic devices having memory devices. FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an embodiment employing a memory system. Memory system 100 is made up, at least in part, of memory controller 170 and memory device 190 coupled together via memory bus 180. Those skilled in the art of the design of memory systems will readily recognize that FIG. 1 depicts one form of a relatively simple memory system, and that alternate embodiments are possible in which the exact arrangement and configuration of components may be reduced, augmented or otherwise altered without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed. For example, although memory system 100 is depicted as having only one memory bus 180 and only one memory device 190 for the sake of simplicity in the discussion that follows, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that other possible embodiments of memory system 100 may be made up of multiple memory buses and/or devices. Memory controller 170 controls the functions carried out by memory device 190 as part of providing access to memory device 190 to external devices (not shown) coupled to memory controller 170. Specifically, an external device coupled to memory controller 170 issues commands to memory controller 170 to store data within memory device 190, and to retrieve stored data from memory device 190. Memory controller 170 receives these commands and relays them to memory device 190 in a format having timing and protocols compatible with memory bus 180. In effect, memory controller 170 coordinates accesses made to memory cells within memory device 190 in answer to read and write commands from external devices. In support of these functions in various embodiments, memory controller 170 also coordinates various maintenance operations that must be performed to ensure that data stored within memory device 190 is preserved, including the initiation of regular refresh operations and the occurrence of precharge operations as needed between accesses. Memory bus 180 is made up of various control, address and data signal lines coupling together memory controller 170 and memory device 190. The exact quantity and characteristics of the various signal lines making up various possible embodiments of memory bus 180 may be configured to be interoperable with any of a number of possible memory interfaces, including those meant to be compatible with known types of memory devices, among them being DRAM (dynamic random access memory) devices such as FPM (fast page mode) memory devices, EDO (extended data out), dual-port VRAM (video random access memory), window RAM, SDR (single data rate), DDR (double data rate), RAMBUS™ DRAM, etc. In some embodiments, where activity on various signal lines is meant to be coordinated with a clock signal, one or more of the signal lines, perhaps the control signal lines, serves to transmit a clock signal between memory controller 170 and memory device 190. In some embodiments, one or more control signals and address signals may be multiplexed onto common signal lines such that control signals and address signals are transmitted at different times on common conductors for carrying signals between memory controller 170 and memory device 190. Also, in some embodiments, one or more address signals and data signals may be multiplexed onto common signal lines. Memory device 190 is a DRAM memory device configured to be interoperable with memory bus 180. In some embodiments, memory device 190 is a single integrated circuit. In other embodiments, memory device 190 is made up of multiple integrated circuits of a removable memory module, such as a SIMM (single inline memory module), SIPP (single inline pin package), DIMM (dual inline memory module), etc. The memory cells of memory device 190 are grouped into multiple banks, such as banks 194a-d, with the memory cells of each bank being subdivided into pages 195a-d (also commonly referred to as “rows”), respectively. Memory device 190 receives commands and addresses from memory controller 170 through memory bus 180, and carries out those commands, accessing one or more specific ones of pages 195a-d of one or more corresponding ones of banks 194a-d. Although memory device 190 is depicted as having only one rank of banks (namely banks 194a-d), it will be understood by those skilled in the art that memory device 190 may be made up of multiple ranks selectable via chip select signals in a manner akin to there being multiple memory devices, or selectable via other signaling techniques or protocols. In some embodiments, memory controller 170 is made up of read transaction buffer 172, write transaction buffer 173, transaction arbiter 174, write transaction control logic 178 and transaction scheduler 179. As memory controller 170 receives requests to either read data from memory device 190 or to write data to memory device 190, requests for read and write transactions are separately stored in read transaction buffer 172 and write transaction buffer 173, respectively (although requests for read and write transactions may be stored in a combined buffer in alternate embodiments). Transaction arbiter 174 monitors read transaction buffer 172 and write transaction buffer 173 to determine whether a pending read transaction or a pending write transaction should next be executed, with any of a number of possible algorithms being employed to make such a determination. In some embodiments, various factors may lead to the choice of an algorithm in which read transactions are always given priority over write transactions and/or an algorithm for determining which write transactions are accompanied with a page closing hint without taking into account either characteristics or status of pending read transactions. Such factors may include the disjunctular nature of pending read and write transactions in various electronic systems such that a read transaction pending at any given time may not be likely to overlap the same address or even the same page of a bank as a write transaction pending at the same time, the possible high sensitivity of the performance of read transactions to the latency of awaiting the return of read data, and the simple fact that pending write transactions are being stored in a buffer, such as write transaction buffer 173. Regardless of the algorithm employed by transaction arbiter 174, in some embodiments, when transaction arbiter 174 chooses to allow a write transaction to be carried out, memory controller 170 engages in a multi-step process to select a write transaction from among pending write transactions stored in write transaction buffer 173 in a manner intended to minimize back-to-back write page misses, and write transaction control logic 178 marks certain write transactions that are selected and passed on to transaction scheduler 179 with a page closing hint signal to attempt to minimize occurrences of pages being left open such that a write page miss occurs. These approaches to minimizing back-to-back write page misses and marking certain write pages with page closing hints will be discussed in greater detail, below. The marking of given write transactions selected from write transaction buffer 173 may, in some embodiments, result in a write command with auto precharge being transmitted by transaction scheduler to memory device 190 so that the page to which the write command is directed is closed immediately after being written, as opposed to transmitting a write command that does not embed an auto precharge command. FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an embodiment employing memory control circuitry. Memory control circuitry 200 is made up, at least in part, of read transaction buffer 272, write transaction CAM (content-addressable memory) 273, transaction arbiter 274, selected_entry latch 275, last_write_selected latch 276, multiplexer 277, write transaction control logic 278 and transaction scheduler 279. Memory control circuitry 200 may be a portion of a memory controller that controls the functions carried out by a memory device (not shown) as part of providing access to that memory device to other external devices (also not shown) coupled to the memory controller. In other words, an external device coupled to a memory controller of which memory control circuitry 200 may be a part, issues commands to the memory controller to store data within a memory device, and to retrieve stored data from a memory device and such a memory controller receives and relays these commands to the memory device in a format having timing and protocols compatible with that memory device. Requests for read and write transactions are received from outside memory control circuitry 200 (whether from a device external to a memory controller of which memory control circuitry 200 is a part, or from other forms of circuitry), with requests for read transactions being stored as pending read transactions within read transaction buffer 272, and requests for write transactions being stored as pending write transactions within write transaction entries 273a of write transaction CAM 273. Transaction arbiter 274 determines whether a pending read transaction within read transaction buffer 272 or a pending write transaction within write transaction entries 273a of write transaction CAM 273 should be the next transaction to be carried out. While transaction arbiter 274 may employ any of a number of algorithms to make this determination, in some embodiments, transaction arbiter 274 simply gives any read transaction priority over any write transaction. If transaction arbiter 274 determines that a write transaction should be carried out, the actual selection of which write transaction is to be carried out may be made using a multiple part algorithm. The address to which a pending write transaction is directed is copied to selected_entry latch 275 when that pending write transaction is selected, thereby becoming the selected_entry write transaction that is removed from write transaction entries 273a and sent to transaction scheduler 279 to be carried out. This same address is later copied to last_write_selected latch 276 to preserve that address before the next select_entry write transaction is selected and the address to which the next select_entry write transaction is directed is then copied into selected_entry latch 275. Multiplexer 277 is employed to select between the address stored within selected_entry latch 275 and the address stored within last_write_selected latch 276 to be latched and employed by comparand input 273b in one or more associative comparisons performed by associative comparator 273c between comparand input 273b and the addresses of pending write transactions stored within write transaction entries 273a, as will shortly be described in more detail. A bit vector indicating which of write transaction entries 273a, if any, are storing a pending write transaction that are a match to the comparand is generated by associative comparator 273c and transferred to write transaction control logic 278. Write transaction control logic 278, as a result of some of the associative comparisons that are carried out, may transmit a page closing hint signal to transaction scheduler 279 indicating that the page corresponding to the address to which a given selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out. In some embodiments, this may entail transaction scheduler 279 either transmitting or causing to be transmitted a write command to a memory device to carry out the selected_entry write transaction with an auto precharge command embedded within that write command. Describing the operation of memory control circuitry 200 more specifically, the address of the selected_entry write transaction (i.e., the address to which the currently selected write transaction is directed) is copied from selected_entry latch 275 to last_write_selected latch 276 to become the address to which the previously selected write transaction was directed, thereby preserving the address of what was the selected_entry write transaction. Transaction arbiter 274 makes its determination as to whether or not the next transaction is to be a read transaction or a write transaction, employing whatever algorithm. When transaction arbiter 274 does make the determination that a write transaction will be selected, a first associative comparison is made by associative comparator 273c between the rank, bank and page of the address of the last_write_selected write transaction copied into last_write_selected latch 276 and the rank, bank and page of all of the addresses of the pending write transactions stored in write transaction entries 273a. A first comparison result vector indicating the results of this first associative comparison is provided by associative comparator 273c to write transaction control logic 278, although in various alternative embodiments, the results may be signaled in other ways than by such a bit vector. If the first comparison result vector indicates that there is a pending write transactions in write transaction entries 273a that has a rank, bank and page matching the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction, then in response to the possibility that the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed may still open, this pending write transaction is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction. Also, if the first comparison result vector indicates that this new selected_entry write transaction is the only pending write transaction found to be directed to the same rank, bank and page as the last_write_selected write transaction, then the new selected_entry write transaction is removed from write transaction entries 273a and is sent to transaction scheduler 279 with an accompanying page closing hint from write transaction control logic 278 signaling to transaction scheduler 279 that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out. However, if the first comparison result vector indicates that the new selected_entry write transaction is one of multiple pending write transactions directed to the same rank, bank and page as the last_write_selected write transaction, then the new selected_entry write transaction is sent to transaction scheduler 279 without an accompanying page closing hint signal from write transaction control logic 278. Either way, as a the new selected_entry write transaction is sent to transaction scheduler 279, a copy of the address to which the new selected_entry write transaction is directed is latched within selected_entry latch 275 for future use. If the first comparison result vector indicates that there are no pending write transactions that have a rank, bank and page matching the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction, but that there is a pending write transaction to a different rank or bank, then in response to the opportunity to avoid incurring the lengthy delay of a page miss from writing to a different page in the same rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed, this pending write transaction is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction. The new selected_entry write transaction is removed from write transaction entries 273a and is sent to transaction scheduler 279 while a copy of the address to which the new selected entry is directed is latched within selected_entry latch 275. A second associative comparison is then made by associative comparator 273c, but this time, between the rank, bank and page of the address of the selected_entry write transaction (using the address stored within selected_entry latch 275) and the rank, bank and page of all of the addresses of the pending write transactions stored in write transaction entries 273a. A second comparison result vector indicating the results of this second associative comparison is provided by associative comparator 273c to write transaction control logic 278, although again, in various alternative embodiments, the results may be signaled in other ways than by such a bit vector. If the second comparison result vector indicates that there are no pending write transactions still in write transaction entries 273a that have a rank, bank and page matching the rank, bank and page of the selected_entry write transaction, then a page closing hint is provided by page closing hint logic 278 to transaction scheduler 279 to accompany the selected_entry write transaction to signal transaction scheduler 279 that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out. However, if the second comparison result vector indicates that there is another pending transaction still in write transaction entries 273a that is directed to the same rank, bank and page as the selected_entry write transaction, then no such page closing hint is sent to transaction scheduler 279. If the first comparison result vector indicates that there are no pending write transactions that have a rank, bank and page matching the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction; and there are no pending write transactions to a different rank or bank than the last_write_selected write transaction; but there is a pending write transaction to the same rank and bank as the last_write_selected write transaction, though to a different page; then although this may mean incurring the lengthy delay of a page miss from writing to a different page in the same rank and bank to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed, this pending write transaction is selected as a last resort to become the new selected_entry write transaction. The new selected_entry write transaction is removed from write transaction entries 273a and is sent to transaction scheduler 279 while a copy of the address to which the new selected entry is directed is latched within selected_entry latch 275. A second associative comparison is then made by associative comparator 273c between the rank, bank and page of the address of the selected_entry write transaction (using the address stored within selected_entry latch 275) and the rank, bank and page of all of the addresses of the pending write transactions stored in write transaction entries 273a. If the second comparison result vector indicates that there are no pending write transactions still in write transaction entries 273a that have a rank, bank and page matching the rank, bank and page of the selected_entry write transaction, then a page closing hint is provided by page closing hint logic 278 to transaction scheduler 279 to accompany the selected_entry write transaction and signal transaction scheduler 279 that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out. However, if the second comparison result vector indicates that there is another pending transaction still in write transaction entries 273a that is directed to the same rank, bank and page as the selected_entry write transaction, then no such page closing hint is sent to transaction scheduler 279. FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, together, make up a flow chart of embodiments. At 312, arbitration logic arbitrates between any pending read transactions stored in a read transaction buffer and any pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer to select the next transaction. In some embodiments, such arbitration logic follows an algorithm of prioritizing a pending read transaction over a pending write transaction, and so at 314, if there is a pending read transaction is to be selected (perhaps over a pending write transaction), then that pending read transaction is carried out at 316, followed by further arbitration at 312. However, in other embodiments, other algorithms may be employed for selecting between pending read and write transactions. If there are no pending read transactions at 314, then at 320, an associative comparison is made between the rank, bank and page of the address to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed and addresses to which all of the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer are directed. At 322, if there are any pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer having a rank, bank and page that match the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it is possible that the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed is still open, thereby providing an opportunity for another write transaction to be directed to the same page with minimal delay, unless the last_write_selected write transaction was followed by a different transaction (such as a read, refresh, etc.) which caused that page to be closed. At 330, one of those pending write transactions with matching rank, bank and page (if there is more than one from which to select) is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction using any of a number of possible algorithms to make that selection, as those skilled in the art will recognize. At 332, this new selected_entry write transaction is removed from the write transaction buffer to be sent onward to other logic to be carried out, while the address of the selected_entry write transaction is latched for future use. At 340, if the selected_entry write transaction was the only pending write transaction to the same rank, bank and page from which to select the new last_write_selected write transaction, then it is known that there are currently no other pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer to the same rank, bank and page as the selected_entry write transaction, and so at 342, the selected_entry write transaction is sent onward to other logic to be carried out with a page closing hint signaling to the other logic that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out to avoid a subsequent write transaction that might be to the same bank (but presumably, not the same page) having to incur the lengthy delay resulting from a page miss. In some embodiments, this page closing hint would result in the other logic transmitting a write command with auto precharge for the selected_entry write transaction. However, at 340, if the selected_entry was one of multiple matches from which a selection was made, then it is known that there are still other pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer to the same rank, bank and page as the selected_entry, and so at 344, the selected_entry write transaction is sent onward to other logic to be carried out without a page closing hint so that the page to which the selected_entry is directed may remain open for what is presumed will be a subsequent write transaction to the same rank, bank and page selected from among the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 348, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is copied to a latch for storing the address of the last_write_selected write transaction, thereby preserving the address of what was the selected_entry write transaction in preparation for the selection of another pending write transaction from those stored in a write transaction buffer to become the new selected_entry write transaction, before proceeding back to 312. However, at 322, if there are no pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer having a rank, bank and page that match the rank, bank and page of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it is known that whatever pending write transaction is about to be selected as the selected_entry write transaction will not be to the same rank, bank and page as the last_write_selected write transaction. The results of the associative comparison made at 320 are further examined at 324 to determine if there is a pending write transaction to a different rank or bank within the write transaction buffer. It should be noted that the associative comparison at 320 may, in some embodiments, be a parallel pair of associative comparisons in which rank, bank and page are compared in one of the parallel associative comparisons, while only rank and bank are compared in the other associative comparison. In such embodiments, the results from the parallel associative comparison that included comparing pages is used at 322, while the results from the parallel associative comparison not including the comparison of pages is used at 324, if needed (since depending on what occurs at 322, 324 may be skipped). Alternatively, in other embodiments, the associative comparison at 320 may be made up of a primary associative comparison of rank, bank and page in preparation for 322, immediately followed by a secondary associative comparison of only rank and bank in preparation for 324, if needed. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, still other variations of this form of dual associative comparison or single comparison employing an algorithm that provides dual results are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. At 324, if there are any pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer directed to a different rank and/or bank than the rank and bank of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it is possible to avoid incurring the delay that may be incurred from waiting for the completion of the closing of the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed by selecting a pending write transaction from the write transaction buffer that is directed to a different rank and/or bank. At 350, one of those pending write transactions to a different rank and/or bank (if there is more than one from which to select) is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction using any of a number of possible algorithms to make that selection, as those skilled in the art will recognize. At 352, this new selected_entry write transaction is removed from the write transaction buffer to be sent onward to other logic to be carried out, while the address of the selected_entry write transaction is latched for future use. At 360, an associative comparison is made between the rank, bank and page of the selected_entry address just latched and all of the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer. At 362, if no pending write transactions are found having a matching rank, bank and page, then it is deemed unlikely that there will be a subsequent write transaction directed to the same rank and bank that will also be directed to the same page as the selected_entry write transaction, and so at 364, the selected_entry write transaction is sent onward to the other logic accompanied by a page closing hint signaling to the other logic that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out to avoid incurring the lengthy delay of a page miss when a subsequent write transaction to the same rank and bank (but presumably, not the same page) is executed. However, at 362, if any pending write transactions are found having a matching rank, bank and page, then it is possible that after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out, the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed may remain open such that another write transaction directed to the same page may be selected from the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer and directed to the same page with minimal delay, unless the selected_entry write transaction is followed by a different intervening transaction (such as a read, refresh, etc.) which causes that page to be closed. If any such pending write transaction with matching rank, bank and page is found, then at 366, no page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry transaction to the other logic. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 368, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is copied to a latch for storing the address of the last_write_selected write transaction, thereby preserving the address of what was the selected_entry write transaction in preparation for the selection of another pending write transaction from those stored in a write transaction buffer to become the new selected_entry write transaction, before proceeding back to 312. At 324, if there are no pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer directed to a different rank and/or bank than the rank and bank of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it may not be possible to avoid incurring the delay that may be incurred from waiting for the completion of the closing of the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed as a result of having to select a pending write transaction from the write transaction buffer that is directed to the same rank and bank, but to a different page. At 370, one of those pending write transactions to the same rank and bank, but a different page (if there is more than one from which to select), is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction using any of a number of possible algorithms to make that selection, as those skilled in the art will recognize. At 372, this new selected_entry write transaction is removed from the write transaction buffer to be sent onward to other logic to be carried out, while the address of the selected_entry write transaction is latched for future use. At 380, an associative comparison is made between the rank, bank and page of the selected_entry address just latched and all of the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer. At 382, if no pending write transactions are found having a matching rank, bank and page, then it is deemed unlikely that there will be a subsequent write transaction directed to the same rank and bank that will also be directed to the same page as the selected_entry write transaction, and so at 384, the selected_entry write transaction is sent onward to the other logic accompanied by a page closing hint signaling to the other logic that the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed should be closed immediately after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out to avoid incurring the lengthy delay of a page miss when a subsequent write transaction to the same rank and bank (but presumably, not the same page) is executed. However, at 382, if any pending write transactions are found having a matching rank, bank and page, then it is possible that after the selected_entry write transaction is carried out, the page to which the selected_entry write transaction is directed may remain open such that another write transaction directed to the same page may be selected from the pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer and directed to the same page with minimal delay, unless the selected_entry write transaction is followed by a different intervening transaction (such as a read, refresh, etc.) which causes that page to be closed. If any such pending write transaction with matching rank, bank and page is found, then at 386, no page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry transaction to the other logic. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 388, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is copied to a latch for storing the address of the last_write_selected write transaction, thereby preserving the address of what was the selected_entry write transaction in preparation for the selection of another pending write transaction from those stored in a write transaction buffer to become the new selected_entry write transaction, before proceeding back to 312. FIGS. 4a and 4b are block diagrams of other embodiments employing memory control circuitry. In various possible embodiments, memory control circuitry 400 of the form depicted in either FIG. 4a or 4b may make up a portion of memory controller 170 of FIG. 1 and/or may make up a subset of memory control circuitry 200 of FIG. 2. Memory control circuitry 400 in both FIGS. 4a and 4b is made up of write transaction entries 460a-d, page_bank_rank mask register 461, and bank_rank mask register 462. In various possible embodiments, memory control circuitry 400 may be deemed to be a portion of a content-addressable memory device. Both forms of memory control circuitry 400 receive comparand 466, which may be either the address to which a previous write transaction (such as last_write_selected) was directed or the address to which a currently selected write transaction (such as selected_entry) is directed. The exact form of comparand 466 may either be a binary value identifying the starting address of a portion of memory to which a write transaction was/is directed, or may be a concatenation of values that separately specify the memory bus (i.e., channel), rank, bank, row (i.e., page) and/or column of a portion of a memory device to which a write transaction was/is directed. If comparand 466 is in the form of a binary starting address, then in some embodiments, further logic (not shown) may be employed to convert comparand 466 into equivalent values specifying channel, rank, bank, page and/or column for use in carrying out associative comparisons. Alternatively, such associative comparisons may be carried out on bits of a binary starting address form of comparand 466, directly, without such a conversion. Both forms of memory control circuitry 400 also receive and store at least the addresses to which write transactions were/are directed in write transaction entries 460a-d. As those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the exact quantity of write transaction entries may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. Both forms of memory control circuitry 400 are programmed with masking values in both page_bank_rank mask register 461 and bank_rank mask register 462, and both masking values are determined, at least in part, by the configuration of the memory device(s) with which memory control circuitry 400 is used. The masking value in page_bank_rank mask register 461 is chosen to screen out bits specifying (or at least correlating with) one or more columns of memory cells within a memory device that make up a page. In other words, the masking value in page_bank_rank mask register 461 is chosen to allow only bits specifying (or at least correlating with) the rank, bank and page (perhaps, also the channel) portions of an address to which a write transaction was/is directed. The masking value in bank_rank mask register 462 is chosen to additionally screen out bits specifying (or at least correlating with) one or more columns, such that only bits specifying (or at least correlating with) the rank and bank (perhaps, also the channel) portions of an address to which a write transaction was/is directed. Having both page_bank_rank mask register 461 and bank_rank mask register 462 in both forms of memory control circuitry 400 allows both forms of memory control circuitry 400 to make an associative comparison of rank, bank and page (perhaps also channel), and an associative comparison limited to rank and bank (perhaps also channel). Where the two forms of memory control circuitry 400 depicted in FIGS. 4a and 4b differ is in whether these two associative comparisons are carried out serially (FIG. 4a) or in parallel (FIG. 4b). In FIG. 4a, the two associative comparisons are carried out serially, with multiplexer 463 selecting the mask value from either page_bank_rank mask register 461 or bank_rank mask register 462, depending on which associative comparison is being made. The chosen mask value becomes one of the two inputs, along with addresses from corresponding ones of write transaction entries 460a-d, to logical masks 464a to carry out the masking of bits that are not desired to become part of the associative comparison. The outputs of logical masks 464a-d, in turn, become inputs to corresponding ones of comparators 467a-d, along with comparand 466, and the outputs of comparators 467a-d form comparison result vector 469. In FIG. 4b, the two associative comparisons are carried out in parallel, with the mask values of page_bank_rank mask register 461 and bank_rank mask register 462 becoming inputs to logical masks 464a-d and 465a-d, respectively, along with addresses from corresponding ones of write transaction entries 460a-d (460a input to both 464a and 465a, and so on). Logical masks 464a-d and 465a-d carry out the masking of bits that are not desired to become part of their respective associative comparisons. Logical masks 464a-d supply their outputs to corresponding ones of comparators 467a-d, along with comparand 466, and similarly, logical masks 465a-d supply their outputs to corresponding ones of comparators 468a-d, also along with comparand 466. In some embodiments, the outputs of comparators 467a-d and 468a-d form the single comparison result vector 469, though a pair of comparison result vectors might be formed in alternate embodiments. In still other embodiments, logic between comparators 467a-d and comparators 468a-d of may be shared to avoid duplication of logic in comparing rank and bank values. FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an embodiment employing a computer system. Computer system 500 is, at least in part, made up of processor 510, system logic 520, and memory device 590. System logic 520 is coupled to processor 510 and performs various functions in support of processor 510 including providing processor 510 with access to memory device 590 to which system logic 520 is also coupled, using memory controller 570 within system logic 520. Processor 510, system logic 520 and memory device 590 make up a form of core for computer system 500 that is capable of supporting the execution of machine readable instructions by processor 510 and the storage of data and instructions within memory device 590. In various embodiments, processor 510 could be any of a variety of types of processor including a processor capable of executing at least a portion of the widely known and used “x86” instruction set, and in other various embodiments, there could be more than one processor. In various embodiments, memory device 590 could be any of a variety of types of dynamic random access memory (RAM) including fast page mode (FPM), extended data out (EDO), single data rate (SDR) or double data rate (DDR) forms of synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), RAM of various technologies employing a RAMBUS™ interface, etc., and memory controller 570 provides logic 520 with an appropriate interface for the type of memory. At least a portion of the memory cells of memory device 590 are divided into banks 594a-d, each of which are made up of memory cells organized into rows and columns in a two dimensional memory array. To access a portion of the memory cells within memory device 590, that portion must be addressed by memory controller 570 with a combination of bank, row and column addresses/selects, and where appropriate, with rank selected via chip select signals or other mechanism. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the depiction of a single memory device 590 with four banks of memory cells, namely banks 594a-d, is but an example of a memory system that could be a part of a computer system, and that a larger number of memory devices and/or a differing number of ranks and/or banks within memory devices could be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed. In some embodiments, system logic 520 is coupled to and provides processor 510 with access to storage device 560 by which data and/or instructions carried by storage media 561 may be accessed. Storage media 561 may be of any of a wide variety of types and technologies as those skilled in the art will understand, including CD or DVD ROM, magnetic or optical diskette, magneto-optical disk, tape, semiconductor memory, characters or perforations on paper or other material, etc. In some embodiments, nonvolatile memory device 530 is coupled to system logic 520 (or other part of computer system 500) and provides storage for an initial series of instructions executed at a time when computer system 500 is either “reset” or initialized (for example, when computer system 500 is “turned on” or “powered up”) to perform tasks needed to prepare computer system 500 for normal use. In some variations of such embodiments, upon initialization or resetting of computer system 500, processor 510 accesses nonvolatile memory device 530 to retrieve instructions to be executed to prepare memory controller 570 for normal use in providing access for processor 510 to memory device 590. It may be that these same retrieved instructions are executed to prepare system logic 520 for normal use in providing access to storage device 560 and whatever form of storage media 561 that may be used by storage device 560. In some embodiments, storage media 561 carries machine-accessible instructions to be executed by processor 510 to cause processor 510 to carry out one or more tests of memory device 590 and/or to interrogate a portion of nonvolatile storage within memory device 590 to determine various characteristics of memory device 590 and/or to determine what functions memory device 590 may support. Once the configuration of ranks, banks, rows and columns of memory device 590 have been determined, then processor 510 may be caused to program or otherwise configure memory controller 570 to make use of the organization of ranks, banks, rows and columns within memory device 590 to select pending write transactions and/or to employ page closing hints, as earlier described, in an effort to reduce instances in which page misses and their associated lengthy delays are encountered in write transactions to memory device 590. FIG. 6 is another embodiment employing memory control circuitry as an alternative to embodiments depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3a-d. In a manner not unlike the memory control circuitry of FIG. 2, requested read transactions are posted in read request queue 672, requested write transactions are posted in a write cache within CAM logic 673, and posted read and posted write transactions are selected through arbiter 674 in accordance with any of a number of possible algorithms for being sent to a transaction scheduler (not shown) for execution, while addresses for the last write transaction that was selected are stored within last_write_selected latch 676 (with those addresses being decoded into rank, bank, etc., as needed, depending on a given variation of an embodiment). As depicted in FIG. 6 and detailed in the following insert, each new request for a write transaction is associatively compared, using CAM logic 673, with the rank, bank and page of pending write transactions already stored in the write cache of CAM logic 673 as each such new request is received: At the time of reception of a Write CAM new write with writes in the cache; If (matches rank, bank, page of existing writes) { Increment count for that page; Add a index to the write to the counter structure; } else { enter a new count entry in the vector; Add a index to the write to the counter structure; set count = 1; } If the associative comparison reveals a match to a pending write transaction, then a counter within write counters 678 corresponding to all pending write transactions to that same rank, bank and page is incremented, and an index to this new pending write transaction now stored within the write cache of CAM logic 673 is added to the corresponding counter structure that points to all pending write transactions to that rank, bank and page. However, if the associative comparison reveals no match to any pending write transaction, then a new vector entry is made corresponding to a new counter being allocated and set to 1 to reflect the presence of this one new pending write transaction to a rank, bank and page for which a counter within write counters 678 and counter structure have not already been allocated, and an index to this new pending write transaction now stored within the write cache of CAM logic 673 is placed into a corresponding counter structure. As also depicted in FIG. 6 and detailed in the following insert, employing CAM logic 673 to effectively organize new requests for write transactions as they are received, makes it possible, under some circumstances, to avoid having to make further use of CAM logic 673 as pending write transactions are selected to be executed by checking the count for how many write transactions to the same rank, bank and page as the last write transaction selected, the address of which is stored in last_write_selected latch 676: At the time of selection of write //Write selection and page closing algorithm: //last_write_selected: write selected in a previous arbitration cycle do on each arbitration cycle { if (Counter for the same page as last_write_selected exists) { disable CAM; //save some power if (count > 1) { selected_entry=select next write index; //could select any other write index for that counter write_page_close_hint = 0; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; selected counter−−; } else { selected_entry=select next write index; write_page_close_hint = 1; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; selected counter−−; } } Else if (Counter exists that is non-conflicting with last_write_selected) { if (count > 1) { selected_entry=select next write index; write_page_close_hint = 0; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; selected counter−−; } else { selected_entry=select next write index; write_page_close_hint = 1; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; Selected counter−−; } Else { //we have to select a counter that has writes conflicting with the last_write_selected if (count > 1) { selected_entry=select next write index; write_page_close_hint = 0; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; Selected counter−−; } else { selected_entry=select next write index; write_page_close_hint = 1; Remove selected_entry from write cache; dispatch selected_entry; last_write_selected = selected_entry; Selected counter−−; } } On each occasion that arbiter 674 selects a pending write transaction to be executed, a check is made for a counter within write counters 678 that is associated with the rank, bank and page of the last pending write transaction that was selected to be executed (the address of which is stored in last_write_selected latch 676) that has a non-zero count value indicating that there is at least one more pending write transaction to that same rank, bank and page. If a counter is found and has a nonzero value greater than 1, thereby indicating that more than one such pending write transaction is available, then one of those pending write transactions is selected, a write page closing hint is provided by writer counters 678 that indicates not to close the page, the pending write transaction is removed from the write cache to be executed while its address is copied into last_write_selected latch 676, and the counter is decremented; while if a counter is found and has a nonzero value equal to 1, thereby indicating that only one such pending write transaction is available, then much the same thing happens with the exception that a write page closing hint is provided by write counters 678 that indicates that the page should be closed immediately after the one pending write transaction is executed. However, if no counter is found that is associated with the rank, bank and page of the last write transaction that was selected for execution, then an associative comparison is made employing CAM logic 673 to locate a pending write transaction that is directed to a different rank or bank than that of the last write transaction selected for execution (i.e., a “non-conflicting” write transaction), and if such a non-conflicting pending write transaction is found, then a check is made of the counter within write counters 678 that is associated with that pending write transaction to determine if the counter value is greater than 1 or equal to 1. If such a non-conflicting pending write transaction is found and the associated counter value is greater than 1, then the pending write transaction is removed from the write cache to be executed, no write page closing hint is sent by write counters 678, and the associated counter is decremented; while if the associated counter value is equal to 1 (indicating that there is only this one pending write transaction to this one set of non-conflicting rank, bank and page), much the same thing happens with the exception that a write page closing hint is provided by write counter 678. Alternatively, if there is no such non-conflicting pending write transaction, then as a last resort, a pending write transaction to the same rank and bank as the last write transaction that was selected and executed, but to a different page (i.e., a “conflicting” pending write transaction), is selected to be executed, and the counter within write counters 678 associated with this conflicting pending write transaction is checked to determine if the counter value is greater than 1 or equal to 1. If such a conflicting pending write transaction is found and the associated counter value is greater than 1, then the pending write transaction is removed from the write cache to be executed, no write page closing hint is sent by write counters 678, and the associated counter is decremented; while if the associated counter value is equal to 1, much the same thing happens with the exception that a write page closing hint is provided by write counter 678. As further depicted in FIG. 6 and detailed in the following insert, the transaction scheduler receiving selected read and write transactions through arbiter 674 and write page closing hints from write counters 678 may selectively act on write page closing hints: //Algorithm for using write page closing hint in the DRAM command scheduler if (CAS scheduled for the write transaction scheduled) { if (write_page_close_hint) { auto-precharge the page for the write scheduled; } } Such a transaction scheduler may condition acting on a write page closing hint received from write counters 678 (perhaps by transmitting a write command with autoprecharge, instead of simply transmitting a write command) such that a write page closing hint will be acted upon only if the write transaction received through arbiter 674 with which the write page closing hint is associated would entail the transmission of a column address to execute (i.e., transmission of the write command entails also transmitting a column address). FIGS. 7, 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d, together, make up a flow chart of embodiments. Referring to FIG. 7, a new request for a write transaction is received at 710. At 712, the rank, bank and page of the new write request is associatively compared to the ranks, banks and pages of the existing chains (i.e., groups of pending write transactions that have identical ranks, banks and pages). If at 722, a chain is found that has a rank, bank and page that matches those of the new write request, then at 730, the write transaction requested in the new write request is added to that chain and the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is incremented. However, if at 722, no chain is found that has a rank, bank and page that match those of the new write request, then at 740, a new chain is started that is made up of the write transaction requested in the new write request, and the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is set to indicate that there is one pending write transaction making up that chain. Referring to FIGS. 8a-d, at 812, arbitration logic arbitrates between any pending read transactions stored in a read transaction buffer and any pending write transactions stored in the write transaction buffer to select the next transaction. In some embodiments, such arbitration logic follows an algorithm of prioritizing a pending read transaction over a pending write transaction, and so at 814, if there is a pending read transaction, then that pending read transaction is selected over any pending write transaction, and is carried out at 816, followed by further arbitration at 812. However, in other embodiments, other algorithms may be employed for selecting between pending read and write transactions. However, if there are no pending read transactions at 814, then at 820, a check is made to determine if there are any more pending write transactions in the chain of pending write transactions of which the last_write_selected write transaction was a part. In some variations, this check is made by examining the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is checked to determine the quantity of pending write transactions remaining within that chain. In other variations, this check may include making a determination as to whether or not that chain continues to exist, with a determination that the chain no longer exists being interpreted to mean that there were no more pending write transactions within that chain, and this resulted in the chain being removed, deleted or otherwise nullified or disabled. At 820, if there still is a pending write transaction within the chain of which the last_write_selected write transaction was a part, then a pending write transaction is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction to be carried out and removed from that chain at 830, and the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is decremented at 832. A check is made at 840 to determine if there are still other pending write transactions within that chain (i.e., if the new selected_entry write transaction just removed from that chain at 830 was not the last one). If there are no more pending write transactions within that chain (and perhaps, that chain has now ceased to exist or has been otherwise cleared or nullified, as a result of there being no more such pending write transactions), then the selected_entry write transaction is tagged with a page closing hint at 842, possibly resulting in the write transaction being implemented as a write with auto precharge. However, if there are one or more pending write transactions within that chain, then the selected_entry write transaction is not tagged with a page closing hint, and is implemented as a normal write at 844. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 848, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is also copied to a latch for storing the address of the selected_entry write transaction as the last_write_selected write transaction for later in use in making associative comparisons, before proceeding back to 812. However, at 820, if there are no more pending write transactions in the chain of which the last_write_selected write transaction was a part, then it is known that whatever chain of pending write transactions from which a pending write transaction is about to be selected as the selected_entry write transaction will not be to the same rank, bank and page as the last_write_selected write transaction. As a result, at 822, an associative comparison is made between the rank, bank and page of the address to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed and the ranks, banks and pages to which all of the chains of pending write transactions are directed. At 824, if the associative comparison at 822 located any chains of pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer directed to a different rank and/or bank than the rank and bank of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it is possible to avoid incurring the delay that may be incurred from waiting for the completion of the closing of the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed by selecting a chain of pending write transactions that are directed to a different rank and/or bank. At 850, one of those chains of pending write transactions to a different rank and/or bank (if there is more than chain one from which to select) is selected, and a pending write transaction making up that chain (if there is more than one pending write transaction within that chain from which to selected) is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction using any of a number of possible algorithms to make that selection, as those skilled in the art will recognize, and this selected_entry write transaction is removed from that chain. At 852, the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is decremented. A check is made at 860 to determine if there are still other pending write transactions within that chain. If there are no more pending write transactions within that chain (and perhaps, that chain has now ceased to exist or has been otherwise cleared or nullified, as a result of there being no more such pending write transactions), then the selected_entry write transaction is tagged with a page closing hint at 862, possibly resulting in the write transaction being implemented as a write with auto precharge. However, if there are one or more pending write transactions within that chain, then the selected_entry write transaction is not tagged with a page closing hint, and is implemented as a normal write at 864. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 868, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is also copied to a latch for storing the address of the selected_entry write transaction as the last_write_selected write transaction for later in use in making associative comparisons, before proceeding back to 812. At 824, if the associative comparison at 822 did not locate any chains of pending write transactions in the write transaction buffer directed to a different rank and/or bank than the rank and bank of the last_write_selected write transaction, then it may be necessary to incur the delay from waiting for the completion of the closing of the page to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed, because if any chains do remain, they are necessarily to the same rank and bank, but a different page than that to which the last_write_selected write transaction was directed. At 870, one of those chains of pending write transactions to the same rank and bank, but different page (if there is more than chain one from which to select) is selected, and a pending write transaction making up that chain (if there is more than one pending write transaction within that chain from which to selected) is selected to become the new selected_entry write transaction, and this selected_entry write transaction is removed from that chain. At 872, the count of pending write transactions making up that chain is decremented. A check is made at 880 to determine if there are still other pending write transactions within that chain. If there are no more pending write transactions within that chain (and perhaps, that chain has now ceased to exist or has been otherwise cleared or nullified, as a result of there being no more such pending write transactions), then the selected_entry write transaction is tagged with a page closing hint at 882, possibly resulting in the write transaction being implemented as a write with auto precharge. However, if there are one or more pending write transactions within that chain, then the selected_entry write transaction is not tagged with a page closing hint, and is implemented as a normal write at 884. Regardless of whether a page closing hint accompanies the selected_entry, at 888, the address of the selected_entry write transaction is also copied to a latch for storing the address of the selected_entry write transaction as the last_write_selected write transaction for later in use in making associative comparisons, before proceeding back to 812. The invention has been described in some detail with regard to various possible embodiments. It is evident that numerous alternatives, modifications, variations and uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in support of many possible types of memory devices employing any of a number of possible memory technologies. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in support of electronic devices other than computer systems such as audio/video entertainment devices, controller devices in vehicles, appliances controlled by electronic circuitry, etc. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices provide the benefits of higher storage densities and less power consumption in comparison to other memory technologies, including and most notably, static random access memory (SRAM) devices. However, these benefits come at the cost of incurring various delays in accessing the memory cells making up a DRAM device, both at regular intervals, and in the time periods immediately before and after each access to either read data from the memory cells or to write data to the memory cells. The effect of these various delays has been to slow down the effective rate at which data stored within DRAM devices may be accessed, and although various ways have been devised in the prior art to mitigate the effect of these delays such that it is sometimes possible to entirely counteract certain delays in certain situations, the effect of these delays continues to be felt to a significant degree. Common DRAM devices are made up of many memory cells organized into multiple banks of memory cells, with the memory cells inside of each bank being organized into an array of rows and columns. For data to be written to or read from one or more memory cells within a given row of a given bank, requires that the given row (also commonly referred to as a “page”) within the given bank be “opened” for access with a row activate command and a delay be incurred to allow the row activation to complete before the actual reading or writing of data can take place. Unfortunately, only one row of any bank may be open at a time, and if a row other than the given row is already open in the given bank, then that other row must be “closed” with a precharge command and a delay be incurred to allow the precharge to complete before the row activate command to open the given row can be transmitted. The delay incurred to allow a precharge to finish closing one row before another can be opened in the same bank is a significant delay, and various schemes have been devised to attempt to counteract this delay. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following detailed description in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing a memory system having a memory controller. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing memory control circuitry. FIGS. 3 a , 3 b , 3 c and 3 d , together, are a flow chart of an embodiment. FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are block diagrams of other embodiments employing a portion of memory control circuitry. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment employing a computer system. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another embodiment employing memory control circuitry. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040625 | 20080610 | 20050915 | 98151.0 | 0 | DINH, NGOC V | MEMORY POST-WRITE PAGE CLOSING APPARATUS AND METHOD | UNDISCOUNTED | 1 | CONT-ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,417 | ACCEPTED | Apparatus, system and method for monitoring a drying procedure | An apparatus, system, and method provide drying procedure information through a user interface. A monitoring device transmits drying procedure data measured by sensors within a structure undergoing the drying procedure to a server. In response to requests received through a communication network from a user interface, the server transmits the drying procedure information that is presented through the user interface. A variety of information and services related to the drying procedure may be provided through the user interface. | 1. A method for monitoring a drying procedure performed at a structure, the method comprising: receiving, through a communication network, drying procedure data obtained at a structure; and transmitting drying procedure information based on the drying procedure data to a user interface through a communication network. 2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises moisture data indicating a moisture level at the structure. 3. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a temperature at the structure. 4. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a humidity level at the structure. 5. A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein the humidity level is an indoor humidity level. 6. A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein the humidity level is an outdoor humidity level. 7. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a dissipated power value indicating power dissipated by drying procedure equipment. 8. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises structure configuration data. 9. A method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the structure configuration data comprises dimensions of the structure. 10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the drying procedure information through a packet switched network. 11. A method in accordance with claim 10, wherein the packet switched network is an Internet. 12. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting a hypertext message language (HTML) message in response to a request initiated by a user through the user interface. 13. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an estimated drying time for the structure. 14. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the estimated drying time is based on moisture data measured by a moisture sensor. 15. A method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the estimated drying time is at least partially based on a humidity level of air at the structure. 16. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the estimated drying time is at least partially based on a structure characteristic. 17. A method in accordance with claim 16, wherein the structure characteristic is a volume within the structure. 18. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the estimated drying time is at least partially based on a drying equipment characteristic. 19. A method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the drying equipment characteristic is a specified water removal rate of a dehumidifier. 20. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an estimated drying procedure cost. 21. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an estimated labor time to complete the drying procedure. 22. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a location of the structure. 23. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: receiving location information entered by a technician; and verifying the location information based on Global Position System (GPS) coordinates received from a GPS receiver, the drying procedure data comprising the location information. 24. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an accrued labor time for at least one technician. 25. A drying procedure monitoring system comprising: a server adapted to transmit, through a communication network to a user interface, drying procedure information based on drying procedure data acquired at a structure undergoing a drying procedure. 26. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 25, further comprising: monitoring device configured to transmit the drying procedure data from the structure to the server. 27. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 26, further comprising: a plurality of sensors configured to acquire the drying procedure data at the structure. 28. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 27, wherein the monitoring device comprises: a data interface configured to receive the drying procedure data from the plurality of sensors; a communication interface connected to the data interface and configured to transmit a drying procedure message comprising the drying procedure data through a wireless communication link. 29. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 27, further comprising: a user interface configured to present the drying procedure information. 30. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 29, further comprising a communication network connected between the user interface and the server. 31. A drying procedure monitoring system in accordance with claim 30, wherein the communication network is an Internet. 32. A graphical user interface comprising: drying procedure information based on drying procedure data obtained from at least one sensors at a structure undergoing a drying procedure. 33. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an estimated drying procedure cost. 34. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an estimated labor time to complete the drying procedure. 35. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises an accrued labor time for at least one technician. 36. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure data is transmitted from the structure to a server. 37. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises a graph. 38. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises a photograph. 39. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises a visual presentation of a three dimensional rendition of the structure. 40. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information comprises text. 41. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information is based on structure configuration data. 42. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 41, wherein the structure configuration data comprises dimensions of the structure. 43. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 32, wherein the drying procedure information is generated by a web browser application running on a computer based on signals transmitted through a packet switched network from a server computer, the server computer receiving the drying procedure data from a monitoring device connected to the at least one sensor. 44. A graphical user interface in accordance with claim 43, wherein a communication link between the monitoring device and the server comprises a wireless communication link. 45. A drying procedure monitoring device comprising: a sensor configured to obtain drying procedure data at a drying procedure structure undergoing a drying procedure; and a transmitter configured to transmit the drying procedure data to a server. 46. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the drying procedure data through a wireless communication link. 47. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the drying procedure data comprises moisture data indicating a moisture level at the structure. 48. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a temperature at the structure. 49. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a humidity level at the structure. 50. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 49, wherein the humidity level is an indoor humidity level. 51. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 49, wherein the humidity level is an outdoor humidity level. 52. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the drying procedure data comprises a dissipated power value indicating power dissipated by drying procedure equipment. 53. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 45, wherein the drying procedure data comprises structure configuration data. 54. A drying procedure monitoring device in accordance with claim 53, wherein the structure configuration data comprises dimensions of the structure. | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates in general to drying procedures and more specifically to an apparatus, system and method for monitoring a drying procedure of a building structure. Systems and devices are used to dry the walls, floors, ceilings and other parts of the inside of a building such as a home or office after the building has been exposed to unusually high amounts of moisture or water. Undesired moisture and water may enter one or more rooms of the building through any of several ways. A fire sprinkler system may be activated in response to a fire, for example. Fire fighters often use water to control fires within a building. The building may be flooded due to high water levels that have risen in the surrounding area. In addition, pipes may burst or otherwise leak exposing the building to water and moisture. Conventional systems employ a variety of equipment to dry the interior of a building structure after exposure to water. Air movers such as electric fans are used to move moist air away from building structure components that are being dried such as wet floors, walls, or ceilings. If required, one or more dehumidifiers are used to extract moisture from the air. In some situations, heaters are used to increase the ambient temperature to increase evaporation and decrease drying time. The type of equipment, equipment settings, and drying times should be precisely determined, planned, and adjusted for a drying project. Conventional systems, however, have several limitations. For example, the drying procedure must be monitored by drying technicians that must visit the project site often. Occasionally, drying techniques must be adjusted for environmental changes such as changes in temperature and humidity. Further, building occupants may disturb equipment settings or position. For example, a home owner may unplug a fan or other equipment during the night because of noise. When visiting a project site, a technician must often reevaluate the conditions and may need to take measurements and physically inspect the site to determine the appropriate continued action to safely dry the building. Such requirements are expensive and result in relatively slow adjustments since no corrective measures can be taken until after a technician has visited the site. Also, third parties such as insurance companies are often interested in the reasons for adjustments, delays and variations in costs of the drying procedure. Due to conditions out of the control of the drying technician, a project may increase in cost giving the appearance of incompetence, or sometimes, the appearance of deceptive behavior to the third party. Accordingly, there is need for an apparatus, system, and method for monitoring a drying procedure of a building structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a drying procedure managing system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a monitoring system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention where the communication network includes at least a wireless communication system and an Internet. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of installing and using the monitoring device and system for monitoring a drying procedure at a building structure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method performed by the monitoring device of monitoring the drying procedure of the building structure in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of performing a setup procedure. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method performed by the server of monitoring the drying procedure in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of performing of receiving drying procedure data. FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of transmitting drying procedure information to the user interface. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary user interface. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a perspective view of a monitoring device in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the invention where the monitoring device includes a scanning mechanism. FIG. 11 is an illustration of a perspective sectional view of a building structure in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, drying procedure information based on drying procedure data is presented through a user interface. Sensors at a building structure that is undergoing a drying procedure provide at least a portion of the drying procedure data that is transmitted from the building structure through a communication network to a server. The server generates the drying procedure information based on the received drying procedure data and transmits the drying procedure information through a communication network to the user interface where it is presented to the user. The drying procedure information includes calculations, estimations, measurements, photographs, thermal images, graphs, tables, text, building structure renditions such as three dimensional virtual “walk-through” models, and other information related to the drying procedure performed at the building structure. In the exemplary embodiment, the user interface includes a personal computer connected to the server through the Internet where Web browser software running on the personal computer facilitates the exchanges of messages and information between the user and the server. The monitoring apparatus, system, and method allow monitoring of the drying procedure by any authorized user having access to the server. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a drying procedure monitoring system 100 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. The monitoring system 100 is implemented using any combination of devices, hardware, software and firmware that captures drying procedure data at a drying procedure site 102 and presents drying procedure information 116 based on the drying procedure data through a remote user interface 104. The drying procedure information 116 includes any combination of video, audio, and multimedia objects illustrating graphs, tables, images, photographs, interactive virtual models, numbers, and text that describe or otherwise relate to the drying procedure that is being performed, has been performed, or will be performed at a building structure 106. The drying procedure information 116 may include estimates, calculated values, and measured values based on the drying procedure data obtained at the building structure 106. Examples of drying procedure information 116 include measured, estimated and calculated values related to drying times, equipment costs, labor costs, electrical power consumption, moisture levels, temperatures, humidity levels, air quality, evacuated water, locations of personnel, locations of equipment, locations of building structures, and locations of damaged structure areas. Further, drying procedure information 116 may include photographs, digital images, thermal images, videos or other pictorial representations of the building structure 106 or damaged areas. Further, the drying procedure information 116 may include information regarding preferred equipment placement and the preferred status of windows and doors. The drying procedure information 116, therefore, may convey the progress of the drying procedure, environmental conditions, operational characteristics of drying equipment, or any other information that may be useful to a user interested in the drying procedure. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring system 100 is installed by the drying procedure technician within the building structure 106 to be dried by placing the monitoring device 108 in a convenient location, typically near the center of a room to be dried, and by strategically placing one or more sensors 110 throughout the room. The monitoring device 108 receives data from the sensors 110 and transmits corresponding data messages to a server 112 through a communication network 114. The server 112 processes the data messages to determine drying procedure information 116 that can be displayed or otherwise presented to a user through a user interface 104. As explained in further detail below, the user interface 104 includes a computer that is communicatively connected to the server 112 in the exemplary embodiment. With the appropriate authorization and authentication, a user accesses the drying procedure information 116 using web browser software running on the computer. Although the drying procedure information 116 may include “raw” data in some circumstances, the drying procedure information 116 is presented in a user friendly format such as a graphical, pictorial, or easily read textual presentation. In the exemplary embodiment, multiple views within a virtual “walk-through” model pictorially represent one or more rooms within the building structure 106 and show walls, ceilings, and floors with moisture levels represented as colored, shaded or crosshatched sections. In some circumstances, different colors may be used to represent different moisture levels. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician enters some of the drying procedure data through a user interface (not shown) of the monitoring device 108. Examples of drying procedure data that can be entered by the technician include room dimensions and initial moisture measurements. In some circumstances the drying procedure data may be provided by a database or service. As discussed below for example, weather services may provide drying procedure data such as outdoor temperature and humidity levels. Information may obtained from a internet web site that provides weather related data such as temperature and humidity levels corresponding to particular geographical areas. Although a single sensor 110 may be used in some circumstances, a plurality of sensors 110 are strategically placed within the building structure 106 that is undergoing the drying procedure in the exemplary embodiment. The sensors 110 may include peripheral sensors 110 connected to the monitoring device 108 and integral sensors (not shown) implemented as part of the monitoring device 108. The peripheral sensors 110 may be positioned inside or outside the structure and are referred to herein as interior and exterior sensors 110. Examples of suitable sensors 110 include penetrating moisture sensors, non-penetrating moisture sensors, temperature sensors (thermometers), pressure sensors (barometers), electric current sensors, voltage sensors, power sensors, humidity sensors (hygrometers), mold detectors, air particle detectors, and airflow sensors. The number and types of sensors 110 installed at the building structure 106 depend on the particular system 100 implementation, the size of the building structure 106, the number and size of rooms within the building structure 106, the estimated volume of water that must be removed, the distribution of water within the building structure 106, the types of materials that are holding excess moisture, the available communication bandwidth, and other factors recognized by those skilled in the art based on these teachings. As discussed below, for example, a non-penetrating remote moisture sensor (scanning moisture sensor) continually scans the room including the ceiling, walls and floor in a second exemplary embodiment where the monitoring device 108 includes a scanning mechanism. The monitoring device 108 receives the drying procedure data from the sensors 110 and the technician, performs any required processing and buffering, and transmits the drying procedure data through the communication network 114 to the server 112. The communication network 114 may be any combination of circuit switched, packet switched, analog, digital, wired and wireless communication equipment and infrastructure suitable for transmitting signals to the server 112. The communication network 114, therefore, may include one or more of the following: an Intranet, the Internet, a cellular communication system, a wireless data system, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a private telephone network, a satellite communication system, or point to point microwave system. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 108 is connected to the communication network 114 through a wireless link provided by the communication network 114 which includes at least a wireless system and the Internet. Depending on the particular communication network, the monitoring device 108 may send signals in accordance with a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), FCC 802.11 standards, a proprietary protocol or other types of communication protocols. An example of suitable wireless link between the monitoring device 108 and the communication network 114 is a wireless Internet link provided through a cellular service provider. The data message signals are routed to the server 112 based on an IP (Internet Protocol) address in the exemplary embodiment. The server 112 deciphers the incoming signals to extract the appropriate data. The drying procedure data is processed to generate drying procedure information 116 that can be displayed or otherwise presented through the user interface 104. In the exemplary embodiment, the user interface 104 is implemented with a Web browser application running on a computer connected to the server 112 through the Internet within the communication network 114. By designating the appropriate IP address, a user can access the server 112 and view the drying procedure information 116. Additional security and authentication mechanisms may also be utilized in some circumstances. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, therefore, drying procedure data measured by at least one sensor at the drying procedure site is transmitted by the monitoring device 108 from the drying procedure site 102 through the communication network 114 to the server 112. The server 112 generates drying procedure information 116 based on the drying procedure data. The drying procedure information 116 is presented through a user interface to a user, such as a home owner, contractor, or insurance company representative, to provide drying procedure information 116 such as information related to estimated drying time, necessary equipment, moisture levels, changes in estimated drying times, changes in moisture levels and notice of secondary leaks. The exemplary embodiment of the invention is particularly useful in providing insurance representatives and insurance adjusters an accurate estimate of the required equipment, cost and time to complete the drying procedure before the drying procedure is started. Further, the insurance representative may monitor, in real-time, the drying procedure conveniently from a computer or other device connected to the Internet. Since estimates are produced by a predetermined calculation performed by the server in accordance with recommended practices, accidental as well as intentional inaccuracies of estimates are minimized. Further, if adjustments in the drying procedure are necessary, the monitoring system 100 allows the changes to be verified and, in many circumstances, will indicate the reason for the change. For example, if a drying procedure estimate includes a drying time of three days and during the drying procedure it is determined that four days are required, the insurance representative can verify the need for the extra day by accessing the drying procedure information 116. Continuing with the example, the monitoring system 110 may determine that the need for the extra day results from the disabling of a fan or a dehumidifier by detecting a relationship between the voltage and current used by the particular device. By providing information that can be evaluated by parties other than the drying technician, errors as well as fraudulent and unscrupulous behavior are minimized. Also, liability of inadequate drying procedures and costs associated with adjustments can be efficiently allocated. For example, if the structure owner interferes with the drying procedure by turning off noisy equipment, the costs of extra drying procedure time is billed directly to the structure owner rather than allocated to the insurance company or the contractor performing the procedure. A drying procedure history is maintained by storing drying procedure data in memory. The drying procedure history can be presented to the user as drying procedure information 116 allowing the user to access the information for any number of reasons. Analysis of deviations from the expected results and documentation of deviation causes can be easily performed, stored and shared. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a managing system 100 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention where the communication network 114 includes at least a wireless communication system 202 and an Internet 204. The various functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 2 may be implemented in any number of analog or digital circuits, integrated circuits (ICs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), processors or other devices. The communication network 114 may include various systems, components and networks that are interconnected. In the exemplary embodiment, the communication network 114 includes at least a wireless communication system 202 and the Internet 204 which facilitate packet switched communication between the monitoring device 108 and the server 112. Other communication infrastructure such as PSTN systems, electronic switches, routers, twisted pair wires, digital subscriber line (DSL) systems, telephone over cable television infrastructure and other systems and equipment may also be connected within the communication network 114. Although a single monitoring device 108 is shown in FIG. 2, more than one monitoring device may 108 be used in a single building structure 106 in some circumstances. In addition, a single monitoring device 108 may act a master device and may be in communication with one or more monitoring device 108 performing as slave devices. Any of several techniques may be used to network the master and slave devices including wireless links such as, cellular telephony, Bluetooth, two-way radio, or wired connections using cables. In the exemplary embodiment, the user interfaces 110 include a structure owner user interface (structure owner UI) 206, a contractor user interface (contractor UI) 208 and a third party user interface (third party UI) 210 that are connected to the server 112 through the Internet 204. Any number of user interfaces 206-210 (collectively referred to as user interfaces 104) may be used. Although other techniques may be used in some circumstances, the user interfaces 206-210 are implemented using web browser software running on computers connected to the Internet 204. Suitable examples of web browser software include Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator applications. Suitable operating systems include Windows based systems as well as Macintosh based systems. Although the third party UI 210, contractor UI 208 and the structure owner UI 206 may be identical except for their location, the drying information 116 accessible by a particular party may be displayed differently or may include less or more information than is accessible by other parties in some situations. For example, an insurance company representative may use a third party UI 210 to access cost estimate information for a particular drying procedure. Using an identification (ID) and password, the insurance company representative logs onto the server 112 and enters the appropriate login information, such as a claim number, to access information for a particular drying procedure. A home owner accessing the same drying procedure project through a structure owner UI 206 may have limited access to the drying procedure information 116. Some cost estimates, for example, may not be available since they may be considered to be confidential by the insurance company or the contractor. The home owner may only be authorized to access drying procedure associated with their property (102) in some circumstances. Further, the contractor may have additional authorization to provide control instructions to equipment or to the monitoring device 108 where other users are restricted from changing the configuration of the system 100 or equipment. The differences between the user interfaces 206-210 in the exemplary embodiment, therefore, may be based on a difference of hardware and software or may only be based on the content that is presented in response to the particular authorization. The computer used for a user interface 104 (206-210) includes at least an output device such as a video monitor or display and an input device such as a keyboard or computer mouse. Other types of input and output devices can be used in some circumstances. For example, the output device may include a speaker and the input device may include a microphone, a touch-screen, joystick, or a touch pad. In accordance with known techniques, the computer is connected to the Internet 204. An example of a suitable connection includes establishing a communication link through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and modem connected to a communication infrastructure such as cable communication system or a PSTN. In some circumstances, other techniques can be used to establish a communication link with the server 112. Other suitable communication links include wireless communication links using WAP or WiFi connections and computer network connections such as Ethernet and token ring systems, for example. In the exemplary embodiment, the wireless communication system 202 is a cellular telephone system with packet switched mobile data capability such as ARDIS, RAM, or CDPD services. As is known, these systems provide a communication data packet formed offline and a header and error correction that is added prior to transmission. A dedicated communication link, therefore, is not utilized in the exemplary embodiment. In some situations, a circuit switched dedicated communication link may be used. For example, a “dial-in” wireless internet communication service over the cellular telephone system can be used to for the wireless communication link 220. Some wireless communication systems, for example, provide wireless internet access with the use of a wireless modem that can be connected to a laptop computer or personal digital assistant (PDA). The wireless communication systems may utilize any communication protocol and modulation such as, for example, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in accordance with known techniques. The wireless communication system 202 forwards the data through the Internet, and possibly other communication networks, to the server 112. In some circumstances, a cellular voice channel may be used to transmit data to the server 112. In such a circumstance, the monitoring device 108 establishes a cellular call with a modem connected to the server 112, either directly or through a network. The call can be terminated after data has been transferred and reestablished as needed or it may be maintained throughout the monitoring process. The monitoring device 108 includes at least a communication interface 212, a data interface 214, memory 216 and a controller 218. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 108 includes other circuitry and equipment not illustrated in FIG. 2 such as, for example, power supply circuitry, connectors, housings and other mechanical and electrical components. Further, some of the sensors 110 are implemented as part of the monitoring device 108 in the exemplary embodiment. The various functional blocks of the monitoring device 108 may be implemented in any combination of analog or digital circuits, integrated circuits (ICs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), processors or other devices. Software code running on the controller 218 facilitates the exchange of signals and information between the various functional blocks of the monitoring device 108 to perform the functions described herein as well as facilitating the overall functionality of the monitoring device 108. Further, the functional blocks, or portions of the functional blocks may be implemented in other devices. The communication interface 212, for example, may be at least partially implemented within a cellular telephone or a single IC device may be used for the memory 216 and the controller 218. Therefore, the various functional blocks in FIG. 2 are presented for illustrative purposes and the described functions may be performed in any of several component configurations or circuitry as will be recognized by those skilled in the art by applying the teachings herein in accordance with known techniques. The communication interface 212 is any arrangement of hardware and software that facilitates communication through the communication link 220 with the wireless communication system 202. The communication interface 212 includes an antenna 222 for transmitting and, in some circumstances, receiving radio frequency (RF) signals. Although the communication interface 212 and the controller 218 are illustrated as separate functional blocks, at least a portion of the communication interface 212 can be implemented in the controller 218. In the exemplary embodiment, the communication interface includes radio frequency (RF) circuitry such as amplifiers (not shown) and filters (not shown). Data received from the data interface 214 is processed, modulated and transmitted through the wireless communication link 220 in accordance with instructions received from the controller 218. In the exemplary embodiment, the communication interface 212 demodulates and processes signals received through the wireless communication link 220 and forwards the demodulated signals to the controller 218 or to the data interface 214. The received signals include control signals for configuring the monitoring device 108 and, in some cases, the sensors 110 and the drying equipment. An example of a suitable communication interface 212 is a wireless modem. The data interface 214 includes any combination of hardware, software, and firmware for receiving data from the plurality of sensors 110. In the exemplary embodiment, the data interface includes several sensor connectors accessible from the exterior of a housing of the monitoring device 108. The data interface includes analog to digital (A/D) converters for converting analog voltage signals from the sensors to a digital format that can be interpreted by the controller 218. In some circumstances, the sensors 110 provide digital signals and the data interface forwards the data to the controller 218 in a readable format. Accordingly, the connectors and interface protocols within the monitoring device 108 are implemented in accordance with the types of devices that are intended to be connected. As discussed above, the plurality of sensors 110 include peripheral sensors and integral sensors, where some of the peripheral sensors include exterior sensors installed outside the building structure 106 and interior sensors installed within the building structure 106 but outside a housing of the monitoring device 108. The peripheral sensors include sensors that provide either a digital or analog data signal that can be received by the data interface 214. Although the external sensors 110 may be communicatively connected to the data interface 214 using any of several techniques, the peripheral sensors 110 sensors are connected to the data interface using cables in the exemplary embodiment. Other techniques for connecting the peripheral sensors 110 include using wireless techniques such as infrared and radio frequency (RF) communication links. Bluetooth devices, for example, may be used to connect the sensors 110 to the data interface 214 in some circumstances. In the exemplary embodiment, the peripheral sensors 110 include at least one power sensor 234, at least one penetrating moisture sensor 232 and at least one non-penetrating moisture sensor 230. The power sensor 234 is any commercially available sensor that at least detects the presence of voltage and current flow through a wire when the sensor is placed near an insulated conductor. A suitable example of a power sensor includes a clamp-on power sensor with Hall Effect semiconductor devices that allow measurement of the magnetic field around the conductor. The power sensor 234 measures a voltage level between two conductors as well as a measuring the current traveling through the conductors and thereby measuring power. The penetrating moisture sensor 232 provides a digital or analog signal indicating the moisture level in a material in which the penetrating moisture sensor is installed. An example of a suitable penetrating moisture sensor 232 includes a two-prong moisture sensor that provides a moisture level data based on the impedance between two probes inserted into the target material. The penetrating moisture sensor 232 is typically installed in materials that can be penetrated such as drywall, some types of wall coverings, and carpeting. The non-penetrating moisture sensor 230 provides a digital or analog signal indicating the moisture level in a material that is not easily penetrated such as concrete, wood, stucco, and tile. An example of a suitable non-penetrating moisture sensor 230 includes a moisture sensor having a plurality of contacts that can be placed against the target surface. A moisture content of the target material is provided based on an impedance between the contacts. In the exemplary embodiment, the peripheral sensors include exterior sensors 204-242 that are placed outside of the structure. The exterior sensors include at least a humidity sensor 240 such as a hygrometer and a temperature sensor 242. Any number of peripheral sensors 110 can be used where the number and placement depends on several factors used by technicians in the field. Some examples of the factors that may be relevant in a particular drying procedure include the size of the room, the humidity, barometric pressure and temperature in the room, the location and distribution of moisture in the walls, ceiling and floor, and the number and distribution of drying devices within the room. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 108 includes integral sensors including a humidity sensor 238, a temperature sensor (thermometer) 228, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 226. Other types of sensors can be used in some circumstances. As described below in further detail, for example, a remote moisture sensor, a distance sensor, and a digital camera are implemented as part of the monitoring device 108 in the second exemplary embodiment of the invention that includes a scanning mechanism. The humidity sensors 238, 240 provide data signals indicating the relative humidity of the air. Any of several commercially available sensors that provide either an analog or digital output can be used. The data interface 214 is configured to communicate with the particular sensor 238, 240. The temperature sensors 228, 242 provide a digital or analog data signal indicating the temperature of the air. An example of a suitable temperature sensor includes a thermocouple where an analog voltage indicates the temperature. The data interface 214 is configured and calibrated to communicate with the temperature sensors 228, 242. The controller 218 is any processor, microprocessor, computer, or processor arrangement capable of running software for performing the functions described herein. The controller 218 communicates with the data interface 214, the communication interface 212 and the memory 216 such as an IC memory. Software code running on the controller 218 enables the functions described herein as well as facilitating the overall operation of the monitoring device 108. A memory device 216 facilitates storage of data, setting information, identification information and other data. At least a portion of the memory 216 is non-volatile memory allowing data to be retained when power is unavailable. A clock 248 provides time and date information to the controller 218. The clock 248 may be implemented as part of the controller 218 in some circumstances. A user interface 246 provides a mechanism for the technician to exchange information with the monitoring device 108. An example of suitable user interface 246 includes a display and a keyboard. Other suitable user interfaces 246 include touch-screen displays and buttons as well as audio devices such as speakers and microphones. In some situations the user interface 246 may include mechanisms that allow the user interface 246 to be removed, locked or otherwise disabled to minimize tampering by unauthorized persons. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 108 includes a data port 244 for connecting the data interface 214 to external equipment or possibly other sensors 110. The data port 244 is a connector suitable for transferring a data signal or other information to the data interface 214. An example of suitable data port 244 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or data ports conforming to IEEE standards. The data interface 214 includes the appropriate software and uses the protocols necessary to communicate using the data port 244. The various functional blocks described with reference to FIG. 2 may be integrated, arranged and implemented in any of several configurations. Several of the functional blocks may be implemented or may be commercially available as a single device. In some circumstances, for example, a laptop computer may be used to implement one or more of the functional blocks of FIG. 2. The user interface 246, controller 218, memory 216, clock 248 as well as at least portions of the communication interface 212 and the data interface 214 may be implemented in the laptop computer. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of using the monitoring device 108 for performing a drying procedure. The particular method of using the monitoring device 108 depends on several factors such as the particular number and types of integral sensors 110 and peripheral sensors 110, the preferred drying procedure and other factors such as the number of rooms in the structure and the autonomy provided to the technician. For example, in the exemplary method, the technician connects a digital camera (not shown) to the data port to upload images to the server 204. Where the monitoring device 108 includes an integral camera (as in the second exemplary embodiment), the images may be captured and uploaded by the monitoring device 108 without the technician's intervention. The following method for using the monitoring device 108 provides an example and other methods may be used in some circumstances. Other drying procedures may omit or include additional steps. Further, the order of the steps may be changed depending on the particular situation. At step 302, the technician initiates the procedure by providing authentication information to the monitoring device 108. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician enters an identification code using the user interface 246. In accordance with known techniques, the technician “logs in”. The monitoring device 108 retrieves appropriate information and allows access based on the technician's information. In addition to establishing communication with the server 112, the initiation step launches a labor-time procedure which monitors and records labor hours for the particular technician. In some situations, structure location information is entered by the technician during the login procedure. In many situations, multiple technicians may login and logout at various times as they arrive at and depart from the drying procedure location 102. For example, where the building structure 106 has been flooded due to a plumbing leak, the first technician arriving at the building structure 106 will most likely be skilled as a plumber and will have expertise in detecting the source of the leak and repairing faulty plumbing. A drying procedure technician having expertise in proper drying procedures may arrive at a later time. The plumber may leave the location while the drying technician is still providing services. In this example, therefore, the plumber logs in, the drying technician logs in a short time later, the plumber logs out when the plumber's services are complete, and finally the drying technician logs out at time after the plumber has departed. The monitoring device 108 conveys the log in time and log out time of each technician allowing the server 112 to monitor and record the time spent at the drying location for each technician. Therefore, in the exemplary embodiment, drying procedure data includes the login and logout times of the technicians. At step 304, the technician captures digital images by taking pictures of the exterior of the building structure 106 as well as of the damage of the structure caused by the excessive moisture. As explained above, a plumber may arrive prior to the drying technician in order to repair the leak. In such a circumstance the plumber may take digital pictures of the leak area prior to the repair. Further, the drying technician may take digital pictures of the damaged area both prior to and after exposing hidden damage areas such as under carpeting and within walls and ceilings. Accordingly, step 304 may be performed several times during the drying procedure by any number of technicians. At step 306, the technician enters structure location information. The information may be added by typing the street address or by entering a location code that identifies the particular structure 306. In most situations, the first technician arriving at the structure will enter the street address into the monitoring device after logging in. In some situations, the information may be added by a later arriving technician after the first technician has logged in. This may be the case, for example, where a plumber arrives and may wish to avoid any interfacing with the monitoring device 108 until the leak is repaired in order to minimize water damage. In some situations, the monitoring device 108 compares the location information entered by the technician to the GPS data provided by the GPS receiver 226 and indicates an error to the technician if the GPS data in not in accordance with the entered location information. In other situations, the server 112 may compare the GPS data to the location information entered by the technician. At step 308, the digital images are uploaded to the server 112. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician connects the digital camera to the data port 244 of the monitoring device 108 and follows an upload procedure. In some circumstances, the monitoring device 108 detects the presence of the digital camera and the digital images are automatically uploaded without further technician intervention. In many circumstances, however, the technician chooses the appropriate images to upload by entering the appropriate commands through the user interface 146. In the exemplary embodiment, GPS information associated with each photograph is uploaded with the digital images. Where GPS information is not available from the digital camera, the GPS data of the GPS receiver 226 is associated with each of the digital images before transmitting the digital images to the server 112. Therefore, each digital image includes information identifying the digital image by geographical location in the exemplary embodiment. At step 310, the technician enters building structure 106 dimensions. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician measures the length and height of walls within the building structure 106 to provide the necessary information for calculating the volume of areas within the structure 106. The dimensions are entered using the user interface 246. In some circumstances, the technician enters textual information such as the name of the room or other notes. For example, the technician may enter “BEDROOM 1—includes 18 inch by 24 inch skylight” to identify the room and provide additional information that may be useful for determining the optimum drying procedure. Further, polar directional information may also be entered to provide orientation information. For example, information may be entered to indicate that a wall is a north wall of the building structure 106. In the exemplary embodiment, the building structure 106 dimensions are also utilized to generate images representing the walls, floors, and ceiling of the building structure 106 for drying procedure information 116 as well as for generating an interactive graphical user interface 246 for the technician to enter data. At step 312, the water damage location and dimensions are entered into the monitoring device 108. The water damage location and dimensions may include a textual description of the water damage such as “North wall of Master Bedroom 90 inches long, 12 inches high”. In some circumstances, the data is entered using curser to highlight water damaged areas on an illustration presented on the display of the user interface 246. The technician uses an input device such as mouse to click, drag, resize, and otherwise create a representation of the water damaged area. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician enters GPS coordinates to identify a particular damaged area. In some situations, the monitoring device may obtain some or all of the information related to the water damaged area through one or more sensors 110. For example, location information may include GPS coordinates and dimensions of the damaged area may be based on a photograph obtained with a camera. At step 314, the technician installs the peripheral sensors 110. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician places and positions the peripheral sensors 110 in accordance with prudent moisture measuring techniques. Utilizing accepted standards for measuring moisture and at least partially relying on experience, the technician determines the most appropriate locations for the external sensors 110. In some circumstances, the server 112 calculates the preferred locations of all sensors 110 based on the data provided by technician and the monitoring device 108. In such circumstances, sensor 110 placement instructions are presented on a display of the user interface 246 to instruct the technician. An example of suitable format for presenting the sensor placement instructions includes an illustration of the building structure 110 indicating the appropriate locations for the external sensors 110 using icons or other representations. At step 316, the technician enters the location of the peripheral sensors 110. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician uses a curser to indicate sensor 110 locations on a three dimensional illustration of the structure presented on the display of the user interface 246. A computer mouse or other input device is used to move a curser and select positions on the illustration representing the locations of the external sensors. Each sensor is identified by an identifier such as a number. Each external sensor 110 is also identified by a particular cable or connector to which it is connected. For example, several connectors of the monitoring device 108 may be numbered and the numbers identifying the peripheral sensors 110 match the numbers of the connectors. At step 318, the technician installs the drying equipment. Based on the information entered by the technician and other data obtained through the monitoring device 108, the server 112 calculates the recommended drying equipment that should be installed and the recommended locations within the building structure 106 to position each piece of drying equipment. The technician applies prudent drying procedure practices to determine the appropriate locations and type of equipment and compares the information recommended by the server 112 to such a determination. In some situations, the actual drying equipment and locations chosen by the technician may differ from the recommended drying equipment type and placement. The reasons for using equipment other than the recommended equipment may be based on any number of factors such as the type of equipment immediately available to the technician, electrical power considerations, and technician preferences. Further, the technician may choose to place the drying equipment in locations other than the locations recommended by the server 112 do to prudent practices that are not considered by the server 112. Obstacles within the room limiting equipment placement, for example, may not be conveyed to the server 112 or may not otherwise be reflected in the building structure model representing the building structure 106. At step 320, the technician enters the actual location and type of equipment installed in the structure. Where the server recommended equipment matches the actual equipment installed, the technician confirms the equipment installation. In situations where the installed drying equipment differs from the drying equipment recommended by the server, the technician enters information describing the drying equipment used and its location. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician uses the user interface 246 to indicate locations of the equipment on the structure model. An example of suitable method of entering the equipment type and location includes “click-and-dragging” icons representing different types of equipment to the locations within the three dimensional illustration representing the building structure 106. In some circumstances, only textual information is entered to indicate that certain equipment has been installed in a particular room within the building structure 106. At step 322, the technician receives maintenance instructions indicating the recommended future actions to be taken. The instructions are presented though the display of the user interface 246 in the exemplary embodiment. The maintenance instructions may include textual information indicating any number of steps or measurements that are recommended or preferred. For example, the maintenance instructions may include a message such as “Return in 48 hours to confirm moisture level in North wall of Master Bedroom is less than 14% moisture.” Further, in some circumstances the server 112 may calculate an estimated drying time based on the moisture levels, building structure dimensions and installed equipment. Estimated drying time may be displayed to the technician allowing the technician to determine if the configuration of installed equipment should be modified. At step 324, the technician removes all equipment. The technician obtains several moisture measurements to verify that the structure is adequately dry and enters the values into the monitoring device 108 before turning off and removing all drying and monitoring equipment. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of monitoring a drying procedure performed at the drying procedure site 102 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. Although the monitoring method may be performed by any combination of hardware or devices, the method is performed by the monitoring device 108 installed at the drying procedure site 102 in the exemplary embodiment. At step 402, the setup procedure is performed. During the setup procedure, the monitoring device 108 performs initialization procedures, establishes a communication link with the server 112 and conveys setup data to the server 112. An exemplary method of performing the setup procedure is discussed below with reference to FIG. 5. At step 404, sensor data is received from the sensors 110. Data signals from the peripheral sensors 110 and integral sensors 110 are received at the data interface 214. The data interface performs any required translations or conversions to convert the data signals into sensor data. Where the data signals are analog signals, for example, the data interface 214 converts the analog signals into digital sensor data. Other processing may include translating a digital sensor signal into a different standard scale or range. The sensor data, therefore, includes digital values representing the various parameters measured by the sensors 110 where the digital values meet a format readable by the controller 218 in the exemplary embodiment. At step 406, a data message is formed based on the sensor data. The controller 218 creates a data message based on the sensor data that conforms to a format that can be received by the communication interface 212. The sensor data from any number of sensors 110 is included in a single data message. The particular format of the data message depends on the communication interface, the number of sensors 110, the particular wireless communication system 202 and other factors that will readily be recognized by those skilled in the art based on these teachings as applied to known techniques. At step 408, the data message is transmitted to the server 112. In the exemplary embodiment, the communication interface 212 formats the data message in accordance with the protocol of the wireless communication system 202 and transmits the message through the antenna 222. Radio frequency circuitry adequately amplifies the data message and transmits the data message through the wireless communication channel 220 to the wireless communication system 202. The data message is conveyed through the Internet 204 to the server 112. In some circumstances, the communication network 114 may include only a wired network 114 as explained above. At step 410, the monitoring device 410 determines if the drying procedure is complete. If the drying procedure is complete the method continues at step 412. Otherwise, the method returns to step 404 where new sensor data is received. The method continually cycles through steps 404 to 408 to provide the server 112 with sensor data during the drying process. In some circumstances, sensor data may be received and stored for a particular time period before the data message containing the stored data is transmitted to the server 112. Accordingly, some of the steps of the exemplary method may be repeated or performed in any of several orders. At step 412, a shutdown procedure is performed. The shutdown procedure may include any number of tasks and may be omitted in some circumstances. In the exemplary embodiment, however, a final report is generated and displayed to the technician. The final report may include information such as the total water removed, total drying time, and total electrical power used during the drying procedure. Final instructions to the technician may also be presented in some situations. After all final instructions and reports have been displayed, the monitoring device 108 terminates the communication link with the server 112 and powers down. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of performing a setup procedure. The method described with reference to FIG. 5, therefore, provides an exemplary method of performing step 402 of FIG. 4 discussed above. At step 502, the initialization procedure is performed. In addition to start-up diagnostics and self test procedures, the monitoring device 108 establishes a communication link through the communication network with the server 112 when the monitoring device 108 is turned on. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, a variety of inquiry messages and acknowledgement messages may be exchanged during the initialization procedure. An identifier that uniquely identifies the particular monitoring device 108 is conveyed to the server 112. GPS coordinates obtained from the GPS receiver 226 and indicating the location of the monitoring device are transmitted to the server 112. At step 504, a login procedure is performed. In the exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 108 forwards authorization information entered by the technician to the server 112. In response to technician input, a login screen is presented through the user interface 246. The technician enters authentication information such as an identification name and password. The authentication information is transmitted to the server 112 through the communication network 114. The server 112 compares the authentication information to stored authentication information and allows access to the system 100 if the authentication information matches a valid record. At step 506, the digital images are uploaded. In the exemplary embodiment, the software running on the controller 218 and the data interface 214 facilitates the upload process. The monitoring device 108 detects a digital camera connected to the data port 244 and initiates the process by communicating with the digital camera. The technician selects the digital images to upload using the user interface 246. The selected digital images are transmitted through the communication interface 212 in the appropriate format through the communication network 114 to the server 112. In the exemplary embodiment, the digital images include GPS coordinates associated with the digital image to indicate the location of the camera at the time the digital photograph was taken. Where the digital camera does not include a feature for including the GPS information, the GPS data provided by the GPS device 226 in the monitoring device 108 is associated with the digital images. At step 508, the building structure dimensions are transmitted to the sever 112. The technician enters the building structure dimensions using a dimension entry screen displayed through the user interface 246 in the exemplary embodiment. The dimension entry screen includes graphical tools for indicating relative position of walls of the structure. The heights and widths of walls are entered using the keyboard. The dimensions and relative positions of the walls in the structure are formatted and transmitted to the server 112 through the communication network 114. At step 510, the dimensions of water damaged areas are transmitted to the server 112. In the exemplary embodiment, the technician determines the dimensions of areas on walls, floors, and ceilings having higher than acceptable moisture content using a hand held moisture meter. The dimensions are entered using a water damage entry screen presented through the user interface 246. The water damage entry screen includes a perspective view illustration of the building structure 106. The technician, using an input device such a computer mouse, indicates the excessively wet areas on the illustrated walls, floors and ceilings. The information entered is transmitted to the server 112 through the communication network 114. At step 512, the recommended drying equipment information is received from the server 112. As explained below in further detail, the server 112 determines the drying equipment that will most efficiently dry the building structure 106 based on the data provided by the technician and based on recognized standard drying procedure protocol. At step 514, the recommend drying equipment information is presented on the display of the user interface 246. In the exemplary embodiment, a listing of the recommend equipment and an illustration of the building structure 106 with icons representing the equipment are displayed. At step 516, the installed equipment information entered by the technician is transmitted to the server 112. The installed equipment information describes the type and location of drying equipment that is actually installed in the structure. In some situations the technician verifies that the installed equipment information matches the recommended equipment information. Otherwise, the technician enters the installed equipment information through the user interface 246. The installed equipment information is formatted and transmitted to the server 112 through the communication network 114. At step 518, the monitoring device 108 receives maintenance instructions from the server 112. In the exemplary embodiment, messages are transmitted from the server 112 to the monitoring device 108 through the communication network 114 in accordance with internet protocol. The messages are deciphered in accordance with known techniques and the teachings herein. At step 520, the maintenance instructions are presented through the user interface 246. In the exemplary embodiment, the instructions are presented in text and provide information relating to the recommended procedure the technician should follow to complete the drying procedure. Any number of steps of the setup procedure may be performed during other times of drying procedure. For example, the login procedure at step 504 is performed at any time a drying technician arrives at the structure. Therefore, the method described with reference to FIG. 5 provides one example of a suitable method for performing the setup procedure. Other procedures for establishing communications, authenticating technicians and communicating with the technicians and the monitoring device 108 and performing the setup procedure may be performed with other steps, techniques and methods. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method of drying procedure monitoring performed at a server 112 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. The drying procedure monitoring method may be performed by any combination of hardware, software, and firmware and may be performed by a single device or by multiple devices. In the exemplary embodiment the method is performed by software code running on the server 112 that includes a memory media and a processor that is configured to execute software code to perform the method described herein. At step 602, the setup procedure is performed. The server 112 exchanges data, and messages with the monitoring device 108 through the communication network 114 to perform initialization procedures, establish a communication link with the server 112 and receive setup data to the server 112. As discussed above, login procedures such as authentication and authorization are performed to identify drying procedure technicians. Further, setup data is received from the monitoring device 108 and stored in memory where the setup data may include digital images of the building structure 106 and damaged areas, structure dimensions and layout, damage location and dimensions, initial moisture levels, structure identification such as a street address or GPS coordinates, and number and type of active sensors. Based on these teachings, those skilled in the art will recognize the other types of setup data that can be received and stored at the server 112 in some situations. At step 604, the server 112 receives the drying procedure data. As discussed in further detail below with reference to FIG. 7, the server receives a data message including the drying procedure data in the exemplary embodiment. The drying procedure data may include any combination of character strings, numbers, symbols, values, or electronic files that represent one or more parameters, characterizations, identifiers, or descriptions related to the drying procedure performed at the building structure 106. Examples of drying procedure data include sensor measurements, technician entered data, environmental conditions at or near the structure location, and data generated by monitoring device 108. In some circumstances, some information may be received from sources other than the monitoring device 108. For example, temperature, humidity, and wind speed data may be obtained from weather service such as web site providing weather information. The information may be used to perform calculations where some data may not be available directly from the drying procedure site or may be used to supplement the information obtained from the site. At step 606, drying procedure information 116 based on the drying procedure data is transmitted to the user interface 104. As discussed in further detail below with reference to FIG. 8, the drying procedure information 116 is transmitted to the user interface 104 through the communication network 114 in response to a request received from the user interface 104 in the exemplary embodiment. Using the drying procedure data received from the monitoring device 108, the server 112 creates the drying procedure information 116 by calculation or other processing and generates a message including the drying procedure information 116. The drying procedure information 116 is presented through the user interface 104 and may include any combination of text, numbers, graphs, photographs, tables, multimedia, video, and audio. At step 608, the server 112 determines if the drying procedure is complete. In the exemplary embodiment, the server 112 determines if moisture measurements within the structure meet the maximum allowable limits suggested by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration provided by the Water Damage Restoration Standard Task Force. If the moisture levels are below the suggested limits, the server 112 determines that the drying procedure is complete. If the drying procedure is complete, the method continues at step 610. Otherwise, the method returns to step 604 to continue the monitoring process. Other methods may be used to determine if the drying procedure is complete. In some situations, for example, the server 112 may determine that the procedure is complete based on the time the drying equipment has been in operation and a maximum time limited entered by the technician. At step 610, the server 112 transmits a message indicating that the drying equipment should be turned off. The message is transmitted through the communication network 114 to the monitoring device 108. The message is presented through the monitoring device user interface 246. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of receiving the drying procedure data. The steps discussed with reference to FIG. 7, therefore provide an exemplary method for performing step 604 of FIG. 6. At step 702, a data message is received through the communication network 114. As discussed above, the data message is generated and transmitted in accordance with the protocol of the wireless communication system 202 in the exemplary embodiment. The data message represents the drying procedure data acquired at the building structure 106 and may include representations of moisture levels, humidity, temperature, power, time, dimensions, GPS coordinates, or any other data related to a characterization, quantization, or description of the drying procedure. Further the data message may include data entered by technicians. An example of a suitable technique for receiving the data message includes receiving a HTTP message in accordance with Internet Protocol techniques communication through wireless communication network. At step 704, the data message is deciphered to extract the drying procedure data. The server 112 parses and processes the data message to obtain values, text, or other representations of the drying procedure data. In accordance with the particular message protocol, the values and other information are identified and extracted. Where the data message is an HTTP message, the server 112 utilizes well known IP and HTTP techniques to receive the drying procedure data. At step 706, the drying procedure data is stored in memory. The values, text, and other representations of the drying procedure data are indexed and stored to retain the correlation with other parameters and values. For example, moisture levels measured by a moisture sensor 230 are associated with the particular moisture sensor 230 and location within the structure. Each parameter or value representing drying procedure data may be correlated, cross-correlated, or associated with any number of other drying procedure data values. FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of transmitting drying procedure information to the user interface in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. The method discussed with reference to FIG. 8, therefore, is an exemplary method of performing step 606 of FIG. 6. At step 802, a request is received from the user interface. In the exemplary embodiment, the request is an HTTP message submitted through a Web browser application running at the user interface 104. An example of a suitable technique for initiating the HTTP message includes entering commands through a keyboard or mouse. After logging-in, the user navigates to the appropriate web page and selects the desired drying procedure information 116 by, for example, clicking on a radio button representing the particular drying procedure information 116. An HTTP message is generated and transmitted to the server 112 in accordance with known techniques based on the particular selection. In some circumstances, the user may submit several messages prior to specifying particular drying procedure information 116. For example, the user may submit information identifying the particular drying procedure project, a specific location within the building structure 106 and other information before submitting a specific request for drying procedure information 116 associated with the entered criteria. Further, the user may specify the preferred presentation format and may specify, for example, a text, tabular, or graphical and orientation of a graph and graph scale. The user interface pages and options are discussed in further detail below with reference to FIG. 11. The HTTP message defining the request for the drying procedure information 116 is transmitted in accordance with IP and HTTP protocol to the server 112 through the communication network 114 and received by the server 112 in the exemplary embodiment. At step 804, the server 112 retrieves drying procedure data values from memory. Based on the particular request received from the user interface 104, the appropriate values, parameters, text, symbols, and images are retrieved from non-volatile memory. A step 806, the drying procedure information 116 is calculated using the retrieved drying procedure data. The complexity of the calculation and the number and types of drying procedure data that are used in the calculation depend on the particular drying procedure information 116 that is generated. In some circumstances, the calculation includes applying values to a mathematical formula. Examples of drying procedure information calculated using mathematical formulas include estimate total drying procedure cost, estimated equipment cost, estimated labor cost, accrued total drying procedure cost, accrued equipment cost, accrued labor cost, estimated drying time, accrued drying time, estimated drying procedure cost per gallon evacuated water, accrued drying procedure cost per gallon evacuated water, estimated power, and accrued power. In some circumstances, the drying procedure data is forwarded, reformatted or translated into drying procedure information 116. For example, digital images or log files may be minimally processed to place the file or digital image in a condition to transmit to the user interface 104. Other examples include values or text that are forwarded to the user interface 104 with minimal manipulation such as moisture values, temperature values, start times, location descriptions and location coordinates for the structure and damaged areas and humidity values. The generation of the drying procedure information may require multiple data manipulation, calculation, estimation, and interpretation and may be performed by specific drying procedure information engines invoked by the monitoring process. For example, a three dimensional graphical representation of the structure may require one or more programs, subroutines, or other software code to generate information that can be interpreted by the user interface 104 to display the three dimensional representation. Models to allow a virtual “walk-through” by the user using the user interface 104 may require relatively extensive calculation and data manipulation to create the models and computer readable files representing those models. Accordingly, the drying procedure information 116 generated from the drying procedure data may include any of numerous formats and may include a variety of information. The drying procedure information 116 generated in the exemplary embodiment is discussed in further detail below. In some circumstances, calculations may be performed prior to a request received from the user interface 104 and the resulting values stored in memory for later retrieval. At step 808, a message including the drying procedure information 116 is generated and transmitted to the user interface 104. In the exemplary embodiment, the message is generated and transmitted in accordance with a markup language compatible with the Internet. An example of a suitable markup language includes HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Other types of formats and protocols can be used such as, for example, techniques in accordance XML (extensive Markup Language). The message is formatted to include the drying procedure information 116 and transmitted through the Internet to the user interface 104. In the exemplary embodiment, therefore, drying procedure data related to a drying procedure performed at a building structure 106 is collected and transmitted by a monitoring device 108 located at the building structure 106 through a communication network 114 to the server 112. The server 112 stores the values, symbols, text and other drying procedure data in memory. A user that is logged into the server 112 accesses the drying procedure information 116 by navigating and submitting commands through a series of Web page using Web browser software running on the user interface 104. The drying procedure information 116 may be displayed in a variety of formats and may include any of several calculated, forwarded, or otherwise generated values or images. The following includes a brief description of the drying procedure information 116 than may be generated in the exemplary embodiment. In some circumstances, information may be eliminated, added or combined to provide the drying procedure information 116. Digital Images. Digital images uploaded from the monitoring device 108 are stored in an appropriate format. Examples of some of the numerous suitable formats include the TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), BMP (Bitmapped format), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), PDF (Portable Document Format) and the PCX (Graphics File Format). The digital images may include photographs of the exterior and interior of the building structure 106 as well as photographs of damaged areas within the building structure 106. In the exemplary embodiment, the images are forwarded to the user interface 104 upon request and include superimposed indicia or other markings indicating identification, time, date and location information. For example, images of the water damaged areas within the building structure 106 include the structure address, GPS location, time and date the image was captured and room name. Other information, such as textual notes entered by the technician may also be displayed with the digital image in some circumstances. Specific Instantaneous Values. Current values and measurements such as indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, indoor humidity, outdoor humidity, moisture measurements of structure components, times, dates, GPS coordinates, current power consumption and other values transmitted to the 112 server from the monitoring device 108 are properly formatted and forward to the user interface 104. The specific instantaneous values, therefore, indicate in real time, or in near real time, the environmental and equipment conditions within the building structure 106. Estimated Values. Estimated values may include any of numerous values related to the drying procedure that are based on entered, measured, and stored parameters. The drying procedure data is used to calculate and determine an estimated rate, estimated total, and estimated daily values for drying time, water removal, total cost, labor cost, equipment cost, and consumed power in the exemplary embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize the other estimated values that may be generated based on known techniques as applied to the teachings herein. Resulting Values. The actual values resulting from the drying procedure are calculated from the drying procedure data and include resulting total, resulting daily total resulting daily average, and resulting rate for drying time, water removal, drying procedure cost, labor cost, equipment cost, and consumed power. In addition, a cost per gallon of removed water is calculated by dividing the total cost of the drying procedure by the total number of gallons removed from the structure or room. Other resulting values may be provided in some circumstances. Graphs And Tables. The values discussed above may be combined or related to provide any number of graphical or tabular presentations including line graphs (frequency polygon), a histograms (bar chart) and tables. Examples of other suitable graphical formats include pie charts and Venn diagrams. The visual presentations supported by the drying procedure monitoring procedure depend at least partially on the particular implementation, the anticipated needs of the users, cost, system bandwidth, processing power, and the types and number of sensors located at the structure. In the exemplary embodiment, bar graphs (histograms) showing the following relationships are selectable by the user: daily moisture levels for each moisture sensor; daily humidity levels relative to target humidity; daily labor costs; daily equipment costs, and daily total drying costs. Further, line graphs showing the following relationships are selectable by the user in the exemplary embodiment: interior temperature and specific humidity vs. time; and exterior temperature and specific humidity vs. time. Further, in implementations where an air quality sensor is installed, a graph showing the daily air quality is selectable by the user. Generated Graphical Representations. In the exemplary embodiment, the drying procedure data entered by the technician, as well as data collected by the sensors, are utilized to render a graphical representation of the building structure 106. The room dimensions and, in some cases, photographs, are used to generate a visual model representing a three dimensional virtual building structure accessible by the user through the user interface 104. The user navigates the model using a mouse, joystick, or other input device to engage in a virtual “walk-through” of the building structure 106. Moisture data is represented in the model using color or shading. For example, wet sections on wall, ceiling and floors having a moisture level higher than a maximum base level are represented as blue shapes on the virtual walls, ceilings and floors of the model. Where moisture sensor data is limited, approximations and interpolations are used to generate a blue shape representing a probable moisture pattern. In the exemplary embodiment, a virtual three-dimensional generation engine implemented in accordance with known techniques utilizes the building structure dimensions and moisture sensor measurements to create the virtual structure with moisture information. In addition to three dimensional models, two dimensional representations including maps and structure schematics are selectable by the user in the exemplary embodiment. Maps indicate the location, address, and GPS coordinates of the building structure 106. Further, each piece of drying equipment is tracked on a map and schematic using icons indicating their location. GPS data that is either entered by a technician or provided by a GPS device connected to the equipment is received from the monitoring device 108 and used to position an icon when generating the map or schematic. Water damaged areas are also indicated on the schematic in the exemplary embodiment and may include textual notes entered by the technician. In the exemplary embodiment, the calculations discussed above are performed in accordance with known techniques and mathematical formulas and in accordance with the industry practices and guidelines. Such guidelines are presented in industry agencies reference guides such as the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration provided by the Water Damage Restoration Standard Task Force. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize the required equations, mathematical formulas, and techniques for determining and generating drying procedure information 116 based on the teachings herein. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize the various modifications and combinations of the presentations discussed above and the techniques that can be applied to provide the drying procedure information 116 based on these teachings. Other navigation and presentation techniques and mechanisms can be applied to the user interface 104 in some circumstances. Hyper links, for example, may be implemented in some situations to provide the user with an efficient method of navigating through the numerous graphs, maps, schematics and other presentations. Further, the drying procedure information 116 may be presented in other formats and may include an audio format in addition to or in place of any of the visual presentations discussed. As discussed above, the user interface 104 includes web browser software in communication with the server 112 through the Internet 204 in the exemplary embodiment. In accordance with known techniques, web pages are received and displayed to the user in response to input entered through an input device such as a keyboard of mouse. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary user interface web page 900 displayed through the user interface 104 and including drying procedure information 116. In the exemplary embodiment, web browser software running on the personal computer of the user interface 104 receives and processes HTML messages to provide the user interface web page 900 to the home owner, insurance representative, drying procedure contractor or other user. The HTML messages result in images, graphs, tables, text, and other graphics to be displayed on a visual display such as a computer monitor. In some circumstances sounds may be presented through speakers based on the HTML messages. The blocks illustrated in FIG. 9 represent interactive and non-interactive images displayed by the web browser software. Each block, therefore, may represent text, graphics, images, hypertext links, buttons, or other features in accordance with known web browser techniques. The blocks as illustrated in FIG. 9 do not necessarily depict relative positions, sizes, or shapes of the items displayed and the visual display of the blocks may include a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and relative positions. Further, additional features may be included and the represented items may be omitted or modified depending on the particular implementation and situation. The user interface web page 900 includes at least drying procedure information which may be in any of several forms or formats as discussed above. In the exemplary embodiment, the drying procedure information is displayed in one of three formats based on the user's preference. Display options 904 allow the user to select a line graph format (frequency polygon), a histogram format (bar chart) or a tabular format. Examples of other suitable formats include textual formats, word-processing and spreadsheet formats, audio formats and other graphical formats such as pies charts and Venn diagrams. The drying procedure information 116 may depict the “raw” data entered by the technician or captured by the sensors 110 or may depict a relationship within the drying procedure data. The drying procedure information 116 may illustrate any of numerous relationships such as relationships between the various drying procedure data values and other drying procedure data values and relationships of the drying procedure data values over time. The user selects any of several relationships using the tool bar 902 and, in the exemplary embodiment, may select drying procedure information 116 illustrating relationships of original and calculated drying procedure data values over time and the relationships between the various original and calculated drying procedure data values. The particular drying procedure information presentations, graphs, and illustrations may convey any of numerous relationships and the particular options available to a user will depend on factors such as system resources, system provider preferences and user preferences. Those skilled in the art will recognize the various additional relationships and displays of drying procedure information 116 based on these teachings and known techniques. The user interface web page 900 includes navigation links 908 in the exemplary embodiment. Examples of links that may be included on the user interface web page 900 include a home link 910, an article link 912, user profile link 914, and weather link 916. The user may access the home page of the drying procedure service provider or other service provider by selecting the home link 910. Pages containing articles or other useful information and statistics are available by selecting the article link 912. The weather link 916 provides a connection to an online weather service. Further, when the user selects the user profile link 914, the user is directed to a user profile page where administrative and other user specific preferences may be selected or modified. The user, for example, may change authentication information such as a password using the user profile page. Further, the user interface web page 900 may include one or more advertisements 906 in some circumstances. The advertisements 906 presents targeted drying procedure related advertising to individuals interested in drying procedure products and services. Advertisements 906 may not be appropriate in all implementations and, where included, may allow the drying procedure service provider to derive additional revenue. One or more of the sections with the user interface 900 may not be available to some users. For example, advertising targeted to drying procedure technicians and professionals may only be available to contractor users and not to home owners or insurance representatives. The exemplary user interface web page 900 may be one of several user interface pages depending on the particular implementation where each page may include particular information or interactive screens for exchanging information with the server 112. Some or all of the objects discussed with reference to FIG. 9 may be omitted in other pages or additional objects may be included. The particular configuration of the user interface pages therefore, will vary with the particular needs of the service providers and users. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a perspective view of a monitoring device 1000 in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the invention that includes a scanning mechanism 1002. Although the monitoring device 1000 may include only integral sensors, a plurality of connectors 1004 allows connection to external sensors 110 in the second exemplary embodiment. The monitoring device 1000 may be implemented over several devices, hardware and software. In the exemplary embodiment, however, the monitoring device 10000 is implemented in a single unit having a housing 1006, several connectors 1002, a non-penetrating moisture sensor (scanning moisture sensor) 1008, a distance sensor 1010, and a digital camera 1012. The scanning moisture sensor 1008, the distance sensor 1010 and the digital camera 1012 form a scanning assembly 1022 and are mounted on a rotating arm 1014. The rotating arm 1014 is activated by a motorized mechanism that is controlled by the controller 218 and allows the arm 1014 to rotate a full 360 degrees. The rotating arm 1014 includes an elbow 1016 allowing an angle 1018 of the arm to be adjusted from a few degrees to 180 degrees from a rotating axle 1020. At an angle of 180 degrees, the scanning sensors 1008, 1010, 1012 are positioned to point at the ceiling directly above the monitoring device 1000 when the monitoring device 1000 is placed on the floor. In the second exemplary embodiment, the non-penetrating remote moisture sensor 1008 is a thermal scanning device that remotely identifies temperature differences. Thermal scanners provide a representation of temperatures on a surface of an object that can be correlated to moisture content of the object. Accordingly, an image representing the moisture content of wall, ceiling or floor can be obtained by scanning the target area with the thermal scanning device. The motorized mechanism is any hardware, device, or arrangement of devices that moves the scanning assembly 1022 in the intended pan and tilt directions. Any of variety of mechanisms can be used in accordance with known techniques. For example, the motorized mechanism may be implemented in accordance with surveillance camera mechanism techniques. In the second exemplary embodiment, the monitoring device 1000 performs monitoring functions as described with reference to the first exemplary embodiment. In some circumstances, the monitoring device 1000 may be integrated with other equipment such as drying equipment. The monitoring device 1000 may be housed within the same housing 1006 as a dehumidifier or may be detachably connected to a dehumidifier adapted to accept and connect to the monitoring device 1000. Further, the monitoring device 1000 may comprise several modules that are communicatively coupled through wired or wireless communication links. For example, the monitoring device 1000 may include a laptop computer and a wireless modem, where the laptop computer includes the controller 218, the data interface 214, and the user interface 246 and where the wireless modem includes the communication interface 212. At least one sensor is connected to the laptop through a serial port, Universal Serial Bus (USB) port or other connector. Software running on the laptop facilitates the functions of the controller 218 as described herein. Another example includes having a detachable module connected to a main housing where the detachable module includes the user interface 246. Other variations and combinations will readily occur to those skilled in the art based on these teachings and known techniques. FIG. 11 is an illustration of a cross sectional perspective view of a room within structure 106 with the monitoring device 100 installed prior to the installation of drying equipment. An exemplary configuration is shown in FIG. 11 where several peripheral sensors 110 are connected to the monitoring device through cables. The monitoring device 1000 continually scans the room to obtain temperature and moisture measurements. Digital images of the building structure 106 are initially obtained and at periodic intervals during the drying procedure. The distance sensor 1010 obtains room dimensions during the set up procedure. The exemplary embodiments, therefore, provide a system, apparatus and method for monitoring a drying procedure of a building structure 106. Drying procedure information 116 is accessed by users through the Internet using web browser software running on a personal computer or other workstation. The system 100 allows insurance providers to efficiently monitor the drying procedure of water damage claims where the contractor has installed the system 100 and provided access to the insurance providers. The use of proper drying procedures can be verified by home owners, insurance provider personnel and contractors. The system 100 can be integrated into a comprehensive water damage reconstruction program where damage claims are easily adjusted and approved. Unscrupulous and fraudulent practices are minimized while restoration guidelines can be easily followed and verified. Damage from excessive drying is minimized. Further, complications resulting from under drying such as mold and fungus growth are also minimized. Contractors may track equipment and employees further minimizing inefficient use of resources and loss or theft of equipment. Clearly, other embodiments and modifications of this invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings. The above description is illustrative and not restrictive. This invention is to be limited only by the following claims, which include all such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The invention relates in general to drying procedures and more specifically to an apparatus, system and method for monitoring a drying procedure of a building structure. Systems and devices are used to dry the walls, floors, ceilings and other parts of the inside of a building such as a home or office after the building has been exposed to unusually high amounts of moisture or water. Undesired moisture and water may enter one or more rooms of the building through any of several ways. A fire sprinkler system may be activated in response to a fire, for example. Fire fighters often use water to control fires within a building. The building may be flooded due to high water levels that have risen in the surrounding area. In addition, pipes may burst or otherwise leak exposing the building to water and moisture. Conventional systems employ a variety of equipment to dry the interior of a building structure after exposure to water. Air movers such as electric fans are used to move moist air away from building structure components that are being dried such as wet floors, walls, or ceilings. If required, one or more dehumidifiers are used to extract moisture from the air. In some situations, heaters are used to increase the ambient temperature to increase evaporation and decrease drying time. The type of equipment, equipment settings, and drying times should be precisely determined, planned, and adjusted for a drying project. Conventional systems, however, have several limitations. For example, the drying procedure must be monitored by drying technicians that must visit the project site often. Occasionally, drying techniques must be adjusted for environmental changes such as changes in temperature and humidity. Further, building occupants may disturb equipment settings or position. For example, a home owner may unplug a fan or other equipment during the night because of noise. When visiting a project site, a technician must often reevaluate the conditions and may need to take measurements and physically inspect the site to determine the appropriate continued action to safely dry the building. Such requirements are expensive and result in relatively slow adjustments since no corrective measures can be taken until after a technician has visited the site. Also, third parties such as insurance companies are often interested in the reasons for adjustments, delays and variations in costs of the drying procedure. Due to conditions out of the control of the drying technician, a project may increase in cost giving the appearance of incompetence, or sometimes, the appearance of deceptive behavior to the third party. Accordingly, there is need for an apparatus, system, and method for monitoring a drying procedure of a building structure. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a drying procedure managing system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a monitoring system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention where the communication network includes at least a wireless communication system and an Internet. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of installing and using the monitoring device and system for monitoring a drying procedure at a building structure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method performed by the monitoring device of monitoring the drying procedure of the building structure in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of performing a setup procedure. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method performed by the server of monitoring the drying procedure in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of performing of receiving drying procedure data. FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of transmitting drying procedure information to the user interface. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary user interface. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a perspective view of a monitoring device in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the invention where the monitoring device includes a scanning mechanism. FIG. 11 is an illustration of a perspective sectional view of a building structure in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040625 | 20070206 | 20051229 | 88540.0 | 1 | LAI, ANNE VIET NGA | APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A DRYING PROCEDURE | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,420 | ACCEPTED | Multiple level cell memory device with single bit per cell, re-mappable memory block | A non-volatile memory device has a plurality of memory cells that are organized into memory blocks. Each block can operate in either a multiple level cell mode or a single bit per cell mode. One dedicated memory block is capable of operating only in the single bit per cell mode. If the dedicated memory block is found to be defective, a defect-free block can be remapped to that dedicated memory block location to act only in the single bit per cell mode. | 1. A non-volatile memory device comprising: a plurality of memory blocks each adapted to operate in either a multiple level cell mode or a single bit per cell mode; and a dedicated memory block that is adapted to operate only in the single bit per cell mode. 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the non-volatile memory device is a NAND flash memory device. 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the dedicated memory block is block 0 of the memory device. 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the dedicated memory block is adapted to store boot code. 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the dedicated memory block is adapted to store defective memory addresses. 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the multiple level cell mode comprises two bits stored on each cell of the block. 7. A flash memory device comprising: a memory array comprising a plurality of memory cells organized into memory blocks including a dedicated memory block that operates only in a single density mode; and control circuitry for controlling which memory blocks store data in a high density mode and which memory blocks store data in the single density mode. 8. The device of claim 7 and further including: a control bus, coupled to the control circuitry, for accepting configuration commands; and a control register that stores configuration bits in response to the control circuitry and the configuration commands. 9. The device of claim 7 wherein the control circuitry is further adapted to control remapping of a first of the memory blocks to the dedicated memory block such that further accesses to the dedicated memory block are performed by the first memory block. 10. The device of claim 7 and further including: a control bus, coupled to the control circuitry, for accepting single density and high density read and write commands such that the control circuitry writes to and reads from the memory blocks in either the single density mode or the high density mode in response to the commands. 11. A flash memory device having a control bus, an address bus and a data bus, the device comprising: a memory array comprising a plurality of memory cells organized into memory blocks including a first dedicated memory block that operates only in a single density configuration, the remaining memory blocks capable of operating in either the single density configuration or a high density configuration; control circuitry, coupled to the control bus, for controlling which memory blocks store data in a high density configuration and which memory blocks store data in the single density configuration; and control registers, coupled to the control circuitry, for storing configuration bits indicating the configuration of each of the memory blocks. 12. The device of claim 11 wherein the flash memory device is a NAND flash memory device. 13. The device of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry remaps access to the first dedicated memory block to a second dedicated memory block that operates only in the single density configuration. 14. A flash memory system comprising: a processor for generating memory control signals; and a flash memory device comprising: a plurality of memory blocks that are each adapted to operate in either a multiple level cell configuration or a single bit per cell configuration; and a dedicated memory block that is adapted to operate only in the single bit per cell configuration. 15. The system of claim 14 wherein the flash memory device further includes control circuitry, coupled to the processor, for changing the configuration of each memory block in response to the memory control signals. 16. The system of claim 15 wherein the control circuitry further controls access to the dedicated memory block such that accesses to a defective memory block are remapped to the dedicated memory block. 17. A method for accessing a plurality of memory blocks in a flash memory device, the method comprising: performing a single density read operation from a dedicated memory block of the plurality of memory blocks, the dedicated memory block operating only in a single density configuration; performing a high density write operation to a first memory block of the plurality of memory blocks; and performing a single density write operation to a second memory block of the plurality of memory blocks. 18. The method of claim 17 and further including: performing a single density read operation from the second memory block; and performing a high density read operation from the first memory block. 19. The method of claim 17 wherein performing a single density read operation from the dedicated memory block comprises remapping the read operation to an error free memory block that operates only in the single density configuration. 20. A method for accessing a plurality of memory blocks in a flash memory device that is part of a memory system having a processor, the method comprising: performing a single density read operation from memory block 0 of the plurality of memory blocks, memory block 0 capable of operating only in a single density configuration; performing a high density write operation to a first memory block of the plurality of memory blocks; and performing a single density write operation to a second memory block of the plurality of memory blocks. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein memory block 0 contains boot code that is executable by the processor. 22. The method of claim 20 wherein memory block 0 contains addresses of bad memory blocks of the plurality of memory blocks. 23. A method for replacing, at a predetermined location, a first memory block that operates only in a single bit per cell mode in a flash memory device having a plurality of memory blocks that can operate in either a multiple level cell mode or the single bit per cell mode, the method comprising: testing the first memory block to determine if it contains errors; and if the first memory block contains errors, remapping an error free memory block to the predetermined location. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the predetermined location is memory block 0. | TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to memory devices and in particular the present invention relates to non-volatile memory devices. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory. Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Common uses for flash memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, and cellular telephones. Program code and system data such as a basic input/output system (BIOS) are typically stored in flash memory devices for use in personal computer systems. The present trend of electronic devices is increased performance at reduced cost. The component manufacturers, therefore, must continue to increase the performance of their devices while decreasing the cost to manufacture them. One way to increase a flash memory device's density while lowering its manufacturing cost is to use multiple level cells (MLC). Such a device stores two logical bits per physical cell. This reduces the overall cost of the memory. NAND flash memory devices are designed to operate in either one of two configurations on the same die: single bit per cell (SBC) or MLC. The selection of the configuration is done at the factory when the die is manufactured through a metal mask or a programmable fuse option. However, an MLC die, while having improved cost versus density, has drawbacks relative to performance. Both the programming and read operations can become slower for an MLC die. Therefore, the user typically has to choose between having high memory density at low cost and lower memory density with higher performance. Additionally, due to the smaller margins from one state to another state in an MLC die, any loss in charge from the floating gate can cause the stored data to become corrupted. For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a memory device that combines the attributes of MLC with the reliability of SBC devices in at least a portion of the memory. SUMMARY The above-mentioned problems with reliability and other problems are addressed by the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification. The embodiments of the present invention encompass a non-volatile memory device that is organized into a plurality of memory blocks. Each memory block is adapted to operate in either a multiple level cell mode or a single bit per cell mode. A dedicated memory block is adapted to operate only in the single bit per cell mode. This block can be used to store boot code or other important data that needs to have the higher reliability of the SBC configuration. Further embodiments of the invention include methods and apparatus of varying scope. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a diagram of one embodiment of a NAND flash memory array of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of a flash memory system of the present invention that incorporates the memory array of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for configuring the density/performance of a memory device. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for configuring the density/performance of a memory device. FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for remapping a defect-free memory block to the dedicated SBC block of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. FIG. 1 illustrates a NAND flash array is comprised of an array of floating gate cells 101 arranged in series strings 104, 105. Each of the floating gate cells are coupled drain to source in the series chain 104, 105. Word lines (WL0-WL31) that span across multiple series strings 104, 105 are coupled to the control gates of every floating gate cell in order to control their operation. The memory array is arranged in row and column form such that the word lines (WL0-WL31) form the rows and the bit lines (BL1-BL2) form the columns. In operation, the word lines (WL0-WL31) select the individual floating gate memory cells in the series chain 104, 105 to be written to or read from and operate the remaining floating gate memory cells in each series string 104, 105 in a pass through mode. Each series string 104, 105 of floating gate memory cells is coupled to a source line 106 by a source select gate 116, 117 and to an individual bit line (BL1-BL2) by a drain select gate 112, 113. The source select gates 116, 117 are controlled by a source select gate control line SG(S) 118 coupled to their control gates. The drain select gates 112, 113 are controlled by a drain select gate control line SG(D) 114. The memory cells illustrated in FIG. 1 can be operated as either single bit cells (SBC) or multilevel cells (MLC). Multilevel cells greatly increase the density of a flash memory device. Such cells enable storage of multiple bits per memory cell by charging the floating gate of the transistor to different levels. MLC technology takes advantage of the analog nature of a traditional flash cell by assigning a bit pattern to a specific voltage range stored on the cell. This technology permits the storage of two or more bits per cell, depending on the quantity of voltage ranges assigned to the cell. For example, a cell may be assigned four different voltage ranges of 200 mV for each range. Typically, a dead space or guard band of 0.2V to 0.4V is between each range. If the voltage stored on the cell is within the first range, the cell is storing a 00. If the voltage is within the second range, the cell is storing a 01. This continues for as many ranges are used for the cell. The embodiments of the present invention may refer to the MLC as a high density configuration. In one embodiment of the present invention, the memory density is two bits per cell. However, some embodiments may store more than two bits per cell, depending on the quantity of different voltage ranges that can be differentiated on the cell. Therefore, the term high density generally refers to any density beyond single bit cells. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a flash memory system 220 of the present invention that incorporates the memory array illustrated in FIG. 1. The memory device 200 has been simplified to focus on features of the memory that are helpful in understanding the present invention. A more detailed understanding of internal circuitry and functions of flash memories are known to those skilled in the art. A processor 210 controls the operation of the flash memory system. The processor 210 may be a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or some other type of control circuitry that generates the memory control, data, and address signals required by the memory device 200. The memory device 200 includes an array of flash memory cells 230 as discussed previously. An address buffer circuit 240 is provided to latch address signals provided on address input connections A0-Ax 242. Address signals are received and decoded by a row decoder 244 and a column decoder 246 to access the memory array 230. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, with the benefit of the present description, that the number of address input connections depends on the density and architecture of the memory array 230. That is, the number of addresses increases with both increased memory cell counts and increased bank and block counts. The memory device 200 reads data in the memory array 230 by sensing voltage or current changes in the memory array columns using sense amplifier/buffer circuitry 250. The sense amplifier/buffer circuitry, in one embodiment, is coupled to read and latch a row of data from the memory array 230. Data input and output buffer circuitry 260 is included for bi-directional data communication over a plurality of data connections 262 with the controller 210. Write circuitry 255 is provided to write data to the memory array. Control circuitry 270 decodes signals provided on a control bus 272. These signals are used to control the operations on the memory array 230, including data read, data write, and erase operations. The control circuitry 270 may be a state machine, a sequencer, or some other type of controller. The control circuitry 270, in one embodiment, is responsible for executing the embodiments of the methods of the present invention for configuring the memory blocks as high or single density. The control circuitry 270 may also be responsible for control of the memory block remapping embodiments of the present invention. The control circuitry 270 can also program the configuration registers 280 in which, in one embodiment, the high/single density memory configuration bits of the present invention can reside. This register may be a non-volatile, programmable fuse apparatus, a volatile memory array, or both. The configuration register 280 can also hold other data such as trimming data, memory block lock data, record keeping data for the memory device, and other data required for operation of the memory device. In one embodiment, random access memory (RAM) 290 is included in the system 220 for volatile storage of data. The RAM 290 might be used to store memory density configuration data that is read from the non-volatile memory array 230 during initialization. In an embodiment where the system 220 is a memory card, the RAM 290 might be included on the card or coupled to the card through a back plane or other bus transmission structure. One requirement of such a memory system as illustrated in FIG. 2 is that at least one block should be error free. In one embodiment, this block is memory block 0. This is the block that is normally used to store the system's BIOS (boot code) or other critical data such as bad block addresses. This is a popular mode of operation in which the data from block 0 is automatically loaded into RAM at power up in order to begin execution and loading of the operating system. If either the entire memory array 230 or block 0 of the system 220 of FIG. 2 were selected to operate in the MLC mode, this could impact the reliability of block 0. This is due to the problems stated above and also that, during power-up of the system, the power supplies are not stable and the noise generated at power-up may cause problems with the smaller VT margins used in the MLC mode. Since the SBC mode operates with wider VT margins, it is a more reliable mode of operation. Therefore, to increase the reliability of block 0, it is permanently designated as operating in the SBC mode independent of the mode selected for any other blocks of the array 230. Such a designation is transparent to the end user. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to only block 0 being permanently designated as operating in the SBC mode. If an application required different blocks or blocks in addition to block 0 to have wider margins, these blocks can also be permanently designated as SBC blocks independent of the remainder of the memory array. Even in the SBC mode, block 0, or other SBC memory block, may still have one or more defective cells from the manufacturing process. If the SBC mode block is determined to have, in one embodiment, at least one defect, an error free block is mapped to the SBC mode block. This has the benefit of potentially increasing memory part yield since the part does not have to be thrown out due to a defect in the SBC mode block. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for configuring the density/performance of a memory device. This embodiment uses special write and read commands to perform high density program and read operations. This embodiment puts the burden on the memory control circuitry to determine the density/performance configuration for a particular memory block. By having the control circuitry perform this task, the memory device does not require any extra hardware in order to switch blocks between high density and single density. The controller tracks the density/performance level. This embodiment uses two sets of algorithms—one for SBC reading and writing and another for MLC reading and writing. A higher level routine determines which set of algorithms to use depending on the received command. In this embodiment, the erase operation is substantially similar for each memory density. The method determines if the received command is a read or write command 301. If a write command was received, it is determined 303 whether the command is a single density write command or a special high density write command. A high density write command 307 causes the controller circuitry to program the specified memory block with two or more bits per cell. A single density write command 309 causes the controller circuitry to program the specified memory block with one bit per cell. If the received command is a read command, it is determined 305 whether the command is a single density read command or a high density read command. If the command is a high density read command 311, the memory block was previously programmed as an MLC cell and is, therefore, read with a high density read operation. A single density configuration read command causes the memory block to be read 313 assuming it was programmed as an SBC. In another embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 4, a configuration register is used to pre-assign blocks of memory to the SBC or MLC configuration of operation. This could occur when the system is initialized. This embodiment would not require special commands than those used in MLC or SBC flash memory devices. Additionally, an existing register could be used to store the configuration data so that additional hardware is not required or, in another embodiment, a dedicated configuration register could be added to the memory device. In one embodiment, the register of the present invention has a bit for every memory block for indicating the operating mode (e.g., MLC or SBC) of that particular block. For example, a logical 1 stored in the memory block 0 configuration bit would indicate that the block is an SBC block while a logical 0 would indicate the block is operating as an MLC block. In another embodiment, these logic levels are reversed. Alternate embodiments can assign different quantities of blocks to each bit of the configuration register. For example, the register may have a configuration bit assigned to more than one memory block. Additionally, a configuration bit may be assigned to the sub-block level such that each block has multiple configuration bits. In one embodiment, row 0 of the flash memory device of the present invention is a configuration row. At initialization and/or power-up of the device, the configuration data from row 0 is loaded into the configuration register 401. When a command is received, it is determined whether it is a read or write command 403. For a read command, the configuration register is checked prior to the read operation to determine if the memory block has been assigned a high density or single density configuration 407. In a single density configuration 411, a single density read operation is performed 419. In a high density configuration 411, a high density read operation is performed 417. If a write command was received, the configuration register is checked prior to write operation to determine if the memory block has been assigned a high density or a single density configuration 409. In a single density configuration 409, a single density write operation is performed 415. In a high density configuration 409, a high density write operation is performed 413. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the user determines the configuration of each block, or other memory cell grouping, and stores this data into the configuration register. When the memory device is powered down, the data in the configuration register is copied to row 0 for more permanent storage in non-volatile memory. In another embodiment, the user can store the configuration directly to the non-volatile, configuration row of the memory device. FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for remapping a defect-free memory block to the SBC block of the present invention. For purposes of illustration, the method of FIG. 5 refers to block 0 as the SBC dedicated memory block. However, any block required by the system to be SBC mode only is covered by the methods of the present invention. Memory block 0 is tested for defects 501. This can be accomplished during the manufacturing process or at another time. If a defect is not found 502, the method is done since block 0 is to remain the SBC mode only block. If a defect is found in block 0 502, a defect-free memory block is remapped to block 0 503 to act as an SBC-only block. After the remapping has been performed, access to the defective block 0, during boot-up or other operations, is rerouted to the remapped memory block so that the remapping operation is transparent to the user. The flash memory of the present invention is comprised of memory blocks that can each be configured to store data in different densities (except block 0 or other SBC-dedicated blocks). For example, one use of a single memory device might be to store both pictures and code. The picture data is more tolerant of corrupted data than the storage of code. Therefore, since the SBC configuration has a higher reliability than the MLC configuration, the user would typically choose the SBC configuration for the code storage and the MLC configuration for the picture storage. Similarly, since the MLC configuration might be eight to nine times slower in read and programming performance as compared to the SBC configuration, the user might choose the MLC configuration for memory blocks requiring faster read/write times. This could be useful in a system having fast bus speeds requiring fast storage and retrieval times. CONCLUSION In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide a flash memory device that has user selectable MLC/SBC memory blocks while maintaining a dedicated SBC mode block. Additionally, if the dedicated SBC mode block has been determined to have defects, another block can be remapped to the defective block's location and act as an SBC-only block. Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Many adaptations of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the invention. It is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory. Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Common uses for flash memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, and cellular telephones. Program code and system data such as a basic input/output system (BIOS) are typically stored in flash memory devices for use in personal computer systems. The present trend of electronic devices is increased performance at reduced cost. The component manufacturers, therefore, must continue to increase the performance of their devices while decreasing the cost to manufacture them. One way to increase a flash memory device's density while lowering its manufacturing cost is to use multiple level cells (MLC). Such a device stores two logical bits per physical cell. This reduces the overall cost of the memory. NAND flash memory devices are designed to operate in either one of two configurations on the same die: single bit per cell (SBC) or MLC. The selection of the configuration is done at the factory when the die is manufactured through a metal mask or a programmable fuse option. However, an MLC die, while having improved cost versus density, has drawbacks relative to performance. Both the programming and read operations can become slower for an MLC die. Therefore, the user typically has to choose between having high memory density at low cost and lower memory density with higher performance. Additionally, due to the smaller margins from one state to another state in an MLC die, any loss in charge from the floating gate can cause the stored data to become corrupted. For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a memory device that combines the attributes of MLC with the reliability of SBC devices in at least a portion of the memory. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The above-mentioned problems with reliability and other problems are addressed by the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification. The embodiments of the present invention encompass a non-volatile memory device that is organized into a plurality of memory blocks. Each memory block is adapted to operate in either a multiple level cell mode or a single bit per cell mode. A dedicated memory block is adapted to operate only in the single bit per cell mode. This block can be used to store boot code or other important data that needs to have the higher reliability of the SBC configuration. Further embodiments of the invention include methods and apparatus of varying scope. | 20040625 | 20080226 | 20051229 | 91018.0 | 5 | HOANG, HUAN | MULTIPLE LEVEL CELL MEMORY DEVICE WITH SINGLE BIT PER CELL, RE-MAPPABLE MEMORY BLOCK | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,460 | ACCEPTED | Endosseous dental implant | Endosseous dental implants include an at least partly, externally-threaded body portion, an internal cavity or shaft with an opening to the cavity or shaft at the top surface of the implant, and, in the internal cavity or shaft, a threaded portion, and a two part interlock chamber contiguous to said threaded portion including multi-lobed surfaces in a first part, and a plurality of lobes, slots or grooves in a second part. | 1. An endosseous dental implant comprising: a body portion having a top surface and at least part of its external surface threaded, and an internal shaft or cavity comprising (a) an interlock chamber comprising two parts, a first part including a plurality of lobes extending distally from a plane at or near the top surface of said implant, said lobes protruding a first maximum radial distance into the internal sidewalls of said implant, and a second part extending distally from the distal end of said first part, said second part extending a maximum radial distance into the internal sidewalls of said implant no greater than said first maximum radial distance, and having protrusions with a rounded, rectangular or triangular cross-sectional profile, and (b) an internally-threaded portion, contiguous to said interlock chamber, said internal shaft or cavity beginning at an opening in the top surface of said implant and ending inside said body portion. 2. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 wherein said body portion is externally threaded over substantially its entire length. 3. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said external surface of said body portion is partly threaded and, at or near the top of said dental implant, is unthreaded. 4. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said internal shaft or cavity extends downwardly into said body portion from said opening at the top surface of said dental implant. 5. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 further comprising a non-circular chamfer or bevel formed partly or entirely around said opening. 6. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 further comprising a non-circular bevel or chamfer formed at the junction of the top surface of said implant and the tri-lobed surfaces. 7. The endosseous dental implant of claim 1 wherein said interlock chamber, in said first part, comprises three lobes spaced equally apart, and in said second part, comprises three lobes, slots or grooves of smaller maximum diameter than the lobes in said first part. 8. A two-piece abutment for use with the endosseous dental implant of claim 1 including a two-part interlock chamber comprising, in a first part, protrusions that can engage the lobes in the first part of said interlock chamber and in a second part, protrusions that can engage the lobes, rests or grooves in the second part of said interlock chamber. | This invention relates to endosseous dental implants comprising an, at least partly, externally-threaded body portion, and in some embodiments, an unthreaded external top portion. These implants also comprise an internal cavity or shaft with an opening to the cavity or shaft at the top surface of the implant. This internal cavity or shaft comprises a wrench-engaging chamber, which begins in the internal cavity or shaft, at or below the top surface of the implant, and a threaded chamber extending down from the wrench-engaging chamber, and ends in the internal cavity or shaft inside the body portion. The threaded portion of the internal cavity of the implant is smaller in cross-sectional area than the wrench-engaging surfaces. The body portion may be cylindrical, conical, or tapered, and may include external, self-tapping threads on the body portion. The wrench-engaging chamber comprises two distinct parts, namely two distinct wrench-engaging surfaces, formed in the internal cavity or shaft. A first part extends distally from a plane at or near the top surface of the implant, and includes a rounded, external profile that protrudes a first maximum radial distance from the abutment's internal sidewalls. These may be tri-lobed, and surfaces are adapted to receive and engage a complementary insertion tool for insertion of the implant into an opening or bore formed in the jawbone of a patient. A second part extends distally from one or more lobes of the first part. These protrusion(s) may have a rounded, rectangular or triangular profile, and, preferably, each protrudes a second maximum radial distance from the abutment's internal sidewalls. The second maximum radial distance is smaller than the first maximum radial distance. These protrusions are also adapted to receive and engage a complementary insertion tool. The opening to the internal cavity or shaft of the implant may be chamfered or beveled, preferably all around the opening. The chamfered or beveled portion is, in some embodiments, of sufficient size and shape to receive and engage an abutment, adapter or other connector inserted into the opening. When the opening to the internal cavity or shaft is chamfered/beveled, a complementary adapter, connector or abutment may, in some embodiments, form a smooth, easily cleaned margin between the implant and the abutment, adapter, or connector. The internal cavity or shaft of the dental implant is, in preferred embodiments, complementary in size and shape to abutments, adapters or other connectors, especially two-part abutments, adapters or other connectors. The abutment may be a dental component such as a healing cap, or impression post, or a temporary or more permanent abutment. In preferred embodiments, such abutments engage one or both parts of the internal wrench-engaging surfaces, and may have an inner bore that extends through the center of the abutment, with a flange or seat formed in this inner bore. Such a flange or seat supports a threaded screw which fits into and through the inner bore of the abutment, and extends beyond the inner bore for engagement with the internal threads of an implant. In preferred embodiments, these implants have a length in the range of about 8 mm to about 20 mm, and an outer diameter in the range of about 3 mm to about 7 mm. The internal cavity or shaft preferably has a length in the range of about 3 mm to about 7 mm, and a cross-section (or plurality of cross-sections) in the range of about 1.5 mm to about 3.5 mm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention can better be understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference symbols refer to like parts, and in which: FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an endosseous dental implant; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, perspective view of the implant shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is another cross-sectional, perspective view of the implant shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4A is a side elevation view of an insertion tool for use with the implant of FIG. 1; FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the insertion tool of FIG. 4A shown with the dental implant of FIG. 1; FIG. 4C is a perspective view of an abutment of FIG. 5 shown with the dental implant of FIG. 1; and FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the abutment of FIG. 4C. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows endosseous dental implant 10 with external threading 11 over more than half the length of the external surface of implant 10, and with upper unthreaded external body portion 12. Together, external body portions 11 and 12 comprise the entire external body portion of implant 10. At the top of implant 10 is top surface 23. Below top surface 23 and internal to implant 10 is internal cavity or shaft 22. Opening 13 in top surface 23 of implant 10 leads inwardly and downwardly to internal cavity or shaft 22. Cavity 22 includes (See FIG. 2) threaded portion 20, terminating in passage 22 inside implant 10. Starting at and extending below top surface 23, and internal to implant 10 are tri-lobed surfaces 17, 18, and 19 in interlock chamber 26. This tri-lobed surface has rounded surfaces which lie within an area that is substantially greater in size than the area within which apexes 14, 15, and 16 lie, and/or than the area occupied by the internally threaded portion 20. Interlock chamber 26 also includes protrusions 14, 15 and 16 that extend distally from the distal ends of lobes 17, 18 and 19. Lobes 17, 18 and 19, and rounded, V-shaped or rectangular protrusions 14, 15 and 16 protrude first and second maximum radial distances into the internal walls of shaft 22. The first maximum radial distances of the tri-lobes are wider than the second maximum radial distances of the protrusions. The second maximum radial distances are all substantially the same. The tri-lobed surfaces 17, 18, and 19, and the protrusions 14, 15 and 16 are adapted to receive and engage an abutment (see FIGS. 4C, 5). The first wider tri-lobe surfaces may be denoted as insertion tool engaging surfaces. The second narrower protrusions 14, 15 and 16 may be denoted as abutment-engaging or adapter-engaging surfaces. The external threading 11 on the external surface of implant 10 may be a multiple-lead thread, e.g. a double or triple lead thread, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,029, columns 14 and 15, or a combination of single and multiple lead threads, or quadruple and double lead threads. The text and drawings of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,381, issued Oct. 2, 1990, entitled “Screw-Type Dental Implant Anchor,” are also incorporated by reference as though fully set forth here. FIGS. 4B and 4C show implant 10 from a top perspective view. FIGS. 4A and 4B show a side elevation view, and a top perspective view, respectively, of an insertion tool 30 for use with implant 10. Tool 30 includes cylindrical upper body portion 35, and hexagonal or square gripping area 34 at its proximate end and. At its distal end, lobe 30 includes lobes 31, 32 that fit into lobe-shaped openings 17 and 18 of implant 10. Distal cylindrical portion 33 with protrusions 33A and 33B of tool 30 extends below lobes 31 and 32, and provides additional strength and stability to tool 30. In use, tool 30 is inserted into opening 13 with lobes 31 and 32 seating in lobed-shaped spaces 18 and 17, respectively, and protrusions 33A and 33B in the slots/grooves/lobes of the second part of interlock chamber 26. A wrench, ratchet or other tool engages square or hexagonal region 34 on tool 30 to screw or otherwise turn implant 10 into place in a patient's jawbone. FIG. 4C and FIG. 5 show side perspective view and side elevation views of abutment 40 for use with implant 10. Abutment 40 includes, at the top surface, an opening 42 and a conical and a frusto-conical shaped portion 41. Distal to portion 41 is outwardly tapering portion 44, edge 43, and inwardly, downwardly tapering sections 45 and 49. Below sections 45 and 49 are surface 54. Projecting distally from surface 54 are lobes 46, 47 and 50, each having a first maximum radial extension from outer surface 53 of abutment 40. Contiguous with and extending distally from surface 55 is rounded profile lobes 51 and 52. Lobe 51 fits into opening such as opening 55 inside implant 10 (see FIG. 4.) Abutment 40 has an internal axially extending passage 52 through which a screw can be inserted and screwed into place in internal threads 21 inside implant 10 to hold abutment part 40 in place atop implant 10. One advantage of the two-stage interlock chamber is that an insertion tool can, in preferred embodiments, fit into the first part with its wider lobes without engaging the second part below, permitting a dental professional to carry and insert the implant properly and precisely in an opening or bore formed in the jawbone of a patient with minimal risk of damage to the shallower lobes/grooves/slots in the second part of the interlock chamber, thereby assuring that the second stage lobes/grooves/slots provide maximum rotational stability to an abutment with corresponding protrusions. Another advantage of the multi-lobed surfaces is that a dental professional has good tactile sense to assure full seating when inserting an abutment, adapter or connector into this surface. Furthermore, the mating, rounded surfaces of the multi-lobed abutment connection provide adequate material thickness to withstand rotational and tipping forces during mastication. An advantage of the non-circular bevel all around, or partly around, the opening to the internal shaft, where present, is to help center the abutment, thus facilitating initial alignment of the multi-lobed surfaces. Another advantage is to provide for engagement of a mating, beveled surface on the abutment, preventing rotational movement of the abutment when fully seated in the implant and held in place by a fixation screw. An advantage of the two-part interlock chamber is that the two distinct wrench-engaging surfaces provide greater rotational stability for abutments and greater resistance to implant deformation from insertion tools during placement of the implant into patient's jaw. The second part of the interlock chamber whether comprising rounded lobes, slots, such as rectangular slots, or V-shaped grooves, that each start at the base of the lobes in the first part of the interlock chamber and extend down to the internally threaded region, and enhance stability of abutments inserted into the implant and stability of an implant insertion tool placed into the interlock chamber. By contrast to the implants disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,291, the implants of this invention, and the abutment used for the implants of this invention, provide a longer, stronger interlock chamber, a stronger abutment, and a stronger abutment/implant connection. The reduced cross-section of the protrusions of the second part of the interlock chamber compared to the cross-sections of the tri-lobe first part of the interlock chamber accommodate narrowing of the diameter of tapered implant body embodiments. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The present invention can better be understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference symbols refer to like parts, and in which: FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an endosseous dental implant; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, perspective view of the implant shown in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is another cross-sectional, perspective view of the implant shown in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4A is a side elevation view of an insertion tool for use with the implant of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the insertion tool of FIG. 4A shown with the dental implant of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4C is a perspective view of an abutment of FIG. 5 shown with the dental implant of FIG. 1 ; and FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the abutment of FIG. 4C . detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040625 | 20060919 | 20051229 | 57737.0 | 0 | DONAHOE, CASEY D | ENDOSSEOUS DENTAL IMPLANT | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,477 | ACCEPTED | Using a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for devices in a network | One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network. During system operation, the portable security token is located in close physical proximity to the target device to allow the portable security token to communicate with the target device through a location-limited communication channel. During this communication, the portable security token receives an authenticator for the target device, and forms a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA). Next, the portable security token sends the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. | 1. A method for using a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, comprising: bringing the portable security token in close physical proximity to the target device, thereby allowing the portable security token to communicate with the target device through a location-limited communication channel; receiving an authenticator for the target device at the portable security token through the location-limited communication channel; forming a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); and sending the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the authenticator can include: a hash of the target device's public key; a hash of a secret known only by the target device; the target device's public key; or a hash of a certificate or a piece of data belonging to the device already. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA can be: a secret symmetric key known by only the portable security token and the CA; or a private key belonging to the portable security token. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the credential is a public key certificate for the target device, which is signed by the CA. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein before the portable security token communicates with the target device, the portable security token initially communicates with the CA, and during this initial communication: the CA and portable security token agree upon the key which is used to sign the ticket; the CA communicates a hash of the CA's public key to the portable security token; and the CA communicates addressing information for the CA to portable security token. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the authenticator at the portable security token, the portable security token sends a request for the authenticator to the target device. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable security token additionally sends to the target device: addressing information for the CA; and the CA's public key (or a hash of the CA's public key); thereby enabling the target device to communicate with and authenticate the CA. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein in addition to the authenticator, the ticket can also include: an identifier for the CA; an identifier for the portable security token; and an indicator of the purpose for the ticket. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein after the target device receives the ticket, the target device subsequently communicates with the CA, and in doing so first authenticates the CA using the CA's public key (or the hash of the CA's public key) provided to the target device by the portable security token. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein after the target device authenticates the CA, the target device sends the following to the CA: the ticket; the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists); and any other information that the CA needs to verify the ticket. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein if the pre-image of the authenticator is a secret known only by the target device, the pre-image is sent to the CA through a secure tunnel. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the CA subsequently attempts to authenticate the target device using the ticket, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists), and the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA; wherein if the target device is authenticated, the CA sends the credential to the target device. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable security token is hardware-constrained and therefore has limited computational capabilities. 14. A method for using a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, comprising: receiving a request at the target device from the portable security token through a location-limited communication channel; in response to the request, sending an authenticator for the target device to the portable security token through the location-limited communication channel; and receiving a ticket from the portable security token, the portable security token having formed the ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. 15. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for using a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, the method comprising: receiving an authenticator for the target device at the portable security token through a location-limited communication channel; forming a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); and sending the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. 16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the authenticator can include: a hash of the target device's public key; a hash of a secret known only by the target device; the target device's public key; or a hash of a certificate or a piece of data belonging to the device already. 17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA can be: a secret symmetric key known by only the portable security token and the CA; or a private key belonging to the portable security token. 18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the credential is a public key certificate for the target device, which is signed by the CA. 19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein before the portable security token communicates with the target device, the portable security token initially communicates with the CA, and during this initial communication: the CA and portable security token agree upon the key which is used to sign the ticket; the CA communicates a hash of the CA's public key to the portable security token; and the CA communicates addressing information for the CA to portable security token. 20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein prior to receiving the authenticator at the portable security token, the portable security token sends a request for the authenticator to the target device. 21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the portable security token additionally sends to the target device: addressing information for the CA; and the CA's public key (or a hash of the CA's public key); thereby enabling the target device to communicate with and authenticate the CA. 22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein in addition to the authenticator, the ticket can also include: an identifier for the CA; an identifier for the portable security token; and an indicator of the purpose for the ticket. 23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein after the target device receives the ticket, the target device subsequently communicates with the CA, and in doing so first authenticates the CA using the CA's public key (or the hash of the CA's public key) provided to the target device by the portable security token. 24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein after the target device authenticates the CA, the target device sends the following to the CA: the ticket; the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists); and any other information that the CA needs to verify the ticket. 25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein if the pre-image of the authenticator is a secret known only by the target device, the pre-image is sent to the CA through a secure tunnel. 26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the CA subsequently attempts to authenticate the target device using the ticket, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists), and the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA; wherein if the target device is authenticated, the CA sends the credential to the target device. 27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the portable security token is hardware-constrained and therefore has limited computational capabilities. 28. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for using a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, the method comprising: receiving a request at the target device from the portable security token through a location-limited communication channel; in response to the request, sending an authenticator for the target device to the portable security token through the location-limited communication channel; and receiving a ticket from the portable security token, the portable security token having formed the ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. 29. An apparatus that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, comprising: the portable security token that can be located in close physical proximity to the target device, thereby allowing the portable security token to communicate with the target device through a location-limited communication channel; a receiving mechanism within the portable security token configured to receive an authenticator for the target device through the location-limited communication channel; a ticket forming mechanism within the portable security token configured to form a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); and a sending mechanism within the portable security token configured to send the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. 30. An apparatus that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network, comprising: the target device; a receiving mechanism within the target device configured to receive a request from the portable security token through a location-limited communication channel; a response mechanism within the target device, wherein in response to the request, the response mechanism is configured to send an authenticator for the target device to the portable security token through the location-limited communication channel; and wherein the receiving mechanism is additionally configured to receive a ticket from the portable security token, the portable security token having formed the ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA); whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. | RELATED APPLICATION The subject matter of this application is related to the subject matter in a co-pending non-provisional application by inventors Diana K. Smetters, Dirk Balfanz, Glenn E. Durfee, Rebecca E. Grinter, Paul J. Stewart and Hao-Chi Wong, entitled, “Method, Apparatus and Program Product for Securely Presenting Situation Information,” having Ser. No. 10/656,439, and filing date 05 Sep. 2003 (Attorney Docket No. D/A3162). BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to mechanisms for providing security in distributed computing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for devices in a network. 2. Related Art Public key cryptography provides a powerful tool that can be used to both encrypt data and to authenticate digital signatures. However, before public key cryptography can become widely used, there must exist a practical and reliable solution to the problem of associating public keys with their owners in a trusted (authenticated) manner. One solution to this problem is to construct a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). A PKI supports a collection of well-known trusted public keys, which can possibly be hierarchically organized. In a PKI, the owner of a trusted key is usually referred to as a “Certification Authority,” or “CA.” A CA can use a private key corresponding to its trusted public key to authenticate the keys of other members (users and devices) in the PKI by signing the keys for the members, and creating a “digital certificate.” A digital certificate typically links a public key to information indicating who owns the key (an identity certificate), or what the key is allowed to be used for (an attribute certificate), or at a minimum, that the bearer of the corresponding private key is a valid member of this particular PKI or other trust system. The existence of a PKI simplifies the key management problem, because it is not necessary to exchange keys for all members of a trusted network, only the trusted public keys need to be exchanged. Unfortunately, the operations involved in creating a PKI, managing a PKI, and distributing certificates, have turned out to be extremely difficult to perform in practice. Even establishing a small special-purpose PKI to support the use of public key cryptography for one application within one organization is generally considered to be too expensive and difficult to be worthwhile. One reason for this is that existing software tools are complicated, expensive, and require extensive knowledge of standards and cryptography. As a result, in spite of the fact that the use of public key cryptography can dramatically increase the security of many communications protocols (for example, compared to password-based alternatives), protocol designers typically use less secure alternatives that do not involve the “burden” of establishing a PKI. Similarly, this cost of establishing a PKI keeps individuals from considering a larger-scale use of public key cryptography in embedded devices (such as cell phones and printers), because each of these devices would have to be “provisioned” with a digital certificate. A derivative problem exists for wireless networks. Wireless networks are notoriously difficult to configure securely, even for a knowledgeable network administrator. Consequently, many wireless networks do not provide adequate security. These networks simply leave information and network resources exposed to strangers, thereby making machines on the network vulnerable to attack. Although standards bodies have begun to specify new technologies capable of securing wireless networks, these new technologies are complex, and even more difficult to configure and manage than existing technologies. Hence, what is needed is a less-complicated mechanism for creating a secure credential infrastructure such as a PKI, and in particular a mechanism that is practical to use in wireless networks. SUMMARY One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network. During system operation, the portable security token is located in close physical proximity to the target device to allow the portable security token to communicate with the target device through a location-limited communication channel. During this communication, the portable security token receives an authenticator for the target device, and forms a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA). Next, the portable security token sends the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. Note that in a variation on this embodiment, the target device presents to the CA information necessary to prove that the target device is the one that provided the authenticator and should receive the credential. This can be accomplished by revealing the pre-image of the hashed secret authenticator in the tunnel, or signing something with the private key whose corresponding public key the token signed in the ticket. Technically speaking, if the credential to be issued is a public one (e.g. a public key certificate) that depends on public key signatures and even if it falls into the wrong hands cannot be used by anyone other than the private key holder, the target does not actually have to “prove possession” of the private key in order for the CA to be reasonable in generating the certificate. However, if the target isn't the holder of the private key (e.g. it's someone who has just gotten hold of the ticket), in the proposed scenarios of use, they could make life difficult for the legitimate target by making it hard for the real target to actually obtain its validly issued certificate. If the credential is one that needs to be kept private, it needs to be distributed in a tunnel, where both parties have carefully ensured that the respective ends of the tunnel are the correct players—the CA (the holder of the private key corresponding to the public key of the CA provided to the target) and the holder of the secret backing up the authenticator value (the pre-image of the secret hash or the private key). Also note that in the case where the portable security token and the target have a 2nd communication channel available to them, they could perform some of this communication across that 2nd channel. If the portable security token was insufficiently powerful to perform a full exchange over two channels Oust exchange hashes of public keys over the LLC, establish an SSL or other tunnel over the 2nd link and send the rest through that), they could exchange the authenticator value and CA key hash over the LLC, along with addressing information, and then exchange the ticket and supporting info over the 2nd channel. In a variation on this embodiment, the authenticator can include: a hash of the target device's public key; a hash of a secret known only by the target device; the target device's public key; or a hash of a certificate or a piece of data belonging to the device already. In a variation on this embodiment, the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA can be: a secret symmetric key known by only the portable security token and the CA, or a private key belonging to the portable security token. (Note that the CA and the portable security token actually agree on the public key corresponding to this private key; the CA never sees the private key directly. They do implicitly agree also on the private key, though, because of the mathematical relationship between the private key and the public key.) In a variation on this embodiment, the credential is a public key certificate for the target device, which is signed by the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, before the portable security token communicates with the target device, the portable security token initially communicates with the CA. During this initial communication, the CA and portable security token agree upon the key which is used to sign the ticket. The CA also communicates a hash of the CA's public key and addressing information for the CA to the portable security token. (Note that they can also communicate the full public key for the CA, which the portable security token could either give to the target as is or reduce to a hash, or a full certificate or the hash thereof, etc.) In a variation on this embodiment, prior to receiving the authenticator at the portable security token, the portable security token sends a request for the authenticator to the target device. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token additionally sends the CA's public key (or a hash of the CA's public key) to the target device, thereby enabling the target device to authenticate the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token additionally sends addressing information for the CA to the target device, thereby enabling the target device to communicate with the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, in addition to the authenticator, the ticket can also include: an identifier for the CA; an identifier for the portable security token; and an indicator of the purpose for the ticket. In a variation on this embodiment, after the target device receives the ticket, the target device subsequently communicates with the CA. In doing so, the target device first authenticates the CA using the CA's public key (or the hash of the CA's public key) provided to the target device by the portable security token. In a variation on this embodiment, after the target device authenticates the CA, the target device sends the following to the CA: the ticket; the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists); and any other information that the CA needs to verify the ticket. (Note that if the pre-image of the authenticator is a secret known only by the target device, the pre-image is sent to the CA through a secure tunnel.) In a variation on this embodiment, the CA subsequently attempts to authenticate the target device using the ticket, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists), and the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA. Next, if the target device is authenticated, the CA sends the credential to the target device. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token is hardware-constrained and therefore has limited computational capabilities. Consequently, the portable security token may not be capable of performing public-key operations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 illustrates a distributed computing system including a portable security token, a target device and a certification authority (CA) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 presents a flow chart illustrating how the portable security token initially interacts with the CA in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 presents a flow chart illustrating how the target device obtains a ticket by interacting with the portable security token in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 presents a flow chart illustrating how the target device subsequently interacts with the CA to receive a credential in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system. This includes, but is not limited to, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), and computer instruction signals embodied in a transmission medium (with or without a carrier wave upon which the signals are modulated). For example, the transmission medium may include a communications network, such as the Internet. Distributed Computing System FIG. 1 illustrates a distributed computing system 100 including a portable security token 102, a target device 104 and a certification authority (CA) 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Target device 104 can include any computational device or appliance that can make use of a credential. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, target device 104 is a television set with computational capabilities that is able to communicate across a wireless network. CA 106 can include any computational device that can perform certification authority functions. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, CA 106 is located within an intelligent wireless access point, which contains a CA and an authentication server, that respectively issue and check certificates for devices on a wireless network that the wireless access point provides. The television set (illustrated as target device 104) exemplifies a device that can be added to such a network. Portable security token 102 can include any type of portable device that can communicate with network devices through a location-limited communication channel. For example, portable security token 102 can include, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a smart card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, or a hand-held remote control device. Note that portable security token 102 may have limited computational capabilities, and consequently, may not be capable of performing public-key operations. Furthermore, portable security token 102 does not have to be able to simultaneously communicate with the CA (or anyone else) beyond the LLC-based communication with the target device in order to be able to enroll the target device. Interactions between portable security token 102, target device 104 and CA 106 are described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 2-4. Initialization Operations Between Portable Security Token and CA FIG. 2 presents a flow chart illustrating how portable security token 102 initially interacts with the CA in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. First, portable security token 102 and CA 106 begin communicating with each other (step 202). This communication can take place in a number of ways. For example, portable security token 102 and CA 106 can be brought into close proximity to each other so that portable security token 102 and CA 106 can communicate through a location-limited communication channel. Alternatively, portable security token 102 and CA 106 can communicate through a direct wired connection, or portable security token 102 can communicate with CA 106 though a public network. Portable security token 102 and CA 106 can then (optionally) authenticate each other before proceeding. Next, CA 106 and portable security token 102 agree upon a key that portable security token 102 will subsequently use to sign tickets for network devices (step 204). In one embodiment of the present invention, this key is a secret symmetric key that is known only by CA 106 and portable security token 102. In another embodiment, portable security token 102 receives a digital certificate issued by CA 106, and portable security token 102 uses its corresponding private key, which is associated with this digital certificate, to sign tickets. This could also just be a public key (uncertified) of the portable security token that the CA simply remembers, rather than certifying it. If the key used is a shared secret key, the CA must remember it. If it is a public key, either the CA must remember the entire key (with or without its surrounding certificate, and not just a hash of it), or the CA must receive a copy of the entire key with the collection of ticket and other stuff it must verify, and at the same time must have a way of validating the key as belonging to a legitimate token that it allows to post requests. This latter validation can be done by having the CA remember the hash of the token's public key, or by having the CA issue a certificate as described above, in which case the entire certificate must be presented by the target along with the signed ticket. If the LLC is low-bandwidth, the best option is probably just to have the CA remember the token's public key (marked as one that can sign tickets), but the certificate route works just fine as long as it's passed around properly (the CA could remember the certificate, but that's isomorphic to remembering the public key, and the certificate in that case plays only the role of the “mark” that this is a public key that can sign tickets). CA 106 also communicates its public key (or a hash of its public key) to portable security token 102 (step 206), as well as addressing information (such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the CA) (step 208). Portable security token 102 subsequently communicates CA 106's public key and addressing information to network devices to enable the network devices to communicate with and authenticate CA 106. At this point, portable security token 102 is ready to issue tickets. How Portable Security Token Issues a Ticket to a Target Device FIG. 3 presents a flow chart illustrating how portable security token 102 issues a ticket to target device 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Portable security token 102 is initially placed in close physical proximity to target device 104 (step 302). This enables portable security token 102 to communicate with target device 104 through a location-limited communication channel. This location-limited communication channel can include: a communication channel that uses visible or invisible electromagnetic radiation communication, such as an infrared communication channel; a communication channel through a short run of wires; an audio communication channel (either audible or inaudible); a physical electrical contact; a short range RF channel; a near-field signaling channel; and a communication channel that operates by passing information from one device to another device through a physical computer-readable media, such as a removable disk, a USB storage device, a flash memory pen, or other tangible data carrier. This location-limited communication channel ideally has the “demonstrative identification property,” which means that human operators are aware of which devices are communicating with each other over the channel, which enables the human operators to easily detect when an attack is being made on the channel. This location-limited communication channel also ideally has the “authenticity property,” which means that it is impossible or difficult for an attacker to transmit over the channel or tamper with messages sent over the channel without being detected by the legitimate parties to the communication. Note that it is not necessary for the channel to provide secrecy. Hence, an attacker can monitor the transmissions on the channel, so long as the attacker cannot transmit on the channel without detection. Note that because of the location-limited nature of the channel, it is difficult for an attacker to monitor the channel, let alone transmit on the channel without detection. Furthermore, detection only requires that the human participants know the number of the participants (devices) who are communicating over the channel. In one embodiment of the present invention, portable security token 102 functions like an infrared television remote control. In this embodiment, a human operator located in close proximity to target device 104 points portable security token 102 at target device 104 and presses a button to initiate communications between portable security token 102 and target device 104. During these communications, portable security token 102 sends an initial request to target device 104 (step 304). This initial request (or possibly a subsequent message) can include CA 106's public key (or a hash of CA 106's public key) and addressing information for CA 106 to enable target device 104 to subsequently communicate with and authenticate CA 106. In response to this request, target device 104 returns an authenticator to portable security token 102 (step 306). This authenticator is a cryptographic token that can be used in a subsequent protocol between target device 104 and the CA 106 to prove that the cryptographic token originated from target device 104. For example, the authenticator can be, target device 104's public key, a hash of target device 104's public key, or a hash of a secret known only by target device 104. Next, portable security token 102 forms a ticket by digitally signing authenticator (step 308). Note that in addition to the authenticator, the ticket can also include: an identifier for CA 106, an identifier for portable security token 102, and an indicator of the purpose of the ticket. Moreover, this digital signing process involves using the key that was previously agreed upon between portable security token 102 and CA 106. Finally, after the ticket is formed and signed, portable security token 102 sends the ticket to target device 104 (step 310). Target device 104 can subsequently present the ticket to CA 106 to prove that target device 104 is authorized to receive a credential from CA 106. This process is described in more detail below. How Target Device Obtains Credential from CA FIG. 4 presents a flow chart illustrating how the target device 104 subsequently interacts with CA 106 to receive a credential in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At the start of this process, target device 104 and CA 106 begin communicating with each other through any one of a number of communication channels (step 402). For example, target device 104 can use the addressing information for CA 106 (obtained from portable security token 102) to begin communicating with CA 106 though a network. Next, target device 104 uses CA 106's public key (or a hash of CA 106's public key) previously obtained from portable security token 102 to authenticate CA 106 (step 404). This can be accomplished using well-known authentication techniques. For example, target device 104 can cause CA 106 to sign some piece of information with CA 106's private key. Target device 104 can then use CA 106's public key to verify that the information was signed by CA 106's private key. Note that if target device 104 only possesses the hash of CA 106's public key, target device 104 must first obtain CA 106's public key from CA 106. Once target device 104 has authenticated CA 106, target device 104 sends the ticket, along with other information needed to verify the ticket, to CA 106 (step 406). This other information needed to verify the ticket can include, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists). For example, if the authenticator is a hash of target device 104's public key, the pre-image would be target device 104's public key in un-hashed form. Similarly, if the authenticator is a hash, H(S), of a secret, S, known only to target device 104, the pre-image would be the secret, S. In this case, the secret, S, is ideally sent to the CA through a secure encrypted tunnel, such as an SSL connection, which is established between target device 104 and CA 106. Next, CA 106 attempts to authenticate target device 104 using the ticket, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists) and the previously agreed upon key (step 408). This involves verifying the ticket was signed with the previously agreed upon key and also verifying that the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists) is consistent with the authenticator. If target device 104 is successfully authenticated, CA 106 constructs and sends a credential to target device 104 (step 410). In one embodiment of the present invention, this credential is a digital certificate for target device 104's public key, which is signed by CA 106 (using its private key). Note that this certificate can include restrictions on its usage. For example, the digital certificate can be restricted so that it only enables target device 104 to join a secure network. Note that in other embodiments of the present invention, other credentials can be used, such as a shared secret (that must be given to the target over a secure tunnel), specific types of certificates (X.509, SPKI, WTLS, etc), or other types of public key-based cryptographic credentials, from digital cash to anonymous credentials, to more tickets (Kerberos tickets, tickets like these for yet other credentials, movies, etc). The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented only for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to mechanisms for providing security in distributed computing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for devices in a network. 2. Related Art Public key cryptography provides a powerful tool that can be used to both encrypt data and to authenticate digital signatures. However, before public key cryptography can become widely used, there must exist a practical and reliable solution to the problem of associating public keys with their owners in a trusted (authenticated) manner. One solution to this problem is to construct a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). A PKI supports a collection of well-known trusted public keys, which can possibly be hierarchically organized. In a PKI, the owner of a trusted key is usually referred to as a “Certification Authority,” or “CA.” A CA can use a private key corresponding to its trusted public key to authenticate the keys of other members (users and devices) in the PKI by signing the keys for the members, and creating a “digital certificate.” A digital certificate typically links a public key to information indicating who owns the key (an identity certificate), or what the key is allowed to be used for (an attribute certificate), or at a minimum, that the bearer of the corresponding private key is a valid member of this particular PKI or other trust system. The existence of a PKI simplifies the key management problem, because it is not necessary to exchange keys for all members of a trusted network, only the trusted public keys need to be exchanged. Unfortunately, the operations involved in creating a PKI, managing a PKI, and distributing certificates, have turned out to be extremely difficult to perform in practice. Even establishing a small special-purpose PKI to support the use of public key cryptography for one application within one organization is generally considered to be too expensive and difficult to be worthwhile. One reason for this is that existing software tools are complicated, expensive, and require extensive knowledge of standards and cryptography. As a result, in spite of the fact that the use of public key cryptography can dramatically increase the security of many communications protocols (for example, compared to password-based alternatives), protocol designers typically use less secure alternatives that do not involve the “burden” of establishing a PKI. Similarly, this cost of establishing a PKI keeps individuals from considering a larger-scale use of public key cryptography in embedded devices (such as cell phones and printers), because each of these devices would have to be “provisioned” with a digital certificate. A derivative problem exists for wireless networks. Wireless networks are notoriously difficult to configure securely, even for a knowledgeable network administrator. Consequently, many wireless networks do not provide adequate security. These networks simply leave information and network resources exposed to strangers, thereby making machines on the network vulnerable to attack. Although standards bodies have begun to specify new technologies capable of securing wireless networks, these new technologies are complex, and even more difficult to configure and manage than existing technologies. Hence, what is needed is a less-complicated mechanism for creating a secure credential infrastructure such as a PKI, and in particular a mechanism that is practical to use in wireless networks. | <SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a portable security token to facilitate public key certification for a target device in a network. During system operation, the portable security token is located in close physical proximity to the target device to allow the portable security token to communicate with the target device through a location-limited communication channel. During this communication, the portable security token receives an authenticator for the target device, and forms a ticket by digitally signing the authenticator with a key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and a certification authority (CA). Next, the portable security token sends the ticket to the target device, whereby the target device can subsequently present the ticket to the CA to prove that the target device is authorized to receive a credential from the CA. Note that in a variation on this embodiment, the target device presents to the CA information necessary to prove that the target device is the one that provided the authenticator and should receive the credential. This can be accomplished by revealing the pre-image of the hashed secret authenticator in the tunnel, or signing something with the private key whose corresponding public key the token signed in the ticket. Technically speaking, if the credential to be issued is a public one (e.g. a public key certificate) that depends on public key signatures and even if it falls into the wrong hands cannot be used by anyone other than the private key holder, the target does not actually have to “prove possession” of the private key in order for the CA to be reasonable in generating the certificate. However, if the target isn't the holder of the private key (e.g. it's someone who has just gotten hold of the ticket), in the proposed scenarios of use, they could make life difficult for the legitimate target by making it hard for the real target to actually obtain its validly issued certificate. If the credential is one that needs to be kept private, it needs to be distributed in a tunnel, where both parties have carefully ensured that the respective ends of the tunnel are the correct players—the CA (the holder of the private key corresponding to the public key of the CA provided to the target) and the holder of the secret backing up the authenticator value (the pre-image of the secret hash or the private key). Also note that in the case where the portable security token and the target have a 2 nd communication channel available to them, they could perform some of this communication across that 2 nd channel. If the portable security token was insufficiently powerful to perform a full exchange over two channels Oust exchange hashes of public keys over the LLC, establish an SSL or other tunnel over the 2 nd link and send the rest through that), they could exchange the authenticator value and CA key hash over the LLC, along with addressing information, and then exchange the ticket and supporting info over the 2 nd channel. In a variation on this embodiment, the authenticator can include: a hash of the target device's public key; a hash of a secret known only by the target device; the target device's public key; or a hash of a certificate or a piece of data belonging to the device already. In a variation on this embodiment, the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA can be: a secret symmetric key known by only the portable security token and the CA, or a private key belonging to the portable security token. (Note that the CA and the portable security token actually agree on the public key corresponding to this private key; the CA never sees the private key directly. They do implicitly agree also on the private key, though, because of the mathematical relationship between the private key and the public key.) In a variation on this embodiment, the credential is a public key certificate for the target device, which is signed by the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, before the portable security token communicates with the target device, the portable security token initially communicates with the CA. During this initial communication, the CA and portable security token agree upon the key which is used to sign the ticket. The CA also communicates a hash of the CA's public key and addressing information for the CA to the portable security token. (Note that they can also communicate the full public key for the CA, which the portable security token could either give to the target as is or reduce to a hash, or a full certificate or the hash thereof, etc.) In a variation on this embodiment, prior to receiving the authenticator at the portable security token, the portable security token sends a request for the authenticator to the target device. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token additionally sends the CA's public key (or a hash of the CA's public key) to the target device, thereby enabling the target device to authenticate the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token additionally sends addressing information for the CA to the target device, thereby enabling the target device to communicate with the CA. In a variation on this embodiment, in addition to the authenticator, the ticket can also include: an identifier for the CA; an identifier for the portable security token; and an indicator of the purpose for the ticket. In a variation on this embodiment, after the target device receives the ticket, the target device subsequently communicates with the CA. In doing so, the target device first authenticates the CA using the CA's public key (or the hash of the CA's public key) provided to the target device by the portable security token. In a variation on this embodiment, after the target device authenticates the CA, the target device sends the following to the CA: the ticket; the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists); and any other information that the CA needs to verify the ticket. (Note that if the pre-image of the authenticator is a secret known only by the target device, the pre-image is sent to the CA through a secure tunnel.) In a variation on this embodiment, the CA subsequently attempts to authenticate the target device using the ticket, the pre-image of the authenticator (if one exists), and the key previously agreed upon by the portable security token and the CA. Next, if the target device is authenticated, the CA sends the credential to the target device. In a variation on this embodiment, the portable security token is hardware-constrained and therefore has limited computational capabilities. Consequently, the portable security token may not be capable of performing public-key operations. | 20040624 | 20090623 | 20051229 | 95362.0 | 0 | TO, BAOTRAN N | USING A PORTABLE SECURITY TOKEN TO FACILITATE PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATION FOR DEVICES IN A NETWORK | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,652 | ACCEPTED | Seed hopper | A seed dispensing hopper having openings in which picker wheels are rotatably disposed. The picker wheels are disposed in a seed bin shaped to direct seed towards the picker wheels. Flexible elements rotate about an axis of the hopper and are aligned over the picker wheels. As the flexible elements rotate, they wipe the sides of the hopper. At the bottom of their rotation, the ends of the flexible elements and the teeth of the picker wheels are moving toward one another. The flexible elements engage the picker wheels as they traverse them, thereby creating an advantageous “spoon-feeding” action which ensures that even sticky or non-flowable seeds can be completely emptied from the hopper. | 1. A seed dispensing apparatus, comprising: a hopper defining an opening in which is disposed a picker wheel; a mixing bar rotatably disposed in the hopper; a flexible element extending from the mixing bar; and wherein the flexible element engages the picker wheel as the mixing bar rotates. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the picker wheel comprises teeth and the flexible element engages the teeth as the mixing bar rotates. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the flexible element travels in a direction substantially opposite to that of the teeth as the flexible element engages the teeth. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flexible element wipes the hopper as the mixing bar rotates. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flexible element is formed from rubber. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flexible element is adapted to push seed into pockets defined by the picker wheel. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a paddle extending from the mixing bar. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the paddle comprises a semicircular shape. 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the paddle and the flexible element are disposed in an alternating relationship about the mixing bar. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flexible element traverses the picker wheel. 11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a seed bin disposed in the hopper. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the hopper comprises a vertical axis and the seed bin comprises bin walls angled relative to the vertical axis. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bin walls and the vertical axis form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the picker wheel rotates at a first speed and the mixing bar rotates at a second speed. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first speed is about the same as the second speed. 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first speed and the second speed are different. 17. A seed dispensing apparatus, comprising: a hopper defining an opening in which is disposed a picker wheel; a mixing bar rotatably disposed in the hopper; a flexible element extending from the mixing bar; and the flexible element being aligned with the picker wheel as the mixing bar rotates. 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the flexible element wipes the hopper as the mixing bar rotates. 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the flexible element contacts the picker wheel as the mixing bar rotates. 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the flexible element is adapted to push seed into pockets defined by the picker wheel. 21. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a paddle extending from the mixing bar. 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the paddle comprises a semicircular shape. 23. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a seed bin disposed in the hopper. 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the hopper comprises a vertical axis and the seed bin comprises bin walls angled relative to the vertical axis. 25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the bin walls and the vertical axis form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees. 26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the picker wheel rotates at a first speed and the mixing bar rotates at a second speed. 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the first speed is about the same as the second speed. 28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the first speed and the second speed are different. 29. A seed dispensing apparatus, comprising: a hopper defining an opening in which is disposed a picker wheel; a mixing bar rotatably disposed in the hopper; a flexible element extending from the mixing bar; and a rigid element extending from the mixing bar. 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the rigid element comprises a semicircular shape. 31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein a central axis of the flexible element aligns with a center of the picker wheel as the mixing bar rotates. 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the flexible element engages the picker wheel as the mixing bar rotates. 33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein as the mixing bar rotates, an end of the flexible element engages a tooth of the picker wheel. 34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the end of the flexible element moves toward the tooth of the picker wheel. 35. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the picker wheel comprises one or more pockets adapted to hold seed. 36. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising a seed bin disposed in the hopper. 37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the hopper comprises a vertical axis and the seed bin comprises bin walls angled relative to the vertical axis. 38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the bin walls and the vertical axis form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees. 39. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the picker wheel rotates at a first speed and the mixing bar rotates at a second speed. 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the first speed is about the same as the second speed. 41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the first speed and the second speed are different. 42. A seed dispensing apparatus, comprising: a hopper defining an opening in which is disposed a rotatable picker wheel; a movable flexible element disposed in the hopper; and wherein during operation of the apparatus an end of the flexible element moves toward and contacts a portion of the picker wheel. 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the flexible element traverses the picker wheel. 44. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the flexible element is aligned with the picker wheel. 45. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising a seed bin disposed in the hopper. 46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the hopper comprises a vertical axis and the seed bin comprises bin walls angled relative to the vertical axis. 47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the bin walls and the vertical axis form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees. 48. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the picker wheel rotates at a first speed and the movable flexible element rotates at a second speed. 49. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the first speed is about the same as the second speed. 50. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the first speed and the second speed are different. 51. A method of dispensing seed onto a surface, comprising: (a) providing a hopper having an opening therein and a picker wheel rotatably disposed in the opening, the hopper further including a movable flexible element disposed therein; (b) adding seed to the hopper; (c) rotating the movable flexible element about an axis of the hopper while rotating the picker wheel; (d) contacting the movable flexible element with a portion of the seed and pushing the portion of the seed toward the picker wheel during step (c); and (e) wherein steps (c) and (d) cause the portion of the seed to dispense from the opening onto the surface. 52. The method of claim 51, further comprising wiping a portion of the hopper with a portion of the flexible element. 53. The method of claim 51, further comprising aligning the flexible element with the picker wheel. 54. The method of claim 51, further comprising contacting a portion of the picker wheel with a portion of the flexible element. 55. The method of claim 54, further comprising moving the portion of the picker wheel towards the portion of the flexible element during contact. 56. The method of claim 51, further comprising pushing seed into gaps between teeth of the picker wheel with the flexible element. 57. The method of claim 51, further comprising completely emptying all of the seed in the hopper onto the surface. 58. The method of claim 51, further comprising traversing the picker wheel with the flexible element. 59. The method of claim 51, further comprising: providing a paddle disposed in the hopper; moving the paddle; and mixing the seed in the hopper with the paddle. 60. The method of claim 51, wherein the hopper further includes a vertical axis and a seed bin, the seed bin comprising bin walls angled relative to the vertical axis. 61. The method of claim 60, wherein the bin walls and the vertical axis form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees. 62. The method of claim 51, further comprising rotating the movable flexible element at a first speed and rotating the picker wheel at a second speed. 63. The method of claim 62, wherein the first speed is about the same as the second speed. 64. The method of claim 62, wherein the first speed and the second speed are different. | FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to seed hoppers and more particularly to seed hoppers that mix seed and deposit it onto a ground surface. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Seed can be dispensed onto land areas with a traditional seed box having seed compartments with a seed dispensing slot in each seed compartment. A picker wheel is rotatably disposed in each seed dispensing slot to keep the seed moving through the slots at a uniform rate without clogging. However, the low density, or “fluffiness,” as it were, of certain types of seed can be problematic when dispensing from a traditional seed box, in that the hopper will not completely empty. For example, Warm Season Grass seed, or Prairie Grass seed, such as Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, Side Oats Gramma, or other “fluffy” or bearded seed can be problematic when dispensing from a traditional seed box. When dispensing these types of seed, the hopper empties to about one-half or one-third full, at which point the remaining seed remains in the hopper with continued operation. One solution offered by seed dispensing manufacturers is to simply keep filling the hopper as soon as about half of the seed is dispensed from it. A better solution for this frustrating problem is desired. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which picker wheels are rotatably disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes flexible elements that rotate about an axis of the hopper and wipe the walls of the hopper. The flexible elements are aligned over the picker wheels and engage the picker wheels as the dispenser operates. As the flexible elements engage the picker wheels, the ends of the flexible elements spoon-feed seed into the openings from which it is dispensed. In one form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which a picker wheel is disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes a “fluffer” or rotatable mixing bar with a flexible element extending from the mixing bar. As the mixing bar rotates, the flexible element aligns with the picker wheel. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper having an opening in which a picker wheel is positioned. The seed dispensing hopper includes a mixing bar that rotates within the hopper. The mixing bar has a flexible element and a rigid element extending from the mixing bar. In a preferred form, the flexible elements wipe the hopper as the mixing bar rotates. Preferably, as the mixing bar rotates, an end of the flexible element engages a tooth or teeth of the picker wheel. Further, the end of the flexible element is traveling in a direction substantially opposite to that of the tooth as the end engages the tooth. More preferably, the picker wheel has pockets adapted to hold seed. As the mixing bar rotates, the flexible elements push seed into the pockets of the picker wheels. In yet another form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which a rotatable picker wheel is disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes a movable flexible element. During operation, the end of the flexible element moves toward and contacts a portion of the picker wheel. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a novel method of dispensing seed onto a surface. In this inventive method, a picker wheel rotatably disposed in an opening of a hopper is provided. The hopper includes a movable flexible element. Seed is added to the hopper and the movable flexible element is rotated about an axis of the hopper while the picker wheel is rotated. As the flexible element and picker wheel rotate, the movable flexible element contacts a portion of the seed and pushes the portion of the seed toward the picker wheel, thereby dispensing the portion of the seed from the opening onto the surface. In a preferred form, all of the seed in the hopper is emptied onto the surface. Advantageously, the inventive seed hopper of the present invention provides a solution for seeding with native grass or other “fluffy” seeds in which the hopper is substantially clog free and the hopper can dispense all of the seed in the hopper. Further, the present invention prevents the picker wheels from hollowing out an empty space or hole in the fluffy seed in the hopper as the picker wheels are rotated. Advantageously, as the mixing bar rotates, the flexible elements push seed into the pockets of the picker wheels and prevent an empty space or hole from forming in the seed, thereby allowing the hopper to empty. Another benefit of the present invention allows for varied rates of dispensing seed from the hopper. The mixing bar can be rotated faster or slower relative to the picker wheels to change the dispense rate of seed. Likewise, the picker wheels can be rotated faster or slower relative to the mixing bar to change the dispense rate of seed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above-mentioned and other advantages of the present invention, and the manner of obtaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seed hopper in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, illustrated with an all terrain vehicle (“ATV”) in phantom pulling the seed hopper; FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view with portions broken away illustrating the mixing beam assembly of the seed hopper shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a top fragmentary view of the mixing beam assembly of the seed hopper shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a side fragmentary view in partial cross-section of the picker wheel assembly of the seed hopper shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a picker wheel of the picker wheel assembly; FIG. 6A is a side fragmentary view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 3 of the mixing beam assembly and picker wheel assembly of the seed hopper of FIG. 1; FIG. 6B is a side fragmentary view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 3 of the mixing beam assembly and picker wheel assembly of the seed hopper of FIG. 1 after the mixing beam assembly and picker wheel assembly are rotated approximately 90°; FIG. 6C is a side fragmentary view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 3 of the mixing beam assembly and picker wheel assembly of the seed hopper of FIG. 1 after the mixing beam assembly and picker wheel assembly are rotated approximately 180°; and FIG. 7 is a side view of a drive mechanism of the seed hopper illustrated in FIG. 1 for rotating the mixing beam assembly and the picker wheel assembly. Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention. The seed hopper (also referred to herein as “hopper”) in accordance with the illustrated embodiment has openings in which picker wheels are rotatably disposed. Flexible elements rotate about an axis of the hopper and are aligned with the picker wheels. As the flexible elements rotate, they wipe the sides of the hopper to remove any seed stuck to the sides of the hopper. At the bottom of the flexible elements' rotation, the ends of the flexible elements engage and traverse teeth of the picker wheels. As the ends of the flexible elements engage the teeth, the ends and the teeth are moving toward one another, thereby creating an advantageous “spoon-feeding” action, which ensures that even sticky or non-flowable seed can be completely emptied from the hopper. Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, hopper 20 includes a mixing beam assembly 22 mounted to a frame 24. Mounted to hopper 20 is a picker wheel assembly 26. A drive mechanism 28, which rotates mixing beam assembly 22 and picker wheel assembly 26 in the same direction, is mounted to hopper 20. It should be appreciated that drive mechanism 28 can be configured to rotate the mixing beam assembly 22 and the picker wheel assembly 26 in opposite directions. Further, the drive mechanism 28 can be configured to rotate the mixing beam assembly 22 and the picker wheel assembly 26 at different rates of speed relative to each other. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mixing beam assembly 22 is suspended in the hopper 20 and is rotatable about beam axis 30. Mixing beam assembly 22 has a mixing bar 32 disposed along beam axis 30. Mixing bar 32 has a journal end 34 that is rotatably disposed in bearing 36 formed in plate 38 and is thus suspended in hopper 20. Mixing bar 32 in the illustrated embodiment is a unitary, elongated, cylindrical member having a plurality of flexible elements 40 and a plurality of paddles 42 extending from it. It should be appreciated that mixing bar 32 can be shaped or formed differently in other embodiments. By way of non-limiting example, the mixing bar 32 can be rectangular, polygonal, or elliptical, to name a few. The mixing bar 32 can be formed from materials such as metal, plastic, or wood, to name a few. Further, the mixing bar 32 can be unitary or assembled from a plurality of segments. It should also be understood that other means of rotatably connecting mixing bar 32 to hopper 20, for example, a universal joint, could be used. Flexible elements 40 can be affixed to mixing bar 32 by welding, fastening, gluing, or any number of suitable attachment means. Flexible elements 40 can be formed from plastic, rubber, metal, or any other material whose flexibility is consistent with the mixing, wiping, and traversing function described in more detail below. Preferably, flexible elements 40 are formed from polyester reinforced plastic vinyl-coated belting. Paddles 42 can be integrally formed with mixing bar 32 or they can be affixed thereto by welding, fastening, or any number of suitable attachment means. Paddles 42 are made from the same or similar material as mixing bar 32. As shown in FIG. 2, hopper 20 has walls 44 and seed bins 46 disposed between the walls 44. Each seed bin 46 has bin walls 49 that form an opening 48 as shown in FIG. 4. The bin walls 49 are angled or slanted relative to a vertical axis 51 as shown in FIG. 4. The vertical axis 51 is perpendicular to the picker wheel axis 58 described below. Further, the bin walls 49 form an angle β with the vertical axis 51. In preferred embodiments, the angle β is between 30 and 60 degrees. The bin walls 49 are steep to facilitate the seed moving downward toward the picker wheel assembly 26. Preferably, the flexible elements 40 and the paddles 42 are affixed to the mixing bar 32 such that the flexible elements 40 and the paddles 42 are positioned centrally with respect to a corresponding seed bin 46. In the illustrated embodiment, two flexible elements 40 and two paddles 42 are each disposed over one seed bin 46, however, in other embodiments, any number of flexible elements 40 and paddles 42 can be disposed in or over a single seed bin 46. As shown in FIG. 3, flexible elements 40 have a first portion 50 attached to the mixing bar 32 and a second portion 52 extending towards the walls 44. As mixing beam assembly 22 rotates, the second portion 52 of the flexible element 40 wipes the walls 44. In the illustrated embodiment, the flexible element 40 is trapezoidal with curved sides, but it should be appreciated that the flexible element 40 can be other shapes such as, circular, triangular, or any other shape that allows the second portion 52 to wipe the walls 44. Further, the second portion 52 is flat in cross section to wipe the walls 44, and traverse the picker wheel assembly 26, which is described in more detail below. Paddles 42 have a first portion 54 attached to mixing bar 32 and a second portion 56 extending away from mixing bar 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the paddles 42 are of a semi-circular shape, but it should be appreciated that in other embodiments the shape of the paddles 42 can be rectangular or triangular, to name a few. Referring to FIG. 1, the picker wheel assembly 26 is suspended in the hopper 20 and is rotatable about picker wheel axis 58. As shown in FIG. 4, the picker wheel assembly 26 has a picker bar 60 with a plurality of picker wheels 62 attached thereto. As shown in FIG. 6, the picker wheel assembly 26 is supported by the hopper 20 such that each of the picker wheels 62 is disposed in one of the openings 48. However, the picker wheel assembly 26 can be supported by the hopper 20 such that two or more picker wheels 62 are disposed in each opening 48. As shown in more detail in FIG. 5, the picker wheel 62 has a plurality of teeth 64 with pockets 66 between them. In the illustrated embodiment, the teeth 64 and pockets 66 form a smooth saw-tooth configuration, but it should be appreciated that the configuration of the teeth 64 and pockets 66 between them may be varied depending upon the type and property of the particular seed being dispensed and other design criteria. Generally, teeth 64 and pockets 66 should be configured to capture and move seed, as described in more detail below. Picker wheel 62 can be formed from plastic, metal, wood, or any other material that can be shaped to form teeth 64 and pockets 66. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the flexible element 40 is aligned with the picker wheel 62 as the mixing bar 32 rotates. The paddles 42 are positioned on the mixing bar 32 in an alternating relationship with the flexible elements 40. It should be appreciated that other arrangements of paddles 42 and flexible elements 40 can be employed from hopper 20. In operation, seed is added to the hopper 20 such that the seed bins 46 are at least partially filled. The drive mechanism 28 drives the mixing beam assembly 22 and the picker wheel assembly 26 such that the mixing beam assembly 22 and the picker wheel assembly 26 rotate in the same direction. While the mixing beam assembly 22 is rotated, the mixing bar 32, the flexible elements 40, and the paddles 42 are also rotated. Similarly, while the picker wheel assembly 26 is rotated, the picker bar 60 and the picker wheels 62 are rotated. As shown in FIG. 6A, as the mixing bar rotates counter-clockwise, the flexible element 40 shown on the left side of the hopper 20 moves toward the picker wheel 62. In so doing, the second portion 52 wipes hopper wall 44 and thereby prevents seed from sticking thereto. Flexible element 40 is bent in an arc as shown and second portion 52 is thus biased against wall 44, which promotes an effective wiping action as mixing bar 32 rotates. In FIG. 6B, the mixing bar 32 is shown rotated through approximately another 90° from its position depicted in FIG. 6A. At this point, second portion 52 of the flexible element 40 is moving in a direction substantially opposite that of the teeth 64 of picker wheel 62. In other words, second portion 52 and the teeth 64 of the picker wheel 62 are moving toward one another. Advantageously, this movement creates a “spoon-feeding” action in which second portion 52 scoops seed and pushes it into pockets 66 as the flexible element 40 traverses the picker wheel 62. The scooping action and positive engagement of the flexible elements 40 with the picker wheels 62 is believed to promote the complete emptying of the hopper 20 even when non-flowable, sticky seed is being dispensed. Further, as each picker wheel 62 rotates in the opening 48, gravity allows the seed to drop from the pocket 66 and thus be dispensed onto the ground surface. Turning now to FIG. 6C, the mixing bar 32 has rotated through approximately another 90° from its position depicted in FIG. 6B. At this point second portion 52 of the flexible element 40 discussed with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B has now moved beyond the picker wheel 62 and is wiping the hopper wall 44 on the right side of FIG. 6C as shown. Since second portion 52 of the flexible element 40 is now moving away from the picker wheel 62, the movement of flexible element 40 during this portion of its rotation functions mainly to wipe the hopper wall 44 and agitate the seed in the hopper 20. As shown in FIGS. 6A-6C, the paddles 42 mix the seed in the seed bins 46 as the mixing bar 32 rotates about the beam axis 30. Advantageously, the seed can be completely dispensed from the hopper 20. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, a mixing sprocket 70 with teeth 72 connects to the mixing beam assembly 22 (shown in FIG. 2). The mixing sprocket 70 attaches to the plate 38, described above, such that the sprocket 70 rotates the mixing beam assembly 22. A picker sprocket 74 with teeth 76 connects to the picker wheel assembly 26 (shown in FIG. 4) and rotates the picker wheel assembly 26. Sprocket 70 and sprocket 72 can be formed from plastic, metal, wood, or any other material that can be adapted to be driven by drive mechanism 28. A continuous drive mechanism 28 in the form of a drive chain 29 is connected to the mixing sprocket 70 and the picker sprocket 74 to rotate mixing sprocket 70 and picker sprocket 74 in the same direction. In other embodiments, a first drive chain (not shown) can be connected to sprocket 70 and a second drive chain (not shown) can be connected to sprocket 74. The separate drive chains connected to sprocket 70 and sprocket 74 allow them to be rotated at different speeds relative to each other. Mixing sprocket 70 and picker sprocket 74 are substantially the same size but it should be appreciated that sprocket 70 and sprocket 74 can be different sizes. Different sizes of sprockets can vary the speed the mixing beam assembly 22 and picker wheel assembly 26 each rotate. By way of non-limiting example, teeth 72 can be larger than teeth 76 such that sprocket 74 and picker wheel assembly 26 rotate faster than sprocket 70 and mixing beam assembly 22 with a continuous drive chain 29. Conversely in another embodiment, teeth 76 can be larger than teeth 72 such that sprocket 70 and mixing beam assembly 22 rotate faster than sprocket 74 and picker wheel assembly 26 with a continuous drive chain 29. While a preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention has been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, as noted above, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims. | <SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Seed can be dispensed onto land areas with a traditional seed box having seed compartments with a seed dispensing slot in each seed compartment. A picker wheel is rotatably disposed in each seed dispensing slot to keep the seed moving through the slots at a uniform rate without clogging. However, the low density, or “fluffiness,” as it were, of certain types of seed can be problematic when dispensing from a traditional seed box, in that the hopper will not completely empty. For example, Warm Season Grass seed, or Prairie Grass seed, such as Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, Side Oats Gramma, or other “fluffy” or bearded seed can be problematic when dispensing from a traditional seed box. When dispensing these types of seed, the hopper empties to about one-half or one-third full, at which point the remaining seed remains in the hopper with continued operation. One solution offered by seed dispensing manufacturers is to simply keep filling the hopper as soon as about half of the seed is dispensed from it. A better solution for this frustrating problem is desired. | <SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which picker wheels are rotatably disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes flexible elements that rotate about an axis of the hopper and wipe the walls of the hopper. The flexible elements are aligned over the picker wheels and engage the picker wheels as the dispenser operates. As the flexible elements engage the picker wheels, the ends of the flexible elements spoon-feed seed into the openings from which it is dispensed. In one form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which a picker wheel is disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes a “fluffer” or rotatable mixing bar with a flexible element extending from the mixing bar. As the mixing bar rotates, the flexible element aligns with the picker wheel. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper having an opening in which a picker wheel is positioned. The seed dispensing hopper includes a mixing bar that rotates within the hopper. The mixing bar has a flexible element and a rigid element extending from the mixing bar. In a preferred form, the flexible elements wipe the hopper as the mixing bar rotates. Preferably, as the mixing bar rotates, an end of the flexible element engages a tooth or teeth of the picker wheel. Further, the end of the flexible element is traveling in a direction substantially opposite to that of the tooth as the end engages the tooth. More preferably, the picker wheel has pockets adapted to hold seed. As the mixing bar rotates, the flexible elements push seed into the pockets of the picker wheels. In yet another form thereof, the present invention provides a seed dispensing hopper with an opening in which a rotatable picker wheel is disposed. The seed dispensing hopper includes a movable flexible element. During operation, the end of the flexible element moves toward and contacts a portion of the picker wheel. In another form thereof, the present invention provides a novel method of dispensing seed onto a surface. In this inventive method, a picker wheel rotatably disposed in an opening of a hopper is provided. The hopper includes a movable flexible element. Seed is added to the hopper and the movable flexible element is rotated about an axis of the hopper while the picker wheel is rotated. As the flexible element and picker wheel rotate, the movable flexible element contacts a portion of the seed and pushes the portion of the seed toward the picker wheel, thereby dispensing the portion of the seed from the opening onto the surface. In a preferred form, all of the seed in the hopper is emptied onto the surface. Advantageously, the inventive seed hopper of the present invention provides a solution for seeding with native grass or other “fluffy” seeds in which the hopper is substantially clog free and the hopper can dispense all of the seed in the hopper. Further, the present invention prevents the picker wheels from hollowing out an empty space or hole in the fluffy seed in the hopper as the picker wheels are rotated. Advantageously, as the mixing bar rotates, the flexible elements push seed into the pockets of the picker wheels and prevent an empty space or hole from forming in the seed, thereby allowing the hopper to empty. Another benefit of the present invention allows for varied rates of dispensing seed from the hopper. The mixing bar can be rotated faster or slower relative to the picker wheels to change the dispense rate of seed. Likewise, the picker wheels can be rotated faster or slower relative to the mixing bar to change the dispense rate of seed. | 20040625 | 20080311 | 20051229 | 99684.0 | 0 | NOVOSAD, CHRISTOPHER J | SEED HOPPER | SMALL | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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10,877,939 | ACCEPTED | Systems, multiphase power converters with droop-control circuitry and methods | Droop-control circuitry of a multiphase power converter determines when multiphase switching signals are concurrently at either a high or low state and temporarily clamps the output of the power converter to either a high or low voltage level in response thereto. | 1. Droop-control circuitry for a multiphase power converter comprising: voltage-undershoot detection circuitry to determine when a first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals of a multiphase power converter is at a first state; voltage-overshoot detection circuitry to determine when a second predetermined number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping circuitry to clamp an output of the multiphase power converter to either a high or low voltage level in response to outputs of the detection circuitries. 2. The circuitry of claim 1 wherein the high voltage level corresponds to an input voltage of the multiphase power converter and the low voltage level corresponds to a ground, and wherein the clamping circuitry temporarily clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to the input voltage while at least the first predetermined number of the multiphase switching signals remains at the first state, and wherein the clamping circuitry further temporarily clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to the ground while at least the second predetermined number of the multiphase switching signals remains at the second state. 3. The circuitry of claim 1 wherein the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry counts the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the first state, and wherein the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry counts the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the second state. 4. The circuitry of claim 1 wherein the clamping circuitry comprises: a first switching circuit to clamp the output of the multiphase power converter to an input voltage when the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry determines that at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the first state; and a second switching circuit to clamp the output of the multiphase power converter to a ground voltage when the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry determines that at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the second state. 5. The circuitry of claim 4 wherein the first switching circuit comprises a P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistor (FET) and the second switching circuit comprises an N-channel MOSFET, wherein the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry comprises NAND gate circuitry, and wherein the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry comprises NOR gate circuitry, wherein the first state is a high state, and wherein the second state is a low state. 6. The circuitry of claim 4 wherein the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry and the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry each have inputs corresponding to a total number of phases of the multiphase switching signals. 7. The circuitry of claim 6 further comprising: first buffer circuitry coupled in a signal path between the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry and the first switching circuit; and second buffer circuitry coupled in a signal path between the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry and the second switching circuit. 8. The circuitry of claim 1 wherein the multiphase switching signals are shifted in phase from each other by a predetermined number of degrees and have a variable duty cycle, the duty cycle being varied based on the output. 9. The circuitry of claim 8 wherein the multiphase power converter is a four-phase converter and the predetermined number of degrees is substantially ninety. 10. The circuitry of claim 8 wherein the multiphase power converter is an eight-phase converter and the predetermined number of degrees is substantially forty-five. 11. A multiphase power converter comprising: droop-control circuitry; and multiphase power converter circuitry, wherein the droop-control circuitry comprises: voltage-undershoot detection circuitry to determine when a first number of multiphase switching signals is at a first state; voltage-overshoot detection circuitry to determine when a second number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping circuitry to clamp an output to either a high or low voltage in response to the detection circuitries, and wherein multiphase power converter circuitry comprises a plurality of bridge circuits to cumulatively generate the output from an input voltage in response to the multiphase switching signals. 12. The power converter of claim 11 further comprising a multiphase controller to generate the multiphase switching signals and to control a duty cycle of the multiphase switching signals based on the output and a reference voltage, wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the first state when the duty cycle is increased, and wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the second state when the duty cycle is decreased. 13. The power converter of claim 12 wherein each of the bridge circuits is coupled with an associated output inductor to cumulatively generate the output, and wherein each of the bridge circuits and the associated output inductor comprise a Buck converter. 14. The power converter of claim 11 wherein the high voltage level corresponds to an input voltage of the multiphase power converter and the low voltage level corresponds to a ground, and wherein the clamping circuitry temporarily clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to the input voltage while at least the first predetermined number of the multiphase switching signals remains at the first state, and wherein the clamping circuitry further temporarily clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to the ground while at least the second predetermined number of the multiphase switching signals remains at the second state. 15. The power converter of claim 11 wherein the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry counts the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the first state, and wherein the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry counts the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the second state. 16. The power converter of claim 11 wherein the clamping circuitry comprises: a first switching circuit to clamp the output of the multiphase power converter to an input voltage when the voltage-undershoot detection circuitry determines that at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the first state; and a second switching circuit to clamp the output of the multiphase power converter to a ground voltage when the voltage-overshoot detection circuitry determines that at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the second state. 17. A method comprising: determining when a first number of multiphase switching signals of a multiphase power converter is at a first state; determining when a second number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping an output of the multiphase power converter to either a high or low voltage level in response to the determining operations. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the high voltage level corresponds to an input voltage and the low voltage level corresponds to a ground, and wherein clamping comprises temporarily clamping the output to the input voltage while at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals remains at the first state, and wherein clamping further comprises temporarily clamping the output to the ground while at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals remains at the second state. 19. The method of claim 17 wherein determining and comprises counting the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the first state, and counting the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the second state. 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the method is performed by a multiphase power converter, the method further comprising varying a duty cycle of the multiphase switching signals based on an output voltage of the multiphase power converter, wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the first state when the duty cycle is increased, and wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the second state when the duty cycle is decreased. 21. A wireless communication device comprising: multicarrier transceiver circuitry to communicate wireless communication signals; and a multiphase power converter to supply current to the transceiver circuitry, the power converter comprising droop-control circuitry and multiphase power converter circuitry, wherein the droop-control circuitry comprises: voltage-undershoot detection circuitry to determine when a first number of multiphase switching signals is at a first state; voltage-overshoot detection circuitry to determine when a second number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping circuitry to clamp an output to either a high or low voltage in response to the detection circuitries, and wherein multiphase power converter circuitry comprises a plurality of bridge circuits to cumulatively generate the output from an input voltage in response to the multiphase switching signals. 22. The device of claim 21 wherein the multicarrier transceiver communicates multicarrier communication signals, the multicarrier communication signals being either orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signals or discrete multitone (DMT) signals. 23. The device of claim 22 further comprising a substantially omnidirectional antenna coupled to the transceiver to communicate radio-frequency signals. 24. A processing system comprising: a processor; and a multiphase power converter to supply current to the processor, the power converter comprising droop-control circuitry and multiphase power converter circuitry, wherein the droop-control circuitry comprises: voltage-undershoot detection circuitry to determine when a first number of multiphase switching signals is at a first state; voltage-overshoot detection circuitry to determine when a second number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping circuitry to clamp an output to either a high or low voltage in response to the detection circuitries, and wherein multiphase power converter circuitry comprises a plurality of bridge circuits to cumulatively generate the output from an input voltage in response to the multiphase switching signals. 25. The system of claim 24 wherein the power converter and the processor are fabricated on the same silicon die. 26. The system of claim 24 wherein the power converter and the processor are fabricated on separate die and located within a single package. 27. The system of claim 24 wherein the power converter and the processor are fabricated on separate die and stacked within a single package. 28. The system of claim 24 wherein the power converter and the processor are fabricated on separate die and located within a multichip module. 29. The system of claim 24 further comprising a motherboard having the power converter and the processor separately located thereon. 30. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising: determining when a first number of multiphase switching signals is at a first state; determining when a second number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state; and clamping an output to either a high or low voltage level in response to the determining operations. 31. The machine-readable medium of claim 30 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations, wherein the high voltage level corresponds to an input voltage and the low voltage level corresponds to a ground, and wherein clamping comprises temporarily clamping the output to the input voltage while at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals remains at the first state, and wherein clamping further comprises temporarily clamping the output to the ground while at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals remains at the second state. 32. The machine-readable medium of claim 30 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations, wherein determining and comprises counting a number of the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the first state, and counting a number of the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at the second state. 33. The machine-readable medium of claim 30 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations, comprising varying a duty cycle of the multiphase switching signals based on an output voltage of a multiphase power converter, wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the first state when the duty cycle is increased, and wherein a higher number of the multiphase switching signals is concurrently at the second state when the duty cycle is decreased. 34. Circuitry comprising: detection circuitry to determine when a predetermined number of multiphase switching signals of a multiphase power converter is at a particular state; and clamping circuitry to clamp an output of the multiphase power converter to a voltage level in response to the detection circuitry. 35. The circuitry of claim 34 wherein the clamping circuitry clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to a higher voltage level when the detection circuitry detects a voltage undershoot condition, and wherein the clamping circuitry clamps the output of the multiphase power converter to a lower voltage level when the detection circuitry detects a voltage overshoot condition. 36. The circuitry of claim 35 wherein the detection circuitry counts the multiphase switching signals that are concurrently at either a first state or a second state to determine whether either a voltage undershoot condition or voltage undershoot condition exists. | TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present invention pertain to power converters and power supplies, and in some embodiments, to on-die power supplies. BACKGROUND In many modern processing systems, DC-to-DC multiphase switching power converters are used because of their relatively high efficiency. In more and more applications, these power converters are required to maintain their output voltage within an increasingly tighter range over a wide range of load conditions. Some conventional systems use larger output capacitance to help maintain the output voltage. Other conventional systems increase the operating frequency of the power converter. One problem with the use of larger output capacitance, especially for on-chip power converters, is that large capacitances consume excessive area, significantly increasing cost. The use of off-chip capacitances results in increased resistance and inductance. On the other hand, increasing the operating frequency reduces the efficiency of the power converter due to increased switching losses. Thus there are general needs for higher-efficiency power converters that may better maintain output voltage over a wide range of load conditions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The appended claims are directed to some of the various embodiments of the present invention. However, the detailed description presents a more complete understanding of embodiments of the present invention when considered in connection with the figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar items throughout the figures and: FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a multiphase power converter in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 3 illustrates multiphase switching signals in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an output voltage regulation procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 7 illustrates a processing system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description and the drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the invention sufficiently to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Examples merely typify possible variations. Individual components and functions are optional unless explicitly required, and the sequence of operations may vary. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for those of others. Embodiments of the invention may be referred to, individually or collectively, herein by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a multiphase power converter in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Multiphase power converter 100 comprises multiphase power converter circuitry 102 and droop-control circuitry 104. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 determines when multiphase switching signals 106 are concurrently at either a high or low state and temporarily clamps output 116 of the power converter to either a high or low voltage level in response thereto. In some embodiments, multiphase power converter circuitry 102 may comprise a plurality of bridge circuits 110 to cumulatively generate output 116 from input voltage 120 in response to multiphase switching signals 106. Multiphase power converter circuitry 102 may also comprise multiphase controller 114 to generate multiphase switching signals 106 and to control a duty cycle of multiphase switching signals 106 based on output 116 and reference voltage 118. In some embodiments, a higher number of the multiphase switching signals 106 may concurrently be at a first state (e.g., high) when the duty cycle is increased, and a higher number of multiphase switching signals 106 may concurrently be at a second state (e.g., low) when the duty cycle is decreased. In some embodiments, an increase in the duty cycle may indicate a voltage undershoot condition (i.e., a drop in the output voltage) and may result in an increase in the number multiphase switching signals having a high state. In some embodiments, a decrease in the duty cycle may indicate a voltage overshoot condition (i.e., an increase of the output voltage) and may cause an increase in the number of multiphase switching signals having a low state. During a voltage undershoot condition, droop-control circuitry 104 may temporarily increase the output voltage by clamping the output to a higher voltage level, while during a voltage overshoot condition, droop-control circuitry 104 may temporarily decrease the output voltage by clamping the output to a lower voltage level. In some embodiments, each of bridge circuits 110 may be coupled with an associated output inductor 112 to cumulatively generate output 116. In some embodiments, each of bridge circuits 110 and the associated output inductor 112 comprise a Buck converter, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Other power converter topologies, such as converters using coupled inductors or transformers, as well as boost and buck-boost converters, may also be suitable. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 may comprise voltage-undershoot detection circuitry for determining when a first number of multiphase switching signals 106 is at a first state, and voltage-overshoot detection circuitry for determining when a second number of multiphase switching signals 106 is at a second state. In these embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 may also comprise clamping circuitry to clamp output 116 to either a high or low voltage level in response to the detection circuitries. In some embodiments, the high voltage level may correspond to input voltage 120 and the low voltage level may correspond to ground 222, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 may temporarily clamp output 116 to input voltage 120 while at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 106 remains at the first state. In these embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 may otherwise temporarily clamp output 116 to ground 122 while at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 106 remains at the second state. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 104 may count a number of multiphase switching signals 106 that are concurrently at the first state, and may count a number of multiphase switching signals 106 that are concurrently at the second state. Load circuitry 124 may be an on-die or off-die load, and may include one or more processors as well as other circuitry that consume current, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, load circuitry 124 may comprise one or more elements of a wireless communication device, such as a transceiver, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Droop-control circuitry 200 may be suitable for use as droop-control circuitry 104 (FIG. 1), although other circuitry may also be suitable. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 200 may determine when multiphase switching signals 206 of a multiphase power converter are concurrently at either a high or low state and may temporarily clamp the output of the power converter to either a high or low voltage level in response thereto. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 200 may include voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 to determine when a first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 206 of a multiphase power converter is at a first state, and voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 to determine when a second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 206 is at a second state. Multiphase switching signals 206 may correspond to multiphase switching signals 106 (FIG. 1), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the first state may be a high state and the second state may be a low state, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In alternative embodiments, the first state may be a low state and the second state may be a high state. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 200 may also include clamping circuitry 218 to clamp output 216 to either a high or low voltage level in response to outputs of detection circuitries 202 and 204. In some embodiments, output 216 may correspond to output 116 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may clamp output 216 to either a high or low voltage level in response to determinations made by detection circuitries 202 and 204. In some embodiments, the high voltage level may correspond to input voltage 220 of the multiphase power converter and the low voltage level may correspond to ground 222, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may temporarily clamp output 216 to input voltage 220 while at least a first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 216 remains at the first state. In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may further temporarily clamp output 216 to ground 222 while at least a second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals 206 remains at the second state. In some embodiments, voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 may count a number of multiphase switching signals 206 that are concurrently at the first state and voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 may count a number of multiphase switching signals 206 that are concurrently at the second state. In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may comprise first switching circuit 212 to clamp output 216 to input voltage 220 when voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 determines that at least the first predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the first state. In these embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may also comprise second switching circuit 214 to clamp output 216 to ground 222 when voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 202 determines that at least the second predetermined number of multiphase switching signals is at the second state. In the case of a four-phase power converter having four multiphase switching signals 206, first switching circuit 212 may clamp output 216 to input voltage 220 when, for example, four of the multiphase switching signals are concurrently high, during any time interval. Second switching circuit 214 may clamp output 216 to ground 222 when, for example, three or four of the multiphase switching signals are concurrently low, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In the case of an eight-phase power converter having eight multiphase switching signals 206, first switching circuit 212 may clamp output 216 to input voltage 220 when, for example, six or more of the multiphase switching signals are concurrently high, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Second switching circuit 214 may clamp output 216 to ground 222 when, for example, six or more of the multiphase switching signals are concurrently low, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the number of multiphase switching signals 206 used in determining when to active clamping circuitry 218 may be set according to load and operating conditions. There is no requirement, however, that voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 and voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 trigger off the same number of multiphase switching signals. In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 may clamp output 116 (FIG. 1) to either the input voltage or to ground through an inductor and/or a resistor (not illustrated), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, multiphase switching signals 206 may include almost any number of phases of switching signals (e.g., q1, q2, . . . qn). In these embodiments, voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 and voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 may each have a number of inputs corresponding to a total number of phases of the multiphase switching signals. In some embodiments, droop-control circuitry 200 may further comprise first buffer circuitry 208 coupled in a signal path between voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 and first switching circuit 212. In these embodiments, droop-control circuitry 200 may further comprise second buffer circuitry 210 coupled in a signal path between voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 and second switching circuit 214. FIG. 3 illustrates multiphase switching signals in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Multiphase switching signals 306 (q1, q2, q3 and q4) may correspond to multiphase switching signals 106 (FIG. 1) and multiphase switching signals 206 (FIG. 2) for some embodiments of the present invention that use four multiphase switching signals. In some embodiments, multiphase switching signals 306 may be generated by a multiphase controller, such as multiphase controller 114 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, multiphase switching signals 306 may be shifted in phase from each other by a predetermined number of degrees and may have variable duty cycle (DT) 302. In some embodiments, duty cycle 302 may be varied or controlled by the multiphase controller based on a comparison between the power converter's output and a reference voltage. In some embodiments, an increase in duty cycle 302 may indicate a voltage undershoot condition (i.e., a drop in the output voltage) and may result in an increase in the number multiphase switching signals having a high state. In some embodiments, a decrease in the duty cycle may indicate a voltage overshoot condition (i.e., an increase of the output voltage) and may cause an increase in the number of multiphase switching signals having a low state. During a voltage undershoot condition, the clamping circuitry may temporarily increase the output voltage by clamping the output to a higher voltage level, while during a voltage overshoot condition, the clamping circuitry may temporarily decrease the output voltage by clamping the output to a lower voltage level. In some embodiments, clamping circuitry 218 (FIG. 2) may be triggered or activated when duty cycle 302 either increases or decreases by certain amounts. Increasing duty cycle 302 may increase the number of multiphase switching signals 206 (FIG. 2) that are in the high state during any particular time interval 304, while decreasing duty cycle 302 may increase the number of multiphase switching signals 206 (FIG. 2) that are in the low state during any particular time interval 304. In some embodiments, when the multiphase power converter is a four-phase converter, the predetermined number of degrees that multiphase switching signals 306 may be shifted in phase from each other may be substantially ninety degrees, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, when the multiphase power converter is an eight-phase converter, the predetermined number of degrees may be substantially forty-five degrees, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, duty cycle 302 of each of multiphase switching signals 306 may vary from approximately twenty-five percent to approximately seventy-five percent, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In other embodiments, duty cycle 302 may vary from as low as approximately zero percent to as great as approximately 100 percent, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Although some embodiments of the present invention are described with respect to four and eight-phase power converters, the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. For example, some embodiments of the present invention include three-phase power converters, as well as other phase number multiphase power converters. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Droop-control circuitry 400 may be suitable for use a droop-control circuitry 200 (FIG. 2) and droop-control circuitry 104 (FIG. 1) for four-phase embodiments, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Droop-control circuitry 400 may comprise first switching circuit 412 which may comprise one or more P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistor (FETs). Droop-control circuitry 400 may also comprise second switching circuit 414 which may comprise one or more N-channel MOSFETs. Other types of switching elements, such as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and insulated gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBJTs), may also be suitable for first and second switching elements 412 and 414. In some embodiments, first and second switching circuits 412 and 414 may comprise clamping circuitry 218 (FIG. 2). Droop-control circuitry 400 may comprise voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 402 which may comprise NAND gate circuitry. Droop-control circuitry 400 may also comprise voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 404 which may comprise NOR gate circuitry. Other circuitry, such as counters, programmable logic arrays and random logic, may also be used for determining a number of multiphase switching signals currently in a particular state. Droop-control circuitry 400 may also comprise one or more inverters 408 in the signal path between voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 402 and switching circuit 412, and one or more inverters 410 in the signal path between voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 404 and switching circuit 414. In accordance with some embodiments, voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 402 may provide a low output when a number of multiphase switching signals 406 are concurrently at a high state indicating a possible voltage undershoot condition. The low output is provided through inverters 408 to first switching circuit 412 which may be turned on and may clamp output 416 to input voltage 420. In accordance with some embodiments, voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 404 may provide a high output when a number of multiphase switching signals 406 that are concurrently at a low state indicating a possible voltage overshoot condition. The high output is provided through inverters 410 to second switching circuit 414 which may be turned on and may clamp output 416 to ground 422. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an output voltage regulation procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Output voltage regulation procedure 500 may be performed by a multiphase power converter, such as multiphase power converter 100 (FIG. 1), although other multiphase power converters may also be suitable for performing procedure 500. Procedure 500 may be used to help reduce voltage overshoot and voltage undershoot conditions to maintain an output of a power converter within a tighter output voltage range over a wider variety of load conditions, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Operation 502 comprises varying a duty cycle of multiphase switching signals of a multiphase power converter based on an output voltage of the multiphase power converter. A higher number of multiphase switching signals may be concurrently at a first state (e.g., high) when the duty cycle is increased, and a higher number of the multiphase switching signals may be concurrently at a second state (e.g., low) when the duty cycle is decreased. In some embodiments, operation 502 may be performed by a multiphase controller, such as multiphase controller 114 (FIG. 1). Operation 504 comprises determining when a number of the multiphase switching signals is at a first state. In some embodiments, operation 504 may be performed by voltage-undershoot detection circuitry 202 (FIG. 2), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Operation 506 comprises clamping an output of the multiphase power converter to a high voltage level while at least a predetermined of the multiphase switching signals is at the first state. In some embodiments, operation 506 may be performed by switching circuit 212 (FIG. 2), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Operation 508 comprises determining when a number of the multiphase switching signals is at a second state. In some embodiments, operation 508 may be performed by voltage-overshoot detection circuitry 204 (FIG. 2), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Operation 510 comprises clamping the output of the multiphase power converter to a low voltage level while at least a predetermined of the multiphase switching signals is at the second state. In some embodiments, operation 510 may be performed by switching circuit 214 (FIG. 2), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Although the individual operations of procedure 500 are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Wireless communication device 600 may comprise transceiver circuitry 604 to receive and/or transmit wireless communication signals using one or more of antennas 602, and multiphase power converter 606 to supply current to the transceiver circuitry. Wireless communication device 600 may include other elements that are not illustrated for clarity. In some embodiments, transceiver 604 may be a multicarrier transceiver for communicating multicarrier communication signals. The multicarrier communication signals may include, for example, orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signals or discrete multitone (DMT) signals, although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, multiphase power converter 100 (FIG. 1) may be suitable for use as power converter 606. Antenna 602 may comprise one or more of a directional or omnidirectional antenna, including, for example, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna, a loop antenna, a microstrip antenna or other type of antenna suitable for reception and/or transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, transceiver 604 may communicate packets over a wideband communication channel. The wideband channel may comprise one or more subchannels. The subchannels may be frequency-division multiplexed (i.e., separated in frequency from other subchannels) and may be within a predetermined frequency spectrum. The subchannels may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. In some embodiments, the orthogonal subcarriers of a subchannel may be closely spaced OFDM subcarriers. To achieve orthogonality between closely spaced subcarriers, in some embodiments, the subcarriers of a particular subchannel may have null at substantially a center frequency of the other subcarriers of that subchannel. In some embodiments, wireless communication device 600 may be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, wireless communication device 600 may transmit and/or receive RF communications in accordance with specific communication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including IEEE 802.11(a), 802.11(b), 802.11(g/h) and/or 802.11 (n) standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs) and/or 802.16 standards for wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), although device 600 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques including the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) broadcasting standard, and the High performance radio Local Area Network (HiperLAN) standard. Although communication device 600 is illustrated as a wireless communication device, device 600 may be almost any wireless or wireline communication device, including a general purpose processing or computing system. In some embodiments, device 600 may be a battery-powered device. In some of these embodiments, device 600 may not require antenna 602. FIG. 7 illustrates a processing system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Processing system 700 may comprise processor 702 and power converter 704. Power converter 704 may be a DC-to-DC multiphase power converter to supply current to processor 702. In some embodiments, power converter 100 (FIG. 1) may be suitable for use as power converter 704. In some embodiments, power converter 704 and processor 702 may be fabricated on the same die. In some embodiments, power converter 704 and processor 702 may be fabricated on separate die and located within a single package, such as package 706. In some embodiments, power converter 704 and processor 702 may be fabricated on separate die and stacked within a single package as illustrated in the example of FIG. 7. In some embodiments, power converter 704 and processor 702 may be fabricated on separate die and located within a multichip module. In some embodiments, a motherboard may comprise power converter 704 and processor 702 separately located thereon. Although multiphase power converter 100 (FIG. 1) is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. Unless specifically stated otherwise, terms such as processing, computing, calculating, determining, displaying, or the like, may refer to an action and/or process of one or more processing or computing systems or similar devices that may manipulate and transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within a processing system's registers and memory into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the processing system's registers or memories, or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. Furthermore, as used herein, computing device includes one or more processing elements coupled with computer-readable memory that may be volatile or non-volatile memory or a combination thereof Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others. The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. In the foregoing detailed description, various features are occasionally grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the subject matter require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, invention lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. | <SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In many modern processing systems, DC-to-DC multiphase switching power converters are used because of their relatively high efficiency. In more and more applications, these power converters are required to maintain their output voltage within an increasingly tighter range over a wide range of load conditions. Some conventional systems use larger output capacitance to help maintain the output voltage. Other conventional systems increase the operating frequency of the power converter. One problem with the use of larger output capacitance, especially for on-chip power converters, is that large capacitances consume excessive area, significantly increasing cost. The use of off-chip capacitances results in increased resistance and inductance. On the other hand, increasing the operating frequency reduces the efficiency of the power converter due to increased switching losses. Thus there are general needs for higher-efficiency power converters that may better maintain output voltage over a wide range of load conditions. | <SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The appended claims are directed to some of the various embodiments of the present invention. However, the detailed description presents a more complete understanding of embodiments of the present invention when considered in connection with the figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar items throughout the figures and: FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a multiphase power converter in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 3 illustrates multiphase switching signals in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of droop-control circuitry in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an output voltage regulation procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 7 illustrates a processing system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"? | 20040625 | 20070925 | 20051229 | 78622.0 | 0 | HAN, YOUNGHUIE JESSICA | SYSTEMS, MULTIPHASE POWER CONVERTERS WITH DROOP-CONTROL CIRCUITRY AND METHODS | UNDISCOUNTED | 0 | ACCEPTED | 2,004 |
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